During our sleep last night, National Geographic Sea Lion arrived and dropped anchor in Drake’s Bay, on the southwestern coast of Costa Rica, and then very early this morning we woke up and set up for a pre-breakfast excursion into the Agujitas River deep inside the bay, by boat. We love mornings, and it was indeed a fantastic morning! The fresh air blowing in our faces as we sailed in our exploration boats to the mouth of river, with magnificent views of the sunrise peeking over the forest and in the distance the Isla del Caño. Once in the pristine river, as we meandered through it, every turn offered an even better site: tall dense green forest on both sides of the river, full of mysterious calls. The water of the river was so clear that we could easily see schools of fish swimming by and then suddenly the overwhelmingly loud calls of the well-named howler monkeys nearby. At the Agujitas River we had good views of the howler monkeys at the top of the trees where the sunrays of the sunrise where just beginning to touch the forest.
There is indeed no better way to start a day!
By late morning Caletas Reserve provided horseback riding and hiking activities along with a delicious meal outdoors prepared by our hotel department.
For the afternoon National Geographic Sea Lion repositioned for our afternoon activities to nearby Caletas Point and the Corcovado National Park.
At Caletas we had a delicious picnic lunch, in Corcovado a refreshing swim by a waterfall, and in both places great walks where we observed a lot of wildlife such as the acrobatic spider monkeys, and the elusive great Curassow: a large turkey-like bird that prefers the forest floor. Due to its size and quality of meat, it has become rare and elusive elsewhere, but is doing well in this protected park.
We had a great day! Very active, full of fun and interesting things to see.
