Osa Peninsula Costa Rica

From Santa Elena I went to San Jose, Costa Rica (not much of city to look at) and immediately moved on to Puerto Jimenez on the Osa Peninsula - lower Pacific side. The library there had a very modern collection of English books. Here are three I recommend:

Living Downstream: (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375700994/sr=8-1/qid=1151526570/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-7555910-3794352?ie=UTF8) Cancer is a function of the alien chemicals introduced into the environment by humans (some examples are pesticides and herbicides.) You are more likely to get cancer in industrialized countries such as U.S.A., Europe, Japan.

Beyond Beef: (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0452269520/qid=1151526743/sr=1-8/ref=sr_1_8/104-7555910-3794352?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) Why 3rd world countries are turning their jungles into pasture to feed the beef addiction of 1st world countries. A good reason to go vegetarian.

Green Pharmacy: (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0892817275/qid=1151527015/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_3/104-7555910-3794352?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) A good history of medicine from ancient to modern times. Money always seems to win out against more pragmatic solutions.

The peninsula is covered by Corcovada National Park and I took a 3 day loop hike through the park from Carate to Playa Blanca. The first leg, and the best, is a 10 mile haul up unspoilt beach. Lots of macro and microwildlife along this stretch.

We had to cross a couple of large rivers. At this drainage we spotted red parrots. I got an excellent view of them through my binoculars. My camera gave a picture of two black spots sitting on a thin branch.

This is the Park Office I hiked to. I am looking up the grass airfield.

Several wildlife loop trails were located here. Early in the morning I was able to catch quite a few animals on one of them including a Toucan - again, please forgive my lousy camera.

Later that evening I took another trail. Towards dusk, and quite unexpectedly, I walked up on a Cougar using the same trail for game hunting. It was about 40 feet in front of me and didn´t notice me for a bit. It then did not hang around long enough for me to take a picture. I learned later that these cats like to hunt in the evening. The rangers said it was frequently sighted there.

The rest of the trail out of the park was a bit tedious. The funniest part was seeing these Jesus Lizards running across the water. I walked up and down the edge of this stream and must have sent 4 to 5 of them running from the sandbars to the shore.

And finally, I was able to see a flock of parrots. Within the flock they are paired off. (with apologies to Dad who had hoped to see a flock when he was down here.) You can see the pairs in the tree here.