Tremendous Tortuguero

Tup and I were picked up from our hostel and 9am and were taken of in a mini bus. It was rather cool being the only two passengers on the tour as we had loads of space and were able to take in the lovely scenery that unfolded pretty much as soon as we left San Jose. There are national parks all over costa rica and each seems as green and beautiful as the next. We stopped for breakfast and then continued down a very rough and bumpy road for a good two hours before arriving ata river where we were to take a boat to our wilderness lodge. I was in love with the area as soon as we got on the boat as it was so green and lush and we sighted so many birds as well as lazy crocs basking on the river banks.

I was further delighted when we got to our lodge- we were the only ones staying there and i got my own private room with the towel in the shape of a swan- posh hotel territory! The lodge was right on the river and had beautiful gardens full of butterflies (inclusing the blue morpho which is just amazing to watch) and trails to see nature firsthand. We headed out on the boat again and visited the Carribean Conservation society where we (and lots of college kids) watched a video to learn about the turtles that migrate to the beaches of Tortuguero every year. We then went for a stroll on those beaches (turtles only come out at night to lay eggs) and visited the tiny and very quaint town of Tortuguero itself. We then had dinner at the lodge and got taken on a night walk of the trails. we didn't see any mammals but to my great delight we saw lots of tiny red poison dart frogs which were so intricately patterned. We also saw lots of sleeping butterflies and many many insects! We fell asleept the great noise of howler monkeys, something we saw plenty of, along with their spider moneky counterparts over the next day or two.

The following day we got up early and went for a boat ride through the national park. We saw so many birds, including the tiger heron and the toucan as well as monekys galore and an otter fishing away fairly near our boat. I could competely see why te are is called the mini amazon as it felt like a different world and i felt so lucky to be there and share it with all the animals. Sadly it started to rain heavily (quite the theme in costa rica!) so we chilled out for the earlyafternoon and then headed back to the national park to walk the trails later that day. I saw a HUGE turkey like bird and a large rabbit like mammal but overall not much that i hadn't seen before.

That evening Tup and I decided that, even though it was very early in the season, we\d hire a guide and try and see turtles on the beach. It was quite the experience as we weren't allowed any flashlights (they confuse the turtles) and i have NO night vision at all! I was literally stumbling along in the evening humidity, holding onto Tups rucksack and falling over everything! I think if there had been turtles i probably would have steppedin one! We walked at least 4km  down the beach without success and then, on the last bit of the return journey, our guide spotted tracks. We were so happy until they stopped suddenly, indicating that the turtle had been there within the lst hour but had been taken and killed by poachers. This startling reality of life even in the protected national park was quite the eye opener for me and we felt really sad that these beautiful creatures are still being taken for their eggs and meat.

The next day was our last and i spent it chilling out before making the long journey back in the pouring rain. I had made the decision that i couldn't possibly leave panama out of my trip so waited patietly for the 11pm bus from san jose at a lovely restaurant with a nice bottle of wine. Panama here I come!!!