Today National Geographic Quest arrived at the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica, one of the most pristine tropical rainforests in Central America.
We landed in the beautiful private preserve at Caletas Beach and offered different activities, from power hikes that extended for more than 3.5 miles along the coast to horseback rides that the Costa Ricans use as their local transportation.
We also took the guest on short beach strolls and long walks to the beautiful rainforest behind the property, enjoying the wildlife sightings along the way. We saw spider and howler monkeys swinging from the canopy of the forest, moving in large troops around the property.
Spider monkeys need extensive areas of forest to be able to meet their diet and one of the places that they can be seen is here in this region.
Some guests were thrilled after observing raids of army ants passing through the forest devouring all kinds of arthropods. One of the greatest things to see is the birds that follow the army of ants. We saw at least six species of birds that oftentimes join the ants.
Later in the afternoon we visited the national park and hiked to the waterfall trail. Many of us got into the waterfall pool after a great hike—it was a great reward and very refreshing! In this pristine area we again saw spider monkeys, and on the way back to the ship we spotted more wildlife, including white-faced capuchin monkeys.
We had an amazing first day in the beautiful paradise of Costa Rica.
