After heavy rain for hours all night Thursday, the skies cleared up early in the morning for our boat tour. It is only a 5 minute drive to the estuary, and we enjoyed a 2 hour boat trip looking for animals and exploring the mangrove forest. Mangrove trees are only located in tropical locations because they can’t withstand freezing temperatures. The tide from the ocean will cover all of the roots at high tide. We were lucky to be in between tides so we could see the puzzle of roots reaching for the ground. We also had great timing to see hundreds of crabs. The heavy rains over night meant they spent a lot of time out of the ground. I’m amazed at how big of a hole they make. We saw birds, crocodiles, crabs, monkeys and one raccoon feasting on some crab. Near the end of the tour, the guide parks the boat and we walk through the forest to find the howler monkeys. Our tour guide did a great job at waking up the howler monkeys from their nap. He was able to make a sound like they do which made all of the male howler monkeys call back. Once back at the boat, he took a pineapple out of the cooler and cut it up for us to enjoy on the ride back.