Playing with Wild Monkeys and Feeding Crocodiles

Rio Naranjo, Costa Rica

Located to the east of Quepos, this beautiful river is filled with lush wildlife, monkeys, crocodiles, iguanas, and flora. Friends in Costa Rica recommended that I come explore this part as it is remote and has many wild animals to see. We took a 4×4 vehicle from Quepos and drove to the river bank to meet a local guide.

After a 5 min discussion, we decided to take a small boat out and explore the river banks in search of wild animals.

We began our search as we cruised downstream. After about 30 minutes, we spotted some white-headed capuchin monkeys. They travel in packs and were climbing through the rainforest on the riverbank in search of food. 

Wild White-Headed Capuchin Monkeys

Pulling our boat to the side, we got out and approached them. These little guys were super friendly and just wanted to play!

I pulled out some apples that I had brought with me and got a bit closer to feed the wild monkeys. They slowly came up to me and played with my hands and head, ate my food, and climbed on me out of joy. These were some of the most playful monkeys I have ever seen, unlike the ones in Thailand who were little thieves!! Monkey Beach: Thailand 

After eating all my food, the monkeys played on the trees and got comfortable with me being around them. They let me get extremely close, so I could get some great footage.

What an amazing experience to be able to interact with these wild creatures in their natural habitat. All of the sudden, the monkeys got startled and ran back into the trees. I wondered why they left so quick…my boat captain quietly tapped my shoulder and pointed next to our boat….

Crocodiles

Being the adrenaline junkie I am, of course I had to get as close as possible. I went back on the boat so I could get near the crocs. 

The crocodiles rubbed up right next to our boat and were about an arms length away from me. (The vessel we had was a small wooden 6 person boat sitting about a foot above the surface of the water. This experience was quite intense as I could have stuck my hand out and placed it right on the crocodile’s head next me)

There is the white lining of the wooden boat, the only thing separating me from this ferocious crocodile. WOW! This was intense as I stared into the eyes of the crocodile knowing that at any moment he could easily spring up and start chomping on me….. literally living life on the edge. I love it, can’t get enough! 

My crazy boat driver decided we should feed them, so we found a stick and put a piece of fish that he had on it. Here is a short clip showing me feed the crocodile right next to us. 

(Sorry for the bad quality, my GoPro had a leak from filming underwater.)

Hope you enjoyed that! Almost lost my arm. That was a nice head rush….

Chasing Iguanas

Moving along, we continued downstream and found a river bank packed with wild Iguanas. I got out and gave them some of the last pieces of fruit I had and they decided to pose for me.

Hello there good sir!

Fellow Adventurers, This concludes my Rio Naranjo River excursion. I hope you enjoyed the monkeys, crocs, and iguanas. If you are planning on going to Costa Rica anytime soon, feel free to contact me with any questions. Cheers!