As another commenter so accurately described, "I felt like we were just speeding through the forest to a destination, as opposed to this is the destination (looking around at nature)." Half of the wildlife I saw was due to myself stopping on the trail and noticing it, while the tour guide barrelled on ahead. She did spot some birds and monkeys though that I would have missed. There was, however, little passion in what she was doing and it felt so much like she was rehearsing a routine or completing a chore. Not to mention, she spent the first fifteen minutes standing still telling us the history of the park. Which, yes, can be interesting, but not when you have so little time to explore. I was thankful however that we had only 4 people in our group, while other groups around us had closer to 10. I'd really advise asking around for guides who study wildlife by passion and profession, not simply as a side job.
One of the highlights of our trip was a day hike into the park. A great mix cultural history and natural wonders. Our guide was a wealth of knowledge and well worth hiring him. You can do the park on your own but I think we would have missed 80% of the stuff we saw if it hadn't been from him!
Beautiful setting. Not a difficult hike, fairly flat and easy. We had to walk a very long way (8 kms I believe) before getting away from the previously settled but since reclaimed jungle. We think we could have seen more primary jungle if we had ventured deeper into the park.
We did a 3 day/2 night hike from Los Patos to Sirena Ranger Station Lodge to Carate. The wildlife and plant life was AMAZING! The best part of our whole vacation. Do need to be in good shape to hike from Los Patos to Sirena.
What an amazing opportunity to see pristine jungle and beaches filled with wildlife. Be sure to arrange for a reservation to hike ahead of time - either directly through the park or through the place you're staying. You'll also need a guide (required now). We stayed at Lookout Inn (fabulous) and they took care of reservations and arranged a guide (one of their staff members - fantastic). On our hike, we saw a tapir, a white hawk, tons of scarlet macaws, parrots, butterflies (blue morphos and more), anteaters, coati, poison dart frog, trogons, monkeys, and more. Our guide knew about a puma with 2 babies that had been hanging around in a certain spot for a few days and we hiked longer to try to get there, but we heard the mama had hidden her babies in a deep hole and gone out hunting for the day by the time we got close. We hiked from the airstrip at the end of the road on the Carate side along the oceanside trail. Normal guided trips are 5-6 hours, but our guide took us for 8.5 hours round trip. It is very hot (in Feb), with no place once you're officially in the park to refill water so bring plenty. A lot of the hiking was flat, but there were a few strenuous sections and lots of open hiking on the beach -- recommend a sun hat. Definitely recommend this park for some incredible wildlife viewing!
be prepared to walk. a lot about 9 hours. was beautiful and we saw many animals. dont expect to see a jungle cat. you probably wont
We did a 3-day hike from Carate to Sirena and back and we absolutely loved it! The forest is incredible, the plants and trees are amazing and there are plenty of wonderful animals around. We have seen tapirs, anteaters, coatis, sloths and tons of monkeys, birds and butterflies. The beaches are absolutely stunning. The streams are great to take a small break and chill out a little bit. We found our guide through Surcos Tours, his name is Enrique and he was great we highly recommend him. You can send me a message if you want me to send you his e-mail address. Don't forget to take good hiking boots, long sleeve shirts and a lot of sun protection cream. A hat is probably a good idea too. Just ask your guide in advance and he will tell you what you need to take with you. If you are well prepared you will love it. It was the highlight of our trip to Costa Rica and Panama!
I fell in love with Corcovado, it is teh 2nd time there, and already planning the 3rd for 2017. Plenty of animals, nice Wind from the sea, no moskito or flying insects at all, many littles rivers so relax inn, at the end of the world.
Lots of wildlife pointed out by our local guide. Both beach walk and jungle part of hike. It did get very hot towards the end of the day walking on the beach
Excellent guide. Saw snake, anteater, coati, monkeys, macaus, leaf-cutter ants, trogons, hawks. Fresh water swim to cool down mid-hike. But it was HOT! +35C and humid.