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| There was a short hike from the entrance to the refuge to where we boarded the boat. |
Our kids started school here in Santa Rosa de Pocosol, Costa Rica on February 17th. We wanted to do something altogether before school started and things got really busy with their school schedules. It turns out that there is a very cool wildlife refuge about an hour from our house which is called Caño Negro National Wildlife Refuge. Most of the people around here have visited it and we wanted to go so that we had this common experience in common when talking with folks. During this time of the year the river, which it is named after, is receding. We are in the "dry season" which starts after the rainy season ended in December and the many tributaries of the main river dried up. It turned out that we were blessed to be visiting during this time because you can see more wildlife from the main river than you can during the rainy season. Also, if you go a little later, there are many places that are inaccessible by boat due to the low river level. We told the folks there that we are missionaries living in Santa Rosa and they gave us the local rate for admission which was about $10 for all of us. We went during the week, so the boats were not very busy and we were able to get a 2-hour boat tour for a very reasonable price. Michael was the eagle-eye amongst us, as usual, and spotted over 40 caimans along the shores of the river. We also were able to see many beautiful birds and a few turtles. Many of the birds are fishing birds, like the Kingfisher, and we were able to witness them diving into the water for a catch. The rest of the blog will be pictures with captions like I sometimes do in my blogs. I really believe the saying is true that "a picture is worth a thousand words".
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| This is the little boat that we went through the refuge in for a two-hour tour, a two-hour tour. Unlike Gilligan, our tour ended after two hours. |
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| This bird was the fishing type and would get in the water to search for fish. |
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| The fish came dangerously close to the caiman! |
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| Here are four caiman swimming in the river....no swimming allowed!!! |
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| Some big turtles sunbathing on a log |
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| They had an observation tower and I tried taking one of those panoramic shots. |
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| It was strange to see such a big river without a bunch of houses on it. |
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| Karen took a picture of us from the top of the observation tower! |
Well, school has started and so far, so good...I personally think it is our best school experience while on missions. Anna is in 11th grade, Jack is in 9th and Michael is in 7th. They have been adjusting to the different Spanish words used here and the different dialects but they adapt much faster than Karen and I do in our late 40s. Please pray for our kids that school continues to go well for them.
Peace in Him,
Chris
