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Created in 1975, PARQUE NACIONAL CORCOVADO ("hunchback"), 368km southwest of San Jose (daily 8am-4pm; US$6), protects a fascinating and biologically complex area of land, most of it on the peninsula itself. It also covers one mainland area just north of Golfito, which may soon be made into a national park in its own right. It's an undeniably beautiful park, with deserted beaches, some laced with waterfalls, high canopy trees and better-than-average wildlife-spotting opportunities. Many people come with the express purpose of spotting margay, ocelot, tapir and other rarely seen animals. Of course, it's all down to luck, but if you walk quietly and there aren't too many other humans around, you should have a better chance of seeing some of these creatures here than elsewhere. Serious walking in Corcovado is not for the faint-hearted. The terrain varies from beaches of packed or soft sand, riverways, mangroves, holillo (palm) swamps to dense forest, although most of it is at lowland elevations. Hikers can expect to spend most of their time on the beach trails that ring the outer perimeters of the park. Inland, the broad alluvial Corcovado plain contains the Corcovado lagoon , and features the only sizeable chunk of tropical premontane wet forest (also called tropical humid forest) on the Pacific side of Central America. The Osa forest is as visually and biologically magnificent as any on the subcontinent: biologists often compare the tree heights and density here with that of the Amazon basin cover - practically the only place in the entire isthmus of which this can still be said. The coastal areas of the park receive at least 3800mm of rain a year, with precipitation rising to about 5000mm in the higher elevations of the interior. This intense wetness, combined with a sunny respite, is ideal for the growth and development of the intricate, densely matted cover associated with tropical wet forests. There's a dry season (Dec-March), however, and the inland lowland areas, especially those around the lagoon, can be amazingly hot , even for those accustomed to tropical temperatures.
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