Costa Rica 2024: Rio Coto Mangrove Tour
The first full day in the Manuel Antonio NP area. Let me first tell you about the hotel we stayed in here. We booked El Faro Beach Hotel, which is located on a hill a few meters from the entrance to Manuel Antonio NP. The main selling point of this hotel (aside from the price) is its uniqueness. The hotel rooms are comprised of real shipping containers stacked on top of one another. The beach is a ten-minute walk away, but the hotel offers a panoramic view of the beach from the rooftop restaurant.
The plan for today was to visit Manuel Antonio Park. We were told the park has fantastic beaches, and we got into our bathing suits under our shirts. However, while standing in line we were told that tickets have to be purchased online beforehand because the park has a quota of 1,600 tickets per day and they don't sell tickets anywhere else, not even here in the entrance booth.
With our plan impeded for the time being (couldn't get through online purchase on our phones) we had to think of something to do instead, and quickly because it's only early in the day and it's already been a scorcher. So while in line, many barkers for tour companies approached us to sell us tours. We were under the impression that these tour companies snatched up the tickets to resell at a higher price - but that is not what happen here.
As a result, we had to abandon our plan of seeing the park and go with the other tours available. The new program for the day would be a mangrove tour (Rio Coto) with possible wildlife sightings. In the afternoon would be the much-anticipated ATV tour.
Once that was set in stone, we went back to the hotel to change out of the swimsuit and into our sun shirts and drove with a rep from the tour company about 26 minutes from the hotel to the mangrove area.
The hillside location of the hotel offered panoramic views of the beach.
Ready to start the day.
Ready to go!
Rio Coto Mangroves is a popular destination for outdoor enthusiasts and nature lovers. It offers a mix of beaches, national parks, and botanical gardens, with activities like kayaking, wildlife watching, and exploring the Golfo Dulce lagoon. The area is also known for its vibrant coastal views and access to water sports and fishing. That is the information I gathered about this place, although we only stayed in the mangroves area and did not go further.
I was happy as we coasted on a leisurely pace passing trees, very tall grasses and listening to the twittering of unknown birds. I didn't realize that there would be real wildlife sighting here. We saw lizards, snake, bats, monkeys, and a racoon in the wild. There was also the sighting of the ubiquitous sloth up on the trees.
A cute racoon was hoping for some human food, but no one in the boat brought any snacks.
Bats
Snake
Now the monkeys were a once-in-a-lifetime experience. This group of monkeys is nothing at all like the aggresive monkeys we encountered in Bali, Indonesia. While we were warned before the tour not to bring any food items, I was not prepared for how well-mannered (for lack of better terms) these monkeys were.
The boat driver/guide smashed bananas and smeared these on our cheeks and the monkeys licked it. Other than licking where the banana smear was, the monkey did not do anything else - did not grab any of our hats or sunglasses.
There was a troop of monkeys on the trees, but they came in the boat one at a time. That's how well-behaved they were.
Jumping flies. While not flies, they can appear in moist areas and jump, which may lead to someone describing them as "jumping flies". These are tiny, wingless arthropods (often mistaken for insects) that use a specialized appendage called a furcula to jump when disturbed. This is too cool.
So peaceful. I loved it.
After the tour, we drove back to the hotel because the pickup for the afternoon tour would be at the hotel. What a great morning.
The hillside location of the hotel offered panoramic views of the beach.
Ready to start the day.
Ready to go!
Rio Coto Mangroves is a popular destination for outdoor enthusiasts and nature lovers. It offers a mix of beaches, national parks, and botanical gardens, with activities like kayaking, wildlife watching, and exploring the Golfo Dulce lagoon. The area is also known for its vibrant coastal views and access to water sports and fishing. That is the information I gathered about this place, although we only stayed in the mangroves area and did not go further.
I was happy as we coasted on a leisurely pace passing trees, very tall grasses and listening to the twittering of unknown birds. I didn't realize that there would be real wildlife sighting here. We saw lizards, snake, bats, monkeys, and a racoon in the wild. There was also the sighting of the ubiquitous sloth up on the trees.
A cute racoon was hoping for some human food, but no one in the boat brought any snacks.
Bats
Snake
Now the monkeys were a once-in-a-lifetime experience. This group of monkeys is nothing at all like the aggresive monkeys we encountered in Bali, Indonesia. While we were warned before the tour not to bring any food items, I was not prepared for how well-mannered (for lack of better terms) these monkeys were.
The boat driver/guide smashed bananas and smeared these on our cheeks and the monkeys licked it. Other than licking where the banana smear was, the monkey did not do anything else - did not grab any of our hats or sunglasses.
There was a troop of monkeys on the trees, but they came in the boat one at a time. That's how well-behaved they were.
Jumping flies. While not flies, they can appear in moist areas and jump, which may lead to someone describing them as "jumping flies". These are tiny, wingless arthropods (often mistaken for insects) that use a specialized appendage called a furcula to jump when disturbed. This is too cool.
So peaceful. I loved it.
After the tour, we drove back to the hotel because the pickup for the afternoon tour would be at the hotel. What a great morning.
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