Arriving in Costa Rica and Going Down the Caño Negro River

From Minnesota to Costa Rica!

Several times I’ve traveled with this wonderful bunch of friends. Together we’ve spent weekends at the cabin in Iowa and explored México, Iceland and Norway. This year, we decided to help the Minnesotans escape the winter and we took a ten-day trip around Costa Rica over the New Year.

I spent Christmas in Madison and then took a bus up to Minneapolis. Together we took a direct flight to Liberia, Costa Rica. The final stretch of the flight showed beautiful views of the rugged shoreline and a volcano sputtering smoke.

We landed at midday, stepping off the plane into the warm sunshine. The immigration checkpoint was quick and customs was a joke; we walked right through. Soon we took a shuttle to the rental car company to pick up our vehicle for the trip. Unfortunately, we needed to spend some extra time arguing about the hidden fees, insurance requirements and questionable upgrades. Watch out when you rent in Costa Rica!

Our drive started with a Walmart pitstop for supplies; sandwich fixings, snacks and water for the ride. Our first destination was our AirBnB near Caño Negro, a three hour drive away. The drive showed the beauty of the Costa Rican landscape. We drove down the windy two-lane highway flanked by green pastures. A volcano peeked through the clouds in the distance, all reflected with pink from the setting sun.

Our Place in Caño Negro

We rented a cabin in the jungle at a compound owned by a Costa Rican and French couple. Our host, Siri, was helpful with directions, coffee and welcoming us to her beloved Costa Rica.

Our cabin sat up on a hill with a huge balcony and infinity pool overlooking the edge of the  jungle below. The place had three bedrooms and an enormous living space with an open kitchen. After dropping our packs, the first thing we did was jump in the pool. 

By day, we took in the full beauty of the gardens around the property. 

Driving to Caño Nego

The next morning, we drove an hour to a small town with a docking area on the Caño Negro River. Although the distance was short, the drive took about an hour.

Siri, our host, drove us to the first section. One part of the road doesn’t connect on Google Maps, so she led us to where it started up again. Most of the roads were dirt and now we understood why everyone recommends 4×4 for vehicles in Costa Rica. 

We drove through the rural area with farms and small groups of two or three houses. We saw pineapple fields and went through a small town with four gravel roads surrounding a soccer field. 

Caño Negro River Boat Trip

At 9:30 in the morning, we met Joel, our nature guide and boat driver for the day. We loaded the catamaran, with enough space for at least 15 but just for our group of five today. With a smaller group, we had plenty of room and great views on all sides.

For the next couple of hours we slowly motored up the Caño Negro river, part of the wetlands and wildlife refuge. During the dry season, some of these lakes are just grass but they can be up to three meters deep in the wet season. Our visit fell in between the wet and dry season so we experienced a full river with marshy wetlands into the distance.

Nature at Caño Negro

Our boat ride showed us the lush green nature along the river, even though we visited on a cloudy day. There were so many different types of plants. Vines wrapped around the tree trucks and hung down from extending branches. Other plants rooted themselves in the nooks of trees and all along the branches. And we saw some cool animals…

Sloth

Way up high in a tree, we spotted a sloth curled in the nook of a tree. We could see its face with the binoculars but couldn’t get a picture. These animals spend twenty hours a day sleeping. Their bodies function so slowly that it can take two weeks to digest a meal, usually just leaves, branches and small insects. Their lack of movement makes them hard to spot by predators. 

Iguanas

We saw many iguanas sunning themselves on tree branches in the open sections along the river. The ones we saw seemed really long but we learned that some can reach up to two meters. They eat plants, insects, small reptiles, bats, crabs and small birds.

Caiman

Caimans love the marshy swamp land and the areas around mangroves. Our river guide knew just where to find one. The caiman barely moved, just sat resting in the shallows. We thought it was fake until it slightly moved an arm. It didn’t even blink! Did you know these caiman live 30-40 years? 

Monkeys

We watched a family of white faced capuchin monkeys eating fruits around a low palm tree. They were very skittish when we boated by. These monkeys are quite cute with their white face and shoulders, black bodies and long tails. They also eat everything from foraging on the forest flow to the top of the canopy. Their broad diet includes insects, flowers and fruits.

A group of 7-8 howler monkeys rested high in a tree. They were sleeping when we spotted them but their calls can be heard from a kilometer away. The Caño Negro River also has Spider monkeys but we didn’t spot any. 

Birds

From the boat we saw many Anhinga birds. They’re also called the Snake bird for their appearance when they swim with only their heads sticking out of the water. The Snake Bird is plentiful in this habitat with shallow waters on the warm river. Besides the snake bird, we saw Snowy Egrets, Great Blue Heron and the Amazon Kingfisher.

The Caño Negro is also home to larger animals that we didn’t see; such as cougars, jaguars, tapirs and ocelots. 

Back to Our AirBnB

On the drive back to our place, we took a wrong turn and went a short distance down another unnamed dirt road. We noticed that the truck ahead of us swerved around something. Then, suddenly we saw a sloth on the road in front of us! 

The sloth slowly extended his arm to crawl down the road. We heard they only come down from their trees once a week to drink water and relieve themselves. Obviously we stopped to take a few pictures while giving it plenty of space. We were thrilled to see it so up close! Although later, Siri told us it’s quite a common experience. 

Then, we continued our drive. A few kilometers down the way, we realized it was the wrong road and we needed to double back. And the sloth was gone on our return.

On the Way to La Fortuna

We packed up the car and hit the road for our next stop. Before getting far, we stopped for lunch at Las Rocas, a roadside restaurant. We each ordered a casado, a “married” plate of gallo pinto (beans and rice), meat and salad. We tried each of the natural juices; passion fruit, starfruit, tamarind, chai and chan, a spherical fruit that grows in trees here. With full bellies and excitement about all the animals we saw, we continued to our next stop, La Fortuna.