Off to See the Lizard

Pineapple fields 

This morning Kayla and I were up early and ready for breakfast by 7:00am. When we got to the hotel restaurant, we were surprised to find our friends from the beach, Tim and Wendy. Of all the places in Costa Rica, we arrived at the same river and same hotel. They had plans to do an early hike to through the national park, while Kayla and I had our day planned with our waiter.

At 8:15, we picked up our waiter/guide and were on our way to Cano Negra. As we drove, Gravin told Kayla and me about the local pueblos and fincas. Just a short 2 hours later, we arrived at our first destination; the locale of the Snapping Turtles, only to find out it was a restaurant that had them on site.

Kayla and I looked at each other skeptically before exiting the car. Our guide spoke with the owner and informed us that they no longer had the turtles. I glanced at Kayla nervously and wondered what we had gotten ourselves into. The owner must have noticed our confusion and disappointment because he promptly informed us that they had other turtles and a bunch of crocodiles on site.

So determined to make the best of the situation, we followed him into the restaurant and I was pleasantly surprised to the beautiful hand carved posts, chairs and bar tops. We wandered around before going out back to see the Crocodile pond.

The crocs were HUGE and there were at least 10!!! Kayla and I wandered around looking at each one. I found the animals had some of the most stunning green eyes. We enjoyed the restaurant for a little before our guide bought us some bocas of Garfish. I felt bad, but asked Kayla to do me a favor and eat as much as she could since I really don't like fish! This unfortunately this made Kayla feel unwell but fortunately, that gave us an out and we were able to finally head home. Tired and ready for a little siesta at the hotel, we all climbed back into the car without seeing Canas Negas.

Garfish and pataconas

When we got back to the hotel we got a second wind and decided to walk down to the river to see the amazing blue color. We walked through lush secondary forest down to the hotel's river-side Gazebo. The color was memorizing! Kayla and I climbed down the rocky path and sat by the water taking in our surroundings.

River-side gazebo equipped with towels and umbrellas

Hotel Restaurant.

While enjoying the undisturbed nature, Kayla found a chestnut mandabled toucan in the tree above the river. I became determined to take a good picture of the toucan, so I climbed on the tops of the rocks to the middle of the river. Of course when I got to a spot to see it, the bird moved. Disappointed and cold, we headed back to the room.

Toucan, if you look carefully

Hotel pool

By the time it was dinner time, Kayla and I had called our friend, Ever, who works at the national park for a tour to see animals and birds on our way to the waterfall. Ever came by the hotel and gave us advice on all sorts of things to do and places to see and also was able to book a tour with one of his friends at 6:00AM which is 2 hours before the park opened.

Kayla and I are once again exhausted before 10PM and have come to the conclusion that we are definitely not acting our age.