We closed at the end of August due to the Puerto Jimenez Airport undergoing modernization and resurfacing. That is the rainy season in the Osa Peninsula, anyway, so not too many visitors come at that time. Puerto Jimenez is a small town of under 2000 and the upgrade of the airport is both for safety and recognition that the Osa Peninsula is a increasingly popular place to visit. We are very excited about reopening Crocodile Bay Resort, and looking forward to greeting friends, old and new.
We have retiled and painted the pool and made upgrades to the Swim-Up Bar. The water is always warm and relaxing, as you would expect in the tropics. Water temperature in the Golfo Dulce is in the low 80’s, too. If you listen you might hear birds, or frogs or crickets. The pool has steps across the shallow end for easy entry and slopes to over your head depth at the other end. On one side are stools in the water at the sunken bar, so you don’t have to stand with your drink. Around the pool are chairs, recliners and umbrellas for shade. Nearby are shaded hammocks if you just want to sink into a short nap.
Our pool has a quietly babbling waterfall and if you spend a little while there you might see a Basilisk Iguana run across the pool on his hind legs. Above the waterfall is our hottub, big enough for a small party, on the “second story” so you can enjoy the view of your garden surroundings while you soak. The best views are the parrots, parakeets, and macaws that flock and chatter above near sunset before they retire for the night.
We have three new exciting Ecotours to bring the total to 29 adventures! All of them start at our front door with our own personnel, in our own vehicles. Any outdoor activity you can do in Costa Rica you can do at Crocodile Bay. Well, the only thing we don’t have is a volcano and that’s ok with us.
The first new ecotour is The Monkey Tour. The Osa Peninsula is the only place in Costa Rica with all 4 native monkey species, the Howler, the Capuchin, the Spider and the Squirrel Monkeys. This tour is especially for those who are coming to see these and other magnificent mammals. We go to the areas of the edge of the rainforest where they go to find food.
For those coming to see The Corcovado Rainforest, that is now a separate tour from the Monkey Tour. Actually, we have a number of rainforest tours – because our Staff will customize a rainforest tour to your physical abilities and what you are most interested in seeing. There are dozens of breathtakingly unique areas of the rainforest that we can take you to, so why not take you to exactly what your vision is of the rainforest? If you want the most physically demanding tour, or if you want to see the rainforest but need help getting around, either way, we will make a tour for you. Our Guides are professionals who have lived in the rainforest a good part of their lives if not all, and worked for the best lodges in the area where they got their training before coming to Crocodile Bay. Our Ecotour Director, Alberto Herrera, has extensive training in conservation, agrology, forestry, environmentalism and sustainable development. You can read about our efforts in ecology at our new Eco-oriented website, http://www.costaricaecotour.com/
Alberto tells me that if guests want to see the real rainforest, they will go to the primary rainforest on real trails. The focus will be to learn about the ecosystem, not only monkeys. Yes, you will probably see animals, birds and insects, all sorts or plants and trees. There are so many different things to see; you never know what will appear, such as sloths, agoutis or coatis and other common mammals that might be in the area. The rainforest is dark and mysterious, quiet, regal and the cathedral of nature. There is no one else walking around, except for the insects, plants, birds, mammals, fungus all synergistically interacting with each other and there to be seen and enjoyed by humans.
The second new ecotour is the Osa Palmas Canopy Tour, which we now will use as an alternate to the Miramar Canopy Tour. I think it is great to have a second Canopy Tour because swinging through the rainforest on a cable is a rush of adrenaline and fun like Evel Knievel must have felt flying over those buses on his motorcycle. It is almost like flying but without having to risk a Darwin Award, if you know what I mean. We use one or the other depending on how the roads and weather are looking that day because while the Miramar has a few more stations, the road to the Osa Palmas is definitely an easier and more reliable one to travel. Nevertheless, the great thing is that there are two, because if you love Canopy rides, you will have a change of scenery and variety on the second tour.. Both can be enjoyed by all ages, are half-day ecotours and we’ll take you to them early in the a.m, in the afternoon, or at night - imagine flying from tree to tree at night like Batman going from building top to building top in the black of night!
The last new ecotour is the Marine Turtles Tour. We have been involved for years supporting turtle research and ecology efforts. There are three species in the Golfo Dulce and Pacific Ocean around us that have breeding grounds; the Hawkbill, the Olive Ridley and the Leatherback Ocean Turtles. It is a common sight when fishing inshore to see a sea turtle come up for air and go back down into the ocean. It takes a sea cruise to get to the breeding grounds and the boat leaves at 6pm from our dock and returns about midnight.
This tour is only offered in December and January, the breeding season.
That’s the new news, and we’ll have more when we have it. In the meantime, send me any questions you might have about Crocodile Bay and Costa Rica and I will be glad to answer them promptly.
No comments:
Post a Comment