When you hear rainforest you think monkeys and birds and iguanas and snakes (yikes!) and butterflies and more birds…..and they are all there. They are just difficult to spot because of their innate ability to stay out of sight of their predators. But there are always exceptions. This past week we saw monkeys hanging out in the trees above the Sarapiqui River.
and Iguanas sunning alongside the river…
Kayaking in Costa Rica for iguana spotting
Gorgeous blue morphous butterflies added color to the green canopy on the Pacuare River
The green canopy of the Pacaure is colored by morphous butterflies
Difficult to spot because any wise creature that lives in the rain forest is well adept at staying camouflaged –even though often their bright colors are part of their existence (they are more attractive to their suitors!) So it often takes a keen eye to see these gorgeous animals–especially if the main focus is on the rapids downstream…
It oft times takes a keen eye to spot well-camouflaged creatures
Probably the exception to this is the toucan–as it is hard to miss flitting from one side of the river to the other in a less-than-aerodynamic flight pattern
Toucan caught in flight
Fortunately our indigenous guides are well-trained for spotting the wonders of the rain forest!
Kayaking in Costa Rica with our Indigenous Guides
Enjoy the full collection of photos capturing this past week’s awesome days on the river: the Upper and Lower Pacaure, Sarapiqui, Orosi and Pejibaye.