Day 16, 17 and 18, Corcovado National Park

Our journey to the allegedly most beautiful national park in the world was already very interesting. After about 3 hours of driving, the first 2 hours down the mountain on serpentine roads and then an hour on a very well-built road along the Pacific coast, we arrived in Sierpe, where two men from Adobe Cars were already waiting for us to take our Jimmy from us. It was simply cheaper to return it than to leave it in Sierpe for 3 days.

In the Las Vegas Bar, we had a coffee and waited for our journey to continue at half past 11.

We took a boat along the river, through mangrove forests and then out into the open sea to Drake Bay.

Arriving at Drake Bay Wilderness Resort, we were greeted with a towel (it started raining during the crossing) and a welcome drink.

Our room had a view of the open sea and was equipped with air conditioning, a refrigerator, and a safe. Like in every room we have stayed in so far, there were also additional beds here, so that a family could move in without any problems.

Lunch was provided for us and Abraham, our "personal butler", introduced himself to us. The food was good and we set off to visit the beaches that were advertised.

On the way there, we were lucky enough to encounter a sloth and Robert was able to shoot a really good video with his mobile phone.

The two beaches were small but very nice. After a short swim, it started to rain and we went back to the hotel.

Abraham invited us to the bar where we enjoyed a small beer before taking a shower. It took about 15 minutes, then there was a knock on our door and Abraham brought a little snack.

At dinner, we noticed that only one table was set for two... we were the only guests in the hotel..🤓

I felt a bit uncomfortable about that, but I guess you can't change that in the low season.

There was no wifi in our room, so we took our books and read until we fell asleep.

The next morning, our day started very early as we went on an included excursion that started at half past 6.

We took a boat across the open sea to the entrance Sienna in Corcovado National Park. The waves were very high and the boat really shook us. Luckily, we don't get seasick, otherwise the trip would have been a nightmare.

When we arrived at the national park, we saw three different species of monkeys, the capuchin monkey, howler monkey, and spider monkey. We also saw a toucan, woodpecker, and large peacocks. We also found a turtle nest, but unfortunately, we only saw the eggshells... you can't always have luck.

However, our guide really wanted to show us a tapir.

We had a small lunch at the ranger station.

Afterwards, we continued with the tapir hunt. We went through the rainforest and it lived up to its name... it rained and rained and rained...

Back at the beach, the guide heard a colleague and we all ran to finally see the long-awaited tapir. There it was, grazing calmly at the edge of the beach, and let us take pictures of it. Without fear, in pouring rain.

Without the protection of the trees, we were soaked through and through within 5 minutes. Even our good rain jackets couldn't stop the water from getting into our clothes from below.

I had my phone in the outer pocket of my pants at this time, and by the time I put it in my rain jacket, it was probably too late... it completely died.

Now our trip in the rainforest was over and we went back to our boat. The first people took off their shoes and walked barefoot through the jungle, as the shoes resembled more of a pool.

The sea was even rougher now and the waves were getting bigger and bigger. I would say that the adventure here was more about the arrival and departure than the rainforest.

We found the guide to be mediocre. Even though he found the rare tapir in the end, his explanations were rather poor and uninteresting.

At the hotel, Abraham was already waiting for us with coffee and cake. Later, he brought us a snack, and actually, we didn't need any more food, but dinner would be prepared especially for us.

We found it annoying to be alone in the hotel. We felt obliged to go to the bar because otherwise Abraham would have no one to talk to and would have to work his hours without doing anything. He was such a nice guy, though.

The next day, we set off a bit later for a snorkeling trip to Isla del Cano. It had been raining heavily all night and we were not very confident that the weather would play along.

We got on a small boat with 10 other passengers and headed out to sea. The sea was much calmer and we even spotted dolphins.

But then the engine broke down. We drifted without a motor for about an hour until help arrived in the form of a mechanic and a spare propeller.

Then we continued. Seven of the passengers were diving. If we had known that this was also possible, we would probably have gone diving too.

So we did two 25-minute snorkeling trips with our guide Carol. It wasn't bad either.

Our highlight was a sea turtle... wow, a truly amazing experience.

We stopped at a nice little beach to have something to eat, and then I had the great luck of encountering macaws.

Truly incredibly beautiful and large birds.

The return journey was calm and we were greeted by Abraham again, just like the previous days. Only this time, we got some help with eating our snack in the form of a dog. There was just way too much food all day.

In the evening, the dog even slept in front of our door. They are simply incredible animals, I really miss my Nio.

After 3 nights, it was time to say goodbye and we were brought back to Sierpe by boat at half past seven in the morning.

Now we are heading to our last accommodation before flying back to Germany.