Misadventure on the Rio Nosara
The electric boat moved almost noiselessly along the Rio Nosara. The birds on the banks seemed largely unaware of our presence. The sounds of the forest were all around us.
But suddenly there was a thud somewhere beneath our feet and the boat slowed, then stopped.
At this point we had been out on the river for well over an hour and had seen lots of wildlife. The crocodiles known to nest on its banks had eluded us but birds there had been aplenty, and a small troop of Howler Monkeys too. We were nearing the end of our Costa Rica trip and this outing was a welcome opportunity to add to my list of sightings.
Did you know that cormorants poop when scared? We didn’t, until our naturalist guide Victor told us. And we saw it for ourselves when the boat driver manoeuvred close to this tree! Best not to go directly below such a tree as you could get hit with an unwelcome shower!
Calamity!
We had just turned back towards the hotel when there was a slight knock underneath the boat. We had scraped a log. No problem. But then it happened again and this time it seemed it was a problem. A blade of the propeller had snapped off. But again, no, not a problem, as the driver carried not one but two spares in his tool box and the spanner with which to fit one. The outboard motor was hauled into the boat, the damaged prop removed, and the replacement lined up to be attached. But yes, a problem after all, as it was the wrong size; and so was its twin in the tool box. As our naturalist guide Victor explained later, the motor had quite recently been replaced and these spares fitted the old motor but not, it turned out, this replacement.
So what to do? With very little help from the driver, who seemed to find the whole thing rather amusing, Victor managed to get us back with a combination of paddling (luckily they carried oars!) and wading in the thankfully shallow water, pulling us along.
Of course it took far longer than it should have done, but Victor’s hard work and willingness to get very wet ensured we made it back without getting wet ourselves! Only as we neared the end did he mention that he was rather worried about those crocodiles!
Needless to say, we tipped him well. But the boat driver? Not so well!
I’m sharing the above gallery of bird images with Cee for her CFFC theme this week of Birds. And for those of you who enjoyed the views I shared previously from our beautiful hotel here, Lagarta Lodge, here’s what it looked like from the river as we neared the end of our adventurous ride. Use the slider to see our room’s location.
Lagarta Lodge from the Rio Nosaro
I visited Costa Rica in February 2022
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Annie Berger
Not a birder – possibly because I can’t identify them or even usually see them! – but I loved your bird shots of the herons and spoonbill at the top of the post, Sarah. Amusing to read from the comfort of our condo in Hawaii, mind you, about your calamitous boat ride. Thank goodness Victor came through in a pinch and kept his concerns about the possibility of crocs to himself until you were safely back!
Sarah Wilkie
I can’t identify many birds either – I rely on local guides, knowledgeable friends and the internet! But I love the challenge of trying to photograph them 🙂 Glad you’re having such a good time in Hawaii 😀
Easymalc
People like Victor are typical in places like this aren’t they? No calling for the marine equivalent of the RAC, they just get on with it. While I was watching the film I was thinking “what if those crocodiles made an appearance now?” and poor Victor was thinking the same. For once a non-appearance was welcome 🙂
Sarah Wilkie
Yes, absolutely right Malcolm, he really did just get on with it. As he said to us when we thanked him afterwards, it’s the first responsibility of a guide to look after the guests, whatever happens 🙂 One good thing about the crocodiles is that the river they nest in is one of two that meet here just before running into the Pacific, and we were in the other one when this happened. It doesn’t mean there were none around but we weren’t in the stretch where they are most numerous 🙂
thehungrytravellers.blog
Great stuff, don’t you just love calamities which give you a decent story! What an amazing country for spotting wildlife huh?
Sarah Wilkie
Oh yes – even as it was happening I was thinking ‘great, this will make an interesting account for the blog’ 😆 And yes to the wildlife spotting – and I haven’t even got around to sharing the excursion that gave us the best opportunities of all!
Bama
I need to steer clear of any cormorant then since for some reason birds seem to love to poop on me (it has happened three times, and I’m certainly not looking forward to the fourth).
If I were on the same boat, I too would have been worried of the crocodiles. I’m glad in the end it all worked fine for you. Love your photos of the bird and the river, Sarah.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you so much 😀 Yes, birds like to poop on me too! The worst was in the Galapagos – it was a frigate bird and being very large they have a lot of poop 😆
Bama
They just seem to have some kind of radar to identify the ‘right’ target. 😆
Anne Sandler
What a fun adventure Sarah. As soon as I read that the guide got into the water to pull the boat, I wondered about crocodiles. I’m glad all of you made it back safe. Your images are amazing!
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Anne, especially for that nice comment about the photos 😊
Rosalieann Beasley
Pooping when scared is a good adaptation – makes you lighter and more able to get away 🙂
Our guide at Manuel Antonio told us not to stand under the monkeys because they pee on the people below – I think in their case it is mischief. I got a photo of them doing that.
Great photos – I enjoyed being able to see close up some of the birds I saw IRL but couldn’t get good photos of
Anonymous
I’ve only done boat trips on the Caribbean coast
Sarah Wilkie
Ah yes, that’s a good point Rosalie 😀 And I bet you’re right about the monkeys – they will have learned that they get a reaction out of people!
Glad you enjoyed the photos. Needless to say, I missed more than I got!
justbluedutch
Oh Sarah, this is a wonderful posts. My favourites are the Cormorants and the Pelican. Your photos brings such brilliance and life to these feathery creatures. Lovely to ponder on your adventures as well!
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you so much for this lovely comment, I’m really glad you enjoyed the post 😀
Sue
What a brilliant post! I did a shorter trip in Costa Rica, saw a few similar birds, very distant Howler Monkeys ,…..but your images are way superior to mine! Oh, but I got a Sloth
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks so much Sue 🙂 We were very fortunate with our monkey sightings, especially on another river in the Cano Negra reserve which I’ll share in due course. But getting a sloth is probably the number one priority here!
Sue
Here’s my sloth: https://suejudd.com/2018/04/14/asleep/
Emily Clover
Yikes, I would not be excited to wade through crocodile water!
Sarah Wilkie
Me either – I was very glad to be safe in the boat 🙂
salsaworldtraveler
Victor was very brave and deserved a good tip for not making you trek through the jungle. Thanks for the beautiful photos and the tip about cormorants.
Sarah Wilkie
I know he felt it was his responsibility but we felt bad that the driver didn’t really help when it should have been his responsibility to navigate around obstacles – the water was clear enough to see everything on the river bed!
kzmcb
Fabulous shots. I’m intrigued by the difference in some families of birds, in a different location, such as the kingfisher and pelican.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you 😊 Glad you found this intriguing!
Anabel @ The Glasgow Gallivanter
Victor is a hero!
Sarah Wilkie
Absolutely 😎
bushboy
Ever so good Sarah. So many wonderful birds but the Pelican is amazing. Thanks for dragging me down the river with you 🙂
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks so much Brian – although it was really Victor who dragged both of us 😆
maristravels
What an advenrure, indeed. I wouldn’t have needed Victor to worry about the crocodiles. I would have been having 70 kinds of breakdown about the fate awaiting us if we weren’t rescued soon(er). I’m always scared when on water, scared of falling in (I can’t swim), scared of crocodiles, scared of sea-snakes, scared of things I don’t even now about. I admire your stoicism in face of this calamity but it was worth it. You got some lovely images and I’m sure you were thrilled with them. Thanks for sharing them.
Sarah Wilkie
Oh dear, you make it sound much more dramatic than it felt at the time! Once I could see that Victor had a plan and was prepared to execute it, I wasn’t too worried. And not being able to swim wouldn’t have been an issue – you can see how shallow the water was 🙂 I must admit though that I’d forgotten about the crocodiles, perhaps because we hadn’t seen any, until Victor mentioned them just as we reached our landing place!
margaret21
As disasters go, this doesn’t seem to be too calamitous. It certainly makes a good story at te end of a wonderful photography session..
Sarah Wilkie
Yes, it really wasn’t a disaster although at one point I wondered if they would decide to head for the shore earlier and we would have to hike through the reserve on what was a very hot day (32 degrees I think)!
margaret21
Ah… that puts a different complexion on it then…
sustainabilitea
I’m glad this misadventure turned out so well, Sarah. You certainly used the time to get some excellent photos. I’ve seen most of these birds here at the Riparian Preserve in Gilbert, but I’ve never seen a female kingfisher anywhere and thankfully we have no crocodiles (or alligators) here.
janet
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks Janet – the silence of the boat (when it was working properly!) made it easier to get good photos as we could get quite close to the birds before they noticed us!
Yvonne+Dumsday
What an adventure but thank goodness it all ended well. As always, the pictures were superb and how fortunate to see both genders of kingfisher. Until just now, I never realized that pelicans had yellow heads. Many thanks once again for sharing with us.
Stephanie
You’ve definitely had some adventures! Enjoy reading about them 😊
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you 😊
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks Yvonne 🙂 It could be the way the pelican’s head was catching the light. That’s one of the last photos I took that afternoon so the sun would have been getting lower by then.