El Trillo Del la Danta (the Tapir’s Trail)

On our last day in Drake Bay we did one of our favourite walks of the whole trip. The Tapir’s Trail is on a private reserve rather than in a government owned national park. The Costa Rican people are rewarded for protecting and preserving the forest on their land, which they do by providing eco tourism opportunities, ensuring this preservation benefits everyone.

 Stunning view on the way to the Tapir Trail  

This walk is one of only two we did in primary forest (the other was in Gandoca Manzanillo, where we actually walked a trail between primary and secondary forest). Most of the walks are in secondary forest, which is less dense and therefore offers more opportunities for wildlife sightings. 

But being in this forest is awe inspiring. You can hear the constant chattering, trilling, crashing, singing and sometimes bellowing of wildlife, even when you can’t see it. You have that feeling that just because you can’t see them, doesn’t mean they’re not watching you.

 It took a while to move into the forest because we were treated to scarlet macaws, toucans, hummingbirds, woodpeckers and a few other lovely birds right at the homestead of the property owners.

 

Scarlet macaw

   

 Gustavo showed us this heart shaped hole in a tree. You could only see the heart if you
looked from the right angle    

  

 Another scarlet macaw

  

Kingfisher down at the river 

Once we were in the forest, the old growth trees are stunning.  You can see all sorts of different plants climbing up or growing on them. They are spectacular, huge, very impressive. We followed some tapir footprints, which is as close as we’re getting to seeing a tapir on this trip. We also saw some ocelot footprints - but while there were constant wistful utterings on all of our walks, aiming to produce a big cat through sheer will, we never really expected to, so we’re happy enough just to see evidence that they are there. To top it off, Gustavo showed us some recent footage from the cameras they have set up in the forest - of both a tapir and an ocelot. So we sort of saw them!

Margaret asked if they have poison dart frogs and Gustavo said yes, the particular kind Margaret was very keen to see. So when we got to a little rest stop with a forest view to die for, and Gustavo said we had to go 200 vertical metres down a steep embankment to try to see one of these frogs, it was a no brainer. We headed off and were not really having any luck, when Margaret stopped and said ‘what’s that?’. She and a tayra had locked eyes for a moment, each as startled as the other. Then it scarpered before we could get a picture but left a sense of excitement behind. Certainly I didn’t even know tayras exist, so that was a totally new experience for me (they are related to weasels).

  

 Margaret on the way back up from the frog and the tayra

 

 Gustavo on the way down to the frog  

 

 At the bottom, the river

 

 Unfortunately I didn’t take my wide angle lens so can’t get any full trees in view 

  

Monkey ladder 

We headed back and half way back up the cliff Gustavo told us to wait while he checked one last spot, but didn’t want to make us go down to it and back up for nothing. We enjoyed the forest with all of our senses while we waited a while for Gustavo to come back - with a picture of said frog on my mobile phone! So of course we had to see for ourselves, and found him in a fallen hollow log, telling us what for and just whose territory we were breaching. 

 The prize poison dart frog 

   

Extremely satisfied with our adventure, we climbed back up the embankment, returned through the forest and enjoyed a substantial feed followed by a siesta in a hammock, before Gustavo dropped us back to Pirate Cove. On to our afternoon ritual of shower, then a Long Island iced tea over reviewing of the day’s photos and a spot of bird watching from the deck.

 Lunch 

 Siesta