This expedition cruise takes you to the heart of Costa Rica and Panama.
“ Shhhhh ! fast ! ” exclaims vet Costa Rican natural scientist Conrad Weston as he frown his opera glasses and slinks into the damp rainforest with the reflex action and vigour of someone half his years . Silent - musical mode camera in hand , the marvelous , lankybirdercaptures an image of the clean - throated shrike tanager . He is inanimate with inflammation over pick out this odd yellow - chested bird , which lark black wing and a fan - alike buns , in Costa Rica ’s Corcovado National Park .
accord to theNew York Times , the white - throated shrike tanager is among the tropical timber inhabitants that have lose more than a third of their world home ground since 2001 . “ This is n’t a difficult Bronx cheer to see if you ’re in the right place , ” Weston severalise me afterward . “ Getting to these places is what ’s unmanageable . ”
Weston is one of theexpeditionguides accompanying a troupe of just 33 voyagers , myself included , cruise theCentral Americancountry ’s Pacific coastline aboard Australian - basedAurora Expeditions ’ shipGreg Mortimer . We ’re the only group exploring this stretch of Corcovado , having arrived by panga boat at San Pedrillo , one of six ranger station responsible for for sectors of the Mungo Park . Situated on the Osa Peninsula in southwesternCosta Rica , Corcovado is the nation ’s largest internal park . To maintain its pristine ecosystem , park authorities apply strict controls on visitor numbers . These vary between ranger station and are review sporadically , but somewhere around 100 multitude can visit each sector daily between about 7 am . and 4 post-mortem examination . All boats must be registered and wreak all over the part , Weston say . you could also only chaffer Corcovado with a certified guide .
A tour boat passenger captures a photo of a white-throated capuchin monkey hanging from its tail on the shores of Gatun Lake, part of the Panama Canal system.|Photo by Carlo Raciti
It ’s precisely this commitment to bear on the natural environment and wildlife that ’s constitute the body politic as a pioneer ecotourism destination . Costa Rica is home to about 6 % of the macrocosm ’s metal money , including more than 6,700 leatherneck , 900 bird , and 250 reptile coinage . The National System of Conservation Areas ( SINAC ) manage the nation ’s electronic internet of protected areas , namely interior park , wildlife refuge , and other conservation zones . It mainly regulates sustainable tourism within these areas , and through quislingism with local communities and tour operators , get to safeguard the environs . A share of ecotourism revenue is then reinvested in protect areas .
“ Corcovado is consider among the most important and participating places in the world in terms of biodiversity , ” say our templet José . Here alone , there are more than 256 razz species , 52 type of mammals , and more than 10,000 insect species , he notes . “ The animals do n’t see us as a terror , ” José continues , amid a chorus of sing - song Bronx cheer calls . “ They recognize we are n’t going to attack them so they just see us as part of the woodland . ”
The Osa Peninsula is one of the few places in Central America where Panthera onca are still found . deliberate a mainstay species , the selection of jaguars is critical to the wellness and resilience of the bombastic ecosystem . According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature ’s Red List of Threatened Species , jaguars are near - threatened globally and critically endangered in Costa Rica . But their elusiveness make it unmanageable to figure their numbers . It ’s believed there are between 15,000 and 75,000 left in the wild worldwide . “ I ’ve see 50 individual jaguars are left in Costa Rica , but it ’s grueling to know , ” says Weston .
Swimmers enjoy a beach in Costa Rica’s Puntarenas province.|Photo by Carlo Raciti
refer after the fearless Australian good deal climber who co - establish the expedition cruise company with his wife Margaret , the 341 - foot , 132 - passengerGreg Mortimeris navigate from Costa Rica to Panama . to begin with in the 13 - mean solar day journey , we spent a few hours exploring Manuel Antonio National Park in Puntarenas province on Costa Rica ’s central Pacific glide . In demarcation to Corcovado , there were legion groups submit tours . At 683 hectare , Manuel Antonio , found in 1972 and open year - cycle daily except Tuesdays , is the nation ’s humble but well - recognize home commons . dim tropical rainforest , white - sand beaches and myriad wildlife draw up to 1,200 daily visitors , who can get at only 30 % of it . Notably , in May 2023 , Costa Rica ’s constitutional courtroom order the number of visitant be cut by one-half to reduce the environmental impingement .
Entering the park , I felt a little heaviness in my chest as I breathed in the thick tropical air . At around 89 degree Fahrenheit , the air temperature was unendurable , the 84 % humidity making matters even worse . Our brows glistening with perspiration , we followed our guide Henry along the track , which is flat , making it approachable and wheelchair - friendly . With so many fellow visitors , I enquire if we ’d see any fauna and remembered Weston ’s first onboard briefing . “ hoi polloi come to Costa Rica and say , ‘ I want to be there , ’ ” he told us , show a mural teeming with carmine macaw , jaguars , ocelots , and toucans . “ Not gon na happen . ” What he stand for was we should n’t look to be surround by animals , Dr. Dolittle - dash .
Equipped with a powerful cathode-ray oscilloscope used for spotting wildlife , Henry paused every 30 feet or so , his ears attuned to the slightest sounds and movements of the woods . espy a Robert Brown - throated , three - toed laziness , whose shaggy-coated browned coat serves as brilliant camo , gently making its way through the woods canopy , he offered a close - up view . “ It ’s not often you ’ll see a tree sloth on the move , ” Henry said of the arboreal leaf - eater that move at about a foot per second through treetops . “ For a sloth , this is sprint speed . ”
Australian-based Aurora Expeditions ship Greg Mortimer seen off Costa Rica’s Golfo Dulce.|Photo by Carlo Raciti
Just off the trail , a white - tailed deer stood frozen , eye widened and ears pricked . “ There must be a predator deeper in the copse , like an panther cat or jaguarundi cat [ a aerodynamic dark-brown wild cat ] , so she ’s listen , ” Henry explained . Occasionally stamping the primer with a single hoof in an attempt to ward off her enemy , she paid us no attention . “ homo are n’t viewed as a predator here , ” Henry pronounce .
Manuel Antonio is Costa Rica ’s most democratic park because there ’s a great mint of wildlife concentrate in a small-scale area , Henry explained , as he point out a toucan . “ They ’re quite mean with other bird species because they slip their eggs and eat them , ” he say .
Further along , a white - nosed coatimundi , which resembles a mixture between an anteater and lemur but is a racoon relative , crunched on pod , brush aside us . Another coati scuttle up a tree with Spider - adult male - like ease . And we heard thigh-slapper monkeys long before we saw their silhouette swing out across the rainforest canopy .
A white-nosed coatimundi peers through the brush at Manuel Antonio.|Photo by Carlo Raciti
Our next destination was Golfo Dulce ( “ sweet gulf ” in Spanish ) which , like Corcovado , is on the Osa Peninsula . After do landfall at Saladero Eco Lodge , place within Piedras National Park , we thread amid palm trees line the argent moxie beach . A sign warned of falling cocoa palm , a disturbingly common cause of fatalities . But walk through ground occupy with flowers and Mangifera indica and avocado trees , I was convinced we had arrived in Eden .
meet our warm - welcoming naturalist guideGerson Cedeño Sequeira , we enter on a trek into the wet tropic hobo camp . “ Someone enjoin they see a snake here this morning time , so keep an eye out , ” Sequeira warned . No snakes , but we did see a strikingly - pattern caracara , an strange member of the falcon family , seat on a coconut palm palm perch search for target . Toward the end of the hike , expeditioner Gabby asked that we pause . “ Let ’s be soundless for a min so I can record the sounds of the rainforest , ” she said . Without the distraction of human voices , a fresh din of bird calls discover itself . We could discover a manlike trogon call out “ coo coo coo coo ” and an aracari toucan ’s echoing chirp in the aloofness . “ The trogon belong to a vast family line of birds , and it include one of the most beautiful birds of the near tropics — the quetzal , ” Gerson explained . “ This is a paradise for hoot . ”
That afternoon , nautical life scientist and conservationist Phoebe Edge run a Zodiac cruise on the calm , blue-green weewee of the 656 - foot deep tropical fjord , one of just four in the human race , in search of bottlenose dolphins . shortly enough , we found a fuel pod alimentation . Edge , who serves as music director of environmental NGOOsa Ecology , dipped a mike into the water so we could listen in on their conversation — a serial of trill , grunts , and screaky doorway - eccentric sound .
Naturalist guide Gerson Cedeño Sequeira spots birds at Saladero Eco Lodge, within Costa Rica’s Piedras National Park.|Photo by Carlo Raciti
Anchors aweigh , and we were off to Panama . easily know for its famous canal , Panama has only recently start out to showcase its fat biodiversity and taken stride to protect it . turn its aid to sustainable tourism ontogenesis , the Panamanian government has put indigenous and rural communities front and center of initiative to draw conscientious , adventure - seeking travelers . In Coiba National Park , a UNESCO World Heritage Site off the body politic ’s southwest coast , we snorkeled amid corals near the remote Pepito isle . Despite drizzly weather , we spot Moresque idols , surgeonfish and parrot Pisces the Fishes . Off Coco islet , a span of green turtles press well over 220 pound flapped past us , one with a fin missing but no less nimble .
Mission Blue Foundation classifies Coiba as one of 161 Hope Spots , an initiative that name and seeks to safeguard areas of the reality deemed critical to supporting maritime life and the wellness of the world ’s oceans . Like realm animals , marine creature are always on the move . Numerous mintage , such as sharks , migrating humpbacks and sea turtles , go through through the Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean . When they ’re within the boundaries of devil dog protect domain ( MPAs ) , they ’re comparatively dependable . But when they ’re between MPAs , they can lessen dupe to unsustainable sportfishing practices . Panama ’s decision to dilate the Cordillera de Coiba MPA to three times its current size of it , hit the edge of the country ’s Exclusive Economic Zone and two Colombian MPAs means that migrating marine animal will be well protected .
It ’s no co-occurrence the godmother and namesake ofGreg Mortimer ’s baby vessel is renowned oceanographer and Mission Blue founding father Sylvia Earle . With more than three decades of expedition experience , particularly in Antarctica and the Arctic , Aurora Expeditions considers environmental education paramount to its foreign mission , strive to educate voyager about the challenge facing the delicate environs that its ship visit . On our expeditiousness , expert like Weston and Edge delivered in - depth lecturing to set us for every land- and ocean - base risky venture and followed up with detailed interactive debriefings on what we ’d just find . Weston recounted entertaining tales of how he bring off to capture figure of Panama ’s rare national bird , the imposing harpy bird of Jove , “ It showed up in the unseasonable minute , in the wrong light . But I see it dribble a thigh-slapper monkey , ” he say .
A sloth high up in the tree tops of Costa Rica’s Manuel Antonio National Park.|Photo by Carlo Raciti
During a introduction on ocean turtles , in which Edge mentioned the impact of discarded plastic straws on these ancient mariners , she said , “ If every single one of us changed a fistful of things in our day - to - solar day use , it would make a vast divergence . ”
Panama truly proved to be a Book of Revelation . As Weston remark during one public lecture , Costa Rica has deal to “ promote itself better ” as an ecotourism name and address , but its southerly neighbor is also brimming with rare wildlife you wo n’t see anywhere else . manoeuver out on gravy boat to explore Gatun Lake , which forms part of the Panama Canal system , I was surprised to discover just how many species call it home . Our sea captain guide close to a bank building so we could get a closer face at mischievous white - throated capuchin monkeys swinging in the trees . “ Do n’t show your tooth ; they view it as an act of aggression , ” Edge say of the omnivore whose dieting includes everything from fruit to iguanas .
In a neighboring gravy holder , capuchin which , together with chimpanzee are regard the human race ’s smartest primates , bounced on the roof as passenger toss them bananas . Weston , however , made it light that feeding capuchins was bete noire to efforts to insure Panamanian wildlife stay on angry . The aspect underscored the challenge Costa Rica and Panama face in striking a balance between save the countries ’ natural wealth and the insistency touristry places on vulnerable habitat .
As we crossed the Panama Canal , Panamanian scout Jean Maurice Posner orient out an American freshwater crocodile that appeared to have made one of the watertight locks his home . In Central America , where wildlife - spotting can go on in the most unlikely place , I was relieved to be viewing the reptile whip its tail in the water system from the fore of an expedition ship .
