Manatus Hotel Tortuguero

... very fast &#8211; and a different Spanish that I have been used to. I am proud, though, that I was able to chip in and ask questions once in a while, although I was only able to understand 50 % of their words, although knowing the context &#8211; Spanish wines and different countries &#8211; did help. So after some 20 minutes in their company, I excused myself to hit the sack - I would have to get up 5 AM the following morning!<br><br>The place is characterised by ...

... Junie's, which is a famous bed and breakfast with a great story. If you ever get the chance to eat here, take time to read the menu as it chronicles the history of Tortuguero's first restaurant. The offerings were mostly typical dishes with great presentation and friendly service. The portions were huge and much more than we needed after a day of doing nothing. We walked back to the hotel to settle in early for a 6am departure. I was ...

... a good portion of rum, and coconut liqueur.  Delicious! After walking around a bit (and failing to barter well for a necklace-oh well, I bought it anyways!) it was time to go back to the hotel.  <br><br>Just as a side note, Nick's guide book says this about Tortuguero: Humid is the driest term that can be used to describe the weather during the wet season.  It was sooooooo humid! ew (but so pretty that its worth it).<br><br>At the hotel we signed up for the turtle ...

... a good colour choice as we looked like four bin bags in the back of the boat, some more filled than others! &#8220;Very budget&#8221; was the boys&#8217; reaction and I felt myself very jealous of the posh white plastic ponchos worn by others. Getting wet seemed preferable to wearing these refuse sacks but luckily the rain stopped and we were able to quickly rip them from our bodies and stow them in our bags never to see the light of day again.<br><br>The rain seemed to ...

... we had just time to get some drinks and snacks from the restaurant before we were on our way. Tortuguero National Park can only be reached by boat or plane if you're rich enough and it is located on the Caribbean coast of north-eastern Costa Rica. The name Tortuguero means 'turtle region&#8217; as it is famous for the nesting of turtles on its beaches.<br> <br>We all piled into the waiting motor boats making sure that we had put out luggage on board ...

... seated and wonder, where else it will take you! We finally arrived to Puerto Viejo, a small village right at the beach that looked like a combination of a fishers and a jamaican style town, colorful, music playing everywhere, little dusty streets and everything drenched into peacefulness. We went further out the centre and followed a small road, before we got stocked and amazed by the place, where we were going to stay! 'Rocking J´s' was its name and never before we had seen such ...

... 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 ...

... nationalities is becoming more and more apparent. Sweeping generalisations here (and I've met many many exceptions), but if i had to put it down on paper...<br><br>1) Young Americans are loud and stupid. This increases exponentially with group size and youth. Along with Canadians (usually a bit better...) they often don't have a ****ing clue but will speak as though they 'know', and don't stop speaking either. As in Ever. Being the center of attention and babbling ...

... but is a very friendly chap and took Mike out to have a walk around to look at the different fruit trees and tell us that we could help ourselves. We went around in the afternoon and got about four of each fruit, these consisted of lemon, both sweet and acid, orange, again both for juice and for eating, bananas, green coconuts for the milk, a fruit similar in taste and texture to an apple but ...

... of sitting on the beach getting wet and seeing nothing. They've recently implemented a spotter program, however, that increases the odds. Instead of leading a long line of tourists in a blind search that scares away most of the turtles thinking about nesting on the beach, they now have a network of trained locals who explore the beach with dim red flashlights and radio back to the central area when they spot a turtle digging. Once she's chosen a spot, a ...