Parque Nacional de Tortugero

Hello again!

Some more about the pura vida in Costa Rica. So, the second weekend we went to the NP of Tortugero which is situated at the Carrabian Coast, northeast of San Jose. It can only be reached by boat, as there are no roads hence no cars. We left very early in the morning, 2 hours by bus, than half an hour by taxi and another 2 hours by boat. The boattrip was lovely. Las canales de Tortugero are called the little Amazone, and I understand now why that is. The climate in Tortugero is very warm and oh so humid. Drying clothes outside is almost impossible there.

During the boattrip, we already could enjoy some wildlife, alligators, tucans, howler monkeys and many more. Even more than in Manuel Antonio, arriving here was like arriving in paradise. It is so nice to stay in a little village where there are no cars, hence no pollution, where people are relaxed and where there is no stress. I was thinking this could be a good place to come and spend the rest of your life after having retired. Our cabiñas were lovely, they were almost at the beach and had a lovely patio with a few tables to relax or eat. For lunch, we went to a little soda where the food was very tasty. I had fish with, surprise surprise, arroz y frijoles, plátanos and some vegetables. Vincent had scampis and they looked and smelled so good!
In the afternoon, we took our first guided tour. We went walking on the beach, looking for a turtle nest and we found one. It was so cool, there was more than a hundred babyturtles crawling there way to the ocean. We could even pick them up and put them in the ocean, it was a nice experience. In the evening, we took another tour but that one was really bad. There was far too many tourists, at least eighty or so, standing in groups around a turtle laying eggs. It was a nice experience to watch a big turtle laying eggs though, it drops one at least every two seconds or so and then after it has finished, it covers up the hole again. After about three months the little ones come out and crowl to the ocean.

We went to bed quite early as we got up so early in the morning but it was difficult to sleep because of the heat and because of an everlasting downpore of rain. When we got up around 5.15 am, it was still raining heavily but we had to leave for a boat tour.

The three hour tour was lovely and after an hour or so, it stopped raining which was quite a relief. We spot some wildlife in the canals and in the bush at the banks of the canals. We saw baby alligators, tucans, leguanes, Jesus Christ lizards and many more. The rowing was cool too. We got back around 9 am so we still had a whole day to spend.

Late in the mornig I went for a long walk, taking a path with a bunch of butterflies, leguanes and loads of insects. It was boiling hot, the sun was straight above me and there was no wind at all. To go back, I walked over the beach and I did not meet one person, although I think I walked for over an hour, it was cool.
In the evening we went to a shop, bought some Imperials and sat in our garden, chilling. Later at night, we went to a club where there was some sort of a local miss competition. As the club was so packed, we did not stay long and went for a well deserved night of sleep.
The way back to San Jose the next day was baking hot, very long and rain was pooring down again, so we could not open the windows in the bus. When I came back home, I was so happy Marta, my Tica mum, had cooked me a big meal, I was so tired and hungry.
Anyway, another very interesting weekend I enjoyed very much!

Pura vida

Love out

Jean, el casi Tico