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Photoessay: The dolphins of Drake Bay

Nimble like the water nymphs in whose company they are always found in mythology and paintings of yore, dolphins dance through the sunlit water. Carving individual paths that crisscross yet never result in collisions, they leap through the water joyfully, it seems to me. Try as I might, it’s impossible to keep up with them, so I wait for the dolphins to come to me. And they do: spotted, bottlenose and common dolphins and even orcas, in pods numbering in the hundreds. I am just a short way off the Osa Peninsula, on the southern end of Costa Rica’s Pacific Coast. Thick tropical forests cover most of the peninsula and extend almost till the ocean, leaving only a strip of beach. The Parque Nacional Corcovado, which occupies nearly half of the peninsula, hosts a diversity of wildlife in its thick rainforests, including big cats like jaguars and endangered giant anteaters, tapirs, and more. One of the peninsula’s more hidden spots is Bahía Drake, or Drake Bay, said to be named after sea captain and privateer Sir Francis Drake, who may even have left buried treasure here. It is a small place with a handful of restaurants, lodges and municipal buildings located around Playa Colorada, the town’s main beach. A few high-end resorts are tucked into the surrounding forest. Besides visits into the park from its San Pedrillo and Sirena gates, among the more popular activities here are the dolphin-watching tours. Visitors travel with experienced guides and marine biologists, making the trip both fun and informative, and taking care to ensure it is low-impact by following ethical practices like not chasing a pod. Some boats also have hydrophones on which visitors can listen to the mammals interacting underwater. Though I spotted hundreds of dolphins on my very first boat trip, I went out again, looking for a pod of spinner dolphins that locals told me is about 2,000-strong. I didn’t see them, but I did see the five-six orcas that probably drove them away. On one of the rides, we even spotted a humpback whale.

20 Apr 2019
Opinion

Coca-Cola seeks a new nirvana with cannabis drinks

For a company that equates itself with family values, Coca-Cola's foray into cannabis drinks would be a seminal shift

3 min read19 Sep 2018
Market

Coffee Day investors may have to wait for their caffeine kick

Even after Friday's jump, shares of Coffee Day Enterprises are 8.4% lower so far this fiscal year

2 min read3 Sep 2018
Companies

India’s Costa Coffee may brew cola wars

Costa Coffee entered the Indian market under an exclusive franchise agreement with Devyani International in 2005 and had about 100 outlets by 2013

3 min read1 Sep 2018
Companies

Coca-Cola bets on coffee with $5.1 billion deal for Costa

Whitbread Plc agrees to sell Costa at a price that's 16 times this year's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation

1 min read31 Aug 2018
News

Bob Woodward, Watergate scandal reporter, to tackleTrump in new book

In 'Fear: Trump in the White House', Bob Woodward 'reveals the harrowing life inside Donald Trump's White House

1 min read31 Jul 2018
Sports

2018 FIFA World Cup: Brazil favourites in testing Group E as they chase sixth title

Neymar's timely return to fitness will considerably boost Brazil's chances of a sixth World Cup win, but they first need to navigate past Switzerland, Costa Rica, and Serbia in a testing Group E

4 min read25 May 2018
Companies

Defunct Air Costa’s $3 billion order still in Embraer’s books

Air Costa had during February 2014 placed definite orders for 25 E190-E2s and 25 E195-E2s aircraft with an option to purchase another 50 jets under the deal

1 min read9 Mar 2018
Companies

Online education start-up Springboard raises $9.5 million funding led by Costanoa

Springboard will use the fresh funding to expand into newer verticals and geographies in India, and to upgrade its technology base

2 min read19 Dec 2017
News

London’s iconic red buses to run on biofuel made from old coffee

London's iconic red double-decker buses will soon run on a biofuel partially made from old coffee grounds, and the fuel will be supplied by a demonstration project set up by Bio-bean

1 min read20 Nov 2017
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