Phew! I started this post with "It was as humid as...." Then tried "It was steamier than..." but suffice it to say that it was simply HOT! Even after a cold shower with the fan blowing on all four of us, it was still HOT!
Despite the copious sweating, we sure had a great experience. We went on a night hike to the beach and saw four turtles in process of laying their eggs and camouflaging their nests! We watched one drop more than 80 eggs. Well, actually, we only watched a portion of that, because we were led to the beach in small groups, so each group probably watched the process for two or three minutes! There were probably 200 tourists visiting Tortugero beaches that night, each having paid about 25-30 bucks to see nature do her thing.
The next day, we rented a canoe from Ernesto (for about 5 bucks a head!) and paddled our own way into the National Park. The jungle was thick and wild by the brown river, and we saw loads of turtles, parrots, Jesus lizards walking on the water, a howler monkey and even a nutria (or maybe it was a river otter.)
Tortuguero on a budget: We had hesitated to go to Tortuguero because we thought it would be out of our price range, but really, it can be done economically. You can park right by the docks,(unless you feel a burning need to spend ten bucks/day to have your car surrounded by a wire fence), Hotel Tortuguero is right on the beach and about $15-20 a head (We didn't stay there, but I won't even list the place where we did. The owners were lovely, but the cockroaches were huge.) and we ate two meals at the BBQ lady's stand--hot rib, bbq chicken, skewers plus yucca potatoes and salad for $4!
Our favorite, soak spot is the Thermalitas in La Fortuna near Arenal, and it's a great price to boot! We brought in a whole roasted chicken, made ourselves a salad and drank cubra libras from a can (in a can! pre-mixed rum and Coke!). Then the rain started. Then the explosive thunder and lightening. Not to be deterred, we waited a bit, until only the distant lightening brightened the sky to daylight every ten minutes. Soaking in the hot, hot natural spring water in the evening with those distant flashes was some kind of magical, let me tell you!
We slept ate and toured the farm at Finca Educativa Don Juan. I love this place. Framing the volcano at Arenal, Don Juan's farm is thick with flowers and edible plants, which they serve to guests for breakfast. The tour was fascinating as we tasted and tried both the delicious and the horridly bitter medicinal plants that he was growing there. Steve's favorite part was the Math Garden, which at first seemed like an oxymoron until Don Juan explained that he had planted his garden in such a way as to visual describe difficult concepts, like pi and how to find area. Also, he pointed out the brilliant mathematics in nature (and the prevalence of the number 5!)
Despite the copious sweating, we sure had a great experience. We went on a night hike to the beach and saw four turtles in process of laying their eggs and camouflaging their nests! We watched one drop more than 80 eggs. Well, actually, we only watched a portion of that, because we were led to the beach in small groups, so each group probably watched the process for two or three minutes! There were probably 200 tourists visiting Tortugero beaches that night, each having paid about 25-30 bucks to see nature do her thing.
I've included some gratuitous photos of a few of the many animals that we saw there. I'm not really an animal photographer, and if you blow them up, they get really blurry, but , hey, five sloths! Who could resist taking photos when you see FIVE sloths, right there. We saw this slotherific excitement visiting friends from Seattle at Tulemar resort.Five!
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