Buckle up.. it is a long diary entry!
Into the 4 x 4 for another bouncy ride back down to civilisation..... well, the Supermarket in the local town. We were dropped at the bus stop again, and we waited for a car transfer to arrive. Schoolchildren said hello to us, babies waved, we nearly got adopted by another dog! At least 3 of the 'senior' men came to ask where we had been, and where we were going, and did we like Costa Rica. What a friendly place. Our transfer was a few minutes late, and the men seemed keen to offer suggestions for what we should do if he didn't come! It is always nerve wracking when you book these things... but he turned up, as have all of them. Our journey today started with 90 minutes driving south east to La Pavona, which is essentially a jetty in the middle of nowhere! In fact it is at the end of miles and miles of banana plantations.
The hands of bananas are put in plastic bags as they start to grow, to protect them from disease and monkeys! When the hands are picked, they are put on moving hanging belts in the fields, known as the Banana train. The engine may have a human guard who walks with 'the train' many miles, puts down bridges across roads so the bananas can keep moving across, holding up the traffic!
Arriving at La Pavona, the rain suddenly poured down. The drivers window rolled down. Money changed hands, and then we were driven away from the entrance and around the back where a boat was waiting, along with a few local people and 3 Americans, whose luggage half filled the boat! We set off immediately!
Our destination was Tortuguero, a village on a spit of land that can only be reached by a 40 minute fairly fast boat trip through the canals in the rainforest. It was fun, although the boat's engine started having problems about half a mile from our destination. We were supposed to be dropped on our hotel jetty, but the boat limped into the village jetty. The boatman tried a few repairs, and then apologised and said we would have to walk to our hotel, halfway across town. Pulling our cases we set off. It took 2 minutes!! This is a very small place, but quite vibrant! Our little hotel is Casa Marbella, directly on the canal.
We had a lovely big room and a balcony looking out onto the water.
Everyone seems to have a boat, not surprisingly, and all supplies and in fact everything has to be brought in by boat. Our hotel appears to be conveniently next to the beer boat!
This coastal area has no roads at all, just natural canals for miles and miles, and surrounded by rainforest that has grown back since logging was stopped in the 1970s. There are no cars here, just bikes and boats. It is gorgeous sitting by the water.
We nipped out for a late waterside lunch at the Budda Cafe next door.
Tortugero faces the canal on one side, and, less than 5 minutes walk away, the Caribbean sea on the other. We have reached the Caribbean/Atlantic side of the country!
It couldn't be more different to the white sand of the Pacific side. One long, straight stretch of black volcanic sand, and seas with currents that make it unsafe for swimming.
However, it is perfect for turtles, and 4 of the worlds 5 breeds of turtle come here to lay eggs between June and September. It is one of the busiest turtle nurseries in the world, and it is estimated that between 20,000 and 50,000 turtles come to mate and nest here each year. We knew we were outside turtle season, but wanted to come to see the village, and the nature in the National Park. We are so glad we did. What a super place. We loved watching all the hustle and bustle of the boats whizzing up and down, delivering people, food, beer, and everything you can think of, all through the day and evening.
Land transport fulfilled a similar function using bikes!
As we have travelled east, there has been an increasingly strong Caribbean influence, mixed with indiginous and hispanic cultures, and here in Tortuguero, the Good Life -Pura Vida - is in everything - the food, drink, music and very laid back lifestyle!
Tortuguero National Park is home to many species of wildlife, plants and trees. They even have manatees seeking warm water for their calves, although we didn't see them. Our early morning boat ride was lovely. Here we are at 6am!
Luis, our guide, grew up here and his family were part of the logging industry. When the Government started the environmental education programmes, the local people gradually switched to becoming wildlife rangers and guides, and working in tourism. We travelled by boat into the beautiful canals in the National Park.
As we left, a local man was fishing, using a heron to catch the fish!
The heron didn't appear to be tethered in any way. In the national park, the birds seemed unphased by the boats, and we got some great close up views of these Tiger Herons, an adult and a Juvenile.
We also saw, among other things, yellow crowned Night Heron, Howler monkeys and Spider monkeys with young, Jacana wading birds and Parrots.
This is an internet photo of a Jacana as mine didnt show its huge feet for walking across the water plants!
The huge rafts of weed move up and down with the waves!
Stars of the show for me were the huge male Iguanas, in full orange breeding plumage, eyeing up any nearby female iguanas.
This female looked decidedly unimpressed!
This Anhinga is hanging it's wings out to dry, because they have no oils so arent waterproof. The holes in his wings are where feathers have moulted and new ones havent grown yet!
Our boat trip was followed by breakfast back at the hotel and then a very hot humid walk back into the National Park. Howler and Spider monkeys were high in the trees, and we saw Jaguar tracks. This is a stronghold of Jaguar and Ocelot, but the chances of seeing them are virtually zero. However Luis did tell us that they often come into town at night looking for stray dogs! He showed us where a Jaguar had walked over some newly laid concrete!
This amazing tree is used as a food colouring, but if you crush a seed, it makes instant red paint, once used as lipstick, so it is known as the Lipstick tree.
Alongside was a tree with long seeds. Our guide crushed them and asked what we could smell.
It was so distinctive, but no-one could name it. Luis said it was a key ingredient in Chanel No. 5 perfume... Ylang Ylang! That used to be my favourite, and as soon as he said it, the resemblance was obvious. The high spot of the walk was seeing a mother and baby 3 toed sloth.
Back to the hotel for showers and a cool down Siesta. Interestingly, Costa Ricans do not have Siesta time at all, but work 9-5ish. How about a snooze in the hammocks?
After a rest we went for a walk. There we had a great view of the beautiful, and very large, Green Macaw.
This is the Primary school, and the High school. No windows!
There is a big drive on litter and recycling... but they have many frequently placed, artistic bins and recycling points, and their own beautifully decorated recycling centre where everything is sorted and packed ready for taking away by boat.
Once again, artwork is everywhere, including some beautifully carved wooden sculptures, and mosaics. Plus an artistic way to disguise your WiFi mast!
The houses are colourful, but, as we have seen in other areas, there is a disparity between rich and poor.
This is not a cheap country. Petrol is not much cheaper than in the UK, and food and other essentials seem to be on a par too. However the minimum wage has hardly been raised for many years, and for unskilled workers it is under £600 per month. So not everything is rosy here, but tourism really helps, and tipping a person directly ensures they receive the money. Most people we met seem very happy with their Pura Vida lifestyle. Smoking is prohibited in public areas, indoors and outside, and we hardly saw anyone smoking at all. Also, most places were pretty free of litter, which was good to see.
Our favourite cafe was El Niño, family run, great cooking and reasonable prices! We ate there twice.
I am loving the Smoothies and milkshakes in Costa Rica! On the 2nd occasion a band came past, apparently musicians who travel to schools to introduce them to music.
On our last day we visited the pretty little church... with all the essentials for sermon giving on the lectern!
Next, the Sea Turtle Conservancy centre which was founded in the 1950s, and works with turtles all around the Caribbean. The turtles are still endangered, but their work has done a lot to raise awareness of the importance of the turtle, and to reduce hunting for meat and shells, destruction of nesting sites and pollution. But it is a never ending task. They also had an exhibition of animals found locally. Look at this Jaguarundi!
Finally, another night walk which yielded some different frogs, snakes, a sleeping keel billed toucan, and some more gorgeous views of Sloth, including another baby.
Incredibly, next morning, it was Chris that was wide awake at 5.00am, and suggested getting up to walk to see the sunrise over the Caribbean. So we did! Beautiful.
After breakfast the water taxi came to take us on the 45 minute run back to La Pavona. Which gave us a nice view of our hotel from the water.
But then he had to pick up more people. Then he forgot 2 people and had to go back. Then he stopped at the waterside fuel station.
All of which meant he whizzed along, blaring the horn, and overtaking the other boats! We even overtook some New Zealand friends we had made... and they set off half an hour before us!! It resembled Formula 1 for water taxis, but the front 3 held him off, so we arrived 4th, having started in at least 10th place! It was exciting stuff.
He did bring the cases in off the front first! As all the boats disgorged their passengers, it was somewhat chaotic, but somehow we found Roberth who was to drive us to our last stop just outside San Jose. We drove over the huge volcanic mountain range covered in rain forest, and emerged in the central valley. San José is ringed with mountains, including active volcanoes.
Our accommodation was the delightful Pibi Boreal on the outskirts.
I had spotted a botanic garden with restaurant nearby... the Jardin Botanico y restaurante el Arco. Our hostess offered to drive us there, so off we went. 'I am sorry but we are full' was the restaurant managers response when we arrived. I went into full begging mode, and it worked because he offered us 2 places sat at the bar. Two minutes later he returned and said a place had come available on the terrace! And what a view, out over the gardens and down over San José.
The meal was all made from local produce, much of it grown in the garden. It was a 6 course tasting menu.
We hadn't even asked the price! Everything was fantastic, and beautifully presented as well...pictures incoming!
I had a non alcoholic Pina Colada and Chris sampled the Honey beer made on the premises, which he loved. Incredibly, when the bill came, our amazing meal was under £35 per person, including the service charge! AND, it included admission to the botanic garden, so we spent a happy 90 minutes looking at wonderfully exotic plants, poisonous plants and medicinal ones.
They even print the poison recipes!
An Uber back was easy. What a great end to our Costa Rica trip. Off to the airport tomorrow...... then just one more post to come!!! Sorry that this was an epic! Congratulations if you made it to the end! Pour yourself a glass of wine... or whatever is your tipple!!
I think I'll be dreaming of sitting here in the sun in a few days time....
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