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View of Golfo Dulce

Corcovado National Park is probably the most famous of Costa Rica's parks after Monteverde/Santa Elena, but it is also one of the most remote. It sits at the point of a peninsula that juts out into the pacific forming a gulf called the Golfo Dulce, or sweetwater gulf. It is reputed to have the best variety of birds and in particular a large population of scarlet macaws. We weren't quite sure what scarlet macaws were, but figured if they were famous we'd certainly like to see one. Gerry's preoccupation was parrots. He had missed the parrot that Jan saw at Tikal and wanted very much to see one in the wild. One of those two hopes would come true.

Palm Fruit Harvest

Close-up of the Palm Fruit

Getting to Puerto Jimenez involved yet another adventure on unpaved roads. Periodically we add up how much punishment we have put our Escort through. The total number of miles is not high (Gerry: how many?) but they stick in the memory. The drive to PJ started out pretty well. The first part of the road was paved to the top of the Golfo Dulce was mostly paved though studded with sometimes large potholes. En route, we stopped to admire the piles of palm fruit by the roadside. It was obviously harvest season. We stopped again just before the end of the paved road to check out a small set of cabins on the inland shore of the gulf. It was already past two in the afternoon — we like to be settled in as early as possible — but this place didn't fit the bill so we drove on, switching from part pavement to a graded dirt road. And then the heavens opened. Visibility was very low making it hard to avoid the odd ditch and water-filled pothole, but we persevered and an hour later, as the rain eased, we drove into Puerto Jimenez and stopped at the Iguana Iguana Cabins. They were simple but spotless and the room had a private bathroom albeit with a cold water shower.

Cabinas Iguana, Iguana, Puerto Jimenez

On our first full day, we contented ourselves with walking a couple of kilometers out to a five-star fishing lodge, where we got to see this great iguana. We also got a case of sticker shock when we learned the prices for five-star sport-fishing tours. Waaaaay beyond our little budget.

Iguana with neat ridge back at Crocodile Bay Lodge

On our second day, we had hoped to go to Corcovado, but we learned that the road was unpassable for our car and did we want to risk leaving the car unattended for the two or three days we would need to see the park? We decided that we did not and instead took a walk from Puerto Jimenez to a nearby village called Dos Brazos. We had learned that the fishing lodge we had visited takes people up there to do bird-watching. We hitched most of the way there and walked most of the way back and all in all had a very pleasant day in spite of the good soaking we got. To repeat the obvious we were well and truly in rainy season and it rained buckets every day we were in PJ. Just past Dos Brazos we got a glimpse of a rain-forest lodge called Rio del Bosque. Like most such lodges it offers a complete meal plan as well as lodging. To get to it you had to wade through thigh-high water. We filed the name for later reference.

Tortoise Sun Bathing

Unidentified Bird Let us know if you recognize it!

We walked back through the village and headed along the road to Puerto Jimenez. Gerry had just remarked on the fact that he wished he could have seen a parrot in the wild when we both heard a squawking high up in the trees, and then spotted a pair of long-tailed birds flying across the path about 100 yards away. Gerry said “They’re parrots.” I couldn’t tell what they were, but the squawking hadn’t stopped and so on we went looking around for what was making the awful racket. Suddenly Gerry pointed over my head and there, very close to us was a bird. It was a big bird, like the ones we had seen at the entrance to Copan in Honduras as well as in a hotel in Chichicastenango. It wasn’t very high up and so we got good views with the naked eye. Shortly thereafter, the bird flew away without Gerry having been able to take photos because of the now light rain. A little later, the rain stopped and we heard more squawking and finally found a pair of the same birds, high up in the trees but on an open branch. They were either squabbling, or mating, or maybe just playing. At times they would both hang upside down, wings spread, squawking at one another and making lunges that may have been embraces! Gerry managed to get some pictures and some video of the pair and with the binoculars I got a spectacular view of them, especially when they spread their wings and the red, yellow, and blue of their wings became visible. We were both very pleased and thought that was a very good consolation prize for having missed the expensive tour of Corcovado. Later we identified the birds for sure as scarlet macaws.

Scarlet Macaw near Dos Brazos

Scarlet Macaw Close-up

The next morning we retraced our steps in glorious sunshine around the Golfo Dolce and back to the Interamericana (Panamerican Highway). The drive back seemed much simpler because we knew what to expect and, of course, we didn't have to contend with driving rain. We still found time to check out a little bit more of the local wildlife.

Another Adorable Iguana

Luxury Boat on Golfo Dulce