Arenal Kayaks Tours on Lake Arenal, Costa Rica

Yes, there are snapping turtles living around the lake. The first one we ever saw was alongside the road not far from our house. Pretty good sized one. This wasn't that long ago, maybe a month, making one sighting in 4 years.

So we're out paddling, on our way to Rainbow Bay to see if our friend being filmed for a fishing show was there. It was a fairly windy day but we'd just rounded a point where the water calmed. Out in front of me was something poking up out of the water. At first it just looked like the tip of a floating log or branch. But then it went under and came up again! After a few moments it was apparent that we'd stumbled upon a swimming turtle and the only turtles I know of around here, especially in the lake, are snappers. I kept my distance and he disappeared under the water.

A long while later, like over a minute, he surfaced again closer to shore. Where we first spotted him we were probably 50m from the shore so he swam underwater for probably 40m before popping up for air. Naturally, being curious, we paddled slowly behind him to see if he might get out on shore where we could see him. As I approached within 10m of shore, I see a small snake swimming out towards us! And it looks like a coral!!!

We figured it must have been chased out by the turtle and was swimming for his life but heading right towards my kayak. Since we couldn't tell if it was a fake coral or a real one, we decided to get out of there. I just now checked our snake guide and figured out that it must have been a fake one but who wants to take a chance on that when you're in a boat that puts you just a few centimeters above water?

That was probably one of the more exciting wildlife discoveries we've had on the lake. And fortunately we lived to tell about it.

If you've been watching the Lake Cam you may have noticed a change in the weather. After 9 or 10 days of sunshine we are now getting some much needed rain. Not a steady rain, and there's still some sunshine, but a much needed moisture boost for the rain forest. I haven't pulled up a satellite image for a while so there's no telling whether this is a storm front that has moved in from the Caribbean or just normal weather being pushed up from the lowlands. Either way, we're getting some rain and cloud cover which helps to keep things a little cooler and green.

I see by the logs that we're getting a fair number of visitors from the Colorado area. There are also many search hits from people looking for lavapaloosa dos. Thanks for stopping by here and don't hesitate to drop us an email to info at arenalkayaks.com. Let us know if you'll be here for the festivities, we might even remember you from last year although the memory doesn't work so good and there were a lot of new faces. Be sure to reserve a kayak tour!