Tortuguero- Sea Turtle Watching
| Tortuguero, Limón, Costa Rica |
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| Sunday, Aug 23, 2009 | ||
Driving through Costa Rica's countryside it is an obvious nature lover’s paradise. Fifty years ago the Costa Rican government protected a lot of land for national parks and are now reaping the rewards of tourism. They seem to be very proud of the land and biodiversity they have, with very recent environmental education being taught to the children. Speaking with the locals they say they have a lot of challenges today, much like what we have at home. With governments wanting to dam rivers and increased tourism taking a toll on the national forests. However, on the whole, the green campaign has made it here and people are talking about it. It
is very refreshing to hear this after passing through Mexico to Nicaragua.
Mom had noted she wanted to see the Sea Turtles while she was in Costa Rica and it just happens to be the time when the turtles were arriving on the beaches for their seasonal laying of the eggs. Tortuguero is an interesting place as it sits on a peninsula located on the Caribbean ocean with the ocean on one side and a river on the other. It is such a small peninsula that you can walk from the river to the ocean in 3 minutes. It’s also quite remote with the only transportation to the town being a boat. The locals are of Caribbean descent, speaking Spanish and English, and it’s quite easy to hear the Jamaican (Caribbean) accent while they speak.
The boat ride was amazing… as you can see we took full advantage of Mom’s new Nikon camera. We arrived into the small town of Tortuguero and the town was quaint and colourful, with dirt pathways and palm trees everywhere. We stayed at Miss Junnies Lodge and booked ourselves in with a guide to see the turtles. The viewing is strictly controlled as 100’s of people can be on the beach at one time. The conservationists organized two viewing times to break up the amount of traffic on the beach one at 8:00-10:00 and another at 10:00 – 12:00. We ended up on the later viewing time and had a local guide by the name of Carla who was a local from 4 generations back. It was apparent she knew what she was talking about, as not only was she a guide but a biologist trained in conserving the green sea turtles. So we learned a lot about the turtles but also a little bit about the history of the area.
The tour was organized very well as Carla, our guide, was advised by a spotter on the beach of the location of the turtle. Quickly we rushed off to the numbered section on the beach. Upon arrival we were told to turn off our flashlights and slowly and quietly walk on the beach. We could see that there were probably 4-5 other groups waiting patiently to share the experience. We were group one and we arrived in perfect timing to see the turtle dig her nest and hole for the eggs. By the time all groups viewed the nest building we were able to go back in and see this massive turtle laying her eggs, coming back to exact beach where she was born after 30 years. Once our turn was up we rushed over to see a second turtle finishing the process and crawling back to the Ocean. It was truly an amazing experience and one I’m sure we will never forget.
The next day we decided to have a relaxing day checking out the town and finished the night up with a game of Hearts. Chrisitina and Mom booked themselves another tour with a Canadian expat by the name of Darryl, this was a jungle river tour. Apparently he was taking on the persona of the late Steve Erwin, using the term "isn’t this amazing," often. They both enjoyed the tour and were able to give me a run down on all of the Monkeys, Toucans, Heron, and Caymans (alligator) they had spotted amongst the gorgeous rainforest.
On the whole, our visit to Totuguero will be memorable and definitely a must see on a trip to Costa Rica.Sleeping at River's Edge
| Santa Clara, Limón, Costa Rica |
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| Saturday, Aug 22, 2009 | ||
After staying the night in San Jose Devin and I got up early to prep Wesley for the big visit. We had him washed up, vacuumed out, and shinning like new as we drove tithe airport.
Costa Rica is like many foreign airports in the fact that they don't allow any guests into the airport. So we had to wait outside and look for his mother. We had our faces pressed against the glass so that we wouldn’t miss her. However, we still did. She came out of the airport and, of course, got harassed by men asking if she wanted a taxi. She was trying to explain that shedding’t need a taxi because she was looking for her son when she saw Devin’shat. We were very excited to see her and we quickly headed off for our first night.
In true fashion, it took us awhile to get out of the city because there were no street signs and we drove in circles. Once we got on the main freeway we enjoyed the passing scenery. We drove through a national park on our way East. Devin and I figured we should introduce Bev to our crazy form of boon docking right away. So we drove down a pretty rough road looking for a place to camp for the night. We ended up right next to a river with a pretty full jungle around us. We got everything set up and Dev was able to put some parts on the VW that Bev was nice enough to bring down from Canada. We also got a birthday present from Kellie, Devin’s sister. She sent us a citronella candle and a picnic mat… they will both come in handy. After all the catching up we got ready to cook Bevy her 'welcome to Costa Rica’ dinner… green curry.
As we were chatting a few guys with machetes started walking down from the mountain. They we refinishing up their workday and one, in particular, decided he wanted to stop and chat with us! He stayed and went on and on for about 30 minutes, in Spanish. Of course we didn’t understand that much but whatever he was saying he was very excited about it.
We enjoyed the excellent meal down by the river and settled in for Bev’s first night in Wesley.Costa Rican Boarder- Worst Yet
| Curubandé, Guanacaste, Costa Rica |
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We arrived at the Costa Rica boarder early. We were greeted by at least 7-10 guides running at the vehicle, hoping to get our business.Since this wasn't our first boarder crossing, and probably won’t be our last,we always choose to do it ourselves. Guides often can be helpful but on occasion they will rip you off. So we feel its better to do it ourselves and eliminate any opportunity. Since we were up early this particular morning the persistence of the guides was driving me crazy. Telling someone "no" 10 times still seems to be a yes in their minds. I’m very lucky for Christina’s calming abilities.
Second annoyance! In order to drive across the boarder you have to get you car sprayed for insects. I went to pay for this car spray and when I was given change Accidental dropped it on the ground. There was a truck driver standing next me who reached down to pick up a coin, I’m assuming he’s helping me, and he stashes my money straight into HIS pocket. Awkwardly, I called him out on it and he gives me the money like nothing even happened. Weird!!
The third hurdle of the day was the line up for passport stamping. It is well know fact that Costa Rican boarders are the busiest in Central America. We unfortunately arrived right after the tourist buses arrived,which turned into a 50-person line-up at passport control. Christina and Could’t understand why the line up wasn’t moving. Well it was because apparently if you are from Costa Rica you can walk to the front of the line. So something that should have taken us 30 minutes ended up taking 3 ½. hours The best part of the boarder was there were no charges.
Basically Christina and I have decided that we are not fans of boarder crossings. The great thing is that it’s still worth it in the end.
San Juan del Sur- Paradise on the Beach
After the Isla, Devin and I made our way over to the beach to enjoy a few days of sun before picking up his Mom in Costa Rica. Our two new friends, Taylor and Anna, came with us. We took the ferry back across to the main land then drove the quick 30 minutes to the beach. Pulling up to the view we thought we had died and gone to heaven. Out of all of the amazing beaches I've seen, in all the countries I've been to, this has to be on my top 20 list. It was incredible. The sand the perfect, the ocean clean, and the harbor around it was a sight to reveal in.
We quickly found a spot to park the Wesley, an ocean front property,
and made our way over to a bar with beach chairs and hammocks. Devin
did a little work while I jumped in the ocean. We spent the last few fading hours of daylight enjoying the sunset, a few beers, and dipping in the warm, crystal clear ocean. That night we cooked a nice dinner as we enjoyed out view then meet our friends out for a she-saw (hookah).
The next morning I woke up to take my first swim on the day at 7:30 AM. It was so refreshing and I loved having the ocean to myself. I was standing in the crystal clear water, just enjoying the view, when I saw something swim towards me. I quickly jumped over it with my heart in my chest. It looked like a sting ray! I ran back to the van to tell Devin what I saw. He quickly assured me that if it was they weren't dangerous to swim with. They were only dangerous if you step on one and the chances of that were very slim. So we both heading back out together, and sure enough, we saw more sting rays! They were everywhere! They were riding in the waves and even jumping out of the water. It was beautiful and so surreal. At one point Devin thought he might have seen a small fin but wasn't sure. Also, we were in pretty shallow water so we knew if there were any sharks they wouldn't be dangerous ones. After our swim we rode our bikes to the store to get food for breakfast. Devin cooked me a wonderful breakfast of pancakes and eggs. After that I went back in the ocean, my third time that day, and you'll never guess what I saw right in front of me! Two shark fins. They were tiny and I was only in water about 3 feet deep so I know I was safe. They came out of the water about 6 feet in front of me, then dipped and came back out again. It was amazing. What a wonderful experience in a Pacific. Devin and I enjoyed another lazy day on the beach and a bonfire that night.
Devin and I fell in love with this little surfing village and we are
defiantly sad to go...
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