A while back I had the opportunity to do a boat tour of the Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge located not far from the Nicaraguan border near Los Chiles.  My agency, Package Costa Rica, has sent many customers on this tour, but I had never before experienced it myself.

If you’re interested in Costa Rican wildlife, this vast wetlands area is one of the best places to visit.  You can set up the tour from La Fortuna (the Arenal Volcano area) with a package that includes transportation, guided boat cruise and lunch. There are several companies that run such a tour.

The one our agency uses most often is Desafio Adventures, whose office is in La Fortuna. There is a nice little facility right on the banks of the Rio Frio about 20 minutes downriver from the tiny village of Caño Negro. The facility has a bar and restaurant and clean bathrooms and it is where they put in for the tour down the river.

Of course you can also just do it on your own. In that case, getting there in a rental car can be quite an adventure. You head due north from La Fortuna towards the Nicaraguan border.  Near the town of Los Chiles you hang a left on a dirt road that takes you to your final destination.  The road is rocky, but not too bad.  You follow the road for about 45 minutes before you arrive at Caño Negro.  There is a large bar by the river wharf and there you will find any number of guides that will take you on a covered boat tour for about $20 to $30 for a couple hours.

On our trip we saw tons of wood storks (but unfortunately not the Jabiru), cormorants and other varieties of birds, sloths, howler monkeys, and many caimans.  The river is teeming with life at almost every turn.

Also found in the refuge are spider, capuchin and howler monkeys, spectacled caimans, crocodiles, jaguars, cougars, tayras, ocelots, tapirs, white-tailed deer, Jesus-Christ lizards, black river turtles, and enormous orange iguanas.

While you can swim in the river at certain locations, with the caimans and crocodiles lurking about, do you really want to?

For me I had no choice.  My so-called “good-friend” and traveling companion (Yuri) pushed me into the river during a vulnerable moment.  We had actually stocked a cooler-full of Nicaraguan beer back at the dock. Yuri is from Nicaragua and could not miss the opportunity to throw back a few Victorias on our little adventure.

Needless to say, I was a little wobbly on my feet when Yuri seized the opportunity to try to do me in once and for all. Fortunately (or not so fortunately for Yuri), I am still alive to tell the story.

If you are staying in the La Fortuna area, I would highly recommend a visit to Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge.

image credit: Steve Hitchcock Photography via Compfight cc

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