The Osa Peninsula, located in the South near Panama, is one of Costa Rica’s most wild and unexplored destinations.  During our stay in Costa Rica, several people had suggested visiting Osa as it is renowned as the country’s most wild and beautiful region.  We decided to see it for ourselves, and scheduled a 10 day stay in a cabin in Cabo Matapalo. We soon discovered the the Osa Peninsula is home to over half of the living species in all of the country.  It is raw…untouched…a serene place where there are more animals and insects then there are humans.  Cabo Matapalo is situated at the southern tip of the peninsula, directly across the Gulfo Dulce from the famous Pavones surf spot, and is itself home to several excellent waves.  Mike was lucky enough to catch a big swell while we were here, which is fortunate because there is not much surf to speak of when there is not a big swell in the water.

Living in the jungle was interesting to say the least.  We got to be at one with nature in our jungle cabin, to the point we were naming the insects that cohabited with us.  During this mini-vacation, we hiked the Matapalo waterfall, practiced yoga at our cabin and spent lots of time surfing and relaxing on isolated beaches.

Swimmers running into the water at the start of the 5k swim race

Swimmers running into the water at the start of the 5k swim race

One highlight of our experience in “the Osa” (as it’s fondly referred to by ex-pats) was a spur-of-the-moment decision for Mike to participate in a 5 kilometer open-water swim race: “Cruce Aguas Abiertas Golfo Dulce”.  We heard about the race the day before as we were reserving a guide for a jungle hike; most of the local guides would be unavailable because they were either swimming or lifeguarding in the big swim race. We had no plans so we decided to try to sign up at the last minute for the event.  Unfortunately due to insurance rules, Mike was unable to complete his sign up for the race the night before.  Of course that didn’t stop him from competing; we drove to the starting point before the race began and Mike just walked right up and jumped in with the rest of the competitors when the starting horn sounded.

Gulfo Dulce 5km Swim route

Gulfo Dulce 5km Swim route

Overall it was a great experience; Mike finished his first 5k swim (in a time of 1:38, which he hopes to improve at the next opportunity) and Marisa worked up the courage to take her first solo journey in our manual transmission Suzuki Jimny rental car, to meet Mike at the finish line.  We ended up making some friends at the race and decided to share the charter for a whale watching tour that afternoon, and saw several humpback whales in the Gulfo.