CARARA BIOLOGICAL RESERVE JUNGLE RIVER CRUISE

Famous for its large American Crocodiles, the Tarcoles River forms the Northern border of Carara Biological Reserve on the Central Pacific coast of Costa Rica. The Tarcoles is full of Crocodiles, Scarlet Macaws, Jesus Christ Lizards, and over 120 species of birds. But everyone comes to see the huge crocodiles - so big they have names like "Saddam Hussein" and "Mike Tyson!".

We board a custom-built, flat-bottom river boat at our private botanic garden. Then we glide along this placid river with our naturalist guide, who describes the birds, animals, and habitat in great detail. After visiting the river mouth, we venture up a mature mangrove estuary, where we stop to learn about this remarkable ecosystem. After enjoying fresh fruit and refreshments, we slowly return upstream to our native botanic garden, where our guide explains more about the native plant species of this transitional zone habitat.

Afterwards, we take you to a funky local restaurant for lunch and more refreshments. The day continues with a visit to Carara Biological Reserve. One of Costa Rica's most biologically-diverse National Parks, it is home to an enormous variety of plants, birds and animals, including about 300 Scarlet Macaws.

Carara is located in a transitional zone rainforest area: it is between the dry North Pacific Coast and the very wet South Pacific Coast. Thus, Carara features plant and animal species from both areas. There is a tremendous abundance of wildlife in this area. Thousands of species of trees, heliconias, tillandsia, orchids, insects, mammals and birds live in Carara. Some of these species are native only to the Central Pacific Coast region.

Our professional guide will lead you through this spectacular primary rainforest reserve on a non-strenuous 1.5 - 2 hour guided hike. We regularly see white-faced (Capuchin) monkeys, Howler monkeys, scarlet macaws, sloths and hundreds of different plant and animal species.