Manuel Antonio National Park & San Josecito Beach
Well, today we really opened the national park as the Sea Voyager anchored at a mysterious bay, surrounded by lush green vegetation. Our first hikers got to the beach even before the sun was up! “Long hike walkers ready to go,” our naturalist Isa called out. We had two different options with which to explore the area: a long steep hike to the top of Cathedral Point and an open, easy trail crossing the park.
Manuel Antonio Park is one of Costa Rica’s most famous beach areas, composed of three long strands of magnificent white sand. It is also one of the best parks for wildlife sightings. Among the different walks we got to see white-throated capuchin monkeys, long-nosed bats, Central American agoutis, white-nose coatis, basilisk lizards, ctenosaur or black spiny iguanas plus many different species of birds. White-throated capuchins are omnivorous, which means they eat everything that is in the way, and in this picture we can really tell how much we resemble our fellow primates. Out of the four species of monkeys we have in Costa Rica, this is the one best known for using a variety of tools to get it food.
Around 9am we rushed back to the Sea Voyager to get food after a great combination of exercise and learning experience. The ship started cruising southwest to the Osa Peninsula area, and during our sailing time we had the amazing luck to spot a mother humpback whale with her calf - WOW - no better word will describe the feeling of seeing these marine mammals! We watched them come up to breath a couple of times before finally disappearing into the depths.
The afternoon offered several options for our guest’s tastes: birdwatching, snorkeling, swimming, kayaking, hiking or just relaxing on the black sandy beach. Whichever options were chosen over this first day of our trip we had a great blend of knowledge, wildlife spotting, exercise and the most importantly, the first day of a great cultural exchange, ice breaking and the beginning of nice friendships.
Well, today we really opened the national park as the Sea Voyager anchored at a mysterious bay, surrounded by lush green vegetation. Our first hikers got to the beach even before the sun was up! “Long hike walkers ready to go,” our naturalist Isa called out. We had two different options with which to explore the area: a long steep hike to the top of Cathedral Point and an open, easy trail crossing the park.
Manuel Antonio Park is one of Costa Rica’s most famous beach areas, composed of three long strands of magnificent white sand. It is also one of the best parks for wildlife sightings. Among the different walks we got to see white-throated capuchin monkeys, long-nosed bats, Central American agoutis, white-nose coatis, basilisk lizards, ctenosaur or black spiny iguanas plus many different species of birds. White-throated capuchins are omnivorous, which means they eat everything that is in the way, and in this picture we can really tell how much we resemble our fellow primates. Out of the four species of monkeys we have in Costa Rica, this is the one best known for using a variety of tools to get it food.
Around 9am we rushed back to the Sea Voyager to get food after a great combination of exercise and learning experience. The ship started cruising southwest to the Osa Peninsula area, and during our sailing time we had the amazing luck to spot a mother humpback whale with her calf - WOW - no better word will describe the feeling of seeing these marine mammals! We watched them come up to breath a couple of times before finally disappearing into the depths.
The afternoon offered several options for our guest’s tastes: birdwatching, snorkeling, swimming, kayaking, hiking or just relaxing on the black sandy beach. Whichever options were chosen over this first day of our trip we had a great blend of knowledge, wildlife spotting, exercise and the most importantly, the first day of a great cultural exchange, ice breaking and the beginning of nice friendships.
