A Daytrip to the Rio Sierpe/Terraba Mangrove forest!

What happens when you have a couple of Alabama Southern expats get together with a German/Swiss adventuress and throw in a few funny and witty New Zealanders?  Well a fun day trip to Sierpe for a boat ride through the Rio Sierpe/Terraba Mangrove forest of course!

The Rio Sierpe/Terraba Mangrove forest is the largest wild mangrove forest in Central America where from the comfort of a boat you can explore the beautiful maze of canals and rivers while your guide points out the region's fascinating wildlife.  The Mangrove is home to nearly 100 species of birds and an abundance of reptiles and amphibians including caimans, crocodiles, tree frogs, boa constrictors, iguanas, and river turtles.  Mammals can be spotted as well: sloths, coatis, and as many as three species of monkeys. 

We loaded up the Defender and headed out on our adventure at 6:00 am.   Located just 2 hours from our home in Playa Bejuco after a fun and bouncy ride (remember Costa Rica roads have many potholes) we arrived at the boat dock at 8:00 and were happy to see clear skies and bright sunshine!  In just a few minutes we were on the boat and headed out the canal to the river where we were amazed at the abundance of wildlife and huge variety of reptiles, monkeys,  birds and crocodiles that we saw.  The tropical plant life and mangrove trees are so interesting and our guide Eric educated us all along the way.

Gliding through the mangroves on the boat with the wind blowing in your face was so cool and refreshing and the scenery was amazing!  We passed by many palm oil plantations that use to be banana orchards and you could see so many large bamboo plants!  The beautiful mountains in the background framed by the palm trees was so beautiful!  We were amazed at the vast array of wildlife available for us to observe while Eric talked to us about the species and their habits.

About mid morning we were offered snacks of fresh watermelon and papaya and also stopped by a boat dock to receive a nice supply of fresh coconuts from which we could sip the delicious agua de pipa!  This very healthy and refreshing drink comes straight from the coconut and since we typically drink it with a straw we enjoyed a bit of laughter as we tried to master this without one.  It was a memorable moment of bonding with our new friends from New Zealand!

We rode for another hour or so and came to a nice boat dock where there appeared to be cattle farmers tending to their cows on the wooded bank.  We tied up at the pier and everyone climbed out of the boat to enjoy a nice picnic under the shade trees. 

Eric prepared a lovely lunch for us with Bimbo bread, ham, cheese, tuna, re-fried black beans, fresh sliced avocado, cucumber and tomatoes!  A bag of papas for a little crunch and fresh juicy pineapple for desert topped off with a refreshing grape flavored Tropical Fresco de Uva that I had not had before!  It was quiet delicious!

While we were enjoying our picnic the farmers that were tending to the cows on the bank started to herd them into the water one by one and tie them to the boat.  We had noticed the baby cows were inside the boat and wondered what they were doing.  Eric explained that this was the only way to get the cows across the river since there are no roads into the mangroves.  The cows of course seemed to understand that they were about to go into the water and were not at all agreeable to the situation they were in.  Please enjoy the video below that I made of this very interesting way of transporting cattle in Costa Rica.  Eric assured us that this was not unusual here and that the animals did not suffer in any way.  

And so we continued our journey with our bellies full and yearning to climb up on one of the sunny banks like the cocodrilos to take a little siesta.  We passed so many interesting sites, a boat marina restaurants and bars and a dinner cruise type boat and what appeared to be a family celebrating a birthday party.  It was a beautiful day and there were many Ticos out on their boats fishing and shrimping.  One boat went by that had so many Ticos on board it looked like it might sink any minute!
We passed a ferry boat that Eric said was only used to transport the palm oil wagons across the river.  
There was a family with many children enjoying an afternoon of swimming off the banks of the river which I found most interesting considering the vast number of many species of crocodiles that we had seen.  I think that I would just have to suffer the calor which means heat!


After a long day and many photos later we arrived back to the boat dock and loaded up to head home, but someone in the group mentioned the word ice cream and off we went to the Cristal Ballena, a lovely Hotel, Resort & Spa that offers a nice menu of desserts between Ojochal and Uvita with a beautiful view of the mountains and the pacific ocean.  If you wanted to spend more time exploring this area this would be a very nice place to stay for a few days.


Please enjoy my video of the many photos that I took on this exciting tour of the mangroves. 



You may also view the still photos on our Photo Album website
Pura Vida "Living the Good Life" in Costa Rica