Caimen

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Well, what an interesting few days I have had. I wound up in probably the wildest place I have ever been in my entire life, Parque Nacional Tortuguero. I woke up around 6:30 yesterday morning(normal for me now) and had a cup of coffee before heading over to the warehouse to check the schedule and help load all of the gear for the day. I assumed that I would be on another section of the Rio Reventazon, training on another stretch of whitewater, practicing technique. Instead, I was told that I had about 10 minutes to get ready, and that I would be guiding a 3 day jungle kayak tour in Tortuguero. I had no idea what to expect, which I like. There are only 2 clients, but one head guide, a young Tico named Alejandro, myself, and another trainee from Canada. We drove for a few hours past the small town of Cariari, then to a banana plantation. We drove for about 30 minutes through the fields of banana crop until we got to an extremely muddy river that seemed to head to nowhere. We loaded the gear and put in around eleven thirty AM, and set off on a four hour kayak adventure into the park. About 15 minutes into the paddle, I saw my first crocodile I had ever seen in the wild-problem is, he was on the river bank and plunged in the water approximately 10 meters ahead of us, disappearing into the muddy abiss. Every inch of my body yearned to yell and paddle like mad, but being the guide, I must stay calm and collected in front of the guests, who are very prone to screaming. The rest of the day was spent looking for crocs, wishing on every star that I would not see one again. We finally came to the confluence of our small river and the main canal in Tortuguero, where a motor boat awaited, stocked with a cooler full of cold beer. The creek we had been on was roughly 30 feet across in width, but the main canal is probably 300-500 feet. We arrived at an amazing 4 star resort called Mawamba, where we were greeted by a friendly staff, a swimming pool, and numerous bars and hammock areas. We had some cocktails and dinner, then retired to our cabin, which is on a small island bordered on the east by the "Amazon" as we call it, and on the west by the Caribbean ocean. There is no swimming allowed in the ocean, due to deadly undertows and massive sharks. I thought they were joking at first, but there really is a huge shark danger here and no one gets in the water, period. Today we woke early, had breakfast, then went on an adventure WAY back into the small canals. We took a motor boat until it was too remote, then dropped in our kayaks and proceeded to paddle for 2 more hours deep into the heart of the park on a tiny creek called Cano Amora. We saw not a single human all day, but we saw a grand spectacle in the canopy of a variety of animals I have only read about previously. Spider monkeys jumping tree to tree in the forest above, Howler monkeys screaming from all directions, and sloths lounging in the first layer of the Cicropia trees. In the water, you find caimen(smaller species of crocs) various fish, and turtles, and sometimes manatee. Above, circling all around us, numerous species of birds, ranging from the always audible Montezuma ora pendula to toucans, parrots, and herring. I have never seen anything like this, I felt like a Spanish conquistador in a foreign land searching for Mayan gold. I will be here one more night, then its back to Siquirres and more river trips....

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