  |
| Kingfisher |
 | |
| Crab with eggs |
 |
| Mama and baby monkey |
 |
| Basilisk (JesusChristo) |
 | |
| Caiman |
 |
| My otter picture is a little blurry but he was gnawing on something and you can see the pink of his tongue |
 |
| Boat ride to Tortugero |
 |
| Aldolpho told me to take this picture |
  |
| Paddles and bailing bucket |
 |
| Panga Paddle |
 |
| Mezcal |
Monday, April 9 2012
We drove from volcanic mountains of Costa Rica through the
capital of San Jose into the lowland banana plantation area. There were fields after fields of
bananas from major companies such as Chiquita, Del Monte, and Dole. We got a little lost in San Jose and
then again near where we needed to take the boat. The last boat down the river to Tortugero left at 4:30 pm
and it was looking like we weren’t going to make it but we eventually made it,
parked New Beige in a secure lot, bought our tickets and made it down to the
boat where there was one seat left with minutes to spare. We climbed on the boat and Jon said he
would just sit on the back by the motor.
After this confusion they told us another boat would take us in a few
minutes so reluctantly we climbed out to wait. Although we were by ourselves at the moment more people
showed up including a very drunk guy carrying a six pack of Imperial who fell
down as he tried to climb on the boat.
All worked out and we made our way down the river. The trip took about 70 minutes and we
were able to see some interesting wildlife such as a basilisk (Jesus Cristo
Lizard that can run across water) and monkeys.
On the boat we met a guy named Adolpho who I had heard
calling out the names of animals to other English speaking tourists as I
quietly told Jon what the animals were.
He impressed me because he knew a lot and also told me when I should get
my camera out for a nice sunset picture.
He turned out to be a nature guide who also lived in Tortugero. He recommended a place for us to stay
that seemed to have all the things we wanted. Usually when someone recommends something they want money
but he never asked for anything and the accommodations were very nice. Since he was right about the room we
asked him for other recommendations and he hooked us up with places to eat, a
boat to rent and he was going to take us on a sea turtle hike.
Tortugero Village is a sleepy Caribbean coastal town only
accessible by plane or boat. The
adjacent national park is one of the most important nesting sites for sea
turtles in the world. It’s an area
with lagoon, river, jungle and beach habitats and is known for its high levels
of biodiversity. We checked into a
cabina and went to dinner at an Adolpho recommended place, Café Buddha, which
was overlooking the water. We had
pizza and savory crepes. It was
excellent.
Monday was also Jimmy Sharp’s birthday. I have continued to call him while on
this trip from skype but he never answers my calls. So Jimmy, if you’re reading the blogs, and you see a number
that is weird on your phone, it’s me.
Answer it.
Tuesday, April 10 2012
We woke up early, went to pick up the paddles that Aldolpho
left for us and found them to be heavy carved of hard mahogany wood and ancient
looking. We also got a plastic
gallon jug that had been cut in half to use for bailing water out of our
boat. I was a little leery of the
boat because it wasn’t actually a kayak but a large metal panga. Jon assured me that it would be “No
problemo.” We walked down to the
water and found our boat already unlocked and sitting near the launch spot for
us (Adolpho is really good). We
set out around 8 am. We paddled
south to the Tortugero National Park entrance, got our pass and a map of the
canals. We saw so many animals
during this ride (basilisk, otter, caiman, raccoons, monkeys, river turtle and
mucho birds). Jon did most
of the paddling but I helped a little on the way back, the paddles were dang
heavy though.
After the paddle we went back to our room for a little rest
then walked out into the village for some dinner because we were going on a
turtle walk at 9:30 pm. For dinner
we went to a Soda, which are the budget restaurants and had a tipico Caribbean
dish of rice and beans in coconut oil, fried eggs, mixed local vegetables and
fried plantains. I also had
watermelon juice, which I now love and wonder why no one offers it in the US,
especially in SC where all the watermelons grow. Jon started one of his bottles of Mezcal and had a few shots
before we left with Adolpho for the turtle walk.
The walk cost $20 US, took place from 9:30-midnight with
Adolpho as our guide and 4 Brits along as tourists. We weren’t allowed to take any light devices such as a
camera, which I was really sad about but I know that you can’t have lights so I
understood the importance of this rule.
It wasn’t guaranteed that we were going to see a turtle but Jon and I
had a good feeling about it. This
area is a major nesting site for 5 species of sea turtles including Green,
Leatherback and Hawksbill. There
are several guides that have permits to take groups on the beach at night
looking for turtles. They take
groups into the different sectors of the beach and call each other by cell
phone if their groups spot a turtle.
We started out walking north along the dark beach in a
single file line. We walked fast
for an hour while a bright orange moon rose over the ocean. We passed several groups coming from
the other direction who all said they hadn’t seen any turtles. I was starting to get discouraged but I
kept my faith in Adolpho. We then
came to an impassable part of the beach and had to walk into the jungle, along
an airport runway and then back out to the beach where we rested for 5
minutes. During this rest Adolpho
got a call from one of the other guides who had spotted a Leatherback but it
was an hour and a half walk back to our starting point then another hour and a
half walk South past that. So, we
had a dilemma.
Adolpho started calling lots of people and yelling in
Spanish on his phone, which is weird for him because he is normally so
tranquillo. He then explained to
us that we can get a taxi for 2000 Colones ($4) a person back to our starting
point and then walk south from there.
Do we all want to do this?
We all agreed yes but I wondered where he’s getting a taxi from because
there are no cars in this area. We
then walked back out to the jungle airport and then very fast in the dark along
north on the runway while Adolpho kept shining his flashlight into the
jungle. It’s was a little
suspicious but we went for it anyway.
Adolpho then told us to watch out for this snake because it’s venomous. It was dark so no one saw the snake
except for the quick moment when he flashed the light on it. So, I jumped over this snake in my
sandals wishing I had my snake boots that Eagle gave me. We eventually came to an opening in the
jungle where a water taxi was waiting for us. So we jumped onto the boat and sped through the steamy
jungle lagoon by moonlight. One of
the Brit girls was crying by now and her boyfriend was consoling her. I guess it was the snake or
something. When the boat dropped
us off in the town of Tortugero we had only gone half of the distance back to
where the Leatherback was laying.
We were racing against time to get there before she finished and went
back to sea.
We walked past our cabina where we lost one of the Brits
because I guess he needed a cigarette or something. Adolpho kept calling the other guide to get updated and he
seemed very worked up. Were we
going to make it? It was all very
dramatic. Then Adolpho started
running and said that we needed to hurry up. We ran through the jungle without any light except for his
flashlight. The Brit girl was
really crying at this point with her friends consoling her. I was not having any of this girl
possibly stopping me from seeing the turtle. We continued to run thru the jungle at night for about 2km
while I was wearing sandals and thinking the whole time about all the venomous
snakes that live there. I was also
thinking how weird it was that I was running and not tired at all because I
don’t run, ever. Eventually we
made it to the marker and Adolpho told us to wait at the edge of the jungle so
he could survey the scene. We
could see the hulking shape of the female Leatherback outlined on the horizon
against the moonlit water. She was
flapping her flippers in the sand to cover up the eggs that she had just laid. Adolpho told us to come up slowly and
we stood there 2 feet from her. He
is allowed to use a red light only and shined it on her then. She was immense and beautiful. She bellowed out a few times with tears
streaming down her face. I’m sure
that the birthing process of a sea turtle is straining and I would probably be
bellowing out too. It was so
amazing. We only had about 5
minutes there before Adolpho needed us to leave because we were not in his
sanctioned section and if we got caught there by the rangers he could lose his
guide permit. We walked fast, back
to our cabina and I got a few blisters from the sand rubbing in my sandals but
it was all worth it. We got home a
little after midnight but I wasn’t tired, my adrenaline was still pumping.
Eventually I got to sleep. I can
now successfully check off another one of those life experiences that I’ve been
dying to live out.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
We slept in today after our big night last night and then
walked out to a coffee shop for a tipico Caribbean breakfast of eggs, rice and
beans, cheese, fruit, toast and coffee.
Then we caught the boat back up the river to La Pavona. It took about 2 hours this time, I
guess because we were going against the river. The Brits were a little late to arrive at the boat, didn’t
get a seat and had to wait for the next one. If you snooze you lose. On the river ride up stream we saw another otter, some
lizards and a giant crocodile (or alligator, not sure which).
Back in our truck, we then drove past more banana
plantations to the coastal town of Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica. We bought 16 bananas and 2 coco frio
drinks for $1.20. In town we
bought some additional groceries and are relaxing in our room tonight.
No comments:
Post a Comment