Tortuguero

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Hi it's Kyle again.This time I get to tell you about our trip to Tortuguero. After driving a long way to a little place called La Pavona you have to catch a 2-hour boat ride to Tortuguero. It winds through the jungle on a narrow river; it was really cool. Once you get to Tortuguero you have to water-taxi all over the place to drop people at their hotels. When we got to our stop we had to get all of our bags off of the boat and haul it to our hotel 200 meters away.

After we got checked-in to our room we explored Tortuguero Village. Guess what? There are no cars in Tortuguero Village - just little dirt paths and lots of bicycles. The night that we got there we went to a typical Caribbean restaurant and celebrated my dad's BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!. I am not supposed to say how old he is, but it rhymes with "sporty!"

After that we went on a night tour to look for the Leatherback sea turtle, which nests on the beach in Tortuguero. Unfortunately, we did not see any - though we did spot some tracks and a nest that had been dug a few nights before. We walked 3 miles to our turn around spot and waited as the guide went to scout up ahead to see if he could spot any. Then we walked the 3 miles back to the hotel. It was fun to walk on the beach at night with just the moonlight (there are no other lights because it scares away the turtles), but it was tiring hiking all that way through the sand and not seeing any turtles.

The next morning we had to wake up at 5 o'clock to take a tour to spot wildlife on the canals. And lucky for us we saw a ton of animals including monkeys (Spider monkeys,Howler monkeys and White faced capuchin monkeys), sloths, birds (hawks,egrets,ibis,herons,toucans,and many more) and reptiles (caiman, basilisk lizard). One of the most exciting moments for me was when I spotted a white hawk, which the guide only sees a few times a year - and I was the one who spotted it first for everyone!!! Then after that we had breakfast and the three boys went to the beach while mom went hiking in the national park. She said that we didn't miss very much.

After that we water taxied over to Tortuga Lodge because our first hotel did not have space for us on the second night. The lodge was amazing. They had a really cool pool, a hammock hut where you can relax, trails where we spotted lots of little frogs and my dad saw howler monkeys right above him and me and my mom saw . The food was really good, too; but my parents were a little bummed that they couldn't have any wine because it is illegal to sell any alcohol on the Thursday and Friday of Semana Santa.

The next morning we took the boat back through the canals to our car and drove home. It was weird because it was Good Friday and there were like no cars on the road - the buses don't run and everyone is at home. When we drove through downtown San Jose - the capital - it was strange because almost all the stores were closed. It was like a ghost town. But my dad liked it because there was no traffic to deal with.

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Comments

[Kay Nelson]

Thanks . . .
Hey, I've missed reading about your adventures. Your Mom and Dad are ready to join in on the fun.