When people of the Osa Peninsula talk of overnight tours in Corcovado, it is commonly assumed that they are speaking of staying at the Sirena Ranger Station portion of the park. The San Pedrillo Ranger Station is the only other ranger station that also possesses overnight capabilities but it is much less known and it has never been as comfortable as the now newly built Sirena Ranger Station.

There are very reasonable people that choose to accept the slightly less comfortable conditions of the San Pedrillo Station over the experience found in the Sirena Ranger Station. It has many benefits over Sirena when it comes to experiencing the jungle in its purest form, which you can read about in the San Pedrillo section of the site.

Overnight tours in the Sirena Ranger Station have always been very popular and there are 3 ways that tour operators generally structure the adventure:

1) La Leona-Sirena-Los Patos

The greatest traffic of Sirena overnight visitors come from Puerto Jimenez, which is located on the southeastern tip of the Osa Peninsula. Guides originally hiked people from La Leona Ranger Station to Sirena for dining, sleeping, breakfasting and then they returned to La Leona. Puerto Jimenez produced lots of business using this model and within a couple of years the traffic on the trails of La Leona caused many of the animals to jump ship, creating many disappointed visitors. Nowadays, the Puerto Jimenez tour guides generally begin at La Leona Ranger Station and hike to the Sirena Ranger Station where people dine, sleep, breakfast and then they end the tour with the walk to Los Patos Rangers Station. This is nice because it allows guests to experience 3 of the 4 major ranger stations, with varying elevations and ecosystems.

My problems with this are:

1. Visitors often express dissatisfaction with the La Leona Station because of the effects of mass tourism in the area.
2. Los Patos is at high elevations which creates an environment with less water and comparatively less life.
3. The distance and terrain of this hike is too much for most people. They often comment that they didn’t have a chance to enjoy it because the trails are difficult, even during dry season. After rain, the steep trails leading to Los Patos Rangers Station also become very slippery.
4. Most comment that there is not enough time to be at Sirena Station.
5. Tours organized from Puerto Jimenez often have guides that only pretend to be from the Osa Peninsula.

2) The Reverse Option
This tour starts at Los Patos Rangers Station and the group treks to Sirena Ranger Station where people dine, sleep, breakfast and then conclude the tour walking to La Leona Ranger Station.

I think that this is better than the first option because it is easier to walk down from Los Patos Ranger Station than up to it.

3) Sirena from Drake Bay

The 3rd option of doing an overnight tour to Sirena Rangers Station is to do the adventure from Drake Bay. Here, guides take visitors directly to Sirena by boat. This experience usually begins with a hike of 2-3 hours through one of Sirena’s 5 trail loops. The guests then sign in at the station and relax before lunch. After lunch is an afternoon hike which is completed by 4pm. Dinner is served at 5:30 and guests are encouraged to sleep early.

The next morning will start with a 3am wake up call and breakfast at 3:30. The morning hike begins at early in order to experience the jungle as it awakes. After the morning hike ends, guests will eat lunch, gather their things and meet up for the return boat to Drake Bay.

The positives of overnight at the Sirena Ranger Station from Drake Bay are as follows:

1. The ability to stay in the much more natural village of Drake Bay is a huge plus when compared to staying in the city of Puerto Jimenez.
2. Visitors experience the maximum amount of time in the place with the most biodiversity of animals on earth. From Puerto Jimenez it is usual to arrive at Sirena just before the trails close with little to no energy for exploring.
3. The tour guides of Drake Bay work together by telling each other where they experienced something special. This relationship does not exist amongst Puerto Jimenez tour guides, so your chance of spotting something amazing are greatly increased when you go with Drake Bay.
4. In the Drake Bay model, the trails are flat and clean. The Puerto Jimenez routes contain many places where children, the elderly or the less-athletic simply cannot go. The trails are often too slippery and are too steep.
5. The Drake Bay to Sirena tour does not contain 1.5 hrs of driving on a hot, bumpy, dirt road.
   An hour and fifteen minutes on a boat, both going to and coming from the station, provides 2.5 hours worth of opportunity for whale, dolphin and other marine species sightings.

I have had 100% of Drake Bay visitors state that an overnight tour in the Sirena Ranger Station was too expensive before actually going on the tour. I have never heard a tourist say the same after their tour was over. I have never had someone visit the Sirena Ranger Station overnight and say that it was anything less than amazing.

The post Corcovado Overnight Tours appeared first on Gringo Curt.

It is widely known that visitors must be accompanied by a guide after they cross the boundary into Corcovado National Park, but Paraiso Verde is an exception to that rule. Approximately 20 years ago the property was not part of the park, but now the boundary has been extended and one must walk 1 hour past the Los Planes Ranger Station just to get to there. The property owner’s name is Alfredo and he has been living on the property for over 35 years. Long ago he brought in flowers and plants from all around Costa Rica to complete his garden. His hand-planted vegetation is now fully mature and Alfredo grows fruit and vegetables to sustain himself. Alfredo comes to Drake Bay every 3-5 months to purchase beans, rice, coffee and other staples, all of which has to be carried on his back to the property. He has a small solar system, but does not generate enough electricity to run appliances such as a refrigerator.

His 2 story home has a wrap-around porch on each of the levels that are filled with hammocks. The beautiful property can be admired for months, while incredible amounts of information about the natural world seems to be constantly shoved into your head. He receives very few visitors and loves company. Alfredo is probably the softest person that I have ever met. He has strong opinions, but is type of person that would rather fall over than step on an ant.

Other than his fascination with nature, Alfredo enjoys 60’s and 70’s classic rock. He has one room that is used as a shrine to the rock concerts of his youth. It’s amazing how many big-name artists have signed his memorabilia, ticket stubs, and posters. He knows all the words to almost every song of the era and the best part is that he doesn’t even speak English!

He’s also into crop circles. Yes, aliens. I personally never realized how frequently they are found before I visited Paraiso Verde. In addition to his rock memorabilia and countless nature guides plastered all over the walls, also has a place dedicated for the crop circles of the month.

Years could be spent at Paraiso Verde. Trails, waterfalls and swimming holes are just waiting for exploration. The property probably gets less than 20 guests per year and it’s located within the “best national park on Earth”, how much better could it get? Picking the mind of a man that has flourished within all that nature will require some Spanish speaking abilities, but the place speaks more than enough for itself. Alfredo is just an additional benefit.

The post Paraiso Verde Corcovado appeared first on Gringo Curt.

Carlos previously worked for the oldest hotel in the area, Punta Marenco Lodge, which is is settled on Drake Bay’s largest coastal property. The lodge is Tico-family owned and rotating biologists were stationed at the location for years before it became open to the general public. After a career’s worth of honorable service, Punta Marenco Lodge gave Carlos a beautiful piece of their property. For many years Carlos envisioned building a tower so that visitors would have the ability to spend the night high up in the canopy. This was an experience that he found to be amazing and he knew that if others could do it safely, they would experience a similar amazement.

In 2013, Carlos’ dream became a reality. Located in primary jungle, a ladder reaches up and into the canopy of the property. After reaching the ladder’s top, one enters the platform through a horizontal hatched door. There are mattresses layed out on the floor, light foldable chairs, pillows, sheets, and a small basket of useful “in case you forgot or didn’t think of it” supplies. Of course, there is also a protective guard rail, but the best part of the experience are the spectacular 360 degree views. The bathroom is located on the ground below and the jungle is EVERYWHERE. If you are a member of the few visitors to Drake that have issues with bugs, spiders and/or other animals, this will not be your thing. This is more like comfortable camping than a night in a hotel.

There are multiple ways that people can build the canopy platform overnight into their individual schedule but I recommend combining it with the Rio Claro Floating tour as follows:

The adventure begins after dinner hours with a txi ride from the town center. Tourists are brought beyond the surrounding farm properties, and onward into the thickest jungles of Drake Bay.
A short night trek, and you’ll be at the ladder and solid metal foundation of Pacheco’s Canopy Tower.
Campers are given an overview of the surrounding area and facilities then left at the tower until morning. The surround sound of the best primary jungle outside of Corcovado National Park is intense. Forget counting sheep, just try and count how many individual noises you can hear!

After waking up to the sounds of birds and monkeys, Pacheco will arrive with breakfast in hand. From the tower, Pacheco guides guests through his primary jungle property until they reach the first waterfall. Pacheco then continues the guided tour into the river Rio Claro where guests float down the river, through the jungle, using life jackets.

Upon reaching the river motuh, snacks and drinks are offered along with a brief education about the Rio Claro Life for Life sea turtle conservation project. The adventure concludes with a quick coastal hike passing approximately 10 beaches, where another taxi will be waiting for the return trip to Drake Bay.

The post Pacheco’s Canopy Tower Overnight appeared first on Gringo Curt.