edie December 22nd, 2007
After three days of hiking El Remanso’s property, we decided to book a tour to an animal sanctuary across the Gulfo Dulce. Our luck held yet another day, and we had sunny blue skies for the whole day. We drove into town (the bumpy 45 minute drive over rutted dirt roads) and then met our boat captain. “Rainy Season” has it advantages and we scored a private tour just because no one else was around. The gulf was a smooth as glass and we immediately spotted a school of dolphins – hard to tell but at least 10 or so with two very young dolphins that stayed close by their mothers. They swam with us (rather we boated with them) for a bit and then moved on to discover a lone green turtle hanging out in the middle of gulf.
The Osa Wildlife Sanctuary was created and is operated by Earl Crew (who we learned is from the SF Bay Area as well). It is situated on the edge of the jungle along a beach-front along the mainland shore facing the peninsula. Our boat approached an idyllic, smooth pale beach rimmed with swaying palm trees. Earl was waiting for us on the beach and as we got closer we realized he had a small monkey around his neck. As the boat slid up to the beach we quickly jumped off to get a closer look at this monkey (a baby spider monkey), the likes of which we had been observing from afar for the last two weeks.
The first order of business was to secure our bags in a fenced area and we soon found out why. There were at least 4 spider monkeys running around and these monkeys are very curious and mischievous. The little guy around Earl’s neck, Winkie, was just waking up from a nap and was at first quite gentle and shy. Baby monkeys don’t like to be restrained or held as they typically spend their infancy hanging on to the mommy monkey. So, we were instructed to let the monkeys hold on to us, and to not grab or hold them. This is harder than it sounds because they are so adorable and human-like you just want to give them a hug.
I had to take a quick run to the restroom and needed my backpack. So, I headed up the hill with my pack and got to the little lodge-like room and once I got there, Sweet Pea, an older spider monkey was waiting for me. She offered her hand to me and I reached out to her, and instantly with her other hand she grabbed a coke from the outside pocket of my pack. She then raced up to the ceiling rafters, hung there and drained the coke. Earl ran up, concerned about me, but I was laughing about the whole thing and more worried about the monkey drinking coke. Earl said she’s eaten much worse and left it that.
As if that wasn’t enough, Chris needed to use the restroom too and once he got into the bathroom (no windows, no ceiling), Sweet Pea joined him and in a display of dominance braced herself against the wall and with both hands, grabbed two handfuls of Chris’ hair and yanked his head back. Chris yelled and the monkey and we could hear the maid yelling at the monkey and Earl ran to the rescue again. Once the monkey was off of Chris, Earl had to restrain the monkey with a broom so Chris could go to the bathroom. Earl later told us that spider monkeys are very strong for their size, for example, Sweet Pea only weighed 15 lbs.
We learned many things about the spider monkeys, they are very smart, they eat fruit from many different trees and their survival depends upon contiguous primary forest, which is still disappearing. Their survival as a species is very uncertain.
Earl also introduced us to a baby howler monkey, Lulu, who was very sweet. As Earl explained, howler monkeys are almost opposite in every way to spider monkeys. They eat leaves and digest like a cow, they aren’t that bright, can easily reproduce and are not endangered. This monkey cuddled up to all of us, and at 102 degrees, it made for a very warm hug.
Next we met a two-toed sloth, different from the three-toed sloths we had spied in trees previously. A very odd and certainly slow-moving animal, it just kind of hung there while Earl gave us some sloth facts. Lots of bones, high calcium density – in fact this particular sloth had fallen about 100 ft out of a tree and had not broken any bones!
Also in residence at the sanctuary were many scarlet macaws, beautiful but loud, and one toucan soon to be released. Another weird animal, a kinkajou, a cross between a rodent and a monkey and a cat. It was very sweet and docile and the fur very soft. Earl told us that Paris Hilton keeps one as a pet and they can easily be purchased in the US – so sad!
Earl also had several wild cats soon to be returned to the wild so we couldn’t see them (a jaguarondi, and an ocelot). He also had several juvenile white-faced capuchin monkeys that were enclosed and quite busy. None of the females can be released to the wild as they will be attacked by groups. However, he did have one male he was taking back to its troop in Torteguero. He will take the monkey and stay with it in Torteguero until a troop answers the male’s calls. Once that happens, they will release the male monkey. White-faced capuchin monkeys are very smart, and even though this monkey has been away for two years they will remember him.
We were very sad to leave Earl and his wonderful menagerie. Natalie was very excited to learn that he plans to accept students next summer for a week-long camp to “work” at the sanctuary. She is hoping she can recruit some of her friends to come with her.
On our boat ride back over the gulf we were thrilled to spot a humpback whale with her calf. Apparently, the whales are only in the gulf in August and September, so we lucked out yet again. The whales surface for just a few minutes to breathe and then descend again for up to twenty minutes. We got to see the whales surface twice. The boat stayed a good distance away, as to not disturb them.
After that amazing adventure we headed back to El Remanso to have yet another wonderful lunch and hang out for the afternoon. Later we decided to do a final hike, the creek hike down to the beach. This involves actually hiking in the creek and tested our mettle, as we had very low clearance thru dense vines and the fear of snakes and spiders stayed on our minds. Chris and Natalie got bit by ants while observing a small rodent. Chris yelled first and then Natalie screeched as if she lost a limb. She stayed quite upset until I walked face first into a large spider web and began doing some screaming of my own. At this, Natalie forgot about her pain and began to giggle at her mother’s foolishness. All in all, this was probably our most difficult hike, not because it was technically difficult, but just because it was very much a jungle!!
Our last evening was bittersweet. We hated to think of leaving, but I was also looking forward to sleeping in a room without worrying about bugs.
See more photos of our day at the sanctuary!
The Next Day: Costa Rica: From Osa Peninsula to Civilization
The Whole Trip: Costa Rica: The Summary
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