Among tropical biologists and naturalists the name "Corcovado" has taken on almost mythical significance. The fabled reputation of this vast tract of tropical rain forest (41,788 hectares) is not without justification.

The forests themselves, especially those on the ridges and hillsides, have a natural magnificence about them that inspires reverence. Many of the largest trees that grow to heights of 50 meters or more sport enormous buttresses around their bases. Upon close inspection, a botanist could discover as many as 100 different species of trees on any given hectare in this habitat. And that's just trees! Consider all of the varied kinds of vines, shrubs, and epiphytes and you've got an incredibly diverse flora.

Such varied plant life forms the base for a tremendously diverse fauna, from insects on up. For example, it has been estimated that as many as 10,000 insect species may inhabit Corcovado, and researchers have identified 42 species of frogs, 28 species of lizards, 123 species of butterflies, and 16 species of hummingbirds. All six species of felines found in Costa Rica are known to exist in this wilderness area, as are the four native species of monkeys. Additionally, Corcovado supports the country's largest populations of White-lipped Peccaries and Scarlet Macaws, both greatly endangered species due to loss of habitat and hunting or trapping by man.

This great biological diversity still exists in Corcovado because of its remoteness and the fact that most of the park has suffered relatively little disturbance by humans in the past.

For serious backpackers, Corcovado offers a trail system (although much of this is along hot, open beaches) between the six different ranger stations where you can camp with prior permission.

Admission policy: If you are interested in staying overnight at any of the park ranger stations, prior permission and reservations are necessary and can be obtained through the park headquarters in Puerto Jiménez (Phone: 735-5036).

To get there: The quickest and easiest way to get to Corcovado National Park is to fly in a single-engine charter plane and land at the Sirena ranger station airstrip. This is a truly memorable experience in itself, unfortunately, it is also relatively expensive. Flights to Sirena can be arranged with any of several companies at the Pavas airport (west of San José) or at the airport in Golfito.

Perhaps the best way to visit Corcovado without really roughing it is to stay at one of the nature lodges in the Drake's Bay area. From these lodges day trips can be made (by boat) to the northwestern sector of the park at San Pedrillo. The lodge or your travel agency can make arrangements for you to fly to the Palmar airport on a regularly scheduled commercial flight, be driven to the town of Sierpe, and then taken by boat through a large mangrove system and out the mouth of the Sierpe River into the ocean and across to Drake's Bay -- something of an adventure in its own right.

Other alternatives for those with backpacks are to get to the towns of La Palma or Puerto Jiménez on the Golfo Dulce side of the Osa Peninsula and hike into the interior of the park, or continue all the way around the tip of the peninsula to the settlement of Carate and hike into the park along the beach.

Fishing: Several of the lodges in the Drake's Bay area offer the option of deep-sea fishing. The region is particularly well-known for its abundance of Wahoo, Roosterfish, and Pacific Cubera Snapper, but billfish and tuna are also out there.

Climate: If it weren't for the high heat and humidity and more than four meters of average annual rainfall, this area wouldn't have rain forest. The driest months of the year are February, March, and April, the wettest are September and October.

History: In the mid-1930's, when settlement of the country's southern Pacific region was being spurred by the development of banana plantations, hunters that ventured into this area discovered gold nuggets along several of the rivers that cut through the hilly southern portion of what is today Corcovado National Park. The resulting "gold fever" brought numerous fortune-seekers into the areas known as Madrigal and Carate, where this activity in the form of placer mining can still be seen outside of the park limits.

When the park was created in 1975, the few miners that were working inside the newly formed boundaries were permitted to stay since their activities were seen as being beneficial to the national economy. However, the number of miners in the park continued to increase (and so did damage to the stream ecosystems and the larger species of wildlife -- read: "fresh meat") until in 1986 there were some 1,000 people involved. The situation had gotten so out of hand that the park was closed to the public for several months while the rangers, assisted by hundreds of rural policeman from throughout the country, evicted the miners.

That drastic action has not totally solved the problem, but the incidence of illegal gold mining inside the park is much less now.

The park owes its existence to the international scientific community's concern for tropical rain forest conservation. Since its inception, the National Park Service had been interested in including this expansive and ecologically invaluable tract of forest in the park system, but unfortunately, funding and public opinion did not permit the purchase of such a remote piece of land.

However, in 1975, several potentially critical problems came to the government's attention. An increase in the number of families homesteading in this part of the Osa Peninsula, the threat of a large-scale logging operation by an international lumbering consortium that held title to much of the area's land, and reports of excessive hunting, caused the region to become a matter of concern.

Foreign scientists who had worked in this wonderfully diverse habitat petitioned the then-President, the late Daniel Oduber, to take measures to protect this national resource. They were also of great help in obtaining international donations to fund part of the land acquisition necessary to get the squatters and the lumber company to leave the area. But in the end it was the interest with which President Oduber himself attended to the situation that made Corcovado National Park a reality and earned him the Albert Schweitzer award from the Animal Welfare Institute for his efforts.