54 replies to this topic

[Jeff Searle]

Andrea and I decided to jump at the oppurtunity to visit Corcovado National Park while in Costa Rica for the biennial. This is an area that I always wanted to see, but in my previous visits to Costa Rica, I was never able to plan for a trip to this vast rainforest down in the OSA peninsula.
To get there, we took a 12 seater airplane ride down to a small town called Palmar Sur. From there, we boarded a small boat which we then took for a 2 hour boat ride on the Rio Sierpe to the mouth of the Pacific Ocean, then followed the coast line until we reached our jungle lodge.
Here's Andrea getting ready to board our flight.

Jeff

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[Jeff Searle]

This was the smallest plane ride for the both of us, which made for a very interesting and enjoyable flight. Here's a view out the window.

Jeff

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[Jeff Searle]

Another view.

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[Jeff Searle]

While we were on the boat enjoying our ride through the mangroves, our guide slowed the boat down when he spotted these very small bats clinging to this log over the water. They were smaller than the palm of your hand.

Jeff

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[Jeff Searle]

As we approached the beach, our boat captain did a great job navigating the boat through these large boulders to get us safely up on the beach. We finally arrived at Casa Corcovado.

Jeff

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[BS Man about Palms]

Go Jeff Go!! More pics!!

I miss you guys!

BS Man,
Ryans older brother...

[Jeff Searle]

This was our view of the beautiful lodge after we got off the tractor ride that brought us up the hill.

Jeff

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[Jeff Searle]

The bar where you could order all types of drinks and relax.

Jeff

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[Jeff Searle]

And the restaurant.

Jeff

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[Kim]

I've been awaiting your photos Jeff! Hope you have more, let's see them!

[bgl]

Jeff,
Between your thread and Kim's thread I'm getting an excellent picture of what the trip was like. And I regret not going! And you flew there in the exact same little Cessna 208, and took photos of it from almost the exact same angle!
Bo-Göran

[Jeff Searle]

One of the most abundant palms found in this forest is Asterogyne martiana. They were growing everywhere, but not really seeding at this time.

Jeff

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[Jeff Searle]

This beatiful palm trunk is Welfia regia. A palm theat thrives in wet,humid forest.

Jeff

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[Jeff Searle]

There were many,many massive trees growing in this park, some of which reportedly were well over 500 years old.

I might mention,Corcovado National Park is the last remaining Pacific lowland rainforest of great size in all of Central America. It has 13 different ecosystems, with almost 1,000 species of trees, and nearly 400 species of birds. Also, here in the park is the largest populations of tapirs, jaguars and scalet macaws.
Jeff

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[Jeff Searle]

This unusual flowering tree was not actually growing in the park, but right on the property line of the lodge's property I think.

Jeff

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[Jeff Searle]

Many bromeliads growing up in a tree.

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[Jeff Searle]

While out on a trail with our guide, we came across this little Eyelash Vipor snake. Not knowing at the time, we would later see another one on the trail in the Braulio Carrillo National Park during the biennial.

Jeff

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[Jeff Searle]

Red leaf of the Welfia regia palm.

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[Mike Evans]

Jeff, I was always looking at going to the Corcovado National Park while I was there, but it took too much time to drive close to it. I was going to stay at an eco lodge just north of Golfito on the Pacific coast. I pulled in, sweating, found out there is no AC, & decided to head north to Dominical. I can stand the heat during the day walking & working, but it was very humid during the night there. How did you fare with the overhead fans in your room at night? Was it comfortable? Good job trail blazer.

[putu enjula]

It's about time Jeff! What have you been doing?

Nice pictures! Thanks for sharing... more please!

[Jeff Searle]

Jeff, I was always looking at going to the Corcovado National Park while I was there, but it took too much time to drive close to it. I was going to stay at an eco lodge just north of Golfito on the Pacific coast. I pulled in, sweating, found out there is no AC, & decided to head north to Dominical. I can stand the heat during the day walking & working, but it was very humid during the night there. How did you fare with the overhead fans in your room at night? Was it comfortable? Good job trail blazer.

Mike,
Our accomodations could not have been better. We had cut flowers in the room each day, a spaciuos bed for two, and the ceiling fan was just fine. We also had hot water showers too. They even provided a flashlight and umbrellas for each room. Oh, and bath robes for the guest as well.They pretty much thought of everything. If you or anyone else ever gets the chance to go, please do so, it's well worth it.

Jeff

[Jeff Searle]

It's about time Jeff! What have you been doing?

Nice pictures! Thanks for sharing... more please!

Angela,
Thanks. I was alittle slow in getting my pictures up. But, after the biennial was over, we flew back into Fort Lauderdale and slept at the house and then with Judy and Jim Glock, we left the following midnight ( Sunday,Mother's Day) and took a flight out of Miami for Peru for the Post Tour( which I will do a thread on),we were there for 4 days and then came home. Then we drove down to Key West to go fishing and "to quench our thirst" for a long 4 day Memorial weekend. So, when I got back, I wanted to just chill several days and nights. May was a very busy month for me...... . More pics. to follow.

Jeff

[JakeK]

Jeff,

I hope you are going to post more photos. I took 9 rolls of film in just 3 days on the Osa, so I know you have to have more.

I'm not sure if you saw or know of the palm I'm about to describe, but I saw it on the Osa peninsula in the rainforest. It was an understory palmate palm. I wasn't able to get close enough to it to get a picture or a better description but it looked similar to pictures of Chelyocarpus dianeurus that I have seen but that palm is native to Colombia. Any thoughts?

btw, we just swept the braves!

[KONADANTOM]

Aloha Jeff and Mahalo for sharing the photos – I did Corcovado as the post-tour and have also been enjoying the photos posted by Kim, George and others on Kim’s separate thread.

To Mike and others who are wondering / concerned about how to cope with the hot and muggy weather in Corcovado – I followed the Resident Manager Luis’s tip and removed the mosquito netting from above my bed frame (there were no mosquitoes in my screened bungalow). Then each evening just before bed I tried something that helped me on those hot muggy nights when I used to live as a resident summer instructor at Boy Scout Camp in East Texas – I took a quick hot shower, waited for a few moments to drip dry without thoroughly towel-drying myself, and hit the bed with the overhead ceiling fan on. This really helps me feel cooler and doze right off to sleep on hot humid nights.

Dan on Big Island

[Jeff Searle]

Jeff,

I hope you are going to post more photos. I took 9 rolls of film in just 3 days on the Osa, so I know you have to have more.

I'm not sure if you saw or know of the palm I'm about to describe, but I saw it on the Osa peninsula in the rainforest. It was an understory palmate palm. I wasn't able to get close enough to it to get a picture or a better description but it looked similar to pictures of Chelyocarpus dianeurus that I have seen but that palm is native to Colombia. Any thoughts?

btw, we just swept the braves!

Jake,

Sounds like you covered alot of ground yourself. It would be nice if you could put some pics. up, but I guess thats pretty hard with film prints. But, I would guess maybe you saw a Cryosophila sp. there with it's palmate leaves. Just hard to go on with little other info.

Jeff

[Jeff Searle]

Aloha Jeff and Mahalo for sharing the photos – I did Corcovado as the post-tour and have also been enjoying the photos posted by Kim, George and others on Kim’s separate thread.

To Mike and others who are wondering / concerned about how to cope with the hot and muggy weather in Corcovado – I followed the Resident Manager Luis’s tip and removed the mosquito netting from above my bed frame (there were no mosquitoes in my screened bungalow). Then each evening just before bed I tried something that helped me on those hot muggy nights when I used to live as a resident summer instructor at Boy Scout Camp in East Texas – I took a quick hot shower, waited for a few moments to drip dry without thoroughly towel-drying myself, and hit the bed with the overhead ceiling fan on. This really helps me feel cooler and doze right off to sleep on hot humid nights.

Dan on Big Island

Dan,

Thanks for your comments. We also removed our netting the first night to be able to feel the fan over top of us. And we had no bugs what so ever inside our room. We then slept very comfortable every evening.

Jeff

[Jeff Searle]

Here's our guide showing us some bats. Sorry, I wish my pictures were better. But, you had to actually walk up inside this tree and squat down alittle and then look up over your head, and there they were.......basically right in YOUR FACE !! This was not a thing that most people were comfortable in doing to say the least.

Jeff

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[Jeff Searle]

One of many Bactris species growing.

Jeff

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[Jeff Searle]

A very nice Welfia again, these were everywhere.

Jeff

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[putu enjula]

It's about time Jeff! What have you been doing?

Nice pictures! Thanks for sharing... more please!

Angela,
Thanks. I was alittle slow in getting my pictures up. But, after the biennial was over, we flew back into Fort Lauderdale and slept at the house and then with Judy and Jim Glock, we left the following midnight ( Sunday,Mother's Day) and took a flight out of Miami for Peru for the Post Tour( which I will do a thread on),we were there for 4 days and then came home. Then we drove down to Key West to go fishing and "to quench our thirst" for a long 4 day Memorial weekend. So, when I got back, I wanted to just chill several days and nights. May was a very busy month for me...... . More pics. to follow.

Jeff

Ok I'll let it slide... this time!

[Kathryn]

Great pictures Jeff. I think I will have to plan another trip to Costa Rica sometime soon and Corcovado might be one of the stops. Looks like great accommodations. Thanks for sharing the pictures!

[Jeff Searle]

On one of the days hike, we zigged-zagged along the coast in the wet forest, and then a couple of times the trail came right out to the water's edge.

Jeff

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[Jeff Searle]

While staying at the lodge, these 5 young french visitors were there and also had an interest in hiking through the park each day. They were alot of fun, but they had lots of problems with the rubber boots on their feet. They all ended up with sores and blisters on their feet.

Jeff

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[Jeff Searle]

Another one of those neat trees that had a "sculpture" look to it.

Jeff

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[Jeff Searle]

One of the highlights of this whole trip to Corcovado was, that I got to see many (and quite old ones) Zamia fairchildiana's in habitat. I saw seedlings, and then very old plants with several feet of trunk. Probably the largest ones were 7-8' in height.You can see me in there for scale, as this was a "grandaddy" of a plant. I was in all my glory here!

Jeff

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[Jeff Searle]

Here's another very old plant. I saw only 3-4 female plants that were holding cones. All the other plants had no cones at all, male or female.

Jeff

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[Jeff Searle]

Sorry for the last post of the same plant. Anyways, here is one plant that I found that had 6 different heads to it. The most I have ever seen was one plant that had it's head chopped off, and then re-sprouted 2 different heads. This was pretty neat to see.

Jeff

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[Gbarce]

Freak of Nature.

But that six headed Zamia is pretty cool

[Jeff Searle]

On one of our hikes, we came across this waterfall.

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[Jeff Searle]

In the stream leading up to the waterfall, we came across this small croc. laying there.

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