Howlers, herons and humidity: A quiet sail in Costa Rica’s Caňo Negro wetlands
Writer Meera Dattani finds an ecotourism haven in northern Costa Rica…
Cacophony is the only way to describe it. Up in the trees, orange howler monkeys are going wild. My naturalist guide, Rebeca (María Rebeca Paniagua Barboza), tells me they’re like teenagers, hanging out in the same tree, eating, pooping and sleeping. In this respect, they’re not dissimilar to the slow-moving sloths I’d seen earlier.
Home for the howlers is the Caño Negro wetlands in Costa Rica’s northern Alajuela province, set around Lake Caño Negro. My group sails the Rio Frío along a forest corridor, my eyes darting around for caimans, iguanas and the Jesus Christ lizard, so named because of its ability to run on water. I spot a piano bird (named after its ‘piano keys’ markings), and from a distance I can see a toucan.
Later, I spy a boat-billed heron, which Rebeca tells me is the main predator of baby turtles. Thereafter, I turn my attention to spotting these babies in an irrational rescue mission.
The trip is one giant biology lesson. After learning that capuchin monkeys eat iguanas, I quickly accepted the circle of life here. These are fascinating primates, who have learnt the secrets of which plants hold water and how to use rocks to turn seemingly inaccessible shellfish into dinner. My guide, Marvin Araya Salas, calls them gangsters’, recalling an episode by a hotel when one capuchin posed for a photo while the rest grabbed the fruit.
Of course, the wetlands are no zoo, and that attitude goes a long way. I know that while I may not see them, this habitat is home to endangered jaguars, cougars and ocelots. In the dry season, migratory birds head to the riverside beaches and lagoons.
Despite general environmental angst, I feel quietly confident that these wetlands will survive. Renato Paniagua Rodrígueza, who operates Caño Negro Experience Nature Tours, runs an environmental education programme for the local children, who help with wildlife monitoring; right now, there are 387 bird species here. You also hope that the Indigenous communities, who possess vast knowledge about the land and rewilding, will be consulted more when it comes to ecotourism.
Leaving the Caño Negro wetlands is another adventure. When people say Costa Rica is ‘lush’, these aren’t just words. Sugarcane, yucca, plantain… it all grows in the surrounding countryside. Costa Rica is very green, in more ways than one.
