Casa Marbella Tortuguero

... rake of a caribbean guy jabbed me in the arm as we were walking into the terminal. He was holding a metal tube to my arm and trying to sell me crack for pennies. Well, I guess the place lived up to its name. After brushing him off in the most polite way possible, we boarded our bus to some other town along the way to Tortuguero national park.

The next transition was to a clapped out old chicken bus and we had to stand with ...

... on the boat!) and there we arrived!

At the bus stop in the morning, I had started a conversation with the smiley lady next to me (about the weather and how hot it was... very british of me!), she then started chatting and randomly asked me if we had church in England and if I went. Yes was the correct answer, so I said "yes" and she asked when... so I mumbled about christmas and easter occasionally, and then went on the say that we were married in a nice little ...

... the canals. We entered narrow canals with the most amazing vegetation on each side of us. It really was the wild forest. We saw mostly birds and even a cayman (small crocodile) hiding near some logs and only sticking the head up. I must give it to our captain and our guide that they have incredible eye sight for spotting even the smallest animals. And in fact we also got to see a turtle. Well not a sea turtle, but a tiny freshwater turtle sticking only its head up ...

... br>
Vor zwei Wochen h*be ich jedenf*ll noch ged*cht, j*j* einwenig Schildkröten retten und in den Hängem*tte b*umeln, von wegen: von mehr *ls vier Stunden Schl*f pro N*cht konnte m*n nur träumen, ziemlich h*rte Arbeit w*rs. Jedenf*lls h*b ich jetzt sicher kein einziges Gr*mm Fett mehr *n mir, nur noch Knochen und g***nz viele Muskeln. Ihr müsst jetzt nicht denken, es wäre extrem schlimm gewesen, es w*s ungl*ublich toll, *ber eben ...

... even on a sunny day. I could sit and watch them all day as they are so entertaining almost tumbling through the trees without a care. Unlike the howler monkey they have a much better diet of fruit and this gives them much more energy.

This morning we were also lucky enough to see a Collared Aracari a smaller toucan lower down in the trees eating some fruit that it had found. We had seen quite a lot of toucans but many were high up in the trees and difficult to see. This ...

... the right grave and didn't suddenly appear on the surface after any seismic activity. In the villages the houses were much nicer and their gardens absolutely beautiful and full of colour. The plants that can be grown here I had only previously seen as house plants at home. They even have a plant called labios ardientes or "hookers lips" whose bright red bracts do indeed look like a pair of lips as well as beautiful Heliconias and exotic Cannas.

Tortuguero, Limón, Costa Rica jowhiting

... people/things to do. The beaches (named above) were usually on different islands and thus required a taxi/water-taxi to reach. I didn't bother. Maybe i should have done, but the prospect of possibly seeing the elusive Red Poison Dart Frog (at the beach bearing a similar name) didn't seem to be worth it - neither the $4 nor the effort. Frogs aside, it's a beach and i've seen one...

I took my second ever surf lesson, and now VOW never to take another (i had ...

... s modern school bus yellow. This one was from at least the 70's. There were many narrow passages but we made it safe and sound. It was about the best time we've had in Central America so far. The area we were stuck in was beautiful and home to Mennonites who fled the US during the Korean War to escape forced draft into the war. We arrived in Monte Verde and found a nice guest house to stay at. We signed up for a guided tour of Santa ...

... I had never seen soles like his. He was quite proud of them. He looked like an abandoned shipmate off of Pirates of the Caribbean, rail thin with short dreads, torn pants and scruffy chin, a huge smile, and now I am sorry I didn't get a photo of him. Whether it was the marijuana or not, he was always smiling and quick to say hi. One other memorable character hanging out in the in the same village park was a man who was filthy ...