I will try to control the bird pictures today and show some of the other flora and fauna. We started out at 7:30 to drive to Cano Negro Wildlife reserve where we took what was promised to be a leisurely boat trip downstream.  

Here was our lovely little marine vessel which fit the 16 of us and the local driver fairly comfortably.

We started seeing wildlife immediately.  Here was a Cayman sunning on the land.  They're not big monsters, perhaps a mere 6-7 feet long.

Far more unique to me was an Emerald Basilisk lizard with very impressive colouring.  He was perhaps 2 feet long, but half of that was his tail.

We are at the peak of the dry season, with this year being dryer than normal.  You can see the high water mark on the riverbank (maybe 12-15 feet high) which occurred only a month ago.

In the riverbank are numerous holes which are used both by birds such as kingfishers and reptiles such as basilisks,

Below are Mr. and Mrs. Ringed Kingfisher (she had just emerged from a hole).

I am trying to spare you the worst of the bird photos, but we have two VERY SERIOUS birders as part of our leader team.  Noel, first below, is our local guide, shown directing some birdwatchers to some unique sighting.

Ted is from New Brunswick, and he has one of those cameras that needs a tripod trolley to hold it up for long periods of time.

You may think birdwatching is not a cardiac activity, but you are entirely wrong.  For the first hour and a half, Noel, Ted, the driver or one of our group would shout, "Look!" and we would all jump up like jack-in-the-boxes, with cameras and binoculars in hand.  We would then rush from side to side in the boat, manically trying to see whatever was pointed out but not visible to us in any way shape or form.  We saw monkeys, herons, anhingas, mango swallows, cuckoos, egrets, flycatchers, grebes, ibises and on and on and on and on.......

Finally I caught something that stayed still, so now you can see the nice purple orchids in the trees.

We were welcomed back to the hotel with a fancy towel arrangement on the bed (cute!)

We opted to take our showers early because it was so hot and humid, and got another bigger surprise.  There was a big black vulture right outside our shower window, crooning away with a sound that resembled a very deep voiced throat clearing.

I have a video of this, so if you really suck up to me when we get back, I may show you.

Talk to you tomorrow!