Casa Cuna del Golfo

Location

Casa Cuna del Golfo is located on the shores of the gentle Golfo Dulce between the regions of Agujas and Cañaza on the Osa Peninsula of southern Costa Rica, about eight miles northwest of Puerto Jimenez and about one mile off the main (newly paved) highway that connects Puerto Jimenez to mainland Costa Rica.

At a latitude of only eight degrees above the Equator, the Osa Peninsula has a tropical wet climate.  The dry season extends from mid-December through late April, and the rainy season is from May through mid-December.  Temperatures range from 85-90 degrees Fahrenheit year round, and sunshine may be expected even in the rainy season, at least from May through mid-September.  October is the wettest time of the year and except for those that like rain is perhaps the least desirable month of the year to consider a visit.

The Osa Peninsula has long been considered Costa Rica's wild west.  It is a remote peninsula that until this year did not have a paved road to connect it with the mainland.  Boasting extensive primary rain forest coverage and the location of the nation's largest National Park, Corcovado National Park, the Osa Peninsula plays host to the nation's largest concentration of wild animals with a biodiversity widely quoted by wildlife biologists as being second in the world only to tropical rain forest environments in parts of Borneo and New Guinea.

The Osa Peninsula was the site of a gold rush in the 1980's and the peninsula retains a strong cultural impact from a history intimately linked with the precious metal and the desperadoes and scofflaws that pushed into virgin wilderness in its pursuit.  Commercial mining has been banned since the mid-nineties, and the primary economic mainstay of the peninsula is today tourism.  Agriculture and ranching are also important to the peninsular economy, with rice and oil palm being the primary agricultural products.