Osa Peninsula Costa Rica,  Poor Man’s Paradise

NO TELEVISION, NO INTERNET, NO GUNS AND NO CRIME-CHILDREN RUN AND PLAY FREELY.

Is there a place like this left in the world? Yes, and the name given is Poor Man’s Paradise,  located  on Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula.  (Southern Pacific).  We boarded a small boat in Sierpe and it  took one hour to get to Poor Man’s Paradise.

On the southwestern Pacific Coastline of Costa Rica is the  lowland primary rainforest known as the Osa Peninsula,  home to Corcovado National Park. which was created in 1975 by President Daniel Oduber’s government in response to the heavy logging of the primary rain forest in the area.  This remote pristine area of Costa Rica has very few people, few roads,  no high rise condominiums and lots of wildlife.   We came here to Poor Man’s Paradise to experience this quiet, unspoiled  spot of nature with it’s five hundred species of trees, two hundred species of butterflies, and too many tropical birds to count.  The most famous is the scarlet macaw which are plentiful in this area.  The sky turned red when these beautiful birds spread their wings in full flight.   Soon, they were roosting in the almond trees just outside our bungalow window and we could hear the crunch of almonds as they ate their morning feast.

Poor Man’s Paradise consists of a dozen  cabins perched near the ocean, so close we could hear the roar of the ocean only a few yards from our cabin balcony. The rooms are sparse, no air conditioning  and there is no hot water for baths.

The place is owned and operated by the Amaya family who homesteaded the property forty years ago and in the early nineties they found that because of the natural beauty and closeness to Corcovado National Park, tourism could bring  income to the family. The setting is gorgeous.  Long strips of beige sandy beaches and tall century old primary rain forest frame the wooden cabins which line the hillsides sloping down to the Pacific Ocean.  We look to the west over the horizon of the Pacific Ocean and the sunsets are the most beautiful I have ever seen.

The  village has a one room school house where forty children attend from grade one through grade six and all of them are taught by one teacher.   This is a small settlement with independent minded families.  They bond and help each other.  There is one small church where everyone gathers to worship.  Family values are very strong here.  This is a unique place in the modern world. There is no television, sparse cell phone service, no Internet, and best – there is no crime and no guns.  The children run and play freely.  Access is mostly by small boats,  however recently a new road enters the property coming from Drake Bay.  It is open only in the months of January through March when there is less rainfall and the rivers do not crest.

The residents wonder what this new road will mean to them.  How will this progress change their quiet simple life style?

We decided to take a hike into near by Corcovado  National Park and hired a guide.  (You should not venture into this remote national park without a guide provided at the Lodge)  As we hike deep into the park we see a group of howler monkeys and lots of toucans.  The larger animals which live in the park such as the giant anteater and the cougars stay deeper into the jungle.  The primary lowland rain forest trees seemed so tall that they hid the sun and everything under it’s canopy has an ecosystem of it’s own.

Also we hired a small boat to take us to Cano Island (one hour ride to the island). This uninhabited island has long stretches of beautiful lonely sandy beige beaches.  The popular thing to do around the island is snorkel and scuba.  We choose to snorkel among the coral reefs (not so colorful as in the Caribbean) We saw big eyed jack fish, small manta rays, and a couple reef sharks (which did not bother us but anyway we kept our distance).

This region has a very warm climate and a lot of rainfall per year.  The months with less rainfall are January through March, although it still rains (but much less).

DOLPHIN AND WHALE WATCHING.  This area is great for whale watching and a good month is August and also January and February.   The hump back whales migrate from the north to these warm waters to give birth to their young.  Also dolphins (here year round)  gracefully flip in and out of the water. Best way to view them is to rent a boat. However, sometimes the whales and dolphins can be seen from the beach.

Scarlet Macaws   This is the place to see Scarlets!  One morning around 6 am we saw twenty scarlet macaws in the almond trees outside out bungalow window.  Their chirping is not a pleasant sound so if you want to sleep late -forget it.  We went for a walk out to the beach and the scarlets were also there feasting on the almonds.  The shells of the almond fell on our heads.

Short video with a good close up look.

Thank you Keelan for letting us share this video.

Would you like to visit this unique place in the world?  Contact Ann, the Costa Rica Expert for your vacationing planning to Costa Rica. She can set up all your transportation, lodging, and tours. You can save time and money not having to take your time surfing the internet and getting confused with the many options offered.

Learn about “The Costa Rica Learn Travel Company”  VACATION PLANNING TO COSTA RICA by going to the home page of  www.costaricalearn.com.

You can contact Ann:    anncreed23@gmail.com

She will answer your questions. No Obligations— Best thing is she has 12 years of experience as a travel agent to Costa Rica and she has lived there “off and on” sine 1998.