Cano Negro Wildlife Refuge Feb 2019

By Beatrice Wong
March 11, 2019
8:30 pm
No Comments

Today we got up early for our day trip to Cano Negro Wildlife Refuge which is about an hour and 45 minutes drive from La Fortuna to the village of Los Chiles where we boarded our boat. Cano Negro is located in northern Costa Rica, very close to the border of Nicaragua and often called the everglades of Costa Rica. The area leading to the wildlife refuge along Rio Frio has the best wildlife viewing. The Pacific monsoonal climate mixed with the Caribbean coastal humid climate resulted in the immense variety of flora and fauna found here. It is one of the most ecologically diverse places in Costa Rica and is considered to be the third most important wetland in the world. Cano Negro Wildlife Refuge sits on almost 25,000 acres of rainforest and wetlands and is home to sloths, monkeys, caimans, lizards, bats, etc. as well as indigenous plants and insects. It is one of the best places in the Americas for bird watching as it is on a key migratory route for birds from the north. Here you can find the rare Nicaraguan Grackle bird though we did not see it. It also provides habitat for many rare fish such as the Areactosteus Tropicus fish. The boat ride or what they call the floating safari lasted about 2 hours and we saw all kinds of animals. Breathing in the fresh air and cruising along the waterway among the swampy wetlands and seeing animals peer at you from the trees is an absolutely wonderful experience. We opted for a private tour which takes place earlier than the group tours as they use the same boats. We were told that there is a higher chance of seeing animals earlier in the day before it gets too hot. I think it is worth paying extra for the private tour not just for better animal viewing, but also to be away from boisterous rowdy groups of people. The group tours can get quite large, up to 40 people or more per boat. That completely ruins the serene experience floating along the river.

This is the kind of boat for the “floating safari”

Just ourselves and our guide on the boat with his trusy telescope set up in the front

Cano Negro Wildlife Refuge

Cano Negro Wildlife Refuge

Many caimans in the water

Caiman

This caiman has a fish in its mouth

Baby caimans

Bats sleeping on the branch

Mangrove swallow

One of the most famous residents here at Cano Negro Wildlife Refuge is this albino or golden howler monkey. Howler monkeys are normally black in color with the exception of this one. The guide said that in the beginning he was completely alone for almost a year but now he has two females with him.

Golden howler monkey

Howler monkey

Cano Negro Wildlife Refuge

Iguana sunbathing

Cano Negro Wildlife Refuge

Jesus Christ lizard so named because they can run on water. Unfortunately, I didn’t see one in action…

Jesus Christ lizard

Cano Negro Wildlife Refuge

Capuchin or white-faced monkey are some of the most intelligent monkeys and are often used in movies.

Cano Negro Wildlife Refuge

An anhinga drying its wings. It is also known as the snake bird because when it swims it keeps its neck out of the water looking like there is a snake in the water.