August 11, 2013 / Cano Negro Wildlife Reserve

We were going to Cano Negro on Sunday, our first fullday in Costa Rica. But before that came breakfast in the hotel – and it was such a pleasant surprise – rice & beans, with potato curry and hash browns on the side, in addition to the classic continental spread. It became clear to us that food was not going to be a problem for us here.

Cano Negro wildlife reserve is situated at the Costa Rica / Nicaragua border. We were advised to carry our passport, just in case, as we were going to spend time in the last Costa Rican town by the border, Los Chiles. The drive was 1 ½ hours long. Midway, we stopped in a town by the San Carlos River. The place was called Los Iguanas, and with a reason. The trees by the bridge on the river were teeming with iguanas. Hundreds of them – big ones, small ones, huge ones. And these herbivorous reptiles weren’t shy posing for the tourists either.

We reached Cano Negro and hopped onto the boat. While this was supposed to be a tour with others, it so happened that we were the only group that day. Our guide, Carlos, was cool, was constantly providing us with plentiful info. We were traveling up stream, away from Nicaraguan border. We saw several birds and monkeys in the couple of hours we were there: green heron (the smallest in the heron family), emerald basilisk (a bright green lizard that can walk on water), howler monkeys (so called because of the noise they make), spider monkeys, white faced capuchin monkeys; the birds we saw included anhinga, kingfisher, amazon kingfisher, toucan, egret, few varieties of ducks and passerini’s tanager; we also came by a tree that was filled with caterpillars, and another with long nosed bats.

This trip included lunch and Carlos had called ahead to let the restaurant know that we were vegetarians. We reached the lunch spot at noon and waiting for us was delicious, home style traditional Costa Rican fare – rice, beans, yucca chips, salad, avocado, iced tea and corn tortillas. The food was delicious. The hot sauce they gave on the side had significant punch – well done, Costa Ricans! Just as we started eating, we experienced the first of the Costa Rican rain forest thunder showers – it rained for about an hour and boy, did it rain! The lightning and thunder accompanying the rain was breathtaking.