nothing for turtle fans but lots for croc and birdfans

a not very caribbeany caribbean
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We booked our transfer from puerto viejo with "terraventura" in PV - 35 dolares.  all went smoothly; a turismo bus to moin near limon (our first go in one of these - nice aircon) and then two boats from moin to tortuguero.  The boeat was a bit slow, especially the one we changed onto half way, but it was a relaxing and cool 4.5 hr trip with a refreshment stop at a lodge along the way.   We were met at the dock by a man called bony scott, he was there to meet some other people and take them totheir hotel but was kind enough give us his spiel regarding all the tours he offered - although to his credit he did not do any pressuring to book one there and then.

eating cake with brids on sticks
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Cabinas tortuguero were OK, but at 25 dolares a night i think there were a bit expensive - especially after seeing other similar places around town for 14 dolares.  But there was a resident parrot although it didn't talk to me.  Tortuguero itself was another chilled out caribbean town - only without the surfers or any roads but lots of turtle fans.  we arrived on a saturday and the place was pretty lively with music and people from sodas spilling out onto the main "street".  As we had onl;y had a packet of biscuits since brekkie and it was now 4pm we headed straight to a cafe.  As i'm sure those who know us can imagine, alexb's belly needed feeding.  went to the budda cafe and had an enormous pizza and watched the sun set over the lagoon- nice.  Afterwards we headed out to see what our touristic options were and having learnt from out monteverde mistakes we visited a few agencies before committing.  Unfortunately it was not turtle season yet (we did suspect as much before we went), the leather back are espected before th end of march so no night time nesting tours.  we decided to go a kayak tour of the canals in the national park and ended up going with bony scott - his spiel paid off - he was also the cheapest (10 dolares) and had a boat with an electric motor - better for not scaring the wildlife.

giant platic frogs and a giant parrot and a toucan on sticks - what more could you want.

out tickets to chile and beyond
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next day we lft on our kayak at 6am!!! we cruised some of the smaller canals and saw lts of birds- blue heron, tiger heron, aningha, toucans, acaris, parrots and pelicans birdfans- and iguans, caimans, howler and spider monkeys and our gude saw a manatee.  i was looking in the same direction but was not sure if i saw it - does this count for a spotters badge??  we also got off the boat to look for poison frogs - bony prioved quite adept at catching them on a boat paddle, and its ok because they are only poisonous if you lick (or kiss) them.  in the afternoon we went for a walk in the national - saw more monkeys and leaf cutter ants, apparently these little beasties can completely defoliate a tree overnight!  walked back along the beach - it did not look ver y caribbean - see photo.  All this nature viewing had made us quite peckish and this was when we discoverd tortugueros best secret - the bakery.  I can't remember the name but it is on the main street between the budda cafe and the wierd park (laters).  it has many delights, but my favourites were the banana cake and rasberry choclate brownies and the pancakes and fruit for brekky next day were pretty good.  the cafe has a lovely garden looking over the lagoon, but we ate our spoils in the park infront of the overpriced souvenir shop.  the park was populated by giant platic frogs and a giant parrot and a toucan on sticks - what more could you want.

we went back to san hose via a boat to a banana plantation and a bus to a town called cariari - this the cheapest and quickest way to do it and is really easy to organise once you get to tortuguero.  on the boat we saw more birds and monkeys and also an enormous crocodile - glad i didn't dangle my fingers.  when we arrived in san jose we were more than pleased to find out new plane ticket in the safe at our hostel - hurrah - so off to chile tomorrow.