Written by Claudia Langguth
Kokopelli Sierpe River Mangrove Tour owner

I love to remember the day when we went on a mangrove tour on the Sierpe river. We took a private boat at Kokopelli’s dock, a romantic bar/restaurant overlooking the Sierpe River. From there, the captain took us to Estero Azul. Our bilingual guide explained that this channel was built by the workers of the banana (United Fruit) company to transport the fruit.

That day, the tide was low, and just around the corner, we encounter the biggest crocodile we had ever seen, basking over a sandbar. It was not interested in us; at least, that’s what we thought. The exuberant jungle around us; it was very inspiring. While we were slowly cruising the river, we saw exotic birds, scarlet macaws, toucans and tiger herons.

We went under a small bridge, where we saw a bat family sleeping upside- down, then, the landscape changed completely. We were in another world, listening to nature in the middle of the pristine jungle. All of a sudden, a terrifying scream shattered the silence. A little bit scared; we turned to our guide for reassurance. “Don’t worry, it is just the howler monkeys,” he told us. Later, we saw the family of three: mom, dad, and a baby. The Baby was balancing on the tail of this much bigger howler daddy. It was unbelievable.

The shores of the green river were buzzing with sounds of hidden insects and birds. We saw something moving in the bamboo forest. The cutest little squirrel monkeys were playing on the branches, right in front of us. This trip to a fragile, nearly lost paradise is definitely a must do. ¿Where else in the world can you watch so many different species of monkeys, crocodiles, exotic birds and iguanas? We were very touched by the breathtaking beauty of this magical river. Thank you Mother Earth!

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