Albergue la Jungla Tortuguero

... as we drove around its streets, and I am glad that I was not going to stay any longer. However, from what I could see, San Jose certainly gave the impression of Costa Rica being a wealthier country than Guatemala - they even had ordinary busses servicing the city - did not see a single chicken bus. <br><br>The beautiful countryside revealed itself to us and we drove through the Braulio Carillo National Park. Rarely have I seen so many beautiful shades of green. We ...

... upright.<br><br>We boarded the boat (again with substantial assistance) and set off for our twisty ride through the small river mouth. The water level was really low this afternoon and we could feel the sand scrape along the bottom of the boat a few times during the 90 minute ride. The cost was approximately $2.50 per person and it included stops at docks for many local families along the way. When we arrived it was already dark, but ...

... by a spotter on the beach of the location of the turtle. Quickly we rushed off to the numbered section on the beach. Upon arrival we were told to turn off our flashlights and slowly and quietly walk on the beach. We could see that there were probably 4-5 other groups waiting patiently to share the experience. We were group one and we arrived in perfect timing to see the turtle dig her nest and hole for the eggs. By the time all groups viewed the nest building we were able to ...

... still wings outstretched drying them off in the morning sun. Its feathers are not waterproof so it has to spend long periods drying out its wings. The word 'anhinga&#8217; comes from the Brazilian Tupi Language and means snake or devil bird. The snake part must be because of its extraordinarily long neck. <br><br>Clinging to the underside of a large branch Umberto spotted some Proboscis bats sheltering from the hot sun, we counted about 10 and it looked like some were babies ...

... destined for. If they were to be exported to the USA they could be picked later than if they were to go to Europe. We also passed many coffee plantations with the bushes growing on the steep hillsides. Coffee is still an important part of the Costa Rican economy like bananas but now relies heavily on Nicaraguan immigrants to do the picking, as does the banana industry. The wages are small and modern Costa Ricans are no longer willing to work in these ...

... and Caribbean. And, indeed, yes they were beautiful....but i was thinking the same thing i felt upon arrival in Puerto Viejo - "...great, blow me, now what...?"<br><br>I was torn between two hostels (owned by the same people). My arbitrary choice turned out to be good...the other hostel had a fire that night, the top floor was gutted and everyone evacuated at 5am. <br><br>Town felt slightly more genuine that PV the previous day, there were more locals and there were ...

... to see some of the other wildlife that lives here. But it has poured with rain all day, so this wouldn't have been much fun, and nor would we have seen anything. All we've really done is to go to the turtle museum in the afternoon. Hopefully tomorrow will be better!

... message yet. The resort is Ok despite the rising water level which eventually causes us to move cabins and the wild life is good although with all our travelling not really worth getting soaked for. The next challenge in the humididty is drying stuff out. The resort also has the infamous bland buffet typical of big group tours & gets the prize for the worst toast and the smallest desert portions. We have somehow found ourselves ...

... my parents' age from Texas, and for the first leg of the tour in Tortuguero we're also with a (literal) boatload of other tourists, many of them from Spain. There's one particularly obnoxious couple that can't seem to go twenty minutes without a cigarette; they lit up at the breakfast table yesterday morning (right under the bilingual-with-a-picture "No Smoking" sign) while I was still eating, and again on the riverboat through the wildlife preserve known ...

... even worse then Costa Maya, however, as soon as you leave the port area, Costa Rica is STUNNING!! Costa Rica is very humid and hard, the weather is a bit similar to durban, however they are in a rain forest, everything is very very green. They have renamed there seasons to make it more tourist friendly, there is no more summer season and rainy season, its now summer season and green season. The main export of Costa Rica is (believe it or not) micro chips for ...