Corcovado Day 4: Can´t Leave Just Yet

This was the morning I was supposed to be heading out, but I had decided to stay one more day. Part of it was that someone had hiked in with the same camera as me, meaning I could charge up and finally take pictures again. Alejandro and I headed out towards the last section of trail I hadn't hiked yet, the Ollas-Corcovado loop. It was a glorious morning. As we hiked the sunlight poured through the trees in shafts of light.

I spotted a snake as we moved past a tree and it was joined by another. A salmon-bellied snake, I guess. We hiked onwards and uphill, climbing a hidden ridge in the jungle. At the top we stopped beneath a group of monkeys, both capuchin and howlers. As we hiked on Alejandro and I talked about how complex everything in nature was, and we agreed that it could only have been something created, not by chance.

The trail curved back towards the Rio Claro, and we reached the same beautiful spot from the day before and waded in the water. Shortly after we spotted a toucan passing through, pausing briefly on a branch before taking off again. I was pretty glad to see it, something else on my list to cross off. There was also a big crested guan, sort of like a turkey, up in a tree above.

Eventually we finished the 6.5km loop and were back at camp. David had just returned with his group, guided by Nito, who had found a fer-de-lance. Another creature on my list. We headed back into the forest after lunch to see it. They had marked out the spot in front of a tree where it was resting with arrows made from leaves and sticks, even going so far as to write "snake" in the path. And sure enough, there it was at the base of a tree.

The most poisonous snake around, the fer-de-lance. He was a big guy for his species, nearly five feet long. He stayed coiled up and at rest as we got close to snap our pictures. We poked it with a long stick, but it seemed content to keep napping.

Back at camp, I made the decision to go out towards the Rio Claro one last time to try and get a picture of the tapir. Sure enough, 15 minutes in I spotted one off the trail. It was different from the two I had seen the day before, another male out to eat falling fruits from a tree.

The tapir was nearly an extinct species, but here in Corcovado, they seem to be thriving. The lighting wasn't great, but I got my pictures and headed back. I took a trail towards the beach and walked that back towards Sirena. The sun was starting to go down, and I got one last look at the glorious ocean crashing onto the shores of Corcovado.

Rain started to fall once I'd reached the airstrip. Good timing.

I was glad to have stayed an extra day, especially without being harassed to pay, but didn't totally think the food situation through. I thought I had one last cup of ramen left, but I'd eaten it for lunch the day before. I had left a pack of the nasty Tang horchata, two granola bars, a clif bar, and some fruit snacks. Most of it I saved for the hike out the next day, and Alejandro pitched in with a can of tuna. The guys with the giant cameras were also eating some giant gourmet meals and were more than happy for me to finish off their guacamole.

I went to bed and rested well, falling asleep to the roar of the rain and the jungle one last time.