Situated off the southern Pacific coast of Costa Rica along the shores of the Osa Peninsula, almost on the Panama border, you will find the Parque Nacional Corcovado (Corcovado National Park). This is a unique protected habitat and is the largest surviving forest on the Pacific Coast from Mexico to South America. There are eight different habitats to be found in the 42,000 hectares (100,000 acres) which form a tiny national park that remains for the most part unspoiled. Though teeny, it is one-of-a-kind. Literally.

Most tourists do not realize that Costa Rica got its name from Christopher Columbus who explored the Americas in 1502. He sailed the Caribbean from Mexico south, landed south of what is now Limon, Costa Rica, and named his discovery ‘Costa Rica’ or the ‘rich coast’. We can only imagine what he saw along the way. Spectacular tropical forests covering Central America from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Waters teeming with fish, porpoises, and whales. So many sea turtles that seafarers, lost in the fog, found shore simply by listening to the sounds of tens of thousands of animals paddling towards nesting beaches. Alas, the passage of five centuries has not been kind to either the forests or animals and today most of the primary forests from Mexico to South America have been cut down or burned. Fortunately, Costa Rica had the good sense to preserve Corcovado and its primary rainforest.

About 75 years after Columbus landed on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica an English sea captain, Sir Frances Drake (you may recall that he is the fellow who destroyed the Spanish Armada in 1588 and saved England from Spain), explored its Pacific coast and, indeed, landed in a lovely bay on the north end of the Osa Peninsula. Famous for its gateway to the Osa and its fabulous sports fishing, you may have heard of it: Drake Bay.

Though Corcovado is very tiny, only about 20 miles long and 8 miles wide—-less than half the size of New York City, it is, as National Georgraphic says: the most biologically intense place on the globe. Consider this: There are 400 different species of birds crammed into this teeny place (the 48 States of the continental United States have about 900). The largest remaining Central America population of the spectacular, and increasingly rare, scarlet macaws, is still common here. The Corcovado mammal species represent 10% of the kinds of mammals to be found in all of the Americas and they exist on just 0.000101777 percent of the landmass. There are 116 species of reptile and amphibians and 139 different mammals found here. To put this parks size in context, you could fit it into Yellowstone more than 22 times! Yet, it contains six different kinds of wild cats, including the magnificent jaguar and puma.

If you like frogs (and who does not?) then visiting this national park will be a rare treat. There are species of poison-arrow, glass, and re-eyed tree frogs which make this park their home. It is one of just a couple of places in Costa Rica to find squirrel monkeys, and visitors are able to watch fishing bats fish the rivers of the reserve at night. At one time you could also find the harpy eagle in Corcovado, however, it has not been see for a number of years and is believed to be extinct in the area.

The beaches of the Osa Peninsula often appear deserted but during nesting season, thousands of green sea turtles, magnificent rare leatherbacks (up to 1,200 pounds), hawksbills and pacific ridleys come ashore to nest. Tapirs are very common and provide a valuable food source for the crocodiles and jaguars inhabiting the park. Jaguars are the largest cat in the Western Hemisphere and, though rare, its paw prints or the animal itself is regularly sighted along the muddy trails that surround the Corcovado Lagoon.

Corcovado is one of the best tropical rainforests on earth. You will see why it is called the Amazon of Costa Rica because it is as impressive as any rain forest in Brazil, Indonesia, or Malaysia. Torrential rains fall in the area from April to December so the best time to visit is in the dry months from January to April.

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