Tortuguero and sights around San Jose

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I just looked at my entries and couldn't believe that Manuel Antonio was the last place I wrote about. A LOT has happened since then but of course, I just didn't get around to writing about any of it.

2 weekends ago I went with my friend Rachel to Tortuguero national park, a famous nesting ground for endangered sea turtles. On our way there, we stopped at a flower garden and banana plantation (hence why some of the pictures don't exactly look like they were taken in Tortuguero) which were both pretty interesting. Apparently, workers on the plantation run up to 4 km while pulling a cable with 25 gigantic bunches of green bananas hanging from it to the packaging/inspection stations on the plantations....and they only make $400/month...not the easiest of work for only $400. I have a newfound appreciation for the bananas I eat now.

The park was like a completely natural, tropical Venice. It's all canals so you have to take a boat everywhere and in the park, there's absolutely no signs of man ANYWHERE with the exception of the boat you're riding in. We saw tons of wildlife including a countless number of herons and other birds, a crocodile, 3 different types of monkeys, lizards, iguanas, and of course, turtles. Besides the boat tours of the park we took during the day, we also took a night tour of the beach to actually witness a turtle laying her eggs. What an exhausting feat! First the turtle crawls ashore, then she digs a hole deep enough for over 100 chicken-sized eggs to fit into. (It's crazy, but only 3 in 1000 eggs actually live to become adult turtles!) The laying of the eggs can take over an hour and although her body looked as though she was throwing up white balls covered in slime, it was so amazing to watch. When she's finally done laying, she has to cover the hole again with her flippers which is painstakingly slow to watch. I just wanted to get on my knees and help her do it, she looked so exhausted! She finally makes her way back to the ocean after up to several hours of hard work.

The day after I got back from Tortuguero, I went on a tour of several places in the San Jose area. First, we stopped for breakfast and a quick tour at Doka coffee plantation...over 900 acres of hills upon hills of coffee plants. Then we made our way to Poas volcano whose crater is about a mile wide. It's also one of the few volcanoes in the world that has a crater lake. A butterfly, bird, frog, and snake sanctuary was next which also had paths to see the waterfalls of La Paz river. They were some of the prettiest things I've seen while being here. Our last stop was a cruise of the Sarapiqui river to see some wildlife. I definitely didn't see as much as I did in Tortuguero, but I'll never grow tired of spotting a monkey in a tree 😊

Well, hopefully I will find enough time to get an entry together for this past weekend to Panama but for now, hope all is well wherever you are!

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Photos

Rachel and I on Tortuguero beach
this 22 mile stretch of beach is a favorite nesting ground for sea turtles