Blogs from Tortuguero National Park, Limón, Costa Rica, Central America Caribbean - page 3

Leaving La Fortuna for Tortoguero proved a very expensive, and at first, very uncomfortable ride. We spent $40 each on what we thought was a van to the river of torutguero. However, the swines only took us to a bus stop in a town called Caliari where we were bundled on a public bus with about a hundred local costa ricans. Local buses in costa rica are nothing like the ones in england. Mainly, people expect to dropped off at their door stops. This leads to a stop every 100ms or less and is incredibly annoying when cramped and hot. But hey ho, pura vida and whatnot! Anyway, we were left at the river side by the bus with a few other tourists and a couple of suspicious looking guys with knives and nets. A boat ... read more

Liebe Freunde des Sommers! Nach unseren ersten Strandtagen an der Pazifikkueste ging´s gleich quer durchs Land auf die Atlantikseite von Costa Rica und zwar in den Parque Nacional Tortuguero Dieser ist auch als "Mini-Amazonien" bekannt, da man dort nur mit dem Boot weiterkommt und es keine Strassen gibt. Per Kanu und Spezial-Guide konnten wir in den verschiedenden Flusslauefen zahlreiche Tiere und Pflanzen bestaunen: Kaimane, Nutrias, zahlreiche Voegel, unter anderem Tucans, Affen, Echsen,.. War wirklich super beeindruckend und teilweise zum angreifen nah! Angeblich ist das dort der "rainiest of all rainforests", bei uns hats nur einmal geregnet, aber dafuer sind die Leute dort Ueberschwemmungen gewohnt! Bekannt ist dieser Nationalpark, der auch am Meer liegt, dafuer, dass dort viele Meeresschildkroeten ihre Eier ablegen, die dementsprechend geschuetzt werden. Leider waren wir ... read more

Left San Jose (in the rain) and hopped on a bus to Cariari, where I hopped on another bus to La Pavona, where I caught a boat to bring me to Torteguero. Complicated, confusing, but I made it. While on the bus to La Pavona, an older, friendly woman sat beside me. After a minute or two she tapped me and was showing me her necklace (beaded with a wooden cross, I’ve seen a number like it around here) and then pointing to my necklace (a small wooden cross that I bought in Paris while at Notre Dame). She was smiling and saying it was “bonita” and “pequena” (pretty and small?) So I smiled and said “si,” however, she continued talking to me—even after I used my go to phrase, “mi espanol es no bien.” She ... read more

Day 24 - September 27th, 2008 After a great day on Friday, we woke up and were served delicious breakfast by Isabel, our hostess at Casa Marbella Bed & Breakfast. Then we took the canoe that Casa Marbella owned out on the canal. We paddled along and saw majestic things. We saw big spiders, cool birds, water snakes, and a bunch of crazy monkeys jumping all over the place. Monkeys are ridiculously entertaining for some reason. We talked about our universities and how cheesy each of us is in relationships. My forearms got real sunburned. I forgot how powerful the sun is down here. Stupid me. After a cheap lunch, we rented bikes. We wanted to visit where the mouth of the canal meets the ocean, a local had told us it was cool. It was ... read more

We returned to ASVO in San Jose to organise our next project in Matapalo and were offered to spend a week in Tortuguero at the ASVO house next to the national park. We jumped at the chance for a relaxing pace, no work, and cheaper accommodation and food for the week. Tortuguero is not just a quick bus ride. It takes two buses and a long boat to reach in approximately 5 or so hours. But as with everything we have done so far, the journey is part of the adventure. Once on the water, we travelled for about 1 hour along narrow canals and then onto wider rivers seeing crocodiles, fresh water turtles and birdlife all the way. We are dropped off at the national park entrance and have to walk about 200 metres to ... read more