Goal: $5,000 (USD)
Raised: $4,659.89 (USD) Supporters : 50

Tourism accounts for roughly 8% of Costa Rica’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), so on March 18, when the global spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) forced our country to close its borders, our community in Bahia Ballena de Osa was immediately adversely impacted. Being a nature tour operator, we had to close all operations, which resulted in us having to make the difficult but necessary decision to reduce the salaries for our 8 full-time employees. Additionally, with no tours scheduled through at least the end of June, our 12 contractors/freelancers have not been able to receive any income since March 18, and they have no other sources of income. Our employees have a limited amount of emergency savings, and the government only provides a small amount of unemployment benefits. 

Therefore, we have launched this campaign to seek out additional support from you! Our priority is to provide nutritional support to the Bahia Aventuras team and their families during this time of crisis. 100% of your donations will go directly to our team and their families. We will use the funds generated from this campaign to purchase essential food supplies from local companies in our community, and our staff will assemble food baskets every two weeks comprised of the items purchased. Lastly, if we exceed our financial goal listed in the campaign, we will use the excess funds to provide the same assistance to other families in our local community. Please send your donation to our PayPal account using the donate button below. Any donation will help our team through these trying times, and no amount is too small! 

In honor of your support, for every donation received, we will provide a one-person discount on all future whale tour reservations (one per household). This offer is valid through December 31, 2021. 

When it is safe and you are able, please visit us, or suggest a friend who may want to travel!We are thankful to everyone that can help us during this crisis, and we will continue to do our part in supporting as many people as we can for as long as possible for the well-being of our community.

With Gratitude,

Team Bahia Aventuras

The sea was “boiling” in front of our boat.

Well, not boiling, actually, but “roiling” in silvery flashes as thousands of sardines broke the surface — only to be gulped down by brown-footed boobies bombing them from above.

“Why do they come to the top where the birds can catch them?” one of my ship-mates asked.

“Because big fish are attacking them from below,” replied Wayner, our Bahia Aventuras guide, who smiled grimly at this wildlife experience, the struggle for food and survival, a matter of life and death in the natural world.

This particular venue was a marine one, as we were sailing in Marino Ballena National Park, which encompasses 13,300 acres of ocean and only 270 acres of land on the central Pacific coast of Costa Rica. Bahia Aventuras leads expeditions in and near the park — including hiking in the biologically intense Corcovado National Park and snorkeling amid the coral reefs encircling Cano Island, with its 200-foot sea cliffs and native burial grounds lying roughly 35 miles offshore.

Early May is between whale seasons, but Wayner and our sharp-eyed skipper, Piña, pointed out other wildlife: an Olive Ridley turtle swimming along the seam where seawater met brackish water flowing forth from the Terraba-Sierpa mangrove swamp. A booby resting its webbed-feet on the roots of a floating mangrove tree. Frigate birds playfully circling and soaring over Whale Island. Pelicans bobbing along waves crashing up against sea stacks. And on a beach, white-faced capuchins hopping from branch to branch searching for fruit in almond and palm trees.

Speaking of fruit, Wayner reached into a cooler and removed tasty treats of sandia (watermelon) and piña (pineapple). And speaking of Piña, our captain ably guided our craft ever closer to steep basaltic cliffs rising above the water’s edge, revealing a few of the 200 tunnels and sea caves found around Playa Ventanas. Nimbly navigating among the rocks that appeared and disappeared under crashing surf, Piña slowed the craft, then sped it up suddenly, surging into one of the tunnels. Inside the tunnel another cave appeared to our right, and we marveled at the beauty of the ocean’s work. We cruised forward again and emerged into sunlight on the other side of the cave, big smiles on every face.

Wayner pointed out the whale’s tail, a distinctive tombolo of sand and rock that is the key geologic feature of the park. Alcoa Company tried to build a dock of aluminum on the tail, spurring angry protests from locals that resulted in the creation of the park in 1969. A good thing, I reflect, given the numerous but fragile marine life resources there.

Life like the 6-foot long black and yellow striped moray eel we saw while snorkeling above the reef near Whale Rock. Our heads full of memories, we returned to Playa Uvita in the early afternoon after a day of adventure on the sea.