"Still more monkeys than people." This slogan, used by a hotel near Manuel Antonio National Park on the Pacific coast, could easily be rephrased to describe our experiences on the edge of Corcovado National Park living in a tent camp for the last three days: "Still more hermit crabs than people," "Still more scarlet macaws than people," "Still more tree frogs than people," and "Still more sweat than common sense" all work too!
This amazing trip began with a small chartered flight from Quepos Airport near Manuel Antonio National Park, one of the world's loveliest spots in my opinion, down along the southern Pacific coast of Costa Rica into one of the most remote places in the world: the Osa Peninsula.
After landing at the tiny two-track airstrip, our luggage was loaded onto a cart drawn by a weary-looking horse and we began our forty-minute hike along the beach to Corcovado Lodge Tent Camp.
It was only mid-morning, but the heat and humidity had us soaked within moments. Before long we were stumbling through the sand, nearly blinded by perspiration, the two dads staggering under the weight of Leonard and Benjamin in their backpacks, the rest of us only better off by comparison. We were mighty glad to see Corcovado's white tents overlooking the palm trees and beach and the communal dining room - cold water and shade have never felt so good!
Moments after arriving, one of the men who helped with the luggage and who spoke only Spanish beckoned us to a large tree right outside the Wilsons' tent. There, nicely camoflauged against the tree roots, most of him down in a hole and only his head sticking out, was a young boa constrictor! We never saw his full length, but we were told he was only about a meter long. A nocturnal creature who enjoys feeding on lizards, frogs, and bats (a half dozen or so of those were hanging upside down in the palm tree just behind our tents!), he gave us all cause to use our flashlights when we needed to venture out at night to one of the two camp bathrooms, even though we were assured that he doesn't bother people.
Still, I couldn't get that old tune out of my head that I learned in my youth: "I'm being swallowed by a boa constrictor, a boa constrictor, a boa constrictor..." The composer must have been confusing the boa and the anaconda! At least I hope he was!
Thanks to Martin McLeod, a huge first was scored at Corcovado: we finally saw the amazingly beautiful red-eyed green frog, also called the gaudy tree frog. He has bright red eyes and blue markings on his vivid green body, and we've been searching for him since Tortuguero several weeks ago! We even took several guided night hikes hoping to see him, but to no avail. Our second evening at Corcovado, just before dinner when everyone else was occupied, Martin returned with his flashlight to the place the guide had taken us the night before.
I was holding Leonard nearby and listening to the waves (this was another awesome boogie-boarding beach, with the waves building up over literally thousands of miles on the Pacific Ocean before crashing onto the beach) when I heard Martin shriek, "The red-eyed tree frog! The red-eyed tree frog! I found it! I found it! Mommy! Come quick!"
It wasn't just Mommy who came running! So did William and Christopher and Glen and the Wilsons and nearly every other guest at Corcovado Lodge Tent Camp! Everyone wanted a look at the red-eyed tree frog! Moments later, a second frog was spotted, and we just stood and gazed and gazed and gazed. Another miracle before our eyes!
We enjoyed several hikes into the forest, took turns being hauled eighty meters up a tree into a treehouse to look for birds and mammals, and took a day-long hike into Corcovado National Park. We were coated with sunscreen, wearing hiking boots and hats, and carrying as much water as we could handle. Poor Deb stayed back at the tent camp with the two babies - our guide and maybe a little bit of common sense said it wasn't going to be fun for the dads or the babies to pack them in that nonstop heat.
Todd said the beaches this particular hike revealed were some of the most beautiful he's ever seen in his life. We were all amazed at the sheer beauty as well as sheer numbers of the scarlet macaws we saw. Until I reached Costa Rica, I thought that enormous bird painted scarlet, green, blue, red, and yellow was a parrot, but I've now learned that parrots are much smaller and tend to be green and yellow; the scarlet macaw is one gaudy, glorious creation I'll never mistake for a parrot again!
William says he counted 108 scarlet macaws on our hike that day; I don't doubt him. They were gorgeous! We watched a mated pair in a tree for quite a while nuzzle each other - they gave literal meaning to the word "necking"!
At odds with their physical beauty is the loud, raucous, and frequent noise the scarlet macaw makes. As our guide put it, "They are beauty, yes, but their call is not beauty."
Here is what Christopher had to say in his journal about Corcovado:
(4/7/06) Today we went on a thirty-five-minute plane ride. Then we went to a campsite and rented a tent and then we caught lots and lots of hermit crabs and put them in our sand castle. Also, we went on a hike to a lookout and we went on a frog hunt.
(4/8/06) Today we went boogie-boarding and sand-castle making. We also played chess too. Also we made hermit crab towns. We also went hammocking.
(4/9/06) Today we went on a full-day hike. We went to two rivers. We also found lots of scarlet macaws and LOTS of hermit crabs...did you know that hermit crabs eat tree bark and coconut skins?
(4/10/06) Top Five List of Favorite Things at Corcovado Lodge Tent Camp:
1. Going to rivers
2. Making crab homes
3. Boogie-boarding
4. Making pools
5. Seeing scarlet macaws
Thanks, Chris! William says he's going to write a follow-up journal entry when we get home and that it will be a book before he's finished! I feel that way myself - there's so much more to say, but I'm out of time for today. I hope yet to talk Todd and Deb into a blog, but for the first time on our trip, a few of us have tricky tummies...it might have been the water we used to brush our teeth with at Corcovado or maybe it's something else, but in any event, whether it comes today or later, at least one more entry will follow to wrap things up.
We plan to repack tonight, in search of something to wear, but we are all out of clean clothes. Everything we now possess is stained, slightly damp, and rather revolting to smell. I even had to throw my bathing suit away two days ago. It hasn't been dry since we left six weeks ago, and I swear it had begun to grow mold!
We return to San Jose tomorrow morning and fly to Detroit tomorrow night. The Wilsons will then fly home to Traverse City early Thursday morning and we Chowns will drive back to Traverse City Thursday afternoon. In the meantime, thanks again to everyone who has taken the time to read about our trip. We appreciate your interest and concern equally! As Glen would say, hugs to all!
What a wonderful trip, full of adventures!!! I volunteer to come along and bring girls if you ever go again!!! I have 4 to contribute to the crowd! And I speak Spanish!!!
Linnea, mama to the A team, friend of Deb and Todd!
Posted by: Linnea Priest | April 14, 2006 at 06:27 AM