Two days in Tortuguero

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Hello all

So I have lost one travel companion and decided to treat myself by going to Tortuguero National Park. So what if it was expensive and not tortoise season, but I figured that I didn´t know when next I would be in Costa Rica. And "we only live once","it's only money", etc...

I am glad I did it. It was a long trek from San Jose with an overnight stay in a nature lodge. What is a nature lodge, I hear you ask. Well, let's say that it was not in Leena's vocabulary before. It's a nice wooden structure on stilts (I believe it is to keep out unwanted wildlife) and instead of glass panes, we had mosquito screens stretched across the windows. It was certainly a first for me, but it was fantastic. It's good to get back to basics, to quote John Major. The humans were definitely outnumbered and it was absolutely uplifting being awokened at 5 am by howling monkeys. What else?

We took a very early trip in the Tortuguero canals, some of which were man made in the 70s when some smartarse decided that the region would be great for logging mahogany (used in cigar cases). I am glad they saw the light. It was also apparently difficult to convince the locals that the tortoises were better off alive than in soup. But ecotourism seems to work for them now, and the lodges that have been built appear, on the whole, quite environmentally friendly. Everything is recycled, even the water.

As usual, the hotel was full of Americans. One family took me under its wings- they probably felt sorry for Leena travelling alone. Obviously they thought that I was younger than I looked! They were a lovely family from Savannah. I just love that Southern accent.

Anyhoo, coming back to the trip. Lots of wildlife, and again, it was unfortunate that I didn't have a better camera. But I did the best with what I had. The other good thing was the fact that I managed to see both the Pacific and Caribbean sides - that is another box ticked.

This is definitely recommended if you have the chance and especially during tortoise season (I believe that June is the only non-tortoise month!).

OK, I can't run activex on this computer, so I will upload photos later!

Cheerio

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