Quite likely the furthest south we will ever go, further south than some parts of South America...we are the yellow dot in southern Costa Rica...
All seems quiet at Tucan Terra...but it was not a restful night of sleep for our first night there. The house has half walls, just netting above those walls in the bedrooms, and a metal roof. So jungle noises, the crashing surf, the occasional loud bang of a coconut falling on the roof (or an animal jumping on it) and the thought of iguanas, lizards, and geckos crawling around....well lets say it took us one night to get used to sleeping in the open air of the Osa jungle.
And then at 5am-ish every morning, the natural alarm clock of the howler monkeys, loud enough to sound close by, but not that easy to see.
So time for some coffee, made with the traditional choreador since there is no Proctor Silex coffee maker here....
And we head out for an early morning walk along Cabo Matapalo road.....right into our first sighting of a Scarlet Macaw...
The Scarlet Macaw used to be found throughout Costa Rica but now resides only in a few places but they are plentiful in the Osa. So plentiful that they are known - not entirely affectionately - by the locals as "Rainbow Crows". They are as raucous as the crows we have back home - their "crawk" sounds easily heard as they fly overhead.
One of their favourite foods are almonds, and they have beaks that are powerful enough to break through the green shells to get the nut inside...but they are picky, there were always plenty of unopened shells on the ground below them, with only a curved cut to show a macaw had given it a try and rejected it...
Like crows, they didn't seem to be concerned about us humans, but then they were fairly high up in the trees so our zoom lens camera helped to get an up close look at them.
We would continue to see - and hear - scarlet macaws throughout our 4 days in the Osa. They were certainly a bucket list item for us to see so to see them so soon after our arrival was a real treat.
So we headed back to the house to enjoy some coffee by the ocean...
with some of our new neighbours...a common black hawk...
and a juvenile green iguana...
some interesting flora on the property too..
Later, we spend some time on the beach...can you tell that this young man was born a couple of blocks away from the Pacific Ocean?.....Cory can watch ocean waves for hours....
The nearly-deserted beaches at the furthest southern tip of the Osa Peninsula...
As we walk back towards the house...we come across our first encounter with one of the species of monkey in Costa Rica...the white-faced or capuchin monkeys...
They were named by the early Spaniards after the Capuchin monks, who wear robes similar to the monkey's colouring...we spot one behind a tree...
and another nearby having a rest...
Capuchins are highly social, travelling in groups and communicating with vocalizations, eye contact and body language, always looking around for the rest of their troop, and sometimes looking fearful of a more dominant troop member...
They have prehensile tails, meaning they use them to grip and they certainly have hands and feet that can grip!
mmmm....tasty!
hey guys...wait for me!
OK, go ahead, take my picture but make sure you put me on your blog, ok?...
Here, let me get closer...
This one looked like the matriarch or patriarch of the troop...grizzled and wise naturally....keeping an eye on everyone...so we decide to move on...
and just a few minutes later, still on Cabo Matapalo road not far from Tucan Terra, way up in the trees, Spider Monkeys!
Yes, there is a spider monkey up there...way up there...right in the middle...see?...look closely..
ok, he jumped just to make sure we could all see him..
let's get a closer look at him...spider monkeys are very mobile and acrobatic...with classic Tarzan swinging on the vine moves..using their prehensile tails....
And they are fast, moving quickly in the tree tops, across our path and back around behind us, and then gone.....all to that wonderful roar of the crashing ocean waves just a few feet away....
So we continue our walk back to Tucan Terra, where our home owner and neighbour, Van - who moved here from Bellingham, Washington, which is just across the border here near Vancouver, over 20 years ago - tells us that the capuchins are visiting his place and invites us over to feed them. We know it isn't completely right to feed wild animals and we usually don't, but this time, it's a once-in-a-lifetime experience and it's pretty hard to resist these cute little beggars. Van grows bananas on another property and keeps a supply on hand so the Capuchins have grown accustomed to being fed bananas here.
they even look at you right in the eyes as they gently - ever so gently - take the piece of banana from your hand....
looks like he's thinking it over whether he should take another piece or not...
oh yep, go for it...
before that other guy gets it...
thanks Cory!
So most of the time, those Capuchins look pretty docile, and harmless....
but at other times....now that is some body language! Lookit those teeth!
And this magical day in Costa Rica ends as it started....but with new experiences that only the Osa can offer.
If you enjoyed our blog, please leave a comment, you don't need a google account to do so. We'd love to hear what you think.
Tomorrow..... Let's Go Surfing Now, Everybody's Learning How, Come On A Surfari with...Cory!
Thanks Anna! it's a pleasure to help you plan your trip...you're gonna love Costa Rica!
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