Page 2 - CAÑO NEGRO TOURIST GUIDE

Introduction
Caño Negro is a tourism development center whose main attraction is the Caño Negro Mixed National Wildlife Refuge. It is of a mixed type, which means that part of the territory it covers belongs to the State and another percentage is in private hands.
It is located in the northern part of the country, near the border with Nicaragua, between the cantons of Guatuso and Los Chiles, and covers an area of 9969 hectares. It was created to protect wetlands important for wildlife, both terrestrial and aquatic, and as a reservoir in perpetuity for species unique to the area.
The refuge was declared a RAMSAR Site, one of two in Costa Rica, on December 27, 1991, because it is considered of international importance due to the resources it protects. This protected area is well known by biologists and nature lovers from all over the world, as well as fishing enthusiasts, due to its majestic biodiversity.
Before its creation as a refuge, it was a system of wetlands used ancestrally by the Guatuso (Maleku) Indians as a fishing area and for tribal rites and worship.
The main attraction is the shallow freshwater lake of Caño Negro, with an area of about 800 hectares, on which boat tours are conducted to observe wildlife. Caño Negro is a stagnant outflow from the adjacent Río Frío and its tributary, the Río Mónico.
Caño Negro is a wildlife refuge, characterized by rivers (Río Frío is the main flow), lagoons and secondary canals. During the rainy season, the large canals overflow, flooding large tracts of pasture, which become navigable.
During the dry season, these pastures return to their natural state, offering good pasture land for cattle. Several secondary channels dry up almost completely, and the smaller lagoons attract migratory birds. Several lagoons remain available that are suitable for sport fishing, as well as the Río Frío and its secondary rivers.
The rainy season is usually from May to January, with an annual rainfall of 3500 mm.
In addition, the area constitutes a habitat with a great variety of flora and fauna species and natural communities, many of which are unique or in danger of extinction, making the area a site of international importance, as it constitutes, along with the wetlands south of Lake Nicaragua, one of the most important examples of a wetland in Mesoamerica.
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