I hope you’re not getting bored of seeing beauty from our trip to Costa Rica, because I still have at least a couple of posts worth of pictures I’d love to share with you.

I’ve already mentioned our time at Papa’s Place several times. Well, on one of our outings there, Gerald (our “host”) recommended that we take a trip to the Cano Negro Wetlands, which was just a little over two hours from where we were staying in La Fortuna. He connected us with his friend, Renato, who was a guide for a company called Cano Negro Experience Nature Tours.

Renato took hubby and I out on his boat for five hours, pointing out different wildlife along the way. We saw an abundance of birds that I had never seen in person before, like this Amazon Kingfisher …

…this Black-headed Trogon…

and this Black-throated Mango, which I have to say, was tricky to get a shot of in a moving boat!

But there were all kinds of other creatures to marvel out as well.

It seemed like everywhere we turned there was a male Iguana trying to catch the eye of a nearby female. Sometimes they would shake their neck skin, which must be somewhat studly in the Iguana world…

…and other times they would stretch out on a branch, as if their good looks alone would surely win the fair maiden’s admiration!

A handful of white-faced monkeys were scampering amidst the trees along the edge of the river, darting in and out of view. These guys were definitely fun to watch, but I have to confess, they are on my “kinda creepy” list – right after clowns and dolls!

There were also several Caimans lounging about, and although they look quite fierce, our guide assured us that if we happened to fall in the water, they would rather flee from us than eat us. Still, I felt no need to put his assurance to the test!

We even saw a lovely Basilisk Lizard that bears the nickname of “the Jesus Christ lizard”, because it has large feet that help it walk on water. Now obviously the nickname comes from the walking on water trait, not the large feet – I’m pretty sure Jesus’ sandal size was never recorded!

I have to say, the Cano Negro wetlands was exactly the kind of place we love to visit – a beautiful setting that has more creatures than crowds! And we’re so grateful Gerald connected us with his friend to be our guide for the day – we couldn’t have asked for a better experience!