Day 5: Rio Esquinas & Casa Orquideas, Golfo Dulce

Highlight of the Day:

We woke up as we passed the border into Costa Rica.
A small group of dolphins swam with the boat, gliding elegantly through the water.
We anchor at Golfo Dulce, a bay with lots of fresh water brought in by the rivers.

After breakfast, we could choose between kayaking or a 2 hour zodiac cruise. We choose the latter and were greeted by another group of resident dolphins.

First, we cruised along the shore before entering the river. Here, Mangroves which protect the shores from erosion are endangered – cut down by fishermen who raise shrimp, harvested to produce charcoal, burned by developers who want to build even more beach houses…

We saw a little blue heron, snowy egret, a rainbow boa all curled up around a tree branch, star lilies (very similar to our spider lilies), helioconias, beautiful palm trees, another boa and a group of the endangered squirrel monkeys. Boas are constrictors but not truly dangerous.

Snowy Egret

A tiny lizard.

A boa constrictor (rainbow boa) hanging in mangrove branches

Squirrel monkeys!

Another boa, also curled up on a branch low above the water.

In the afternoon, we made our first landfall in Costa Rica at Casa Orquideas, a privately-owned garden accessible only by boat and special invitation. Ron and Trudy Macallister have lived here since the 1970’s and created a botanical garden full of colourful tropical trees and exotic plants including many species of orchids.

All the sudden it started to rain – it took only minutes until we were soaked to the skin. We saw a profusion of orchids, tropical plants, spices such as pepper, nutmeg, allspice, and fruit trees such as star fruit and mangoes and a coco tree.