Day 5 — November 19
San Josecito and Manuel Antonio, Quepos  Since we needed to ease everyone into the concept of small-ship adventure, it was decided to begin the conditioning process immediately with an 0600 hike on a wonderful private beach known as San Josecito. Arriving on shore we were immediately sent with a guide or naturalist to start our explorations. Excellent wildlife sightings are hard to keep a secret, and by the end of the trail the entire group was staring, eyes affixed towards the sky. What could possibly cause such a traffic jam and hold our attention until it was time to board our Zodiacs for the next excursion? The answer was the white-faced capuchin monkey ( Cebus capucinus ), also called the white-throated capuchin. This primate is characterized as a mid-sized black monkey with a whitish face, neck, shoulders, and upper arms. Sexual dimorphism is present in the species, with males larger than females.
As we returned to the ship, breakfast was just about finishing, but many chose to grab a quick snack before our first lecture of the journey, given by Joe Valencic, entitled Part One, Hands-On Digital Photography. Here we learned the differences between a megabyte and an overbite, how to choose a camera with the proper amount of memory, the secrets of resolution through an excellent jelly-bean analogy, and many other tips that made the group feel at ease with using this relatively new technology.
A well-deserved half-hour break was given as decompression time before diving into Jack Grove's excellent lecture Oceans Divided: Fish Watching on Either Side of Central America. We were taken on a tour of the lithospheric plate movement that shaped the landscape of Central America, followed by a current map of the major gyres affecting larval dispersal and recruitment, with the grand finale consisting of two-dimensional fish identification of common species. With all the information that was presented, we will at least go home knowing whether a fish has bars or stripes, thanks to Jack's prison example. After all this taxation on our cranial capacity it was time to refuel and have lunch before our afternoon landing at Manuel Antonio Park.
Local tenders took us to shore where transportation for the short ten-minute ride would bring us to the entrance of this spectacular park comprising 1,700 acres of tropical forest. We decided to start at the top of the park and work our way slowly downhill, using gravity to our advantage. Transpiration and humidity surrounded us, and we began to appreciate the true wildness of this area. The guides were excellent in finding animals as small as the four-inch-long bigheaded anole ( Anolis capito ) in the dense undergrowth. Most anoles spend their time clutching tree trunks with their head facing down to visually search for insect prey. Being extremely territorial, the males can spend half of their lives defending their turf from invasion. This Schwarzenegger of the lizard world will repeatedly do pushups while extending its throat sac, known as a dewlap, for intimidation and territorial defense. Towards the end of the trail everyone was given the opportunity to take a quick dip in the refreshing waters surrounding the peninsula.
A primate encounter was once again the grand finale of our visit, and this time it was with the red-backed squirrel monkey ( Saimiri oerstedii ). Monkeys are critical elements of rain forest ecosystems because they are seed dispersers for hundreds of plant species. A second arboreal benefit is that monkeys reduce damage to trees by massive insect consumption. We left the park at closing, and some went for a quick Quepos town visit before boarding coaches for the short jaunt back to catch the tenders to the ship.
After arriving back on board everyone was busy in preparation for the captain's welcome cocktail party hosted by Captain Jean-Philippe Lemaire in the Grand Salon, followed by an elegant dinner served in the Restaurant Gastronomique.
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