Osa: The wild peninsula of Costa Rica
On the Osa peninsula the animals are in the majority - not the tourists
This journey begins with a concern. I had read something about the deforestation of the tropical rainforest and thought: I have to see it again, and as long as there is something left of it. And then Costa Rica came back to me. This small Central American country between Panama and Nicaragua, which has long been on the top of my holiday wish list: relatively safe, politically stable and full of nature. A kind of civilized jungle, easily accessible and comfortable - in short: the ideal land for tropical beginners like me.
So I travel to the Osa Peninsula, a peninsula in the south of Costa Rica, where tourists have not yet fallen in masses and there are plenty of wild animals and rainforest. You get really close to them in one of the small eco-lodges, which were built in the jungle and of which I will visit three, in the north, in the east and in the south of the peninsula.
What should one do again when encountering a puma?
For 15 minutes, we now trudge through the rainforest, Marc, the photographer, and me. We want to go to the beach. There we hear a loud hiss, like from a wildcat. What should you do when encountering a Jaguar or Puma again? Lie down flat? Run away? Scream? We decide on the second and run as fast as we can back to our lodge.
When I can breathe normally again, I am relieved. Then I am a little ashamed. Was that silly now? Bradd, the American owner of the "Aguila de Osa" lodge in Drake Bay, laughs at us: "You are here in the wild, you can hear an animal, but do not panic: wild cats are rather shy Rainforest enough to eat. " Maybe, he says reassuringly, was it a howler? He imitates the noise. Hmm, could be ... Maybe it was also a cougar, I think stubborn. That would definitely make us feel better - who runs away from a monkey.
Waste separation between the jungle and the Pacific
For two nights we live now in this charming lodge with 13 rooms, vegetable garden and waste separation, surrounded by jungle and Pacific. The days flow slowly, during the day we make trips with the other guests, watch whales or hike in the national park and admire the tree giants. In the evening, we all eat together at long tables and listen to Bradd, who has lived in Costa Rica for 20 years and tells adventurous stories from the time when there was no electricity or running water on the peninsula.
We feel wonderfully relaxed and cared for. Actually. For a little bit it irritates me how little you are worried about what might happen to us when we explore the area alone. After all, live here in addition to jaguars and pumas and crocodiles and lots of poisonous snakes. Either the animals in Costa Rica are not very dangerous or people have a, let's say, fateful relationship to nature. "You have to use your mind. Who would go swimming if there is a crocodile nearby?"The guide asks in astonishment, paddling through the mangrove swamps." Alright, but in Germany, the most dangerous animal you can meet is probably a wild boar with rookies - do they know how little we know?
Parrots, monkeys, snakes - everything is there
For example about snakes. One lies, half hidden under a stone, in front of the stairs to the restaurant of our lodge. She looks harmless, I think. It is a lions otter. "Four hours you have time to get an antidote in the hospital," says the waiter, then it was too late. In addition, coconuts in Costa Rica would kill more people than snake bites. How reassuring.
The fact that I only noticed the snake after the waiter had informed me annoys me. I'm not very good at discovering animals, I realize. They are almost everywhere, because Osa has fallen from the time: a large jungle, surrounded by deserted beaches, which has been struggling to gain some space for a few houses, shops, street restaurants and eco-lodges. Even on the beach of Puerto Jiménez, with 7000 inhabitants largest "city" on Osa, parrots fly around and climb monkeys in the trees.
After a few days, it works better with me and the animals. Maybe because it has calmed down inside me and I no longer look so impatient from left to right? And suddenly, in this quiet, I discover: an anteater climbing down a tree; a sloth petering on a tree; a crocodile dozing in the sun on the shore; Capuchin and howler monkeys who are angry; Toucans sitting in the palm trees outside our lodge early in the morning; and plenty of birds in all colors and sizes,including bright red parrots and fluttering hummingbirds.
Corcovado National Park is one of the most beautiful in Costa Rica
And then it starts to rain sometime. The water runs in streams over my face, in the eyes, the clothes are full and heavy on my body. I hardly dare to admit that I traveled to the tropics with a touch of rain jacket. A gross beginner mistake. And now I'm sitting here, in the deepest rain forest of Costa Rica, and ashamed because the guide laughs at me (again). He hands me a black garbage bag, the practical 60-liter size, cuts holes for the head and arms - done. Packed so well we walk through the Corcovado National Park, one of the most beautiful nature reserves in Costa Rica, through ankle-high puddles and mud holes. In the beginning we still twitch together when the drops run down the neck. How well it never gets colder than 23 degrees all year round.
Anyway, the water. It does not only come from above, but runs through and surrounds Osa from almost all sides: the Pacific on the west and south coast, the Golfo Dulce in the east and the rivers Sierpe and Terraba in the interior. In the rainy season, it is best to drive by boat through the mangrove forests, with the car you often get stuck on the mud paths. And the excursions often take place on water, to the uninhabited island of Isla de Caño, for example. There we are snorkeling and see colorful fish, a turtle and a shark.
In the rainy season we travel, the humidity increases to one hundred percent. Practically this means: My hair does not dry after washing. And the clothes are always wet. Nobody gets upset except us, that's just the way it is with nature: it is unpredictable. Sometimes the weather is right and sometimes not. Sometimes you see animals, often you have to wait. I like the serenity with which people accept that there are things that they can not control, and that they do not think bad at all.
Only the mosquito screens protect me from the wild
How wild and original it is here, I realize once again, as we arrive on the fourth evening at dusk in the Danta Lodge, a bungalow resort in the interior. The small huts are scattered lonely in the jungle. At night I lie awake for a long time. Only the mosquito screens protect me from the wild, it's like in a cage - only that I feel observed. I hear them very close, the rustling iguanas, the whirring insects, the shrieking monkeys. Scary, but also fascinating.
We continue on the peninsula, to German Quiros Vivas cocoa farm "Rancho Raices" at Puerto Jiménez. A visit with him is like a basic course in ecological life: Here grow cocoa fruits, orange trees and pineapple plants, sweet potatoes and coconut palms, chickens pick in between on the loamy soil. Like most inhabitants of Osa, German is self-sufficient, he eats what grows in his garden and walks around. It is fertilized with compost. What stands out: its trees bear an unusually large amount of fruit, in XXL size. "Because they realize that they are loved," believes German. His family calls him the Tree Whisperer because he talks to the plants. To respect nature also means asking for permission from an old kapok tree before cutting it into the bark to serve us the juice.
Tourism should help people and the environment
From this connection with nature, which we always feel, Osa has developed a special form of sustainable tourism: no big hotels, only small lodges. Felling trees and poaching is prohibited, access to Corcovado National Park is regulated. Trash cans are everywhere, water from the tap can be drunk, and 90 percent of the electricity comes from renewable sources. The tourists should discover an undisturbed nature and in the rainforest do not meet at every corner on another hiking group (as in the north of Costa Rica).
In order for the locals to benefit from this soft tourism, the government is also supporting the organization "Caminos de Osa", which networks local tour operators, lodging companies and transport companies and ensures that customers come. "People need an income so they are not forced to clear their land and grow oil palms to survive," says executive director Julieta Chan.
Will people stick to their idea when big hotel chains ask? It is already a tightrope walk: between the tourists who want to see animals and produce garbage and the protection of the environment. Wayne, who sends us out to the Pacific to catch humpback whales, explains it by example: "The whales are afraid of the engine noise of the boats, but we have to show people how beautiful the whales are, so they can do not destroy, and we need the money to protect the environment. "
I suck it greedily, this wild nature that makes me constantly vacillate between amazement and shit. On the last morning I climb down the rock steps from my room to the deserted beach and enjoy the loneliness and the roaring of the waves.Already I am yearning, I will miss, this reduced life, the peace, the fresh food, and yes, also the exciting tingling, with all the walks and supposed Pumas behind some bushes. Although: I would have liked the photo.
Costa Rica - the travel tips
The green of the meadows on Osa shines - as in the home of the hobbits.
© Marc BeckmannThe country is located at the bottom of Central America, sandwiched between Nicaragua and Panama, the Pacific and the Caribbean. About five million people live here - and around 680 different mammal, amphibian and reptile species.
Best travel time: For the south, it is the dry season between December and April. It usually rains between one and three hours a day until August, and significantly more between September and November.
security: Costa Rica is one of the safest, but also the most expensive destinations in Central America. Currency is the colon. For Osa you should definitely bring cash, US dollars are accepted.
Getting there
With Condor from Frankfurt or Munich to San José (with stopover in the Dominican Republic, from about 650 Euro, www.condor.com) or with Iberia via Madrid (from about 820 Euro, www.iberia.com).
Getting Around
The domestic airlines Sansa Regional (www.flysansa.com) and Nature Air (www.natureair.com) are flying from the capital San José to Puerto Jiménez, Bahia Drake and Palmar Sur and back for around 250 euros. Many lodges offer transfers. Or you rent a car from San José, z. National Car Rental (off-road vehicle from about 400 euros per week, www.natcar.com). After Osa, the journey takes about six hours. Tip: best with four-wheel drive, because in the rainy season, many roads are slippery or flooded. Also possible: take a taxi, but that is expensive (for example, via Transporte Turisticos, Tel. 88 79 69 40). The transfer from Sierpe to Drake Bay by boat costs between 60 and 100 Euros with Sierpe Azul (www.caminosdeosa.com).
Stay overnight and eat
San José
The capital is relatively safe, but not terribly worth seeing. If you have to wait for a transfer, you can, for example, pass the time at the Gold Museum (Call 5, museosdelbancocentral.org) or walk along the Avenida Central shopping street.
Hotel Presidente. Comfortable hotel in the center of San José, within walking distance to shops and museums, and about 30 minutes from the airport (DZ / F from 110 Euro, Central Ave Blvd, 7th Street, Tel 20100000, www.hotel-presidente.com).
Osa
Overnight stays in Osa have two alternatives: you either drop in one of the small eco-lodges, three fresh meals a day are usually included in the price. Or you spend the night in a Cabina, as the simple huts or rooms that the locals rent. Sometimes the hosts cook for their guests. Otherwise, it is best to eat in a "soda", a family-run restaurant. The food is simple but tasty. Typical are Casado (fish or meat with rice and beans) or rice with chicken. PS: Correct addresses often do not exist in the wild.
Aguila de Osa. Charming, eco-lodge built in the rainforest in Drake Bay in northwest Osa, with private jetty. Very cozy: the open dining area where you meet in the morning and in the evening with the other guests at long wooden tables. To the beach you need on foot 15 minutes. Tours (whales, snorkeling, national park) are organized by the lodge. Two nights in a double / twin room about 420 Euro per person (Tel. 88402929, www.aguiladeosa.com).
Cabinas Manolo. Clean budget hostel with 18 rooms in Drake Bay. Tours and transfers are offered directly. Be sure to bring cash, credit cards are not accepted. DZ from about 40 euros (Tel 27 75 09 29, www.cabinasmanolo.com).
Rancho Verde. Tiny but cozy are the wooden cabins for two by hostess Alice on her farm in Rancho Quemado in the north of Osa. With bath / shower and on request also breakfast, lunch and dinner. Alice cooks this herself in her open kitchen. Overnight about 24 euros per person, main course from about 9.50 euros (Tel 85 58 18 22, www.visitranchoquemado.com).
Danta Corcovado Lodge. In the east of the Osa peninsula, near La Palma, this original eco-lodge is owned by the local Oviedo family, who only recently turned their farm into a hotel business. The rustic bungalows are lonely in the forest, outwardly only protected with mosquito screens, the shower area is open - chic, but very adventurous, especially in the dark. Bungalow / F 130 Euro, double / F about 100 Euro, 3-course menu about 15 Euro (Guadalupe de Puerto Jiménez, Tel. 27 35 11 11, www.dantalodge.com).
Luna Lodge. After surviving the adventurous journey across the gravel roads, you will be rewarded richly. The American Lana Wedmore has created two haciendas and seven tents built on platforms in the rainforest slope, creating a small oasis. Big plus: the yoga classes that Lana offers herself. Overnight in the tent from 148 Euro (Tel. 40 70 00 10, www.lunalodge.com).
El Remanso Lodge. The eco-lodge of the German-Spanish operator Adriana and Daniel is located on the southern tip of the Osa Peninsula, on a hill overlooking the Pacific, surrounded by dense jungle. The soundscape of howler monkeys, frogs and birds needs getting used to, but quaint. The lodge has a pool and eight kilometers of trails that you can explore alone or with a guide (even in the evening). Highlight of the different tours is the abseiling at the waterfall. DZ / VP from 280 Euro (Tel. 27 35 55 69, www.elremanso.com).
Cabinas Jiménez. Located on the beachfront of Puerto Jiménez, this hotel offers simple but clean double and shared rooms. With shower, toilet, kitchenette, terrace, communal pool - and sensational sea views. Double room from 100 Euro (Main Street, Tel. 27 35 50 90, www.cabinasjimenez.com).
Marisqueria Corcovado. On the beach promenade of Puerto Jiménez you can eat fresh Tuna with Nagosalat (about 20 euros) or other local specialties in this open restaurant while looking at turquoise waters (Frente A La Playa, Puerto Jiménez, Tel. 27 35 56 59, via Facebook) ,
© Jule GrimmUvita
The small fishing village north of Osa is a good starting point for trips to the National Marine Park Ballena or the famous Manuel Antonio National Park in the north, before continuing to Osa.
Cristal Ballena. From this, led by the Austrian family Steiner hotel, the view of the Pacific is terrific - and the pool gigantic. Junio Suite / F from 190 Euro (Playa Ballena, Puntarenas, Tel. 27 86 53 54, www.cristal-ballena.com).
Las Esferas. Small soda on the main street in Uvita that leads to the entrance of the Ballena Marine National Park and to the "Cola de Ballena", a natural rock formation in the form of a whale fin. The local specialties such as "Casado" with fish and "Beef Fajitas" (about six euros) are simple but delicious.
Watch & Do
Isla de Caño. It takes less than an hour by boat from Drake Bay to the uninhabited Pacific Island. It is a protected national reserve and about 300 hectares in size. You can snorkel on the coral reefs, lazily lie on the beach in the sun or walk about ten minutes to the lookout tower. It is best to book tours directly from the lodges or via external tour operators such as Osa Great Adventure (www.osagreatadventure.com, around 80 euros).
National Park Corcovado. In the protected park one may only with a ranger and after previous registration (by E-Mail to pncorcovado@gmail.com). The tours can also be booked directly through the lodges or tour operators (about 95 euros). We start at the northernmost of the five park entrances, at the San Pedrillo ranger station. For hours we walk through the rainforest, observe animals, climb through rivers - a must! Tip: Some ranger stations offer simple dorms and campsites.
Whale watching. This is best done in the Marine National Park Ballena. With Guide Wayne we drive out to sea and watch dolphins and humpback whales, who bring their babies to the world here. One comes curiously close to our boat swum (about 85 euros, reservation via costaricatoursfreeinfo@gmail.com). Many lodges on Osa also offer tours. The humpback whales are seen between the end of December and April and the end of July to October.
Sugarcane tour. Jhony and his wife Noemy show visitors at their Rancho Quemado farm "Trapiche Don Carmen" how they worked sugar cane 50 years ago (with horse and machete). It produces sugar cane syrup and caramel, which you can still taste warm (about two hours, 25 euros, via www.caminosdeosa.com).
Cocoa tour. Make sure: On the farm "Rancho Raices de Osa" the family of Don German shows their visitors, how the orange-colored cacao fruits on the tree delicious chocolate - for drinking and snacking - mmh, yummy (three hours, about 35 euros, about www.caminosdeosa.com or Tripadvisor).
Kayak mangrove tour. From the beach of Puerto Jiménez we paddle kayak into the mangrove swamps, enjoying the peaceful silence and the beautiful sunset. Also suitable for kayak beginners (3 hours, about 44 euros, via www.aventurastropicales.com).
Good to know
"Caminos de Osa" is a nonprofit organization representing 35 tourism companies on Osa - tour operators, hotels, restaurants, transportation companies. You can arrange individual travel packages or book individual tours. Six days with accommodation, VP and various excursions cost about 1000 euros (www.caminosdeosa.com).
Information about bird species, mammals, amphibians and plants can be found on the website www.crbio.cr, via Costa Rica on www.visitcostarica.com.
Be sure to pack up
Proper rain gear, sturdy and waterproof walking shoes, sunblock (SPF 50) and a dry bag for boat trips.
telephone area code for Costa Rica: 00506.
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