Scarlet Macaw on the Osa Peninsula
I’m afraid my photography skills don’t really do this scene justice. What you can’t see is that there are around thirteen pairs of Scarlet Macaw dotted among these almond trees, squawking and squabbling over the nuts.
This must be the macaw equivalent of a coffee morning. Apparently this event is no novelty along this stretch of coast, where almond trees fringe the beach. The sand below is scattered with discarded nutshells, like the floor after a late night poker game.
Playa Carbonera, host to this incredible display, remains a little-visited gem on the very tip of Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula. It’s a good hour away from the tiny airport at Puerto Jimenez and the nearest building is an ecolodge, which has been showered with awards for sustainable practices.
Even that is a good twenty-minute walk down an almost vertical slope, which is actually easier to negotiate on your derriere than by foot in places. Some unfortunate members of my group didn’t really get the choice.
This means the beach itself is usually deserted, as it was on the day I visited. The macaws certainly make their presence felt, however, and a ruckus of beating wings, cackles and splintering nuts fills the air.
After making short work of the granite-hard shells, each bird carelessly flings the remnants to one side, interspersing the frippery with occasional thuds as the ravaged nut hits the sand below.
Only fifty years ago Scarlet Macaws occupied over 80% of the territory in Costa Rica, but due to changes in farming, most notably banana production, and poaching, their numbers have dwindled considerably. Most colonies are now confined to the Carara National Park, on the Central Pacific coast, and the Osa Peninsula in the south.
Even here, it is rare to see such a large group altogether, especially at 11 o’clock in the morning.
This knowledge aside, standing with your ankles in the balmy shallows of the Pacific, watching these majestic birds nattering over their mid-morning snacks, it is clear you are witnessing something quite special.
Our Costa Rica Uncovered Holiday visits lesser known gems of the country such as Corcovado and the Osa Peninsula.
See all of our Costa Rica holidays.
Read our guide to Costa Rica.
Christ the Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro and Sugar Loaf mountain.
I know flying over Rio in a helicopter might come across as a little gauche but it really was a lot of fun. It’s the only time I’ve been in a helicopter, just so you don’t think it’s the sort of thing we get to do all the time, working in travel.
I had always pictured myself confidently striding across the tarmac to get on board. In the event I was basically on my hands and knees, very nervous indeed about those rapidly spinning rotary blades. I’m 6’4″ so whilst I’m sure there was plenty of clearance above my head, those blades didn’t feel far enough away so I bent over, a lot.
The thing about Rio is that it’s an outdoor city – you don’t come here to visit museums, you come here to see what is arguably the most beautifully situated city in the world. It is genuinely spectacular, spread out over often thickly forested hillsides around a series of bays and beaches (the Olympics and World Cup film crews will lap this place up).
What better way to get a sense of the landscape than by helicopter? I should say that the ride itself isn’t or at least wasn’t silly money, about $45 dollars I think. While it lasts about 5 minutes, that’s time enough for a lap or two of Ipanema, Copacabana, Sugar Loaf and Corcovado mountain and its statue.
Pretty much wherever you are in the city, the statue of Christ is there looking down on you. Now this is an icon we have seen all our lives, in any number of adverts, photos, postcards, programmes and films. I know I was fully expecting the experience of seeing it in the flesh to be along the lines of “Oh yeh, there’s that thing” i.e. underwhelmed. The truth is that I found it to be incredibly powerful and moving. Not when circling around his head in a helicopter but actually standing on the top of Corcovado mountain at the feet of the statue.
What nobody ever really tells you is that it’s a beautiful piece of art-deco sculpture on a vast scale (38m tall). I’m going to give you a second photo today so you can see what I mean. Hopefully.
The statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro
I appreciate that this is a piece of religious art so it might turn many of you off. I personally like to think that the gesture of those open arms is pretty much universal. The hands are wonderful.
So if you are wondering why all the hype, don’t. Rio is amazing. If you are lucky enough to be able to take a holiday to Brazil make sure to include a visit to Rio.
Find out more about our Brazil holidays or read our guide to Brazil.