About the Proprietor, Mike Boston

I was born in Rawalpindi, Pakistan of Irish parents. Soon after my birth, we moved to Trinidad &Tobago in the West Indies, where I spent the next 14 years of my life – it was there that my father, known throughout the islands as “Snake Man”, bequeathed to me his passion for snakes and crocodiles and, indeed, the natural world.

Mike at an early stage learning about snakes	Mike is still playing with reptiles

I completed my secondary level schooling in Northern Ireland, and for the next five years worked as a research assistant for the Department of Industrial & Forensic Science as a water pollution analyst. However, biology was my passion, and I moved to England to become an undergraduate. In 1979, I graduated with honors in Biology from the University of Portsmouth.

After graduating, I worked for many years in the Ulster Museum, Belfast, as an Entomologist, studying the taxonomy and faunistics of parasitic wasps (the Ichneumonidae!) – I was elected Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society of London for my published contributions to entomological research. Subsequent to this I took another position in the Ulster Museum working on the conservation of bats in Ireland – Indeed, I was one of the founding members of the Northern Ireland Bat Group, and Ireland’s first professional batman!!

Accepting an offer to establish the first Tropical Butterfly and Reptile House in Northern Ireland, I went on to develop and manage this project into one of the province’s leading tourist attractions. I then moved to Scotland and began a project with The Highlands & Islands Development Board to create rainforest exhibit entitled “The Living Rainforest”. This was to be an expansion of the ideas I gained from my experiences in Northern Ireland. However, a 29% fall in tourism in 1994 spelled the end to the project. During this period I wielded a pickaxe and shovel to make ends meet – I was a laborer, and loved it!

However, I yearned to return to the tropics, and to rainforests that I so love. Bewitched by the wild beauty of the Osa Peninsula during a visit in 1995, I returned to there to live and work the following year. In 1998, I established Osa Aventura. Since then, I have been imbuing in others that passion for tropical rainforests that my father imbued in me in my formative years.

About the Company, Osa Aventura:

The establishment of Osa Aventura was for me an indulgence. I am an adventurer by nature and all of my life I have had an insatiable passion for tropical rainforests. And it is, after all, human nature to want to excite our interests and passions in others. So Osa Aventura has formulated adventure and exploratory tours with this intention.

Osa Aventura is an adventure tour outfitter based in the provincial town of Puerto Jimenez, on the Osa Peninsula. It presents on this site a selection of adventures tours designed to explore the length and breadth of the remote Osa Peninsula (see “Why the Osa?”). Based on many years living and working in the tropics, and on an extensive knowledge of the Osa, I have tailored a selection of multi-activity, adventure itineraries to explore the most spectacular and exciting aspects of this pristine, wild Peninsula.

The foundations of Osa Aventura’s operations are the ethics of professionalism, reliability and integrity. It aims to introduce people to fascinating natural richness and beauty of tropical rainforests, and thus to make a contribution, however small, to the collective awareness of the urgent need to conserve these precious environments (info on “The Osa Campaign”).

About the People of Osa Aventura:

Jorge Largaespada

Jorge is a “jack-of-all-trades”.   Jorge was born and raised in one of the far corners of the jungle in the Osa.  His practical yet insightful knowledge of the forest is amazing and immense!  After all, he grew up with the sights and sounds of the forest around him. 

Jorge helps us with just about everything!  From completely overhauling the boat, outfitting our office, to helping us guide (when he has a spare moment!), Jorge is always a great presence to be in the company of. 

Rayner Araya Marchena

I was born in the Caribbean lowlands of Costa Rica, in a city called Limon.  This is the most culturally rich area of Costa Rica. Definitely, since my childhood, Mother Nature attracted me.  I spent endless hours on the ocean with my father, fishing and swimming.  I also grew up admiring all the birds that visited our farm. 

Later, when I completed my high school studies, I started a Naturalist Guide program at an Ecological Tourism School in Guanacaste.  During this time, I started working as a field research assistant with a project that was examining the ecology of fruit-eating bats. Later on, I assisted with a different project to estimate the population of the common Vampire Bats.  Both of these projects were supported by UNA (Universidad National Autonoma), one of the biggest universities in all Latin America and CATIE (Centro Agricola Tropical de Investigación y Enseñaza), a world wide well known research institute.   Working with bats was very interesting and I also gained some great experience in the field.

Once I finished my courses, I was hired as a naturalist guide by the Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS), a worldwide leader in research and education in the neotropics. This was a very interesting challenge, since I had never focused on everything in an ecosystem:  birds, insects, mammals, vegetation, reptiles, amphibians, and even fishes!!  In this job, my colleagues and I had to introduce neotropical ecosystems to undergraduate students from many American universities and also provide them with foundation of natural history. Of course, we also worked with tourists from all over the world, showing and explaining to them the marvels of the rainforest.  After a year, I began working as an assistant in the Digital Flora Project, which is a comprehensive online digital herbarium. 

Now, some years later, destiny brought me to one of the most beautiful places and in terms of conservation, one of the most important place on Earth. Currently, I am hoping to  investigate the representative seeds and seedlings from the area and create an identification database.

I definitely enjoy being in the forest, looking for, listening for, and even smelling for wildlife!  Personally, I love bird watching and plant identification. I want to invite you to discover a new world: one of the most beautiful places, full of nature, where conquest and civilization did not break the reality of the jungle.  Here you can learn, rest and contemplate one of the last living treasures…a rain forest!

Rebeca Quirós Herrera

I have a degree in Tropical Biology from the National University in Costa Rica.  For several years I have worked in environmental education because I think that it is fundamental for people conserve nature.

My first experience in Corcovado National Park was in 2002 with a group of volunteers that work in various protected areas in all of Costa Rica.  Like most of the people that visit Corcovado, I really wanted to see a jaguar, but I didn’t that time!  In fact, I am still waiting to see one!  The visit was really tiring.  We started the hike late from Sirena to La Leona and then we also needed to wait some hours for the low tide.  We got lost at night but we finally found La Leona station, where we camped.  It rained almost all night!

I came back to the Osa in 2004, when I just finished my Biology degree and also obtained my tourist guide certification. At the beginning, my idea was to work some months and then return to San Josè, where I grew up and where my family lives. But I couldn’t leave what I found here.

I found the most amazing forests full of animals, the biggest trees full of life, the most beautiful landscapes and the cleanest ocean!  Even with these words I can’t describe to you this place;  which is why I invite you to enjoy this small but great area in the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica.