Blogs from Tortuguero National Park, Limón, Costa Rica, Central America Caribbean - page 2

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Hola Chicas and Chicos, Following a request for more details on what I get up to in the jungle I thought I would draft a blog based on the last few days in February and add some more pictures to. Sunday 23 February: no surveys for me today as on duty. This involved the usual cooking, cleaning, t-towel and bathroom cleaning regime with the added mix that we had planned to cook and serve lunch on the beach (at mile 15) where the rest of the team was busy placing the final mile markers into position. However, as they are so efficient they had finished the task by 10am, so as we were about to work out how we were going to travel with 21 portions of food and plates and cutlery and sauces etc., to ... read more
Tyra
Tyra in Tree
Two Tyra


Hola peeps, Sorry there are no photos yet - internet didn´t work last night and this morning I only a few minutes before meeting the GVI Group who are making there way to the National Park. Basic itinerary for today looks like, meet group, take vehicle to Tortuguero Village which is about 50KM from here then 1 hour motor boat ride to the park and the research base where I will be staying for the next 12 weeks until off to Nicaragua for a couple of weeks.... To get you up to date however on my adventures so far, having woken up at 5am yesterday, I had some breakfast (pineapple and banana), then went back to sleep for 2 hours...oops. Peter and I then set out about 10am. It´s not far from the hostel into the ... read more


Today marks 14 sleeps until I fly to San Jose! I am currently watching Hook with the Whitneys and wondering if I will meet any pirates on my travels! My family gave me a brilliant rucksack for my trip and I can't wait to fill it with all the bits I have been storing up over the last few weeks for my trip - including a waterproof notebook, binoculars and of course my reptile and amphibians book. Getting very excited now. Need to learn some useful Spanish phrases so any ideas please let me know. take care all, adios, Sharon... read more


Costa Rica 2013: Day 4: Tortuguero Day 3: 5am comes pretty early! We were at the lodge's docks by 5:15am. While we waited for our guide to arrive, the lodge staff offered to bring us plates of fresh fruit for an impromptu breakfast, so we ate some great fresh pineapple, melon, and watermelon while we waited. Pretty great considering they don't serve breakfast until 7am. They even asked us if we would be wanting breakfast a bit late. We told them we'd have lunch in the village, but we'd definitely be here for dinner tonight. Just as we were starting to wonder about our tour, a launch from the lodge left for the village to pick up some staff just as the guide came into sight.... having rowed all the way across from the village! We ... read more
Beautful Flower
"Football" Tree
Green Heron


We left the cloud forests of Monteverde and headed back to San Jose. We were expecting improved roads than the ones we had arrived by - but it was not to be. Although the roads in the small town of Santa Elenawere sealed, once you left the town it all changed and it was back to unsealed bumpy roads full of pot holes. That being said the views as we climbed down out of the cloud forest were utterly stunning - a beautiful spectacular landscape all around us. We had chosen to use the shuttle bus service again and the only other passenger was a retired American who was really interesting to chat with. He had been in Santa Elena for a few days staying in backpacker accommodation as he said he always had to find ... read more
Spider Monkey
Spider Monkey with baby
Tortuguero Village


Seeing giant turtles, cuddling with sloths and touching a caiman After having spent a few days in the area north of San Jose we decided to make a quick visit to the east coast and the Tortuguero village and Tortuguero National Park. Tortuguero National Park is, as its name suggests, known for being a nesting place for giant turtles. Each year thousands of turtles nest on the beaches of Tortuguero National Park. At the height of the nesting season it is almost a guarantee to see a turtle if you take a turtle watching tour. The turtles lay their eggs at night. They come up on the beach and try to find a good spot. When they have found a spot they start digging a nest for the eggs. The turtle then lays maybe as many ... read more
Lizard
Jesus Christ Lizard
A track made by a turtle


Tuesday 31st Jan - Turrialba to Tortuguero (try repeating that after a couple of drinks!) It didn't look that far on a map but it turns out the trip required 4 buses and a boat and after you set out without writing down the intermediate changes, where you don't have central bus stations or passers by that speak any english, it's not hard to get a little hot under the collar. Our 1st change turned out to be the hardest in Siquerries as I spent nearly an hour walking around town asking for help, getting sent in the wrong direction, before I stumbled across a stationary shop which happened to have a 1 page map of Costa Rica and the illusive town name of our next stop, Guapiles. The rest pf the journey was pretty much ... read more


Ever see a red frog or iguanas and spider monkeys climbing trees? Tortuguero lies on the north coast of Costa Rica and is only accessible by plane or boat. We did the van and boat trip which involved a couple of hours on paved road, a couple of hours on gravel road and couple hours by river boat. The trip was interesting in that you go through a National park, vast stretches of banana farms owned by Dole and Del Monte and the ride through the canals to Turtle Beach lodge. We stopped at one of the banana processing facilities and learned a little about the bananas. In Costa Rica, Nicaraguans provide the labor on the farms. It is readily apparent that by the workers lodging at these remote banana farms that they are being taken ... read more
Yes, we have bananas!
Thank you Del Monte
Things are not always bigger in Texas!


Today we were picked up from our hotel at 8am, and then made our way to Moin. From Moin we then got onto a boat which would take us winding through the rainforest to Tortuguero. The only way to Tortuguero is by boat. The boat ride from Moin to Tortuguero takes around 4 hours and is stunning! Along the way we saw a sloth eating, monkeys napping in the trees , lots and lots of birds, fresh water turtles basking on floating logs in the sun and the most exciting…a crocodile! Not just any croc this big mama was at least 3 meters long! The boat quietly edged closer and closer, a bit too close for misses croc likes as she starting hissing at us! When you are only a couple meters away from an angry ... read more
On the way to Tortuguero...
Walking in the forest..
In the forest...


Hi from the rain forest. (no I’m not tarzan!) A nice 2 days trip to Tortuguero, it reminds me a lot of the Amazon rain forest Finally I meet a Belgian citizen. Yes! Or better ‘Ja wel’. On the bus to Tortuguero, I meet Dries (from Hasselt - Limburg). We will keep in touch! The trip was long but it was nice to see the rain forest and we have stopped at Del Monte (banana plantation) and at a beautiful garden with a lot of flowers, butterflies and red frogs. During the boat trip starts the rain and I was pretty wet after few minutes because I didn’t bring my jacket :-( The channels on Tortuguero are larger than the ones in the Amazon but we could see some crocodiles, frogs, caimans, a lot of birds ... read more




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