Hike the famous Corcovado Park or the nearby rainforest of Costa Rica

Experience up-close the lush, natural beauty of Costa Rica’s rainforest. Book a Corcovado National Park tour with one of our experienced guides or just hike in and around our property to primary rainforest, cool waterfalls, ocean viewpoints, tranquil rivers, remote pristine beaches, lagoons or the garden. There are 7 marked rainforest hikes covering over 14 km. within or around Finca Exotica.

Enjoy nature: be still, quiet, and look closely. Whether you are a simple observer, bird watcher, or photographer, the nature here will amaze you. The local flora and planted fruit trees attract a huge variety of creatures to the farm, like monkeys, sloths, pumas, scarlet macaws, etc.; the list can go on for pages! Make sure to have your flashlight with red light to spot the sea turtles that you may find nesting on the beach at night.

Corcovado National Park protects the last portion or fraction of Tropical Humid Forest of the Mesoamerican Pacific. Due to its geographical location,climate, soil conditions and topography, this area is home of an amazing diversity of biological species. Blessed with such richness, the area has awakened great interest among Costa Rica and foreign scientist, and its resources are continuosly being investigated. The genetical potencial found in the living forms that find refuge in Corvovado could be of invaluable benefit to agricultura, medicine and other equally important fields that seek the well being of humanity.

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Tours

Explore for 1 or 3 days the famous Corcovado National Park claimed by National Geographic as one of the most biologically diverse places on earth.

These wildlife tours will take you along the coast line where the signs of civilization fade as you hike where no roads exist, crystal clear rivers flow, and wildlife like monkeys, tapirs, and wild cats roam freely. Your guide will help you to uncover the hidden treasures that live under the leaves, in the trees, or in the ground at Corcovado. This will be an adventure you will not forget.

World-famous Corcovado National Park is a 425 km2 declared natural reserve that protects the largest primary forest on the American Pacific coastline and one of the few remaining sizeable areas of lowland tropical rainforests on Earth.

The wildlife within Corcovado is diverse and abundant. It is home to the Costa Rica’s largest population of the splendorous scarlet macaw, and many other endangered rainforest species can be found here, like tapirs, five species of cats, peccaries, giant anteaters, four species of monkeys, sloths and the harpy eagle. About 400 species of birds and 140 mammals have been seen here, as well as 500 different trees,

Corcovado National Park is just a forty-minute hike from Finca Exotica, so it is easy to explore the southern area of the park in one day and return to the comfort of our lodge instead of camping inside the park. But we offer both options:

• Corcovado National Park half-day guided tour

We recommend you to reserve this tour 2 weeks prior to your visit, but we will make all efforts to locate a guide if you decide at last hour. In both cases there still may be availability constraints during the high season. Pack list: small pack, hat, hiking boots or sandals, water bottle, sunglasses, bug spray, umbrella or poncho, sunscreen, and camera

• Corcovado National Park 3-day guided tour

If you want to go deeper into one of the most biologically intense places on earth, then this tour is the primary rainforest experience you will remember all your life.

On the first day we will hike for 6-8 hours, mostly close to the beaches to get to the Sirena ranger station, where we will be staying for 2 nights. On the second day we will walk the numerous, well-marked trails around the ranger station, returning to Finca Exotica on the third day. This tour includes 3 meals a day, a picnic package, sleeping mat, sheet, mosquito net and the two humble overnights at the ranger station in the heart of the national park, and with our expert guide you will discover, learn and understand a lot about this amazing biosphere.

We recommend you book this tour at least 4 weeks prior to your visit, and there still may be availability constraints during the high season. Pack list: backpack, hiking boots, sandals, hat, towel, medicine, water bottle, sunglasses, 1 flashlight per person, umbrella or poncho, bug spray, sunscreen, and camera.

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General information Corcovado National Park

History and culture

Before the Spanish conquest, the región was inhabited by indigenous groups who probably settled there due to the abundance of wildlife. Archaeologists believe the área is important because of the information that could be discovered about the relationship these people maintained with nature and the manner in which they made use of their resources. These expectations are base evidence found to date even though the área has been virtually unexplored. Until 1978, ther was no Access by land to the península and the population is the región was very sparse. In 1975, when Corcovado National Park was created, the 300 farmers who lived in the área were compensated for their land and relocated in other áreas.
Since then, the park has been destined exclusively to conservation goals, scientific investigation, environmental education and the type of tourism suitable to a National Park.

Flora and fauna

Corcovado is made up of a unique combination of terrestrial and marine ecosystems which interact in harmony and whose origins science has yet to fully understand.
The área as a whole possesses thousands of species of flora, many only found in this área and others which have disappeared from other regions. We can cite the case if the “ajo” (Caryocar costarricense), the “ojoche” (Brosimun costaricamun) and the caracolito cedar (Ruptiliocarpon caracolito). This last tree, discovered in Nov.´93 constitutes a new specie and gender, establishing a new botanical family for the neotropic región.
Corcovado´s diverse fauna is remarkable; many of the species of this región are in danger of extinction, despite the large numbers still found in the región. The red macaw or “Guacamaya” (Ara macao), the wild boar Tayassu pecari), the Jaguar (felis onca) and the crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) confirm this fact. Just as in the case of the caracolito tree, in the future, studies could reveal the existence of other unknown species, which if it were no for the conservation of the park, would be lost forever withour ever having been described.

Location

South western sector of the Osa Península, Puntarenas Province, South Pacific región of Costa Rica.

Legal aspects

Creation: Decree N. 53 57 A, Octuber 24, 1975.
Addendum: Decree N. 11148 A, February 5, 1980.
Ratification: Law N. 6794, August 25, 1982.

Surface Area: 45.914 hectares.
Maximum Altitude: 782 meters above sea level.

Climate

Hot, rainy and very humid.
Dry season: mid-december to mid-april, with sporadic rain showers.
Rainy season: mid-april to mid- december.
Precipitation: 5000-5500mm per year in mountainous zones, 2500- 3500mm per year on the coast.

Services

Visiting Corcovado provides an experience in a primitive área that lacks the usual commodities of touristic sites.
Services: Nature trails, water, camping areas, information.

Recommendations

For you security and the care of the area resources use only the authorized trails and do not wander off them, the tourist must take a local guide.

Even though accidents in the park are not common, we ask you to please be careful.

The main goal of the National Parks is conservation, hunting, harming the flora and the extration of any materials are not allowed.

A serene attitude and silence is ideal, in order to observe animals and better enjoy the area resources.

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For more information phone: (506)2235-5036

Access

Corcovado is located 368km from San Jose, following the Panamerican Highway south, taking the detour toward Puerto Jímenez at the community of Chacarita. It is also possible to enter by boat from Sierpe, located 15km from Palmar Norte de Osa. Also from Bahía Drake and Bahía Ballena.