rio san san

Where do I begin to tell you how wonderful this place is?Firstly, not only was seeing the manatees great, they also have a turtle conservation project that desperately needs volunteers (they are not government funded but run by local volunteers) and the people running AAMVECONA retreat are wonderful!Contacted Elizabeth via e-mail (info@aamvecona.com), arranged arrival for 4PM. As far as I know you can also show up (not sure about weekends) and you will be attended to.First a boat ride (40 min.) to the oceanfront retreat deep within the wetlands during which we saw about 15 sloths and many birds.Then settled into a comfortable room for four (with mosquito nets). They also have running showers and western toilets.A nest of baby turtles was sheduled for hatching that evening, so after writing down information on an excavated turtle nest (they count the hatched and undeveloped eggs, information in why they did not hatch, etc.) we had dinner (food was truly amazing - better than the restaurants we had eated at) and then went to count, weigh and measure baby turtles and let them find their way to the ocean. After that we went on a 3 km walk down te beach to check if any turtles are laying eggs. The season for the egg laying is March-July, hatching August-September. We saw 3 poachers during our walk. The poachers will kill a nesting turtle and get $75/kg for the shell and 0.50 cents for one egg plus they will enjoy eating the meat. It is a reality of this place and that is why AAMVECONA and what they do is so important!!! Next day in the morning we went to see the manatees (saw them within first 20 min.) As others in this TA review have explained how it works, I will not go into more details. All I will say is that I wanted to go there to see the manatees and we planned to leave after that, but fell in love with the people and the baby turtles so ended up staying two more days!This organization, this place and the people who run it have a genuine spirit. They truly care and believe in what they do. This is one of the very special places that has not been touched by the volunteering frenzy yet but they do need help! If you are in the area (only about 2h from Bocas del Torro and 1h from the Costa Ricca border), please stop by and lend a hand, or donate!Thank you again to our amazing "guide" and overseer Jose, Don Alfredo, Elizabeth, Don Cano, Don Ramos and all the rest! :)

We emailed Elizabeth a few days before we wanted to go which she replied quite promptly, but did try the contact box first and don't think it worked. Email direct. Paid $75 for the boat, manatee tour, and twin room breakfast and dinner. Definetly good value for money. We arrived around noon and Elizabeth showed us lots of info about the national park and how they are looking after the animals. After we headed out onto the boat to the accommodation and on the way we saw a sloth really close up! Once we put our bags into our accommodation we were shown around the turtle volunteering station and given some fresh coconuts! After we headed to the manatee platform and the manatees arrived after 5 minutes! We got to watch them for two hours which was just amazing to see in the wild! We had some down time back at the accommodation before having a lovely dinner and then at around 8pm we headed out with a guide, Elizabeth and a masters student to go on a nighttime patrol of the beach looking out for leatherback turtles! We walked for about 45 minutes when we found one laying her egs too close to the water, we all helped collect the eggs to bury them back at the turtle station where they will have a much better chance of surviving. To be part of that experience of watching the biggest species of turtle in the world lay her eggs and help try to save their species was truly a wonderful experience and we feel extremely lucky! Thank you Elizabeth!

We did a day tour with aamvecona. Had a pick-up at Changuinola airport. After a short film about the area, we started with the tour. A nice one hour boat ride on the river to the Manatee look out. After a short time the first manatee arrived. 15 mins later a large Manatee showed up, and started eating the bananas. Nice to see the manatee grab a banana, disapear, and come back after a few mins for the next banana. We stayed at the look-out for almost 2 hours, and after we had lunch at the beach station. After lunch we did a boat tour through the mangroves, and saw a lot of birds, and animals. Thanks to the boatsman and guide Erick for the excellent tour.

How cool, I didn't think there would be a place on tripadvisor for this tour!I did the manatee tour in May of 2009. I was volunteering in Gandoca and every Sunday on our day off we'd head over to Changuinola for food and internet (easier to get to than Puerto Viejo, plus it's cheaper!) One of our taxi drivers told us about the manatee tours, and one day we decided to give it a try.Tip #1: call ahead! The people at the AAMVECONA office were nice but they weren't too happy that we decided to just show up out of the blue (we also had to wait about 30 minutes for a boat to come) So, if you can, call ahead! If I remember correctly the tour was around $20 - $25.When the boat arrived the three of us that were going hopped in and rode straight to the look-out dock (I think the tour takes you other places, like the volunteer station, but we didn't have time for that, as we still had to head to Changuinola and be back to Costa Rica before the border closed). On the way there our boat driver stopped to show us a mother and baby sloth (cuuute) and a snake hidden in a tree branch.When we arrived at the look-out there was a person waiting for us (I think he worked for AAMVECONA, I can't remember) He lowered the plants and bananas to almost water level and we sat and waited!Tip #2: BRING BUG SPRAY. Wear pants if you can, no matter how hot it is. The sandflies were KILLER and there is no where to go! And the manatees can take a while (see tip #3) so you will be miserable if you don't bring bug spray. As turtle volunteers we weren't allowed to wear bug spray but we were used to it, so we didn't bother, not knowing... not kidding, the WORST sand fly experience I came across while in Panama/Costa Rica. Wouldn't have been bad at all if we had had bug spray...Tip #3: Be prepared to wait! We waited about an hour and a half for the manatees to show up. You aren't guaranteed to see them but if you are patient you will usually be rewarded. We waited, and they came - and it was amazing! The water is murky so you won't have a perfectly clear view of them, but you could still see them in the water and they were super cute when they came up to eat the bananas and leaves. It was a really cool experience, especially since I've only seen manatees at SeaWorld...seeing them in their natural habitat was awesome. I would 100% recommend this tour but whether or not you will enjoy yourself depends on the type of experience you are looking for and your expectations - you won't be able to see the manatees perfectly, and you might have to wait a while (bring a book, haha). Personally though, I'm glad I did it.. it was great!

we did not take the yellow bus from Guabito into Changuinola direct. We got off at the half way point on the bridge over the Rio San San. You should DEFINITELY do this! Enter the office of AAMVECONA upstairs and tell the guy in Spanish that you want a boat to take you to the PLATFORM. He will wake up the boat captain (as they only get 2 or 3 requests per month) and charge you $70/boat plus $5/person with a maximum of 10 people per boat. Please email ahead if you know you are coming on a specific date to [--]. You will put on your life jacket and enter the boat to go down the Rio San San into the San San Pond Sak HUMEDAL (wetlands area). On this river there will be crocodiles, but also the largest population of Manatees (72 of them) in Central America. The Captain and your guide will take you down river to their cabin on the Caribbean (mouth of San San) where you can watch several 20 year old volunteer females digging in the beach for eggs that didn’t hatch and escorting the baby tortoises as they hatch to the water (with the shade from their body). These babies are so cute and I have some pics of them if you want. You can also buy but the only drinks they have are: coffee, warm water and fresh Coconut water from the coconut.After a brief stop here to visit the tortoises on the beach, you will reboard your boat to go to THE PLATFORM. This deep jungle patform is very cool. The boat guide will hang fresh Bananas and banana leaves from overhanging branches so they are below the platform and at the water surface. This will become Manatee food in about 30-60 minutes. Then the Captain of your motorized canoe will drive under some overhanging branches and place you at the ladder to the platform (deep in the jungle so bring tons of mosquito spray and sunblock). Once the captain turns off his motor, the Manatees will circle around for a while and eventually come to eat your Bananas. On the day we were there, the rain had flooded the river 2 days before so the river was very high. Thus the water was dirty and we only saw noses and branches being tugged on. But usually, the water is clear and you can see their bodies while they eat.After that we returned to the main office and said goodbye to the boat captain and guide to reboard the yellow bus toward Changuinola on the bridge for another 70 cents.

Vi bookede tur med AAMVECONA for at komme ud og se manatees. Oh hvilken fantastisk oplevelse!!!Vi rejste fra Puerto Viejo i Costa Rica til Changuinola i Panama. Rejste med lokalbus mellem Puerto Viejo og grænsen Sixaola (2000 colonies/person). Efter grænsen til Panama var krydset tog vi en taxa (minivan) og forklarede at vi var påven til Rio San San for at se manatees men at vi skulle til vores hotel først. Taxachaufføren stoppede ved AAMVECONA så vi kunne gå ned og spørge om en tur - taxaen ventede på os. Der var desværre ingen på AAMVECONA kontoret, det så meget lukket ud (måske fordi det var søndag?).Vi kørte til vores hotel i Changuinola (Hotel Hawaii). De talte kun spansk men vi forklarede så godt vi kunne at vi var i Changuinola for at se manatees. Damen i receptionen (ejeren) ringede til AAMVECONA (tag selv telefonnummeret med. Findes på nettet, tag evt skærmbillede af det). Kort efter var turen booket og vi blev hentet. Vil klart anbefale Nære at gøre det. Husk myggespray, lange bukser, langærmet trøje/skjorte, solcreme og solhat. Vi har læst at der er mange myg og sandflyes og at det bedste er at have lange ærmer og bukser + myggespray! Selv oplevede vi dog ikke noget (måske fordi vi var iført alt dette?). Eller pga tidspunktet på dagen. Vi var der fra 11 a.m. ca 3 p.m. Så de sødeste manatees og blev også sejlet forbi en ældre mands hus. Var inde og besøge det. Han sørgede for at afgrænse skildpaddernes redder så æggene kunne ligge i fred under sandet. Hele reservatet arbejder for at beskytte dyrelivet i området. Eneste minus til det hele var, at ingen talte engelsk. Så vi var rimelig lost mht at lære om manatees men er sikker på at degraderet havde fortalt hvis vi havde forstået spansk. Men turen var fantastisk og jeg vil klart anbefale andre at tage en overnatning i Changuinola så I kan nå at se de søde manatees og støtte reservatet arbejde. Vi havde en båd for os selv, turen kostede 95$ for os begge men var ALLE pengene værd!! :) Der findes et svensk tv-program (dokumentar) hvor de besøger disse manatees. Programmet hedder "Mitt i naturen" og netop det afsnit om manatees hedder "Costa Rica". Først tager de til Costa Rica for at se manatees men uden held. De bliver anbefalet at tage over grænsen til Panama og tager faktisk ud til denne Platform og her lykkes det dem at se dem, efter 1 dag. Vi havde dog mere held med os. Vi så dem allerede 15 minutter efter bananerne var sat i vandet :) Held og lykke - nyd det!!

Si lo que buscas es alejarte de la rutina diaria y de las diversiones diarias puedes probar allí, por lo menos a mi me gustó.

en un bello lugar donde se puede disfrutar del atardecer y del amanecer puedes ver todas las maravilla de la naturaleza los pajaros los arboles es una tranquilidad total y lugart muy hermoso.