Caño Negro Boat Tour, Costa Rica: December 17, 2021

Howler Monkeys watching me

Today was our day for the Sky Tram/Zip Line Tour. Since it was raining, since seeing the Volcano was impossible, since we had already had a wet, but thrilling zip line Canopy Tour at Pacuare, we replaced it with a visit to Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge. The boat trip begins at Los Chiles which is just five miles from the border with Nicaragua. We had rain at Caño Negro but the pontoon boat had a roof on it so the rain didn't slow us down.

The first animals we saw were Howler Monkeys. They are the second loudest mammal in the world behind the Blue Whale. We did not have the pleasure of hearing their howls on this day.

Howler Monkeys are normally black with some golden brown on their sides. Here at Caño Negro there are two Howler Monkeys, an adult male and a juvenile male, with minimal melanin so their coats are quite golden and almost orange. A third melanin deficient monkey, a female, lives with another troop. The condition is called Pheomelanism.

A line of evenly spaced Long-nosed bats

A Caiman in the swampy area around the river

Green Iguana-male

Green Iguana-male

We saw lots of Green Iguanas. In their breeding phase, males turn orange. We saw one macho Green Iguana with a harem of at least seven females sprawled over a tangle of branches. He looks very pleased with himself.

Male Green Iguana and his harem

Close up of Green Iguana and harem

Basilisks are called "Jesus Christ lizards" because when they jump from where they are resting, it looks like they are walking on water. 

Emerald Basilisk-male

Emerald Basilisk-female

Amazon Kingfisher-male

Amazon Kingfishers (left-female; right-male)

Anhinga also called Snake Bird because of the way it snakes it neck when it is swimming

Neotropic Cormorant with gorgeous Turquoise Eyes

Boat-Billed Heron

One of the Rain Intervals

Spider Monkey

White-Faced Capuchin Monkey

Most of the males we saw today were more colorful and attractive than the female of the species. As Dan says, it is only in the human animal world that the female of the species is required to look pretty. However, in some more advanced societies like the Maasai or in Niger's Wodaabe that is not so. The men dress and makeup to attract a mate.

We saw lots of birds for which I don't have a decent photo: Great Potoo, Green Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, and some common ones like Snowy Egrets, Great Egrets, Great Blue Herons, Little Blue Herons. 

We really enjoy seeing wildlife and this was the perfect day trip with Marcos from Caño Negro Tours.

Next stop: Tomorrow Arenas Del Mar on the Pacific Coast