La Baula Lodge Tortuguero

... We hopped on the bus around 6:20 and picked up a few other people at various stops.  We then drove about an hour through the cloud forrest/mountain area and had breakfast.  There was gallo pinto (rice and beans, ew) as the main part of breakfast so I had corn flakes, fresh fruit, oj, and salchichas/sausages (basically hot dogs cut into a few pieces).  After breakfast the drive was about 2 hours until we needed to get on a boat.  

There were about 30 people on ...

... corrugated huts. Two large brightly coloured parrot statues up on high plinths stand rather incongruously at the river’s edge surrounded by gaily coloured picnic tables and chairs. The town is full of gift shops and cafes and after walking around we decided to get a cool drink in the Budda Café in the centre of town. The garden was cool and it was a relief to get out of the hot sun.

On the way back we decide to walk along the beach. The sand here is dark as a result ...

... water, its snout and head the only giveaway.

Mawamba Lodge has a great location bounded by the Caribbean one side and the Tortuguero Canals on the other. The rooms were reasonably basic but this was made up for by the great location. The gardens were filled with beautiful flowers and lizards lurking in bushes or sunbathing on the beach. There is even an area where they protect the Gaudy leaf frog, collecting the spawn and then raising the tadpoles ...

... saying we had to pay before we enter the park, and I said they weren´t there which is why we were paying now, and he said it wasn´t allowed and we should have waited for them to finish breakfast.. He said at all the national parks you have to pay before you go in, and I said at the other national parks they have staff in the ticket booth so that you can pay. He didn´t like me very much after that. Paul of course miraculously avoided this little ...

... right in time at 6 o´clock in the morning, when the life on the forest was awakening, we found ourselves in the middle of birds, caymans, small turtles, butterflies and monkeys again! Afterwards we discovered the resort walking through it, wearing black gumboots (that made us look hilarious) and starting up a fight in the beach, rolling down covered with black san all over towards the water! Tortuguero also has a small museum, where we watched a movie about the nesting of the ...

... of humor that I didn't really get, but I quickly got that it wasn´t a joke when he stepped out of the boat and the water was only at the hight of his calfs. He needed help so enlisted the only other guy on our boat whose response in a little tiny voice was "why me?". With the 2 of them pushing we weren´t making much progress what so ever so he asked for some ...

... mm. juomalla saarella rommia. Vielä toisenkin päivän lykkäsimme ikäviä urheilullisia aktiviteetteja vuokraamalla allemme moottoripyörän saarella kiertelyyn (kaveri jopa kysyi ajokorttia, joka oli tietysti Suomessa). Viimeisenä keinona annoimme itsellemme vakuuttaa, että sadekauden jälkeen mutaiselle vuorelle ei jaksa lähteä sandaaleillamme. Kun sitten opas sanoi löytäneensä meille lainakengät piti meidän jo suoraan kieltäytyä kahdeksan tunnin kiipeilyurakasta. Kun ...

... about what they do as evidenced on our frog and lava tours. We got back into the world of crazy big money again. The colones is 550 to $1. I hate the large denominations because it makes you feel like everything is so expensive. Until you break it down and realize something is only is only $5. The popular dish is the casada which is a small salad, rice, beans and fish. Very fillling and yummy. Off to Nicaragua now......stay tuned.

... yourself. (I will try to link to a short video with sound, soon) It's like a 500 pound ape screaming "backwards" (while inhaling rather than exhaling) in a medium to deep vocal tone. According to Carlos, they are yelling at each other to give space (hey-hey-you-you get off o my cloud!) They are very territorial. Or just happy to wake up to sunshine and start eating those yummy flowers and leaves off of the treetops. At any rate, the few ...

... our dark ponchos (it was raining tremendously before we set off) we made our way by boat to Area no. 1. About 20 people in total were there to see the nesting. We each got a turn to sit behind the turtle and watched and waited while she laid its eggs. Apparently whist they are nesting the female turtle enters a trance like state so they are not disturbed by the presence of humans. After an hour and about 150 eggs later we then watched her cover ...