A brief trip to Nicaragua!

Green Basilisk (Jesus Christ lizard)
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We left Puerto Viejo early one morning, headed for Tortuguero (on the North East coast of CR). We caught a bus to Limon where we had a couple of hours to eat brekkie & do last minute bits of shopping. Carol found a place where we were able to purchase ponchos in preparation for our forthcoming trip to the rainforest. I was so proud of my $2 dollar poncho until discovering that the hood of it was twisted round, such then when I put it up I could only look to the left!! Ah well, what do you want for $2??

Sleeping bats - aw bless!
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We caught a minibus to the port of Limon, ready to leave on our boat at 10am. From Limon we had a 5-hour trip up to Tortuguero, which was absolutely fantastic. En route we saw more howler monkeys, spider monkeys, dull monkeys (sloths), lizards, crocs, turtles & tons of water birds. I decided then that it would be much nicer to travel around by boat rather than bus - a nice breeze, more space, less dust, less bumps etc. Also probably a hell of a lot safer :o)

Once we'd checked into our hotel in Tortuguero we headed off to check out the surf on the coast. We'd been warned not to swim in the sea as there are strong rip currents ready to whisk you out into the ocean & into the jaws of man-eating sharks! I believe the rip current bit, but am not so sure about the man-eating shark theory. Either way, we gave it a miss.

Nicaraguan border control
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In the evening some of us girlies went out for dinner on our own - as the other option was to stay at the hotel & eat chicken with rice & beans (Gallo Pinto - the local speciality) for the third time in a row. They eat it for breakfast, lunch & dinner & I am already sick to death of it!!! Doesn't bode well for the next couple of weeks. Anyway, we went out for dessert instead & devoured more pancakes & ice-cream. Much more tasty :o)

The next day we took another boat, this time headed for Rara Avis in the rainforest. The river we were travelling along traversed the very Southern edge of Nicaragua. We had to pay $9 each for this privilege & all we got in return was the chance to go for a wee in a very grotty toilet. Hmmmmmm. To add insult to injury they stamped our passports with the wrong date! We arrived in Las Horquetas around lunchtime & then it was time for the most uncomfortable ride of my life...