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Published: August 19th 2007
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Tortuguero
Mmmmm, tasty coconuts We had hoped to trevel independantly to Tortuguero, but it is very innaccessible and we were exhausted from our hard core travelling, so we decided to treat ourselves to an organised tour. Whilst this is against the religionof the hard core traveller, it was much needed. We set off at 7am on a surprisingly comfortable mini bus (at least where I was sat, poor Trev) for a 3 hour bus/boat combo. We stopped for a hearty breakfast, which included the local speciality ofrice and beans (all local specialities are rice and beans,but I was happy) which set us upfor the day. We travelled through cloud forest and saw huge trees and plants, and beautiful waterfalls. We passed through a banana plantation, and saw the packing factory so we were able tosee how the bananas started on the trees and ended up in the Del Monte boxes that I pull through in Asda in the vain hope of finding something that is not rotten.
We arrived at a river port wwhere we abandoned the bus and jumped onto a boat to get to Tortuguero. As we had paid for the tour, it was not just a transfer, but a guided tour
Tortuguero
There was a crocodile here a few minutes ago! through the river en route to our destination. Each time our guide spotted something, we pulled up close to take a good look. We saw toucans, a caiman, numerous other tropical birds etc which was cool. We arrived at our Cabin,which was a nise place to stay with hammocks on the veranda. We had a couple of hours free to settle in (and enjoyed some Banana bread for lunch),then we were off again to the local museum.
Whilst the rest of our group was watching a video in Spanish, our guide took Trev and I a little way into the forest. He used a huge stick to poke down a coconut off the tree for each of us,then used a machete to hack off the top. He poked a hole in it, and we enjoyed the refreshing coconut juice fresh from the tree. I managed to force the hole a little,and pulled out all the coconut with my bare hands which was really tasty. It was so filling, I didnt need dinner. it tooka while to pullit out, and my poorhand sustained a few injuries, but the infected wound quickly healed!
the highlight of the tour was yet
Tortuguero
The caiman that enjoyed the cheese crisps to happen......
At 10pm, we started walking with a guide through the forest towards the beach to watch the giant sea turtles nesting and laying eggs. We were led onto the beach and right infront of us was a green turtle, about a meter and a half long laying its eggs. It began to camouflage its nest which it had painstakingly dug in the sand by flicking sand everywhere,covering Trevor in the process. We then watched the poor thing heave itself back into the sea, it looked like such hard work we felt like giving it a shove to help, but thought better of it! And its the lady turtle that does all of this after the man has had his way. Typical man.
It was then that I looked upand noticed the night sky. We could clearly see the Milky Way which was amazing, as the smog in manchester usually ruins any star gazing.
The next day invloved more wildlife spotting on the boat, but this time in the canals which was a littlemore interesting. We saw loads of birds again, iguans, monkeys galore, Jesus Christ lizards.....
A caiman came right upto our boat,so we
Tortuguero
Our Cabinas in Tortuguero fed it cheese crisps which he really enjoyed. This attracted lote of fisch, and then birds came to try and eat the fish. A turtle also joined in on the action, and tucked into the crisps, despite nearly losing his head to the caiman. We also saw a 3 meter long crocodile which was unnerving as it swam towards us.
To my delight, we then got off the boat on a spit of land for yet another jungle tour. Yay, more creepy crawlies. Trev spotted some fresh crocodile tracks in the sand where we disembarked which cheered me up no end. From the size of the paws, and the space apart, this croc was another 15 footer. I was not happy at all, but off we went into the jungle.
We did see a few monkeys and a sloth wich was cool, but there were some HUGE spiders, so I was concentrating on looking infront of me so as not to walk into its web, and checking the floor for lines of giant mutated man sized ants. Trev enjoyed himself despite having to leadme with eyes closed, ducked down to avoid webs for most of the walk. After
Tortuguero
The turtle that the hungry caiman nearly had for dinner what seemed like an eternity, we arrived back at the safety of the boat. I have decided enough is enough, no more jungle tours (at least on foot) as I cannot cope with the stress of it anymore!
The entire 2 days was an amazing experience,and if this was a mini amazon experience, i await the real thing with much fear....oops,I mean, I cant wait Trevor. Honestly.
As I write this, Trevor is looking at a snake in a tank. Can I come home yet????????
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