Costa Rica, Day 3: Caño Negro

On the way to Caño Negro, our driver asked us if we'd like to see some iguanas. He then took us to an iguana preserve where we saw this guy (and a bunch of others) hanging out in the trees. I believe this is a "Green Iguana" despite its orange color.

Our main activity today was going on an all day guided boat tour in Caño Negro. We began with another early morning pick up at 7:30. Prior to that we had a rushed, but delicious breakfast at the hotel. The only people on the tour besides us were an older couple from New York. They were friendly and talked to us a bit. It was nice that it ended up being almost like a private tour. It was just us four, the guide, and the driver in the boat which probably could have held at least thirty people. We're realizing that we went at a really good time before the rush of people at Christmas... Most places have been surprisingly empty with group tours turning into private tours by default.

3 monkeys

Parking lot?

After an 1.5 hour drive, we arrived at the dock. During the tour, our boat went down the Rio Frio stopping intermittently for the guide to point out various wildlife. We saw lots of water birds, caimans (like small crocodiles), lizards (including the Jesus Lizard which runs on water), tiny bats sleeping under tree branches, and three kinds of monkeys (howler, spider, white faced)! Our guide even did some monkey calls which after a while, the monkeys responded to! Besides the animals, the scenery was beautiful and lush. Overall, it was a pretty amazing experience.

The little bats sleep lined up in a row under a branch. Our guide added that if they sense a predator is watching, they will move side to side simulating an undulating snake (every other one moves right, while the ones in between move left, and so on). They did not do this little dance for us however.

According to our guide, these are called "lunch."

This bird is drying his/her feathers.

Jesus lizards (nice camo, guys)

Caiman

A Mantled Howler monkey, I believe.