After navigating for close to 120 nautical miles, National Geographic Sea Lion arrived to the calm waters of the Golfo Dulce, in Costa Rica; a unique accident of tropical plate tectonics which created a very deep gulf (close to 700 feet), by the spreading apart of micro plates. In temperate regions, such deep water gulfs are created by glaciers and named fjords. Golfo Dulce is known to be the only tropical fjord in the Americas because of the impressive depth of it waters, which host an ample number of marine creatures from sea turtles to whale sharks and many dolphins.
As the sun was rising behind the mountains of Golfito Town, our captain was pulling us close to the dock in order to clear customs; it was our official entering to Costa Rica. After all was accomplished, we pulled away from Golfito, which used to be an important banana town in the early 1900s, under the wing of the United Fruit Company back in the days. Today, Golfito is a tourist and fishing town.
After a short navigation the anchor was dropped in front of a lush rain forest with no more than a little sign saying “Welcome to Casa Orquideas,” a gorgeous and manicured garden with pebbly trails and hundreds of flowers, trees, orchids, ferns, bromeliads etc. to admire. We divided into different groups focused on photography, plants or birds. For a couple of hours we admired the colors, shapes and textures of nature. Around mid-morning we all were back on board, waiting to hear Cristian, our fearless expedition leader, saying that the fantail was open for swimmers. What a pleasant surprise, to take a dip in the tropical waters of this gulf, surrounded by a towering rain forest and scarlet macaws flying over our heads….what a treat!
But the day had more to come. In the afternoon the ship repositioned to Esquinas River, in order to do some kayaking through the mangrove forest or inflatable cruises up the river. Mangrove ecosystems are not accidents of nature; they are natural barriers against strong tides and waves. They belong to several different plant families but they all have in common their adaptation to saltwater and brackish environments, like mouth of rivers, estuaries and deltas. The guests who went on the inflatable cruises were able to see the mangroves plus many different herons, ospreys, kingfishers and two species of snakes; one was a rainbow tree-boa and the other a bird-eating snake, both hanging from vegetation. On the other hand, the kayakers were able to relax at their own pace and be up-close and personal with nature.
After we were all back on board, the sun was setting over the horizon with great hints of a colorful sunset…the perfect closure for our first day in Costa Rica.
