When planning the trip our intention was to spend a couple of weeks in Nicaragua. We’d heard so many good things about the country and were really keen to go. Unfortunately some serious civil unrest put paid to that idea, which is how we ended up in Costa Rica instead.
Today we travel to Refugio Nacional De Vida Silvestre Cano Negro, which is only about 5 miles from the border. So now we can say we’ve almost been to Nicaragua, which I’m sure will impress lots of people (well, the ones who are easily impressed anyway).
Cano Negro is considered to be one of the world’s most important wetlands and as such is a mecca for bird-watching enthusiasts. It also has mosquitoes that are ‘positively prehistoric’. I actually read this in a guidebook – it makes me smile before I take off all my clothes and dive into a 60 gallon drum of repellent.
It's worth the palaver though, because here’s just a small selection of what we saw today…
Anhinga (scientific name: Anhinga Anhinga). But we'll stick with Anhinga.
Green-backed Heron (note to self: buy a better camera).
Amazonian Kingfisher (I really need a better camera)
Boat-billed Heron. He's nocturnal, so we were lucky to spot him.
Green Ibis. Another one hard to spot against the foliage.
When I ask Wend what kind of Heron this is she says "he's just a Heron". This one is getting very wet. They're called wetlands for good reason.
Tiger Heron (must buy a better camera). They eat baby Caymans.
...speaking of which
Here's what the babies become (unless they get eaten by Herons)
Funny lizard (scientific name Green Basilisk)
As we leave the park we come across this troop of cheeky Spider Monkeys
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