Osa Peninsula Real Estate - Park Lands
Osa Pacific Properties / South Costa Rica / Osa Peninsula Region
Marino Ballena National Park
(Parque Nacional Marino Ballena) Marino Ballena National Park encompasses 270 acres of land (110 terrestrial hectares) and 13,300 acres of Pacific Ocean (5,400 marine hectares). Positioned just 10 miles (16 km) south of Dominical in Uvita, and 112 miles (180 km) southwest of San Jose, Marino Ballena is one of the newest national parks in Costa Rica. These park lands stretch from the southern end of Playa Hermosa to the northern end of Playa Pinuela and about 9 miles (15 km) seaward. Established in 1990, the park contains the largest coral reef on the Pacific side of Central America. The reefs flourish to outline the "Whales Tail", three small islands known as "Las Tres Hermanas" (Three Sisters), and Ballena Island. In between the beaches of the park are rich stands of some of Central Americas tallest protected mangrove trees. The parks waters provide great vantage points for viewing the humpback whale as it migrates from as far away as Alaska and Hawaii down to Cano Island and Marino Ballena National Park, just off of the Osa Peninsula.
Marino Ballena National Park is named after the Humpback Whales that migrate here each year to mate and calve their young in warm Pacific waters, before returning to frigid waters to the north. This species of Whale is called a Humpback for the way they arch their backs on the surface before diving down. Whales from the southern hemisphere are here from August to October, with Whales from the northern hemisphere coming later and remaining longer, December to April. The song of the Humpback Whale is a unique phenomenon in nature. The male emits a series of strange musical sounds that resemble musical instruments creating a melody. The male may sing for close to 15 minutes, and when his song is complete, he may repeat the song almost exactly the same, sometimes up to an hour. Sound waves travel through the ocean for a great distance (kilometers), so this fascinating and mysterious behavior may be heard while swimming, snorkeling, or scuba diving in the waters around Marino Ballena National Park.
"WHALES TAIL REEF" AT PARQUE NACIONAL MARINO BALLENA
HUMPBACK WHALE
CORAL REEF
Green moray eel
HAWKSBILL SEA TURTLE
Olive Ridley and Hawksbill turtles can be seen laying their eggs on night visits to the beach between May and November. The largest numbers arrive on the waning moon usually in September.
OLIVE RIDLEY TURTLE
Rancho La Merced National Wildlife Refuge
Rancho La Merced National Wildlife Refuge is situated in South Costa Rica on the Pacific Coast near Uvita De Osa and Marino Ballena National Park. The reserve has an area of 1250 acres which is comprised of a forest reserve with both primary and secondary tropical wet forest as well as pasture, mangrove estuary, frontage on the Pacific Ocean and the Morete River. It offers a wide variety of environments for you to explore to find amazing birds, reptiles, insects and mammals.Rancho La Merced National Wildlife Refuge is home of a great variety of birds. Experienced birding guides are available to help showcase the 310 species that have been spotted in the refuge and surrounding habitats including White-winged Becard, Spot-crowned Euphonia, Yellow Crowned Euphonia, Bananaquit, Thrush-like Schiffornis, Northern Barred, Olivaceous, Woodcreeper, Black-crowned Tityra, Rufous Piha, and Cocoa Woodcreeper, to name just a few. Great hiking around the trails of the reserve through the tropical rain forest with plenty of other native wildlife to observe. Experienced and unexperienced riders will enjoy horseback riding in La Merced. The horses are well trained for you to enjoy a tranquel experience while you cross the Wildlife Refuge in the forest, on the beach, or beside the river. Take a refreshing swim at the beach or cool off in a mountain waterfall. Rancho La Merced has been a protected reserve for many years and is an active member of Asociacion de Amigos de la Naturaleza del Pacifico Central y Sur (ASANA). It is part of the Tapir's Path Wildlife Corridor (Corredor Biologico Paso de la Danta). ASANA’s main objective is to connect all the fragments of forest between the Terraba and Savegre Rivers, thus creating a natural corridor of protected lands which will have no interruptions and along which wildlife of all kinds can travel freely without the pressure of human intrusion. The project is well advanced and is know locally and internationally as “Path of the Tapir Biological Corridor”. It was officially recognized as the only portion of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor that extends to the Pacific side of Central American Isthmus. That distinction has brought the Path of the Tapir Biological Corridor considerable notoriety.
Corcovado National Park
The 41,000 hectare Corcovado National Park protects 13 major eco-system habitats including a montane forest, which covers more than half the park, a cloud forest, located in the highest region, richly populated by oak trees and tree ferns, swamp forests, flooded practically all year round, a holillo forest, predominated by palms, a mangrove swamp, located on the estuaries of the Corcovado, Llorona, and Sirena Rivers, and a freshwater herbaceous swamp. The park lands are home to some 500 species of trees, an amount equivalent to a quarter of all the tree species in Costa Rica. Corcovado National Park contains approximately 140 species of mammals, an estimated 375 species of birds, 117 amphibian and reptile species, 40 types of freshwater fish, and it is estimated that there are some 6,000 types of insects. All four Costa Rican monkey species can be seen within the park, including the endangered squirrel monkey, white faced capuchin, mantled howler, and spider monkey. Other mammals include two and three-toed sloth, northern tamandua, the silky anteater, agoutis, tayras, and coati mundi. There is a large variety of bird species with trogons, tiger herons, guans, hawks, tanagers, parrots, toucans and two distinct macaw species. All four of the sea turtle species that nest in Costa Rica visit the beaches of Corcovado as well. Over 40 species of frogs including red-eyed tree, rain, glass, dink, and poison dart varieties, dozens of snakes including a variety of boas and the bushmaster, 28 species of lizards, and more than 100 species of butterflies call the Osa Peninsula home. There are 16 different hummingbird species and the largest number of scarlet macaws anywhere in Central America. Corcovado National Park is considered to be one of the most important natural biological preserves in all of the Americas. These virgin rain forest lands are an example of eco conservation at its finest. With at least thirteen distinct vegetation types in close proximity, including mangroves, palm swamps, and bloodweed forest, Corcovado is a botanist's dream. A crocodile filled lagoon is at the park's center. The captivating visual beauty of rain forest and pristine coastline, with miles of uninhabited beaches and roaring river cascades, draws visitors from all over the world. The Osa Peninsula Region and Corcovado National Park have been called "the most biologically intense place on Earth" by National Geographic.
Jaguar
SQUIRREL MONKEYS
Scarlet McCaw
Hummingbird
Toucan
Piedras Blancas National Park
Piedras Blancas National Park is part of the Osa Conservation Area found in the Puntarenas Province of Southern Costa Rica. This 34,642 acres of national park land protect the rainforests and beaches near the Golfo Dulce (Sweet Gulf) on the Pacific Coast. Rugged mountains and watersheds of the Piedras Blancas and Esquinas Rivers are covered in a dense evergreen forest that is home to a number of rare tropical trees and the habitat of many species of birds, mammals, and reptiles. There are some 96 mammal species in the Esquinas Rainforest and Piedras Blancas Park area. Fourteen species are Carnivores including Raccoons, Coati, Kinkajou, Olingo, Skunks, Grison, Tayra and five species of Cats (Jaguar, Ocelot, Margay, Jaguarundi and Puma). With a recorded 53 different species, bats are the most populas mammal group. These incredible park lands are also home to 37 species of amphibians and 42 species of reptiles. Frequent encounters with spectacularly colored frogs such as the red eyed leaf frog, poison dart frog, tree frog, glass frog, rain frog and cane toad.
Poison Dart Frog
ANTEATER
Coati
Kinkajou
Terraba Sierpe National Wetlands
Nationally designated as a Forest Reserve in 1977 and registered as a Wetlands International RAMSAR site in 1995, the Terraba Sierpe Mangroves National Wetlands are located near the Osa Peninsula approximately 45 minutes south of Uvita De Osa and encompass 30,654 hectatares. The wetland reserve is a wildlife attraction and host an important habitat of many species of birds, fish (55 species), shellfish (10 commercial species), mammals and reptiles. Many of these species depend on this ecosystem for their complete life cycle; reproduction, growth and feeding. The reserve protects the extensive river mouth delta systems, estuaries, and wetlands between the Terraba River and the Sierpe River. Terraba Sierpe has one of the largest protected mangrove reserves in the world and an enormous, intricate conglomerate of river deltas, estuaries, and wetlands that wind between the rivers and up to Boca Sierpe (mouth of the river) and Drake Bay. The Terraba Sierpe wetland is characterized by a woodland ecosystem with periodically flooded swamps and mangrove forest, palm swamp forest, sandy beaches, mountain side cliffs, and covers two adjacent lagoons (lakes) in Sierpe and Porvenir. The Terraba River is the main source of freshwater into the estuarine system and it drains a basin of approximately 5,000 square kilometers. The mangrove vegetation of Terraba Sierpe plays a basic role in erosion protection, both from run-off and wind erosion and in maintaining water quality. Rainwater and run-off are stored in the wetland. The site is periodically flooded by tides, transferring fine soils rich in organic volcanic material. Pianguas shellfish and the mangrove bark found here have been harvested by the indigenous Terraba Indians for estimated 1,200 years. Terraba Sierpe tours promote the unique landscape, flora, fauna, and wildlife found across the parks wetlands.
Other Osa Peninsula Park Lands and Reserves:
Osa Peninsula Real Estate - Park Lands
Osa Pacific Properties / South Costa Rica / Osa Peninsula Region