Caño Negro - Marietta College

Caño Negro

Costa Rica

Marietta College Biology and Environmental Science Department Field Trip 2005/2007

Note: Lots of big, pretty pictures on this page - it may take a while to load, even over a high-speed connection!

Caño Negro is a nature preserve located in Costa Rica just south of the Nicaraguan border at Los Chiles. It is a large system of interconnected wetlands along the Rio Frio. We visited the preserve twice, once in 2005 and once in 2007. Both times we started out in La Fortuna and were picked up by a tour operator. In 2005, we drove all the way into Los Chiles, then back south to the river. In 2007, we approached the preserve from the south. Our 2005 trip produced a lot of wildlife, but we were not able to get into the preserve itself, while in 2007 we were able to see a corner of the preserve.

We set off from La Fortuna in the shadow of Volcán Arenal.

A typical tour bus of the sort used to haul groups of tourists around in Costa Rica.

The group aboard the van in 2005.

In both years we stopped at a bridge in a small town on the way to Caño Negro to see the iguanas that hang out at a restaurant next to a river. The iguanas are very tame and will allow visitors to come up and pet them. Young iguanas are bright green; they turn a more yellowish color with age and end up resembling the related ctenosaurs. The adults are among the few vegetarian lizards. Both adults and young like to perch above water; this allows for a quick escape if a predator approaches - they simply drop out of the trees into the water.

Above left - there are at least 18 iguanas in the photo of the vegetation over the river.

Right: We also stopped at a small soda for a snack before reaching the boats.

Below: In 2005, we boarded our boat on the Rio Frio at the Soda Juanita (below right).

In 2007, our boat was docked at a restaurant near a bridge over the river.

The boats were comfortable with good protection from the sun (and rain, although it was dry for us both years). The drivers and the guides were fantastic at spotting the wildlife, and good about maneuvering the boats so everyone could get a view. One guide was especially adept at both driving the boat and using a small mirror to flash sunlight onto hard-to-spot animals in the trees.

Above: The landing at Soda Juanita.

The wildlife was interesting. In 2005, it was our first look at many of the species we were seeing as we hadn't spent much time in tropical lowland rainforest by that point. In 2007, we had already seen many of the species, although a few new ones popped up. Everyone on both trips, however, was acquainted with howler monkeys.