Alright! Costa Rica! Let’s do this! I took over 2100 photos on our trip south, and I’m so excited to share some with you.
Some adventures are premeditated, and some simply.. happen. We planned to drive through Tarcoles to visit the famous crocodile bridge, but we hadn’t anticipated being swept into a boat tour by a very convincing salesman. Oftentimes, these turn out to be scams, overpriced and/or overpromising.
First, he pulled us in with a parking spot. He then promised we’d get a better view of the crocodiles from a path next to the property than from atop the bridge – at no cost (it actually was a good vantage). Then, he told us we could get closer to even bigger crocs on their tour. And he’d even give us the local price of $30pp (instead of $40).
Despite the warning bells, we thought, why not?
The reality: this one was worth every colón (even if the local price is actually $20 – we’ll never know).
The boat was covered, so we were sheltered from the sun, and the tour lasted about an hour. True to their word, we saw enormous crocodiles.. and baby crocodiles. We saw tiger herons and boat-billed herons and blue herons and green herons – so many herons! So much wildlife!
And then our crazy captain….
Evidently, he’s friends with the locals – good friends.
With our first croc, our guide asked, “How close do you think we can get to that crocodile?” We figured we’d have to keep a respectable distance, but nope! They took the boat right up to and practically on top of this beast.
“Who wants to pet him?” Umm….
One daring soul volunteered, and the croc just lay there, not giving a care in the world. This arose suspicions that the thing wasn’t even real – until it started to move – eliciting shrieks from the more skittish of the passengers.
Once I had witnessed enough hands return to the boat unharmed, I got in line. No way would I pass up this opportunity!
But that wasn’t enough. Our captain then hopped out of the boat and splashed a rag at the surface until the croc shined his pearly whites. But that still wasn’t enough! He proceeded to reach into the water and pull the reptile’s chin right up to his own.
Anyone care for a kiss with a crocodile?
¡Loco!
The rest of the tour wasn’t quite so eventful, but it sure was beautiful. All the way down to the Mangrove Forest, and back, I got lots of use out of my big lens. We even caught a glimpse of a pair of brightly-colored scarlet macaws (apparently these are rare in that area).
It certainly was an adventure and far more than we bargained for. It ended up being one of the highlights of the trip!
It just goes to show that you can’t always plan the best parts of your vacation; sometimes they seek you out.
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Wow
Wow, what BEAUTIFUL pictures! That is so amazing! Where were those taken?
These were taken from the Tarcoles River in Costa Rica – such an amazing place!
Thank You!
Wow! Costa Rica is on my must-see travel list! Hopefully in the near future! Awesome photos!
Thank you! Yes, we had an absolute blast, and we only hit half of the things on our want-to-do list!
What an awesome trip! But yeah, that guy is loco – no way I’d be getting that close to any croc. Love the photo of the macaws. How lucky to see them.
Alison
No kidding! We felt a bit crazy just petting its back. And I wish I saw more macaws, but apparently they’re rare, so I’m happy we saw them at all. Thanks for stopping by!
[…] part of our trip, but those usually are the best kind of adventures. We stopped to go look at the crocodiles from the highway bridge, but as soon as we parked, we were instantly approached by people offering […]
Beautiful pictures! I fell in love with the one of the croc sleeping with its head on the beach. So good!
Thank you!