Camping on the beach in Penninsula de Osa

I dont know how it manages to happen but this place seems to be getting better and better. When we got back from Panama we stayed at the Hostel Puerto Viejo and ran into a few old friends. We only stayed one night because my friends Brian and Ashleigh were coming down for 2 weeks and they were getting into San Jose the next day. We got on a bus the next morning, got into town and met up with them. That night we all decided to go out to a nice dinner so we treated ourselves to McDonalds, keep in mind I havent been able to get fast food for over a month.

The next morning we got on the 6:00 am bus and were off to the Osa Penninsula. It was an 8 hour bumpy bus ride over the mountains and through the jungle. We finally arrived in a little town on the coast called Golfito. From there we caught a 30 minute fairy ride over to the town of Puerto Jimenez on the Osa Peninsula. As we were on the boat we Kept noticing that there was a school of dolphins playing in our wake all the way over. When we arrived we couldnt have been more excited . We were in the most biodiverse place on the planet and we were already seeing really cool animals all over the place. That night we waited out a one hour monsoon and finally decided to go get pizza at a highly recommended place. The pizza ended up being some of the best pizza we have ever had and I even ran into my old friend caroline from Belgium that I met in Panama. That night we all decided to call it an early night because the next day we were off to Corcovado National Park.

The next few days are definitely one of the major highlights of the trip. We arrived in Carate, a tiny village on the western side of the Penninsula, after a 3 hour 4wd truck trip that took us through countless rivers. We got our packs and started walking down the beach towards the entrance of Corcovado. We set up tents right on the beach and couldnt help but notice that the waves were bright blue with a hypnotizing consistency. That day we saw monkeys, snakes, scarlot macows and many many other things. The next day was going to be Mikes birthday but we knew we were only going to be able to get a warm dinner on that night so we went out. Daisy, a very nice local, prepared us a gourmet chicken dinner wrapped in banana leaves. She also served us herbs and a fresh salad from her organic garden. After dinner we decided to go have a bonfire on the beach and finish off the bottle of rum. We sat around the fire drinking until we polished off the bottle and then decided it was a good time to see sea turtles. Drunkily we stumbled down the beach and actually got to see a large Green Turtle about 5 minutes into the walk. There is no denying that this was one of the best days of my life.

Unfortunately I cant say any of us had as good of a morning. We all woke up very hung over and needed a little time to recover. When we finally really woke up we talked to some locals who guided us in the direction of some very good trails that were off the beaten path. We spent the day hiking through lush jungle while we watched for animals. We saw many things but one of the highlights was a group of spider monkeys that didnt take a liking to us. They started shaking the tree to make fruit fall on us along with everything else they were throwing. The kept yelling at us and chasing us along the tree tops for about 150 yards. That night we camped on the beach again.

Im finally caught up to today. After being woken up by the Howler Monkeys, which caused me to see an amazing sunrise, we packed up and got ready to take the 8am 4wd trip back to Puerto Jimenez. Were back in town and just got a huge lunch. Im pretty sure the plan for tonight is to get a few beers, go back to the pizza place and call it an early night. Tomorrow we leave on the 5 am 10 hour bus ride back to san jose to meet my parents so we can travel to Montezuma together. Penninsula de Osa is the most beautiful and sirene place I have ever been. It has a higher diversity of life and contains more endangered species then anywere else in the world. I had the ability to see animals that were on the verge of extinction. This morning I promised my self that at one point in my life I would make my way back down here, but for now its time to focus on making my way to Montezuma which I have heard nothing but good things about. Thanks again for reading and I hope everyone is healthy and happy back home!