Cano Negro Wildlife tour - April 18

Got up very early in the morning and ordered in room service to save time. The service was fast and flawless, they even set the table complete with table mats.

We were picked up on time, for our Cano Negro trip by Oscar our guide and Juan Carlos the driver.

There was another couple already in the van, they happened to be one of the ones that we had met yesterday. We went on to pick up another couple and drove to Le Fotuna to pick up the remaining two.

There was going to be a total of 12 on the boat, and 4 will meet us at the dock.

It took us almost 2 hours to get to the boat dock, these are pontoon boats that hold around 35-40 people. The name of the captain of our boat was "Mango", and the boat was named after him. The starting point was almost at the Nicaraguan border.

We will be on the Rio Frio, which flows into the San Jose and then into the Caribbean.

Both Mango and Oscar were very energetic and eager to please. We motored for 3 hours at a leisurely pace, and saw enough birds to please the birders in the group.

The sightings included:

Egrets
Herons of many varieties
Social flycatcher
Grebe
Bare throated lark
Blue ringed kingfishers
Pigmy kingfisher
Potoo

Also a young cayman, a bunch of baby cayman. tiny Provosis bats clinging to the tree branch. These bats live mostly on mosquitoes and other small insects, so they are liked by all.









A large family of howler monkeys got disturbed by our presence. They were trying to take an after lunch siesta and lived up to their name.

There were also several beautiful emerald lizards, Basilisk lizard. Commonly known as Jesus Christ Lizard.








All in all a very nice trip indeed.

Stopped for lunch on the way back and had a simple but tasty Costa Rican meal of chicken and rice, with fried beans on the side.

Back to the hotel around 3:30. Stopped at the lounge bar for a great margarita, that really hit the spot. Sudip had cold coffee, which he said was excellent.

Rested a bit and went to dinner at our usual 7:00 PM and was offered the Sangria as the welcome drink.

I had the grilled red snapper, it was excellent. I really like how flexible they are and will readily and happily leave all shellfish out of a menu item and cook it special for me at no extra charge.

Sudip had the lamb shank, same as yesterday and said it was excellent as well.

This is our last night here and the weather has been very kind to us. April is the transition month and so can be unpredictable.

I forgot to pick up my sweater and very quickly our server brought it up to our room, even before I realized I left it there. It was nicely folded in a ziplock bag, another nice touch.

Tomorrow we leave for Manuel Antonio which is on the Pacific Coast, hoping too see some macaws on the way and while we are there. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Location:Tabacón