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April 25
Left Monteverde on the 6:30 bus to San Jose. In Costa Rica, everything starts with the sunrise to beat the heat, also the sun rises and sets early. The road down the mountain was gravel, very windy and steep, rough and bumpy, slow going until we reached the Pan American Highway. Our Hotel Aranjuez in San Jose was different but cool, 5 old colonial houses joined together. Checked out the city after lunch. Had heard lots of negative things about San Jose, but we thought it was OK. The show piece of the city is the Teatro Nacional, a grand and ornate building, stunning inside. The city also has some nice parks and monuments. We were surprised to see that most homes were barred and gated, with razor wire on top of the fences. There were lots of police on the streets, we heard the crime rate is high, and we were advised not to go out at night! In fact, we walked out of our hotel one afternoon and a lady came rushing over to tell us not to go to the ATM as someone had just been mugged!
April 26
Today we were off to Tortuguero
National Park, our tour guide Modesto picked us up at the hotel at 6:10am! To our surprise there was just the 2 of us on the tour! We drove down through another National park, Costa R is full of them, stopped for breakfast en route, then up the Tortuguero canals on Modesto's speedboat from Moin. Took about 3 hours, Modesto pointing out birds, plants and wildlife en route. Like all the guides in Costa Rica, he has an amazing ability to spot wildlife from a distance, then he would stop the boat and zoom in. We saw caiman (type of crocodile) baby crocs, herons, spider monkeys, kingfishers, toucans and other birds on the way up. There are no roads to Tortuguero only a series of rivers/canals. Laguna Lodge, our base for the night, was right on the river,great setting with large tropical grounds. Very warm and humid so took a long swim in the pool. We were there at the end of the season so only a dozen people staying there! The beach is on the other side of the narrow strip of land that is Tortuguero, but a Pacific Coast beach a not safe for swimming. In the evening,
we went to the frog pond to look for frogs, it was dark and I stepped in the wrong place and fell into the pond, but saved the camera and only got wet, a couple of grazes and a hole in my pants! Dinner at the lodge was nothing special but a lovely setting over the river. Early night, another early start tomorrow to look for wildlife.
April 27
A 6am start for our wildlife tour with Modesto on his smaller open topped boat, saw lots of birds, animals and flora, including howler monkeys, red dart poison frogs, toucans galore.... Even got some rain! Back for breakfast at the lodge, then into the boat for the trip back down river, via Tortuguero village, a small town sandwiched between the ocean and the river, with no road access at all. Again, Modesto spotted lots of wildlife on the way back, including crocodiles and a sloth. Got back to San Jose late afternoon, a big trip but worthwhile!
April 28
Our last day in Costa Rica - had a leisurely breakfast at the hotel, which was great value at 30 USD a night for both of us, including breakfast. we
then took a public bus out to Lankester Botanical Gardens. Very nice collection of orchids, palms, bromeliads, cactus, helliconias, etc. - and a Japanese garden for Blu. Took bus back to Cartago, and visited the basilica, a beautiful Byzantine church. We observed the interesting custom of locals entering the cathedral on their knees and crawling down to the altar. Every August, thousands make a pilgrimage, crawling 22 kms on their hands and knees, this is related to a miracle that happened there.
We really enjoyed Costa Rica, tropical, green, and amazing wildlife. Next stop will be completely different, off to Turkey tomorrow.
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