Hotel
de Campo Caño Negro
Cano
Negro Costa Rica
The Caño Negro
Country Hotel offers seven bungalows,
divided into 14 comfortable rooms.
The buildings are of concrete-block
construction and are finished with
fine woods, terracotta floors, and
hand-crafted wood ceilings.
Each room has either a king-size
bed or two double beds, a private
bath with hot-water showers and ceiling
fans, all with a view of the lagoon.
The bungalows are situated in the
shade of tropical fruit trees, such
as orange, mandarin, water apples,
mangos and others.
The Caño Negro
Wildlife Refuge occupies an area of
9,969 hectares with characteristics
typical of wetlands, and is located
in the Río Frío Basin.
This is an area of great ecological,
economic and social importance for
Costa Rica, so much so that in 1984
it was declared to be a wildlife refuge
and in 1991 it was included in the
RAMSAR list, an organization that
protects wetlands of international
interest.
There is a system of lagoons, rivers,
flood forests, yolilo palms, Santa
María plants, marshes and seasonal
flooding areas in the refuge. It’s
environment is characteristic of the
northern zone that borders Nicaragua.
But the main characteristic of Caño
Negro is that it has the largest natural
lagoon system in the northern zone,
which covers 900 hectares.
As far as the richness of the biological
diversity, there have been 307 species
of birds, 78 of mammals and 96 of
reptiles have been reported in the
refuge, in addition to more than 300
plant species grouped in 73 families
of shrubs and trees. However, according
to a 1988 study by the Organization
of Tropical Studies (OTS), there are
1,016 plant species and 5,000 animal
species in the refuge.
Costa Rica birdwatching outdoors
centerThe OTS claims that the wildlife
is represented by 405 bird species,
of which 50 are aquatic birds that
are peculiar to wetland habitats.
Among these are the: osprey (Pandion
haliaetus), woodpeckers (Picumnus
olivaceus, Dryocopus lineatus, Malanerpes
rubricapillus), hummingbirds (Amazilia
tzacalt,Hheliothyx barroti), comorants
(Phalachrocorax olivaceus) roseate
spoonbill (Platalea ajaja), storks
(Jabiru mycteria), green egrets (Butorides
virescens), herons (ardea herodias,
casmerodius albus, egretta thula),
wood stork (Mycteria americana), broad-winged
hawk, roadside hawk, common black
hawk (Buteo platipterus, Buteo magnirostria,
Buteogallus anthracinus), white ibis
(eudocimus albus) green kingfisher
(Chloroceryle americana), sungrebe
(Heliornis fulica) and the black-bellied
whistling duck (Dendrocygna autumnalis).
Insofar as mammals are concerned,
160 species have been reported, of
which 60 are land animals and 90 are
bats. The most important land animals
are: peccary (Tayassu pecari), jaguar
(Phantera onca), raccoon (Procyn lotor),
coati (Nasua narica), puma (Felis
concolor), porcupine (Coendon mexicanus),
collared peccary (Tayassu tajacu),
guanta (Agouti paca), white-tailed
dear (Odocoileus virginienus), opossums
(Didelphis marsupilis, Chironectes
panamensis, Philander opossum), which
are species that depend greatly on
corridors of vegetation to be able
travel through the area.
There are also 60 species of reptiles,
including the caiman (Caiman crocodiles
chiapasius), turtles, iguanas, lizards
and snakes. In addition there are
40 species of amphibians and 4,731
species of insects.
The ichthyic fauna includes 25 fish
species, of which four are outstanding
for their commercial value, all belonging
to the Cichlidae and Lepisosteidae
family: tarpon (Megalops atlanticus),
snook (Centropomus pectinatus), bass
(Micropogonias furnieri) and alligator
gar (Xenentodon canaila).
The Hotel de Campo Caño Negro
is situated in a beautiful park of
tropical fruit trees, decorative plants,
forest and trails surrounded by the
unique Costa Rican nature, and faces
“The Chapel” lagoon one
of the largest in the Caño
Negro Wildlife Refuge.
The Outdoors center hotel offers
comfortable rooms with private baths
and fans. The rooms are large, with
top quality finishing, including fine
woods and terracotta floors, to make
you feel at home. The bar and restaurant
are in a beautiful indigenous structure
that is covered with palm leaves and
also makes use of fine woods.
There is a reception area, a fishing
shop with equipment for the Caño
Negro region, and a souvenir store.
The tourism complex is situated in
a spacious green area, in the shade
of tropical fruit trees and surrounded
by uncontaminated natural beauty.