Tortuguero National Park Trail - with wellies!

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In the afternoon a few of our group trek down to the park entrance, don our hired wellies and set off along what turns out to be a VERY long path running parallel to the beach. We pass my geocache at one point and I show everyone the leaf cutter ants pointing the way.

Despite being on our own without the spotting and ID skills of a guide we manage to see and identify quite a bit between us. Some of our group are really eagle eyed and we see both howler and white faced capuchin monkeys, two little lizards in a fight, land crabs, leaf cutter ants and two really beautiful red and black butterflies later identified as Pierella and a type of Helliconious - melpomene.

But the most impressive bird we saw, thanks to Stu spotting it in the undergrowth, was this huge black turkey-like bird with a yellow knobbly bit on its bill and a tufty top knot on its head. We found out later that he was a Great Curassow.

It was a long old walk back, especially with borrowed wellies, so me and Ben got a move on and picked up the pace. It was too hot to be out on such a long hike really and it was a relief to be back at the hotel. I grabbed a wonderful cold shower before a bit of chill out time and then a group evening meal. I had a great chat with American Stu who is very much on the same wave length as me with regards to consumerism and the great big money, power, oil and war con we are allowing the corporate power elite to rule over us all with. Refreshing to have these views coming from an American. He assures me he is not the only one, that loads of Americans are sickened by the whole sorry mess the politicians and corporations are making of our beautiful planet. And so to bed.

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