Blogs from Parque Nacional Tortuguero, Limón, Costa Rica, Central America Caribbean - page 2

Hello there readers, great to know you've come back for another instalment of the adventures of Ms B the Ninja Turtle warrior (the name is a work in progress). Heading back in time (I am also a time lord it seems) it is now day 2 in the jungle. We are treated to a 'late' breakfast at 7.30am. Everyone has a bowl of porridge except me as it's not gluten free so I have a banana and some mixed dried fruit. 8am (having washed up our bowls and used the correct coloured t-towels....seriously, they colour code the towels -green is drying dishes, yellow is hands and blue/black t-towels (or dish cloths as the American contingent refer to them as) for wiping down the tables). Editors Note: this is boring and nothing you need to know but ... read more

It's been a long while since my last travels and an even longer time since I shared my adventures on this site. Today however I thought I would 'kick-off' my count down to my next adventure - Costa Rica! Official start date of my internship with GVI (www.gvi.co.uk/programs/conservation-internship-costa-rica if you'd like more details) is 11 January 2014 (in bold and underlined no less) so I have 12 weeks of work and 98 sleeps to go...not that I am counting. For those that don't know I am hoping to gain experience in the rainforests of Costa Rica so I can start a conservation-based career. The plan is to work and live alongside their research team who will hopefully train me up on a range of skills which will include data processing, biological surveys, camera trapping, species identification ... read more

Hola, hola, chavalada Por aquí sigo, en Quepos, en la costa del Pacífico, después de un día realmente espectacular. Después de la jornada a medio gas de ayer, hoy lo he exprimido al máximo, pasándolo, en su mayoría, en el Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio. Ayer, cuando hice el check-in, le comenté a los del albergue la posibilidad de hacer una visita guiada al Parque. Así pues, a las 7:15, y tras desayunar, ha venido el guía al hostel y me ha llevado en su coche hasta la entrada del Parque. La visita guiada ha durado2,5 horas más o menos, y después tú te puedes quedar allí a contemplar más detenidamente la fauna del Parque, hacer algún sendero hasta una serie de miradores o meterte en alguna de las 3 playas que había abiertas al público hoy. ... read more

This was an incredible day! Tortuguero Park is a naturalist's dream. Our "hotel" could only be reached by a 45-minute boat ride up the Tortuguero canal. We stayed at Pachira Lodge, where we had our own cabin on stilts in the rain forest. It is rustic, with no televisions, phones or air conditioning. The trees surrounding the cabins are filled with howler monkeys, who wake you up before sunrise with incredibly loud grunting and barking sounds. Not to mention the many species of birds. We went on 2 canal cruises with local wildlife guides spotting and explaining about the birds, animals and plants that we saw along with way. We would never have seen as much as we did without them. In between, we enjoyed the lovely pool and walked around the beautiful grounds. It is ... read more

This weekend my group and I headed out on our first solo excursion. We planned a trip to Tortuguero, a beautiful National Park in the northeast of Costa Rica, on the Caribbean Coast. We met up at 7:30 on Thursday morning, and a taxi, two buses, a boat ride, and more or less 6 hours later, we arrived in Tortuguero about 2:00 in the afternoon. Although our travel there was exhausting, it was cheap, only about $14.00 a piece round trip. Another student, Gina, got us a great package deal at a little hotel called Casa Marbella. We payed $60.00 each for two nights, two breakfasts, and two tours of the park. Que bueno!! Tortuguero Village is a tiny little peninsula, with a river canal on one side, and the Caribbean Sea on the other. In ... read more