About half an hour’s drive from La Gamba lies the coastal village of Golfito, from where we set out on two consecutive days to explore aquatic environments—by boat, of course.
Below, you can see some of the interesting “finds.”
We boarded the boat eager to see mangroves for the first time and, hopefully, spot a sloth.
Apparently, dolphins frequent this area too…
And sure enough—we were lucky to observe pantropical spotted dolphins (Stenella attenuata) up close. These slender, striped dolphins are typical of tropical and subtropical waters worldwide.
The sea near the coast is quite shallow—during low tide, numerous sandbanks emerge, which we had to carefully navigate around by boat. We landed on one and had fun jumping around.
We continued along the Coto River, where we encountered our first mangroves!
Many factors contribute to the formation of these fascinating plant communities, but one of the key conditions is the mixing of freshwater and seawater.
In the picture (above), you can clearly see the difference between two types of mangroves:
Rhizophora mangle (red mangrove) — the ones with sprawling roots
Pellicera rhizophorae (“tea mangrove”) — in the middle
The fruit and the yellow, salt-filled leaves belong to the second species.
What’s that bright orange thing?
Seeing them in real life, you truly feel their ancient evolutionary history.
From a distance, they are almost invisible in the water… until you suddenly spot one just a few meters away.
Our last destination of the day was a Pacific beach, where we hoped to fulfill one final wish—finding a sloth, which was rumored to roam the area.
After inspecting almost every tree near the shore, we finally found a three-toed sloth!
This one was quite the athlete—while we watched, it moved at the speed of a slow monkey, which is probably a record for a sloth.
Of course, after five minutes, it settled on a branch and remained there—a fuzzy lump—until we left.
With some daylight left, we used the time to observe the surrounding trees and search for monkeys.
We spotted capuchins…
…and howler monkeys—their calls are only surpassed in volume by humpback whales.
The day began with some birdwatching.
Our next stop was a small coral reef, where we observed the vibrant underwater life.
Many of the corals were dead; those that remained were still home to numerous marine organisms.
One of the culprits behind coral death is oxybenzone, an ingredient found in many sunscreens.
I wanted to see dolphins again.
And I did—this time, they swam so close to the boat that some people could touch them.
Moments like these remind me why I’ve always loved the ocean.
We slowly made our way to the Esquinas River, where we drifted along in search of Costa Rica’s largest non-venomous snake—the common boa constrictor.
We weren’t very successful in finding one, but we did spot a raccoon, crabs, lizards, and numerous bird species.
Like the day before, we ended our adventure at a beach.
Although they may look like natural umbrellas, they don’t offer much shade.
But they have another great feature—they grow coconuts, which constantly drop onto the sandy ground below.
With a bit of persistence and strength, we managed to crack some open and enjoy the delicious coconut water and flesh.
That’s all for now—more updates to come 😉
<3, Alenka