Costa Rica's Osa Peninsula:
An Ecological Wonder
Where
is the most likely place in Costa Rica you will see a jaguar?
The Osa. A humpback whale? The Osa. Scarlet Macaw? The Osa.
A near perfect granite sphere unearthed in a misty forest?
The Osa. Osa means "giant anteater" and you might
see one of these here in the largest coastal rainforest on
the Central American Pacific.
Like
any frontier, the Osa seems vast, stretching away into unknown
places. A dark green forest covers steep hills with views
of the blue ocean from the peaks and ridges reaching to over
2000 feet. Nestled into massive river swamps and looming,
verdant slopes lies the huge Corcovado National Park as well
as the Matapalo rain forest.
Golfo
Dulce, the sweet gulf, bathes the East Coast of the peninsula
and the open Pacific pounds the western beaches. The northwest
shelters Drake Bay, the northeast holds giant mangrove forests
and huge river mouths, and offshore rises lush Caño
Island.
You
can fly to the Osa in less than an hour from San José
and be worlds away from civilization, landing at a grass strip
in a cut in the woods to be whisked away to a secluded paradise.
Crocodile Bay Lodge offers guests
all this from one of Costa Rica's few upscale nature lodges.
Even if
you have ten years, don't expect to see all the life that
resides in the 1000 or so species of hardwood trees. Scientists
speculate that here some individual rainforest trees may even
harbor their own unique insect species.
What Corcovado
is to biodiversity, the waters surrounding Caño Island
National Park and the Osa are to productivity. Fish so thick
it’s more like fog and you lose sight of your dive buddy
right next to you. Fish so thick that the mate on the boat
will most likely still be reeling in fish when you're too
tired to do anything but sip and watch. Below Caño's
and the Osa's waves are coral reefs, rock pinnacles and rolling
plateaus that humpback whales like so much they are here all
year. One hundred manta rays might swim by in tight formation.
Pacific white tip sharks might pass close enough to touch.
Here, barracuda swim in schools the size of small clouds.
The Osa
holds much more still… like the largest mangrove forest
on Central America's Pacific, accessible from the river town
of Sierpe. The lost treasure of Sir Francis Drake is perhaps
hidden on the rugged Isla Violin that rises high out of these
swamps. The Golfo Dulce on the Eastern shore of the Osa is
the deepest tropical gulf in the world. Whale sharks coming
here to give birth is just one of the mysteries revealing
itself from the depths of this calm, flat-water wonderland.
The Osa
is also home to one of the oldest and most mysterious indigenous
cultures in Cost Rica, the sphere makers. Who made these giant
granite sculptures aligned throughout the Osa is unknown.
The incredible
diversity and productivity of the Osa results from the meeting
of two hemispheres and two continents. A mix of currents,
ocean waters and nutrient rich river waters from the highest
drainage in Central America, the forested Talamanca mountains,
give birth to countless fish and marine life. Countless adventures
are available, to find out more call us toll free at
1-800-733-1115.
