Costa Rica - The Mangroves

Day 2 in Costa Rica was slightly more adventurous than Day 1. It consisted of a Mangrove Boat Tour near the town of Damas, Costa Rica, right near the Pacific Ocean.

Mangroves, –noun

1.any tropical tree or shrub of the genus Rhizophora, the species of which are mostly low trees growing in marshes or tidal shores, noted for their interlacing above-ground adventitious roots.

Exhibit A:

I've never toured mangroves before so it was quite a treat. Especially in Costa Rica. When the tide comes in, it fills up all these canals with water that you can tour by boat. The tide raises the water something like 12-15 feet and when the tide goes out, they completely drain to where you could walk through.

We started the tour on land with a traditional Costa Rican meal with rice, beans, fried plantains (my fav) and Mahi Mahi. Delicious!!!

On our tour through the mangroves, we saw a ton of different flora and fauna.

A troop of white faced monkeys swinging around in the trees and in the mangrove roots...

Small crabs all over the mangrove trees - this one is missing two legs...

Several termite's nests - you could see dark lines weaving throughout trees to and from these nests...

Blue Mangrove Heron - the largest in the area...

I'll spare making this post incredibly long but we also saw the world's SMALLEST anteater nestled up in a tree, iguanas, giant hornet's nests... and many more. It was so great to see such a unique area of Costa Rica. Not only did we get to see so many different creatures, but we also got a glimpse of locals, their homes and neighborhoods. Very cool experience.