The Palo Verde reserve lies about an hour and change inland from the beach where we live. Their claim to fame is tours of the Rio Tempisque by boat. Another early start and we were at the restaurant operated by the tour company in time for our nine o’clock excursion. Being cashew season, they had whipped up a batch of maranon juice for all of tourists. We sipped it until take off time then followed Gabriel down to the boat launch.

Along the way, we pulled over to have a look up into the tall trees where a group of scarlet macaws were frolicking in the upper branches. Lower down in the same large guanacaste tree, a family of howler monkeys were relaxing in the shade. A two for one animal sighting before even reaching the river!

Down at the dock, we were loaded onto a canopy covered boat with a few other couples. There was plenty of room, so Ama, Chris, PJ and I took over the stern of the blue and white watercraft. We only had to cross to the far side of the river to see a troop of capuchins, Costa Rica’s white faced monkeys, playing in the trees along the bank. We began to slowly motor upriver hugging the far shore where we saw numerous birds and a large crocodile.

To dodge some of the other boats cruising the river, we turned up a side channel and poked along the jungle covered byway. More birds and another good sized croc. I shot tons of pictures and enjoyed seeing the bats resting underneath the tree trunks along with iguanas and other lizards trying to hide themselves as we floated past.

Chris and Ama treated to the day out and which included a typical Costa Rican lunch. All the courses came on large platters where we served ourselves as much of each item as we wanted to try. They topped us off with a bowl of home made cashew ice cream. An awesome way to spend a day and see more of this beautiful country.