Honeymoon - We're on a Boat

So, when I left off, we had made it to the beautiful TikiVillas Resort.  After one day of visiting the beach and relaxing (a lot!), we decided to schedule our first tour: a boat tour of the Mangrove forest on the Sierpe River.

We drove down to the town of Sierpe first thing Tuesday morning and found our tour guide waiting outside of a small restaurant/souvenir shop.  We were soon on the boat, gliding through the river and seeing the sites...  (all pics personal)

View of the Sierpe River

Mangroves

A Mangrove Seed

There was a ton of natural beauty.  A huge variety of trees and flowers were all around us.  And, we stopped time and time again as the tour guide or boat driver spotted animals along the way.

There were birds...

and baby alligators...

and turtles...

and more birds.

And, while all that was cool, it didn't hold a flame to the MONKEYS!!!  This tour was the first time we saw any monkeys in Costa Rica.  And, we saw a ton.

First, the Howler monkeys appeared in the trees near the river...  They are probably easier to find because they make so. much. noise.  I can't describe the sounds they make; but, once you hear it and know what it is, you never forget.

Howler Monkey, just hanging out

Lots and lots of monkeys, just hanging out

Seriously, just hanging out

Looking Cool

or maybe re-enacting scenes from The Jungle Book

So, I know, that's a lot of monkey pics...  And, if that's not really your thing, you may want to skip this next section...  Because, after the Howlers, we saw White Faced Monkeys, a type of Capuchins.  These monkeys were 1. less noisy, 2. smaller (and, hence, cuter) and 3. friendlier.

Ok, this might be cheating because it's a baby... but, see how cute?!?

While you'll have to trust me on point one, I think that picture proves point two.  So, what about point three?  Well, our boat driver, Jose, showed us how "friendly" these monkeys can be...

They are very willing to come visit...

when there is free juice involved.

And, while I wasn't prepared to get that up close and personal with a wild monkey, Anthony was.

Giving up some juice...

can lead to even closer encounters.

That was definitely the highlight of the tour and one of Anthony's favorite moments of the whole trip.  I don't blame him... how many people have had a monkey climb on them?  Crazy.

There were tons of other animal sightings...  boa constrictors, parrots, etc. etc.  Seriously, this is what Costa Rica is about.  The biodiversity was astounding.

After a few hours, we landed back at the docks and settled in for a quick snack of ceviche.  While enjoying our food and cold beers, we took one last picture of our boat and driver.

Jose and our tour boat

It was a great tour and the perfect way to get started really seeing the country.  Plus, it was the least interactive (with an exception of the monkey of course) and least strenuous.

Next, we step it up a little and I experience my first earthquake!