Tortuguero

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  Tortuguero, Costa Rica
Sunday, October 29, 2006

BUENA VIDA MIA

- the local slogan basically means live well friend. But, it can also be taken as live well idiot. Weīre hoping the locals like us and itīs not the latter, but you never know.

We started out this morning with a walk through Cauhita National Park where we were immediately greeted by a group of white-faced monkeys and howler monkeys. Finally starting to see some wildlife. It was short lived though, as we had to catch a bus at 7:30 for the dreaded, pickpocket filled town of Limon.

Traveling to the turtle reserve in Tortuguero is quite a long haul, involving a one hour public bus ride to port and then a four hour boat ride through a series of canals surrounded by rain forest. The short bus ride produced quite a bit of entertainment. Emmett sat on the back of the bus sharing stories with a Kiwi couple (Josh and Nikki) and getting advice on how to travel from an ex-patriot named Thor. Just like in Conan the Barbarian. As the four of them were engrossed in conversation the gentleman Rory, sitting near the middle of the bus gave up his seat to a an older woman. Emmett and the other gringos in the back noticed quite a bit of commotion from Roryīs old seat. Apparently he had sat on one of his breakfast bananas unknowingly and the poor old lady had sat in the mush. Maybe the locals were really saying Ļlive well stupid,Ļ especially when Rory ventured to the back to showcase his wet ass (who knew bananas had so much juice?).

Waiting for our ferry ride at 9:30 we sipped on fresh coconut and the remainder of our Quaro, a local liquor, to share with the Kiwi couple. The local ferry drivers looked on in disbelief.

The boat ride produced sloths, monkeys, and swimming birds (you heard me), but we hadnīt rationed our food very well for what we thought was to be a very brief boat ride, so hunger was an issue. It became an even bigger issue when we stopped at a bar for a pit stop and there was a full buffet set out for another boat - chips and beer available for purchase for ours. Thereīs nothing better than a liquid carb lunch.

As we snaked our way further up the canals they began to get narrower and narrower, until we finally pulled into our driveway/canal. Immediately upon entering the lobby we were handed a box of fried chicken (KFC and Ezzels have nothing on Costa Rican fried chicken. This stuff is like heaven) and ordered to go on a hike with 2 older Dutch guides and 25 locals all in school to be tour guides. We had no idea what to expect as we climbed up Tortuguero Hill, but the sweeping vista of rain forest, canals, and the Caribbean proved to be worth the grueling hike with no established trail. The only warning we got before the hike was to watch out where we put our hands because snakes like to chill out on trees. Oh really - sweet! I wish we had a picture to post, but camera difficulties are slightly holding us back.

We slowly worked our way down the hill in the dark with the faint screams from the prospective tour guides following us down. We felt very assured that they could lead a group, or just that they were all finding those tree snakes.

Arriving back at the hotel, we were told to wolf down dinner and jump on a boat again to head out for a turtle hike. What ever happened to the laid back mentality of Costa Ricans? Slightly overwhelmed we jumped in a boat and made our way to the beach where each year 40,000 turtles of 4 different species come to shore to lay 100 eggs at a time, up to 7 times in a season. We were pretty positive that we were going to see something on the night hike, until we met Luis, our guide for the evening, who didnīt speak any English and was noticeably drunk. Very drunk. Crap. Luckily Raul, one of the guides from the earlier hike (odd name for a Dutch guy) offered up to play the role of translator and we were on our way.

After an hour of walking and only seeing turtle tracks returning to the sea, we stumbled upon another guided tour gathered in a small circle. Luis told us they were waiting to see hatchlings come out and with an air of mystery, wandered off into the night. ? Not knowing what to do without our trusty guide, we joined up with the other group just in time to see 10 wee turtles pop out of the hole and start charging for the waves. It wasnīt so much of a ĻpopĻ but more of an awkward stumble. Itīs pretty damn cool that itīs ingrained in these things to head for the ocean. From there they swim for 5 months, surviving off of a small protein sack on the bottom of their shell, as they make their way to the Saigon Sea. 5 months on a bit of food the size of a button; and could barely make the 4 hour boat ride.

As we stood there in awe over what we had just seen Emmett heard the sound of water hitting the sand. Luis had returned and was relieving himself ten feet away from us. It was nice to have our guide back.

The lighting we had seen was quickly upon and a drizzle began to fall and rapidly turned into an intense rainfall. Luis zipped himself back up, walked over and whispered into Raulīs ear.

We all looking to Raul for some direction. With a sheepish look on his face he told us, ĻItīs raining.Ļ Oh, thatīs what that is. An hour of rain soaked walking later, we were back in town to find the disco full of drunks celebrating the end of the turtle season (including one of our captains) and our boat out of commission. Apparently the captain had a bit too much to drink and ran the propeller through a shallow spot, completely demolishing it.

We finally got back at 1, only to wake up at 5 for a canal tour where we saw some more swimming birds (yeeaaaahh) and a couple of toucans. Frankly, bed would have been much better, which is where we found ourselves immediately after the tour. From that point on the only bit of activity we had was a competition to see who could hold their breath the longest in the hotelīs turtle shaped pool. Rory was convinced he could take Emmett, and Emmett thought that was the case when he came up after what seemed like an eternity to find Rory still under, only to look around in shock and see a German nearby waggling his finger. The bastard had cheated. But that is one victory for Emmett, for those of you keeping track at home.

Emmett 1 - best lungs

Rory 2 -best manatee impression and fewest bug bites