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| A Central American Squirrel Monkey at our Lodge |
Osa Peninsula
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| Google Maps |
With under 9,000 inhabitants, Puerto Jiménez, where we would fly in, is the largest town on the Osa Peninsula.
Because of its remoteness, logging started on Osa only in the 1960s. By 1975, there were plans for a major international logging operation. Researchers petitioned President Daniel Oduber to protect the area, which he did by making it a National Park. For this he received the Albert Schweitzer Award from the Animal Welfare Institute.
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| An ancient tree |
There are still some 400 illegal miners who threaten the land by using more destructive modern mining methods. It is estimated that 38 percent of the park has been exploited by gold miners.
Illegal logging is not frequent, but is problematic because the trees that are removed are scarce and essential to the ecosystem.
Today the Osa Peninsula is a popular ecotourism destination because of its phenomenal biodiversity; it is home to at least half of all species living in Costa Rica.
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| An Orange-chinned Parakeet |
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| Osa from the air |
Our Itinerary
The plan from PIB said that we would be visiting Corcovado National Park during our visit. But, much to our disappointment, we did not.
We had originally been scheduled to have a different guide than Nito and I think this misstep had something to do with the guide change. When we asked Nito why we weren’t going and pointed out the listing in the itinerary, he was genuinely surprised. The disappointment was compounded by the fact that, on multiple occasions, Nito told us how wonderful the Park is and said, “You really should visit.”
I do understand that one of the typical ways to get there is a very long and very hot hike and I don’t think all our group members were up for that. But apparently, there is also a boat that can take you there. So, the disconnect between the agenda and the tour was a negative.
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| It would be easier if we could just fly there |
But, that doesn’t mean we didn’t have a good visit, because, in general, we did.
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| Sometimes you have to shoot from the van |
We had one day with no transportation. The van we had was small with windows that wouldn’t open and doors that had to be opened from the outside, so that made the times we birded on the road difficult. Still, we managed to see a lot.
Here’s what we did while at Osa:
Day 1: Fly into Puerto Jiménez from San José aboard a small and very cozy plane (as in, you cannot stand up and walking down the “aisle” is a challenge), where we were met by Nito.
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| Left, the cockpit on our Sansa flight; Right, Susan deplanes in Puerto Jiménez |
Day 2: We took two hikes: one in the morning that took us to the ocean and one in the afternoon that took us into old-growth forest. It is possible that we actually set foot in the National Park here; I think we did.
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| A Black-striped Woodcreeper in the old-growth forest |
Day 3: We went out in the van for birding along many of the drivable roads on the Peninsula. You could torture me and I probably couldn’t tell you exactly where we went, but we passed farms, went to a beach shrouded in mangroves, birded from a bridge over a river ...
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| A Great Antshrike near the "birding bridge" |
... and spent some time in Puerto Jiménez. I think we did pretty much every place along the Osa Peninsula roads.
Day 4: We birded on the Lodge grounds and then drove to Puerto Jiménez to drop off two of our members who had an earlier flight back to San José. Then, we birded and had lunch in town before getting on our flight back to San José.
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| The Puerto Jiménez runway (it's a very, very small airport) |
Osa Verde BioLodge
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| Map: Osa Verde BioLodge |
Our accommodations were breathtaking. We stayed at the brand-new Osa Verde BioLodge, which was built by Osa Conservation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting the globally significant biodiversity of the Osa Peninsula.
One of Osa Conservation’s research “BioStations” is about a quarter of a mile away.
Osa Conservation built the Lodge after having multiple requests from ecotourists to stay on the premises. We were the first group of actual tourists to stay there. Before, all the visitors had been scientists and government employees who had business with the research station.The Lodge Runs on 100 percent renewable energy and all the profits support Osa Conservation’s restoration and conservation efforts.
The Lodge has just a few duplexes strung out along a ridge that looks down to the ocean. The rooms are huge with an equally huge deck that sports nice wooden furniture and a hammock.
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| My private deck |
Each room has two beds, a desk ...
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| This is just half the room |
... and a large bathroom with an indoor and an outdoor shower. The indoor shower is open to the outdoor one, so that takes a little getting used to. But, it was lovely.
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| I want! |
My bathroom had a gorgeous Harpy Eagle mask as decor. Had they had a store, I would have bought one. Other rooms had other decorative masks. From what I saw, the Harpy was the best.
The rooms were not air-conditioned, which bothered some of our group. However, they had two powerful ceiling fans, which made them quite comfy. You just had to be careful not to leave any papers lying around or you'd probably lose them all.
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| The shelves had real animal skulls |
The windows all had industrial-strength screens and the heavy doors to the outside and to the bathroom were the kind that slam if you don’t carefully close them. I assume that was to keep bugs and other critters (Monkeys!) out.
Still, the rooms had a pretty large and interesting assortment of bugs. At least I didn’t have any scorpions like Michael and Neil did.
Joyce has a Bat that spent every day in her shower. Apparently, the Bat had been working its way through all the duplexes.
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| Mexican/Lesser Sac-winged Bat |
Meals were served at a beautiful long wooden table on a deck overlooking the jungle and beyond to the ocean.
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| The jungle |
Immediately below the deck were plants that attracted Hummingbirds ...
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| CW: Male Blue-throated Goldentail, two shots of a female Blue-throated Goldentail; Male Charming Hummingbird |
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| Tiger Longwing Butterfly |
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| Long-tailed Skipper |
All day long, we could see long lines of Brown Pelicans ...
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| Usually, they flew north, but sometimes they went the other way |
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| Colorful birds in flight |
... as well as occasional raptors and parrots.
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| A very back-lit Yellow-headed Caracara |
We also saw a really cool Common Basilisk just hangin' by the dinner table ...
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| A beautiful adult male Common Basilisk with his fins-back and crest |
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| Adorable |
… and White-faced Capuchin Monkeys …
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| Awesome |
... and, the sound of Howler Monkeys was common.
Lodge Grounds
The Lodge had lots of wildlife, so just hanging around was rewarding.
I already mentioned the Hummingbirds and Butterflies, but we also saw Blue Dacnises and Scarlet-rumped Caciques …
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| Left, female and male Blue Dacnis; Right, Scarlet-rumped Cacique |
... Red-legged Honeycreepers …
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| A male and female Red-legged Honeycreeper |
... Black-striped Sparrows …
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| Enjoying early morning sun |
... And Yellow-throated Toucans …
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| Frequently in the trees above us |
Plus, Nito took me to the edge of the property to show me a Common Pauraque he had discovered nestled in the leaves (presumably nesting).
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| They don't build nests; they just lay eggs on the ground |
This weird-looking nightjar has extraordinary camouflage; Nito found it only because he saw its eyes reflecting at night.
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| Maybe it's just me, but she didn't seem happy to see us |
Plus, Nito showed me some Sucker-footed Bats (that's what he called them; I believe they are Spix's Disk-winged Bats) that were sleeping in a rolled-up leaf right outside the door to my room. They are among a very small number of bats that have suction cups rather than claws on their wing tips.
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| Letting sleeping Bats lie |
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| Nito showing Heather and Michael the Bats |
But the coolest thing about the Lodge were the Monkeys.
Squirrel Monkeys
The Central American Squirrel Monkey lives just in the northwestern tip of Panama near the border with Costa Rica and the central and southern Pacific coast of Costa Rica, primarily in Manuel Antonio and Corcovado National Parks.
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| Watching from the canopy |
A small Monkey, adults reach only 10 ½ to 12 ½ inches in length, not including the tail, which adds an additional 14-15 inches. Males are about 16 percent larger than females. Squirrel Monkeys have the largest brains of all primates relative to their body size.
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| See the loooong tail draped over the branch? |
Unlike Costa Rica’s other Monkeys, the Central American Squirrel Monkey does not have a fully prehensile tail, except as a newborn, and the tail is primarily used to help with balance.
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| Taking a break from feeding |
Squirrel Monkeys have an omnivorous diet. They eat mainly fruit, but also consume insects and insect larvae (especially grasshoppers and caterpillars), spiders, nuts, leaves, bark, flowers, nectar and small vertebrates, including bats, birds, lizards and tree frogs.
It finds its food foraging through the lower and middle levels of the forest, typically between 15 and 30 feet up. Two-thirds to three-quarters of each day is spent foraging for food.
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Feeding in the trees |
The Squirrel Monkey has a unique method of capturing tent-making bats. It looks for roosting bats by finding their folded-leaf tents, climbing to a higher level and jumping onto the tent from above. If a dislodged bat does not fly away in time, the monkey pounces on it on the ground and eats it.
The Squirrel Monkey is an important seed disperser and a pollinator of certain flowers, including the passionflower. While it is not a significant agricultural pest, it does sometimes eat corn, coffee, bananas, figs and mangoes.
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| Perching in the canopy |
Predators include raptors, wild cats and snakes. The oldest males bear most of the responsibility for detecting predators. When a Monkey detects a raptor, it gives a high-pitched alarm peep and dives for cover. All other Squirrel Monkeys that hear the alarm call also dive for cover.
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| They give alarms for any raptor-like object, including small airplanes and falling branches |
Raptors are dangerous to newborn Squirrel Monkeys; only about 50 percent of the babies survive, primarily because of raptor predation.
Squirrel Monkeys live in large groups that typically contain between 20 and 75 monkeys, with more females than males.
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| Monkey paw |
With one of the most egalitarian social structures of all monkeys, females do not form dominance hierarchies and males do so only at breeding season.
Arboreal and diurnal, the Squirrel Monkey most often moves through the trees using its four legs to travel and its tail for balance.
Although South American species often travel with and feed together with Capuchin Monkeys, the Central American Squirrel Monkey only rarely associates with the White-headed Capuchin. We saw both kinds in the same trees, but not at the same time.
Certain bird species associate with the Central American Squirrel Monkey, preying on insects and small vertebrates that the Monkeys flush out. This includes Double-toothed Kites, Gray-headed Tanagers and a variety of Woodcreepers, Motmots and Trogons.
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| His view of a Capuchin |
A noisy critter, this Monkey squeals, whistles and chirps.
An Infant Squirrel Monkey remains dependent on its mother for about one year, riding on her back as she jumps through the trees.
The Central American Squirrel Monkey population declined precipitously after the 1970s because of deforestation, hunting and the pet trade. It is listed as Endangered.
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| A family group (with the infant on Mom's back) |
Capuchin Monkeys
The White-faced Capuchin Monkey, which lives in in Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama, is the same Monkey that you’ve seen as an "organ grinder" or in movies and TV shows.
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| A Capuchin in the trees |
When Portuguese explorers reached the Americas in the 15th century, they thought these small Monkeys resembled the friars from Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, an offshoot from the Franciscans, who wear brown robes with large hoods. That’s how they got their name.
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| It does look like a monk |
They range from 12 to 22 inches long, with a prehensile tail about the same length.
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| Jumping over the path from my room to the dining deck |
Unlike the Spider Monkey, the Capuchin's tail is fully covered with hair and does not have a fingerprint-like friction pad. That's because they use their prehensile tails more for support during foraging than for locomotion. They rarely support their entire body weight with their tails. Uniquely, they use their tails as anchors to freeing their hands to forcibly manipulate and twist food objects. For example, the tail provides leverage while they rip open hives looking for invertebrate prey or plucking palm fruits from wobbly tree branches.
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| Flying Monkeys! |
Capuchin Monkeys prefer forest environments that give them access to shelter and easy food. The canopy of the trees allows for protection from threats above and their ability to climb trees with ease allows them to escape and hide from predators on the jungle floor. Like Squirrel Monkeys, they benefit their environment by spreading seeds and pollen.
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| Watching from a palm tree |
Infants cling to their mother's chest until they are larger, after which they move to her back. Adult male Capuchins rarely take part in caring for the young.
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| Obviously, an older infant |
Omnivores, they feed on a more varied range of foods than other Monkeys. This includes leaves, flowers, fruit, seeds, pith, woody tissue, sugarcane, nuts, bulbs, arthropods, mollusks, a variety of vertebrates and even primates. Capuchins have been observed to be particularly good at catching frogs.
Capuchins use stones to crack hard nuts and those living near water will also eat crabs and shellfish by cracking their shells with stones.
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| He looks pretty smart |
The Capuchin is considered to be the most intelligent New World monkey and is often used in laboratories (I already mentioned that they use stones as tools). During the mosquito season, they crush millipedes and rub them on their backs to create a natural insect repellent.
In 2005, experiments were conducted on the ability of Capuchins to use money. After several months of training, the Monkeys began exhibiting behaviors considered to reflect an understanding of the concept of a medium of exchange that were previously believed to be restricted to humans. They showed the same propensity to avoid perceived losses demonstrated by human subjects and investors.
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| An intense-looking animal |
When presented with a reflection, Capuchin monkeys react in a way that indicates an intermediate state between seeing the mirror as another individual and recognizing the image as self. Most animals react to seeing their reflections as if encountering another individual they do not recognize.
Since they have a high reproductive rate and can easily adapt to their living environment, loss of the forest does not negatively impact the Capuchin Monkey as much as other species, although habitat loss is still a threat.
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| The Monkeys were wary of us |
Natural predators include wild cats, Tayras, snakes, crocodiles and birds of prey.
Ridge to Reef
On two of the nights we were at the Osa Verde BioLodge we had presentations by Osa Conservation. One was on Sea Turtles ...
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| Collecting Sea Turtle eggs; Photo: Osa Conservation |
...and one was on the organization's "Ridge to Reef" program.
Ridge to Reef is a ''whole-of-ecosystem' or integrated management approach to conservation. The goal is to maintain or restore the interconnections between the natural and social systems from the mountain ridges of volcanic islands, through coastal watersheds and habitats and across coastal lagoons to the fringing reef environments, including shoreline, mangroves and underwater habitats. This integrated approach to freshwater and coastal area management emphasizes the connections between land, water and coastal systems.
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| Photo: Osa Conservation |
Osa is working to ensure that wildlife can easily migrate all the way from the tops of the mountains to the ocean on the Osa Peninsula. Fortunately, on the Peninsula there are a number of National Parks that provide protection for wildlife and the environment. Unfortunately, these Parks are not connected. So, wildlife moving up and down in altitude encounter obstacles like roads, ranches, farms and towns.
So, Osa is doing two things: monitoring and tracking wildlife to understand migration habits and deterrents. And, working with local ranchers, farmers and towns to create natural corridors.
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| Baird's Tapir; Photo: Osa Conservation |
For the former, they were launching a Baird's Tapir collaring program while we were there. We really wanted to watch, but after we hinted, no invitation was issued. Since it was in the middle of the night and they had not collared any of these large, potentially dangerous animals, that made sense. Still, it would have been cool. I guess if I really wanted to experience it, I could be a volunteer!
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| Photo: Osa Conservation |
For the latter, they have a great approach. They are not buying up land. Rather, they are working with locals to teach them better, more sustainable and more profitable farming and ranching techniques with most of the emphasis on how they can help the locals run better businesses.
Then, all they ask in return for this help is small slivers of land that can be reforested and opened to wildlife.
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| Plants for reforestation; Photo: Osa Conservation |
Since many of the practices they teach help framers/ranchers use land more efficiently, their clients are generally happy to cede edges of their property to help the environment. Many have actually become volunteers for Osa, helping to plant trees and educate others.
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| Ridge to Reef volunteers; Photo: Osa Conservation |
In my next post, I’ll cover what we saw on our hikes.
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| We'll go for a walk to the beach |
Trip date: March 9-27, 2022
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