We were determined to get up early and be active on this vacation. So even after a tiring and at times stressful day of traveling to the Osa Peninsula we rose early on our first full day at El Remanso to have breakfast and do some hiking.
The lodge at breakfast was not as crowded as dinner. Most guests staying at the resort busied themselves with an assortment of early morning activities ranging from the Zipline jungle canopy breakfast at 5:30am to an early walk down to the beach to sit in the tide pools at low tide - usually just after 6am. We shared our early breakfast with a toucan (no, not Froot Loops) but kept it simple. We had a full morning planned.
Our first hike was the Carrabianca Trail that would lead us past 3 waterfalls. Our hope, of course, was to see as much wildlife as possible. From the very beginning we saw plenty of rainforest creatures. Our descent down towards the creek that would later produce waterfalls took us past a resort-owned cabin that must have been treating garbage or had food available for animals on the resort grounds because when we passed this building at the start of our hike we came across several Coati and Turkey Vultures feeding nearby. The Coati are animals that are a cross between a racoon and a monkey. They have long striped tails and are also scavengers. The Turkey Vultures are, of course, also scavengers and both species disappeared into the forest as we approached. Coati travel in small packs. We enjoyed watching them gradually disperse upon our approach. In addition to mammals, we saw many unique trees and other plantlife unique to the rainforest. The most fascinating of which were the walking trees. These trees literally walked gradually in search of superior sunlight and growing conditions. The distance covered in a year's time was only 1 meter or so. The trees were not heavily grounded by their roots as it was the roots that effectively functioned as their legs which enabled them 
to walk. We also saw many other large rainforest trees some of which were as h igh as 100-200 feet. These ancient trees were supported by enormous buttresses who themselves functioned as habitats for insects, bats and other small forest creatures. Garlic Trees were some of the common tree specimens that we witnessed with these buttresses.
The waterfalls we saw on this hike were quite serene but nothing compared to the wateralls we would rapel down later! There were 3 waterfalls that we hiked past this morning ranging in height from 15 feet to 30 feet tall.
After the hike on the Carrabianca Trail we took a shorter hike on the Pasiflora Trail. As the name might suggest this was a common place to find Passion Flowers and a popular trail despite its being very short. There were some flowers on this trail but not as many as we had anticipated.
The heat of the region was starting to bother us by the time these hikes were over and when we returned to the lodge area headed straight for the pool and relaxed there until lunch.
After lunch we plowed ahead for our Rapelling trip and met our two guides and 6 neigbors on the resort. The guides were very nice and helpful. They helped us don the appropriate gear and taught us how to position our bodies when we began our descent ("Lean Back!"). There would be 4 waterfalls in all ranging in size from 15-20 feet tall to 70 feet tall. While intimidating at first, rapelling was something we were able to get used to after the first two. By the time we arrived at the 70 foot waterfall we felt like we were professionals. This was the same waterfall that hikers and resort-goers would gawk at and here we were rapelling down it. Kind of hard to fathom but a great experience. This Waterfall Rapellling trip began on a short yet steep trail which led down into a ravine where we met up with the creek that we followed out to the beach. After the rapelling and associated hiking, our trip had made us tired so we were not interested in hiking back up to our cabin along the very steep Beach Trail. Following a brief break however, we forced ourselves to tackle the trail and we returned to our cabin.
Our second dinner there and we could already tell that the service was exemplary. While they couldn't quite get my allergies straight, the attention to detail and promptness of service scored very high marks for them. Vegetable Tostadas were on the menu tonight (local only choices, please!) and they were delicious.
After dinner at 9pm, we found ourselves to be very tired at this point. Although we were getting used to after dirnks at the bar after dinner we were very tired and went to bed most nights around 9:30pm or so. Another factor that could have impacted our decision to stay up or go to bed was the dense thick blackness of nighttime on the resort. El Remanso was nearly pitch black at night by 6pm so 3 hours later we had no problem going to sleep.
The lodge at breakfast was not as crowded as dinner. Most guests staying at the resort busied themselves with an assortment of early morning activities ranging from the Zipline jungle canopy breakfast at 5:30am to an early walk down to the beach to sit in the tide pools at low tide - usually just after 6am. We shared our early breakfast with a toucan (no, not Froot Loops) but kept it simple. We had a full morning planned.
Our first hike was the Carrabianca Trail that would lead us past 3 waterfalls. Our hope, of course, was to see as much wildlife as possible. From the very beginning we saw plenty of rainforest creatures. Our descent down towards the creek that would later produce waterfalls took us past a resort-owned cabin that must have been treating garbage or had food available for animals on the resort grounds because when we passed this building at the start of our hike we came across several Coati and Turkey Vultures feeding nearby. The Coati are animals that are a cross between a racoon and a monkey. They have long striped tails and are also scavengers. The Turkey Vultures are, of course, also scavengers and both species disappeared into the forest as we approached. Coati travel in small packs. We enjoyed watching them gradually disperse upon our approach. In addition to mammals, we saw many unique trees and other plantlife unique to the rainforest. The most fascinating of which were the walking trees. These trees literally walked gradually in search of superior sunlight and growing conditions. The distance covered in a year's time was only 1 meter or so. The trees were not heavily grounded by their roots as it was the roots that effectively functioned as their legs which enabled them 
to walk. We also saw many other large rainforest trees some of which were as h igh as 100-200 feet. These ancient trees were supported by enormous buttresses who themselves functioned as habitats for insects, bats and other small forest creatures. Garlic Trees were some of the common tree specimens that we witnessed with these buttresses.The waterfalls we saw on this hike were quite serene but nothing compared to the wateralls we would rapel down later! There were 3 waterfalls that we hiked past this morning ranging in height from 15 feet to 30 feet tall.
After the hike on the Carrabianca Trail we took a shorter hike on the Pasiflora Trail. As the name might suggest this was a common place to find Passion Flowers and a popular trail despite its being very short. There were some flowers on this trail but not as many as we had anticipated.
The heat of the region was starting to bother us by the time these hikes were over and when we returned to the lodge area headed straight for the pool and relaxed there until lunch.
After lunch we plowed ahead for our Rapelling trip and met our two guides and 6 neigbors on the resort. The guides were very nice and helpful. They helped us don the appropriate gear and taught us how to position our bodies when we began our descent ("Lean Back!"). There would be 4 waterfalls in all ranging in size from 15-20 feet tall to 70 feet tall. While intimidating at first, rapelling was something we were able to get used to after the first two. By the time we arrived at the 70 foot waterfall we felt like we were professionals. This was the same waterfall that hikers and resort-goers would gawk at and here we were rapelling down it. Kind of hard to fathom but a great experience. This Waterfall Rapellling trip began on a short yet steep trail which led down into a ravine where we met up with the creek that we followed out to the beach. After the rapelling and associated hiking, our trip had made us tired so we were not interested in hiking back up to our cabin along the very steep Beach Trail. Following a brief break however, we forced ourselves to tackle the trail and we returned to our cabin.Our second dinner there and we could already tell that the service was exemplary. While they couldn't quite get my allergies straight, the attention to detail and promptness of service scored very high marks for them. Vegetable Tostadas were on the menu tonight (local only choices, please!) and they were delicious.
After dinner at 9pm, we found ourselves to be very tired at this point. Although we were getting used to after dirnks at the bar after dinner we were very tired and went to bed most nights around 9:30pm or so. Another factor that could have impacted our decision to stay up or go to bed was the dense thick blackness of nighttime on the resort. El Remanso was nearly pitch black at night by 6pm so 3 hours later we had no problem going to sleep.
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