We woke up before the sun this morning to start our full-day hike. We had to leave our hotel by 5am in order to meet at the local panaderia by 5:15am. Once we arrived, we could immediately tell this was the meeting spot for tour groups based on all the spotting scopes. There were about a dozen people outfitted and ordering food for the day trips and overnights! We ordered two breakfast pastries to enjoy on our 2-hour drive and two different sandwiches to have for our lunch break during our hike.
We met another couple (from Poland) outside the bakery that we soon realized would be in our group (it ended up just being the four of us). Right at 5:30am we spotted Rodolfo walking our way from his nearby office with another man he introduced to us as Carlito, our tour guide for the day!
We left soon after and began our 2-hour drive to the national park, following Carlos the entire way. The road was unpaved and pretty bumpy…not to mention the numerous river crossings, so 4×4 is definitely recommended to reach this national park from Puerto Jimenez. Before embarking on this drive, we knew there would be river crossings, but to our surprise many of the rivers had new bridges. There were only three or four rivers to be crossed and some of them had bridges currently being constructed. Though we only had a few river crossings, the height of the rivers often depends on rainfall, so plan accordingly.
On our way to the national park, we passed dozens of beautiful blue morpho butterflies, and even a few birds of prey! As we got closer to the national park entrance, Carlos took a quick turn and before we knew it, we were driving down an old airstrip…pretty cool!
He stopped and mentioned we could park right off of the airstrip for free (though unattended), or follow him a bit further to a parking area that would cost $5 and have a watchman looking over our car…we opted to pay for parking just to be safe.
We all got out of our cars and started our hike through the secondary rainforest to La Leona Ranger Station. We would be hiking about 3.5km each way to get to the ranger station. Almost immediately, we were met with a river crossing, so we recommend having waterproof hiking boots, water shoes or an extra pair of sandals to change into (otherwise you’d have to take off your shoes and cross the river barefoot). Once we got past the rivers, we walked into the rainforest to try and track down some unique flora and fauna.
Corcovado is home to all four of Costa Rica’s monkey and sea turtle species. It is also home to some of the larger mammals of Costa Rica, including some pretty amazing felines. The trail was pretty muddy and Carlos found fresh Tapir footprints…so we slowly followed the tracks, but couldn’t locate it.
Further down the trail, Carlos found a bat hanging in a strangler fig tree! It still amazes us how these guides can find the smallest animals in these dense rainforests.
Since heading out from the parking area the air had been inundated with macaw calls, but once in the park we stopped to take a closer look at them through Carlos’ spotting scope.
We soon realized that it’s just as important to look up in the trees as it is on the ground. There’s so much happening above us…and really all around us. After admiring the macaws, Carlos spotted a juvenile black hawk and Joey spotted a yellow-throated toucan!
The first section of the trail ended as we reached private grounds that ask hikers to continue walking on the beach until reaching the ranger station. There was a small river that flowed into the ocean (our second river crossing). We saw another group a few hundred meters ahead wade through the water, but our guide found a fallen tree that conveniently stretched across the river, which we used it to cross the river.
Once we reached La Leona Ranger Station, we took a much-needed break…the first part of the hike was pretty strenuous, and that was just to reach the station! The ranger station had bathrooms and drinking water where we refilled our water bottle. It is important to note that the national parks in Costa Rica does not allow people to bring in plastic bottles, so make sure to bring a reusable water bottle! Also, there are no trash receptacles, so everything you take into the park needs to be taken out with you when you leave the park.
The 3.5km hike to La Leona Ranger Station simply marked the beginning of our national park exploration, so after a quick break at the station, we began on the Sendero Rio Madrigal (Madrigal River Trail).
On this trail we saw so much wildlife, some of which we hadn’t seen before…like spider monkeys and even a Northern Tamandua (a species of anteater)!
Along the trail, we saw a large Coati family that didn’t seem to mind our presence. The adults we looking for food while the juveniles we playing with each other…it was so cute!
After about two hours on this main trail, we took a break along the beach to enjoy lunch. After lunch we planned to begin the trek back our cars.
At this point, Carlos told us that we had walked about 8km already, and we were definitely feeling it…keep in mind this was just the halfway point! After fueling up with a nice lunch, we got back on the main trail to begin our return trip. We kept our eyes peeled for more wildlife along the way because you never know what you’ll see…even along the same trail! We saw so many more macaws and spider monkeys above us, but the most unique animal that we saw was a crested owl! Carlos spotted the owl from so far away…we still don’t know how he did it!
After a long day of hiking through dense rainforest, we finally made it back to our car. This was probably the longest hike we’ve done as a couple, and it was quite the challenge! Though we made it back to our car, we still had a long and bumpy road ahead of us.
We got back into the town of Puerto Jimenez a bit quicker than we expected, and had definitely worked up an appetite. Before going back to the hotel, we decided to stop at Rapi Ricos to get some dinner para llevar (to-go). We ordered an empanada, a taco, and casado con pollo! While we were waiting for our food, Joey spotted so many parakeets in the fruit-fill rambutan tree next to the restaurant.
When we got back to our hotel room, we devoured our dinner…what an adventure! Tomorrow, we’ll be leaving the Osa Peninsula and making our way to the tallest mountain in the country, Cerro Chirripó…so stay posted!