Costa Rica El Viejo wetland Guanacast

originally posted January 10, 2019

above: American Crocodile in open mouth sun energy gathering position

South of the Palo Verde National Park lies the wetlands of El Viejo on the upper reaches of the Tempisque estuary. The El Viejo private refuge is a magnificent area of untamed nature. American Crocodiles are on the stretch of the river towards the Pacific ocean and Caiman (a smaller relative to the Alligator), are further inland up the Tempisque.There are many shorebirds on the wetland.

above: Wood Stork

On the Tempisque river.

above: Black-necked Stilt

Many Crocodiles are on the river banks due to the unusually high winds of the dry season. Not a good place to go swimming for this Capuchin Monkey or anyone.

Above : Osprey

There is, however, excellent fishing for Osprey (a winter resident) along the river. A Snowy Egret displays from its banks although it is usually not a breeding bird.

The real creature dominating the water is the apex predator the American Crocodile - be careful where you dangle your toes!

below: The Bare-throated Tiger-Heron is fairly abundant in the Tempisque basin, although the bird is synonymous to the more remote and dangerous areas of Central America. Each meeting with this bird is a rare privilege deserving of celebration.

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El Viejo Wetlands tour was a mini-adventure designed for family. In particular, when accompanied by grandchildren, a safe river boat cruise is essential. My family were visiting from Europe, and the expectations of the youngest members was really quite modest, but large reptiles were high on their wish list. I visited the private refuge which joins the southern border of Palo Verde National Park, to assess its viability and to establish what could be seen, and more importantly, avoid any possible dangers, as El Viejo is a wild place and very authentic! These are free living wild animals, and definitely not a zoo or safari park. The fact that the tour was from a boat added to its relative safety. Simply said - as long as no one fell in the river they would not be eaten by the crocodiles. There is an awareness here of the dangers associated with sharks and sea snakes, but there are regular sightings of crocodiles near beaches and attacks are not uncommon. Ironically, the whole Costa Rica adventure was a great success, uneventful with no incidents. Except for the collapse of the author with bacterial pneumonia shortly after everyone got on the return flight to Europe. Paradoxically, the grandson managed to break his arm on the sports field shortly after his return home.

Today, I am in my backyard, sitting in my rocker after a week in hospital feeling quite content in the thought that everything went well, as I squint at the aerobatics of Black Vultures against a bright blue Costa Rican sky