The drive to the river was about an hour and a half and we ended up taking a route a little off the main highway at one point. We stopped in at Alan's other job which is very labour intensive....manually dredging sand from a river by pulling sand from the river bed with a bucket and using oxen to transport the cart to offloading area. Due to the immense heat, these workers start work around midnight and finish around 10am. They get paid $5 per emptied cart and make roughly $40 a shift. We saw a couple workers in the river and I couldn't imagine having to do this job. Along this river we also got to see some howler monkeys.
As we continued the drive on the potholed dirt road we drove past sugar cane plantations and cantaloupe fields where we saw and learned that workers have to manually rotate all the cantaloupes to ensure even ripeness. Again, can't imagine having to do that. It does give me a different appreciation though knowing that in a lot of theses countries where a good amount of our fruits and veggies come from, the technology isn't there and so the food is produced in a more labour intensive manner. At one point we stopped at the side of the road and Roberto jumped out with a knife in hand and made his way to a tree where he dug out a chunk. He opened the door of the van and showed us a bunch of termites. In the tree bark and the promptly grabbed some with his hand and ate them. He says they are a good source of protein and if ever stuck in the great outdoors that they can be eaten, but you probably shouldn't eat them for too many days in a row. He offered them up to any takers but Z and I were not having any of that. He says they taste like carrots. I'll stick to the real stuff thank you very much, but good to know in case I ever find myself in such a situation.
Roberto was most enlightening about Costa Rica. Tourism is now the main economic driver for the country whereas several years back it was actually technology with Intel having a large manufacturing plant here. Costa Rica has no military and apparently funds that would have been spent on a military are invested into the education system instead yet there is a high drop out rate. There is no social system in the sense that if you are unemployed there is no unemployment insurance. The country is primarily Catholic but there are some Protestant churches as well as Mormon and Jehovahs Witness. The main sport is football as with most Central American countries. The people are very family focussed with men being really close to their mothers. Generally families live near one another and often eat together. Spanish is the main language however English is widely spoken at least in the tourist areas.
When we arrived at the river, we waited for another group to join us before we boarded our boat and set out on our river cruise. In total we were 15 people excluding our Captain Luis. Luis was an older gentleman with hawk eyes. He spotted birds, bats, iguanas and other lizards long before any of us saw them. He was a great river guide and he was also very accommodating with me taking pictures. I was sitting near him and was taking a lot of photos trying to get the best shot and angle and he'd hold the boat in place. I'd look over to him when I was done and he'd give me a head nod or thumbs up and I'd respond with the same or flash a smile and he'd set off to the next find. The cruise down the river was quite peaceful and so scenic. We saw bright orange coloured iguanas sitting atop the trees and small bats attached in a straight line to tree tops....these bats are responsible for keeping the mosquito population down. The crocs were hiding but we did manage to get a sneak peek of one who had his eyes and part of his snoot poking out of the river. The birds were one of the highlights of the cruise. We saw a lot of different herons, sparrows, pelicans and other birds that I cannot identify. This river is certainly a bird watcher's dream. 
Just before we boarded the bus for the return trip home, we enjoyed some sweet juicy pineapple and watermelon that Roberto had purchased for us at a roadside fruit stand on our ride out. We stopped for lunch at a restaurant catering to Palo Verdi boat cruises and enjoyed a lovely Costa Rican family style lunch of rice and beans, an option of chicken or beef, fresh salad, crispy plantain chips, and fresh blackberry juice. For dessert we had pineapple orange ice cream. On the ride back we stopped briefly at the side of the road where Roberto chopped down some sugar cane branches for us to take back.
After lunch we stopped in at a pottery demonstration each took us through the process of hand making a pottery base. It's quite amazing to see the process and how "primitive" this artisan's tools were to make such a beautiful end product. Each piece is unique.
Our tour was to take us to Playa Coco as well. We were a little behind schedule and Alan "needed" to make a stop at home to drop something off. Roberto announced that we would we stopping by Alan's house and asked us if any of of us would like some freshly made tamales from Alan's wife. I found this a little strange at first but like they say...when in Costa Rica.....it was neat to see and be invited in a local's home. It was a basic home nicely appointed and decorated for Christmas. Z and I shared a tamales and it tasted really good. These are apparently a huge ordeal to make.
We did make it for a quick pit stop at Playa Coco which suited Z and I just fine. All we really wanted to do was hit the local grocery store so we could stock up on coffee beans and not end up paying and arm and a leg at a tourist shop or the airport. We got our fix and were content on heading back to our resort. We had a shuttle at the resort which could take us back to Coco another day.
This was a great tour and great tour company to book through. I would recommend them in a heartbeat. Roberto and Alan were great and took us a little off the beaten track which made for an even more exciting day.
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