The British edition of National Geographic dedicated this week an extensive report on the Osa Peninsula, south of Costa Rica. The article that was published this past Monday and is entitled Poisonous arrow frogs and peccaries or wild pigs: how to see the rare fauna of Costa Rica in the Osa Peninsula.
The publication of National Geographic occurs in the same week as the magazine Hola! published another special on Costa Rica. But in this case, the majesty of the quetzal and beautiful places in Los Santos, Orosi and Cachí stood out.
Corcovado park in detail
The Corcovado National Park was established in 1975 with an approximate territorial extension of 45,914 hectares. The park is home to 2.5% of the world’s biodiversity. There are tapirs, peccaries, bull sharks, water cock and grenadier turkey, jaguars, pumas, ocelots, giant anteaters and white-faced, congo, red and squirrel monkeys also live, as well as scarlet macaws and white sparrowhawks.
There are two versions about the origin of the name “Corcovado”: the first talks about the shape of a rock that is located on the beach, which has a curvature similar to a hump. Hence, people began to refer to the site by that name. Another version points to the shape of the river, since in its routes it makes different curves, similar to a horse when it bucks (jump, get scared).
Corcovado takes your breath away
The article recounts the experience of Jamie Lafferty, who was in the area in the company of a guide, with whom he had a series of adventures.
This is what he says:
“Of all the wild places in Costa Rica, the national park and the Osa Peninsula are perhaps the most untamed. “Before I arrived, everyone I talked to about them used words like ‘magical’ and ‘paradisiacal’ when describing this largely inaccessible piece of land on the southwestern coast of the country”.
“I am staying at the Lapa Rios Lodge, one of Costa Rica’s pioneering ecolodges, just outside the park boundaries. It is a hotel with a luxury price, but the animals frequently visit for free. On several occasions, as I walk from the restaurant to my room, I come across pig-like peccaries, yellow-throated toucans, and poison-throated frogs”.
“There are also many birds of prey; this is a place where the eagles can go out whenever they want, but they never register. Walking through the park proper – a bumpy hour-long drive from the lodge – the number and variety of animals has increased excitingly.”
The article closes with his encounter with a giant anteater, which moves peacefully through the park, while the sky is filled with multi-colored macaws.
