Early this morning National Geographic Sea Lion arrived to Golfo Dulce, a beautiful deep-water gulf located in the southwest of Costa Rica. It had rained the night before and was still a bit overcast, so the morning stretches with our wellness coordinator Amy took place in the lounge.
Right after breakfast, with a very fresh morning, we began the exploration of Casa Orquideas Garden. This magnificent garden has a well maintained collection, not only of tropical fruit trees but also bromeliads and orchids, many of them in full blossom. Some of us wanted to see in detail the different flowers’ structure, while others were more into the great diversity of birds that visit the garden. Scarlet macaws, green honeycreepers, and red-legged honeycreepers were undoubtedly some of the most colorful birds we saw today.
Back on board we had the chance to refresh in these calm waters by swimming from the fantail. While having lunch, we weighed anchor and cruised to our next destination. We enjoyed our voyage with some pantropical spotted dolphins swimming alongside and surfing the waves created by the ship.
After repositioning to Golfito, a former banana plantation harbor, we split in two groups. Some explored the mangroves in kayaks and ended the activity by having a cultural visit to a local bar. For those who wanted a calmer experience, the exploration was done by Zodiac cruises. Among the animals we saw were green iguanas, yellow-crowned night herons, royal terns, sandwich terns and other seabirds.
We closed our visit to Golfito after clearing customs and began cruising while the sun was setting, ready for new adventures.
