Corcovado Conservation Area
Corcovado National Park (54,500 hectares) includes a huge range of habitats from wet, mainly impenetrable rain forest to dripping, steamy cloud forest, oak forest seashore and swamp. The park is located on the Osa Peninsula on the southern Pacific coast and fringed to the west by endless, wide, flat sandy beaches.
Attractions
These diverse habitats support hundreds of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, fish, and over 6,000 insect species. It is also the only area where one might find four different species of monkey. The park is a sanctuary for rare scarlet macaws and several species of endemic birds such as the black-checked ant tanager and other tanagers. The deep forests also contain several endangered species of large cats and reptiles. Most travelers consider a visit to Corcovado National Park a mandatory visit when in Costa Rica.
Activities
The 1000 hectare Corcovado lagoon and swamp harbors large crocodiles and many of the park's 140 mammals. Tapir can be seen along the gravel river banks of the Ro Claro and Ro Sirena and monkeys swing above every trail.
All the country's big cats live in Corcovado. Jaguars are occasionally seen on the beach and the grassy airstrip near Sirena and it is not uncommon to see their prints along the muddy trails.
There are over 400 species of birds including hummingbirds, trogons, toucans and the largest population of scarlet macaws in Central America. A night visit to the mouth of the Ro Claro to watch the extraordinary fishing bulldog bat in action is not to be missed.
Another Corcovado phenomenon is the presence of hammerhead sharks in the river mouths - hikers should wait until low tide to cross them! Corcovado is hard to get to and even harder to hike through but if you are fit enough, the chance to experience such splendor and isolation shouldn't be missed.
Currency
Costa Rica's unit of currency is the Colon.
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