I lived on the Osa Peninsula for over 8 years before finally doing my first Mangrove Tour. I had previously experienced kayaking and fishing in the local mangroves and have often transited through the mangroves on the boat taxi from Sierpe to Drake Bay.
With the exception of numerous incredibly large America Crocodiles, I was never very impressed with the area’s wildlife. I thought that almost any other place around Drake Bay would provide opportunity to see more. I honestly didn’t have the highest hopes when I was going on this tour. I simply couldn’t see how it could be as great as everyone had always boasted it to be. I now understand how important it is to experience the mangroves with a specialist whom explores the area often enough to be in the vibe. Our guide is not only in the vibe with the mangrove this week or this season, he has been in the vibe with this ecosystem for decades.
Now, after finally experiencing this adventure, I am both proud and excited to have the best birdwatching guide in Costa Rica displayed on my website. He is the first person in the area to offer mangrove tours and has been doing so for over 20 years. Until now he has been operating exclusively through the 2nd oldest hotel in Drake Bay, Aguila de Osa and guides around 3 or 4 tours per week. There are other operators which offer this tour but no one has done it for longer and no one has the amount of birding knowledge or experience. You can read his numerous and fabulous TripAdvisor reviews on the Aguila de Osa page.
During my time living on the Osa Peninsula, I have developed a great fondness for birds. Gringo Curt’s Seafood & Visitor Center has been putting out fresh bananas to attract these brilliantly colored creatures for many years. I am now constantly in search of new species wherever I go. During my first Mangrove Tour, our group saw 45 different bird species, 10 of which I experienced for the very first time.
This would have been impressive enough, but there is a lot more to the mangroves than just birds.. On a boating adventure such as this, a large area can be covered in a short space of time, and our guide took us to places that I did not know existed. A few of the other commonly seen creatures include: all 4 species of Central American monkey, Coatis, Crab eating Raccoons, Sloths, Various types of bats, crabs, turtles, crocodiles, iguanas and more.
