We were now on day 4 of our tour of Costa Rica, and we were on the road again, this time down the pacific coast to our next hotel, Crystal Ballena, a beautiful hotel near Uvita with great birding. We broke up the journey with a stop at Quepos for lunch and a brief spell on the beaches of Manuel Antonio. After a days driving and eating we finally got to our destination, checked in, and enjoyed this top class hotel which is perched up high on the jungle lined slopes, with jaw-dropping views of the Pacific Ocean. Cocktails were the order of the night and we got stuck in, whilst enjoying the facilities. In the morning of day 5 the group split up as some of the girls wanted to go horse riding, while the rest of the lads wanted to go to a nearby waterfall called Nauyaca, a place I had never been myself.
On the way to the waterfall we came across a Spectacled Owl that had most likely just been hit by a vehicle. Really sad to see as only 2 nights ago we had seen a pair at Arenal, but Jesse our guide picked it up and took it back to the hotel to bury it and give it a good send off. It was interesting to see its features up close.
Jesse with the dead owl.
The walk to Nauyaca is pretty epic. Having just come from the higher altitudes of Arenal, to the imposing heat of the pacific coast, it took quite a bit of adjusting. That, and the 6 mile walk over undulating hills, really took it out of us and we were more than ready to jump in the waterfall. An inquisitive group of Capuchins came in really close to check us out on the way up and enabled us to get some decent shots.
We finally arrived at the falls and it was way more beautiful than I was expecting. I had never seen a picture so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it was huge and powerful, especially with it being rainy season. After an hour swimming around like an absolute beginner, we faced the brutal walk back to the van. In fact, half way through we paid a local entrepreneur, in a make shift taxi, to take us to the top of the hill. A real cop out, but well worth it.
After the waterfall we met up with the horse riders and went to the beach for a great meal by the sea and witnessed a stunning sunset with cold beers. Some of the group managed to buy some of the very special masks made by the Boruca tribe. They are extremely light and have intricate detail, consisting mainly of birds and mammals.
Day 6 and we had an epic adventure at sea in store. We had a full day boat tour from Uvita out to Caño island in the pacific ocean, followed by a stop at San Pedrillo Ranger station in Corcovado National Park. The journey itself was brilliant, a super fast speed boat flying over the waves at high speed really got everyone going. The driver wasn’t messing around and we were there in no time. Just before we got there we saw two birds resting on a floating log. The captain went closer to them and it turned out to be a Nazca Booby floating along with a Brown Booby, random. The Nazca was a lifer for me and a pretty difficult bird to see in Costa Rica. It doesn’t even make the Costa Rican Bird Field Guide.
We moved on and arrived at the dive site, where we all geared up and bailed out and snorkelled the waters around Caño island. Visibility was quite poor, the water a little rough and it started raining pretty heavy, so it wasn’t the greatest snorkelling experience but we all cracked on like troopers and enjoyed seeing Rays, Turtles and a whole host of different fish. My personal favourite thing was this huge shoal of fish just circling around, seemingly aimlessly.
Back on the boat and we were off to see Costa Rica’s top national park, Corcovado. We aimed for San Pedrillo Ranger station where we did a bit of a beach landing and had the chance to dry off and reset ourselves while the boatmen prepared lunch for us in a shelter out of the rain. After a cracking lunch we walked the trails around the station. First up was a lovely Northern Tamandua, one of my favourite Costa Rican animals, and one that I had missed out on seeing earlier in the trip. The walk was quite short-lived really as we still had a long way to go to get home so we only had a couple of hours to explore, so we only saw relatively common birds like Bare-throated Tiger-heron, Black Hawk, Crested Guan, and Black-hooded Antshrike. I have been numerous times to Corcovado and it can be a tricky place to visit as there are no proper lodges, only basic ranger stations where day trips are the norm. One day I will come back and stay for a while with some hardcore camping gear and penetrate a bit more deeply into the park.
Northern Tamandua at San Pedrillo Ranger Station
Back on the boat and back on the open ocean for the final leg of the journey back to Crystal Ballena. We were blasting back at breakneck speed when all of a sudden the girls at the front shouted whale!!! It wasn’t whale season, but they spotted a whale breach out of the water in the distance. The captain had a look and weighed the situation up. I could see his cogs ticking on whether he had time or not. He then thought, let’s do this and floored it towards the whale. We eventually caught them up and had some really good views of a mother Humpback Whale with her calf. Breathtaking!
On the way back the heavens opened and everybody got absolutely soaked to the bone. It was quite refreshing if you were nowhere near the front, which looked like a brutal wetting. The captain did some excellent finishing manoeuvres on arrival back in Uvita where he surfed the waves on the beach at speed, followed by a little spin which really got the adrenaline going. A super day out!
Day 7 and we had Manuel Antonio in our sights. It’s a funny old park. If you read the write ups for this place you probably wouldn’t want to go looking for wildlife there as it is extremely popular, and busy, and full of all types of people, from general tourists to serious wildlife watchers. You would expect wildlife to run a mile, but it doesn’t and is very visible everywhere and it’s all within a stunning setting. The monkeys are the cheekiest monkeys of all time, and are quite comical how they parade around terrorising everyone, trying to steal their food. We saw plenty sloths, White-backed puffbird, an abnormal amount of stripe-throated hermits, Central American Squirrel monkeys, Howler monkeys, White-tailed Deer, Coatis, and 2 young Fer-de-lance coiled up near the picnic area. It is easy to see how these deadly snakes cause so many problems in Costa Rica. If the park officials hadn’t cordoned the picnic area off then you would probably be having lunch with a highly venomous snake at your feet.
We enjoyed a swim in the ocean at Manuel Antonio to round off the day and then had a lovely meal in a strange restaurant that was made out of a B52 bomber. From there we had great views of Central American Squirrel Monkey, Boat-billed Flycatcher and Fiery-billed Aracari. That concluded our stay at Crystal Ballena and the Pacific coast in General. It is a wonderful hotel that I would highly recommend and will be returning to soon myself. Keep your eyes out for the next photo blog where we go higher in altitude to the cloud forests of San Gerardo De Dota to pick up the specialist highland species.
Thanks for reading and please sign up to my newsletter for more wildlife related blogs and photography: