Friday, April 8, 2016
Last night, my dreams of falling asleep listening to the waves, were crushed by the sound of the fan drowning out everything else. But I fell asleep easily, and wake up feeling refreshed and excited about the day ahead.
We quickly down our leftover pizza and walk
to beach. The sun is already rising over the horizon! If we want to catch first light, we are going to have to get up even earlier tomorrow.
Sandy took a picture of me taking a picture for the live blog. Some of those phone pictures survive and become part of the permanent blog, others
Sandy took a picture of me taking a picture for the live blog. Some of those phone pictures survive and become part of the permanent blog, others
No one is in the office when we go to sign up up for the 6 AM canoe tour. Ugh, this was supposed to be the highlight of our visit to Tortuguero and we won't have time tomorrow! (in hindsight, I think we were supposed to sign up at the office the day before)
Luckily, a tour guide stops by the hostel to pick up a couple of the other guests, and he has room for two more. Phew! What a relief! Not wanting to make the same mistake twice, we immediately sign up for the two other tours we want to do today.
Everything here is in close proximity and within minutes we've picked up our life jackets, walked to the entrance of Tortuguero National Park, and paid our entry fees. I was expecting a tranquil scene this early in the morning, but the docks are loaded with tourists ready to hit the water.
Our guide, Luiz, is waiting for us at the dock with a wooden canoe big enough to seat all six of us. After everyone gets seated, he starts the tour along the wide Tortuguero canal and quickly spots troop of howler monkeys in the trees above us.
As the name implies, they are a noisy bunch! I have a recording of it somewhere, but it's not in a place I can get to at the moment so I will have to add it later. I did find this video someone posted on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EajC52lgFys
Such a peaceful place!
We are barely underway when we spot spot our hostel's namesake; the Aricari toucan.
And an Olive-throated Parakeet
Paddling is optional, but the more we help Luiz, the further we can travel. Everyone is eager to see as much as possible, so we all grab our primitive wooden paddles and dig in. We cross to the other side of the canal and paddle into one of the smaller, less traveled waterways. Here, the splish-splash of our paddles is the only sound adding to the sounds of the jungle surrounding us.
Luckily, a tour guide stops by the hostel to pick up a couple of the other guests, and he has room for two more. Phew! What a relief! Not wanting to make the same mistake twice, we immediately sign up for the two other tours we want to do today.
Everything here is in close proximity and within minutes we've picked up our life jackets, walked to the entrance of Tortuguero National Park, and paid our entry fees. I was expecting a tranquil scene this early in the morning, but the docks are loaded with tourists ready to hit the water.
Our guide, Luiz, is waiting for us at the dock with a wooden canoe big enough to seat all six of us. After everyone gets seated, he starts the tour along the wide Tortuguero canal and quickly spots troop of howler monkeys in the trees above us.
As the name implies, they are a noisy bunch! I have a recording of it somewhere, but it's not in a place I can get to at the moment so I will have to add it later. I did find this video someone posted on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EajC52lgFys
Such a peaceful place!
We are barely underway when we spot spot our hostel's namesake; the Aricari toucan.
And an Olive-throated Parakeet
There are birds in the water, birds in the trees, birds overhead, and even if you somehow don't see one for a minute, you are sure to hear their song.
You probably won't recognize this bird cruising through the canal ...
But the hardest to find was this Boat-billed Heron. Someone must have tipped off Luiz, because with a quick warning to be quiet and not use any flash photography, he takes off paddling straight for some low hanging bushes over the water and doesn't stop, until we are wedged in an almost imperceptible hollow between the water and the brush directly above us.
Not much later we come across a green basilisk lounging in a tree. It's well camouflaged and, despite everyone's directions on where to look, the young Dutch couple sitting in front just can't find it, so I help them out ... in Dutch. Oh, the looks on their faces! I love surprising unsuspecting Dutch people haha.
Moving on to a lazy iguana resting in a tree.
Who's that lurking near the bank?
Oh, hello!
A young male little blue heron showing eclipse plumage
Hard to believe that it will later look like this one.
We luck out and find all three species of monkeys present in Tortuguero; the noisy howler monkey, the high-energy spider monkey (sadly, no picture), and the white-faced Capuccin.
When we emerge from the shaded canals into full sun, the change in temperature is shocking. What a difference 2,5 hours makes!
Luiz is now having to do most of the paddling and it takes a while to cross the wide canal. Our spaghetti arms are on fire, demanding longer and longer breaks in between strokes.
Gorgeous green basilisk.
The tour is almost over when a ringed kingfisher zooms past at full-speed. They are notoriously hard to photograph, but I managed to (sort of) get him.
By now we have been on the canal for three hours and the wooden seats have taken a toll on our hineys. My seat bones feel like knives digging into my skin and at this point no amount of shifting around does anything to relieve the pain. I'm actually relieved to be sliding up next to the dock.
But what an experience! No amount of pictures can do this place justice, especially as my continued camera troubles led me to miss out on a lot of great shots. We also saw a cacao tree, lizards, butterflies, an otter, some kind of prehistoric fish that needs to come up for air, and many other types of birds. I can't wait to see what else Luiz will have to show us on our next tour!
Back at our adorable the hostel.
After dropping off our life jackets, we walk to Dorling's Bakery for a late breakfast. They have recently relocated to a tranquil riverside spot looking out over the water.
Well, it was nice and relaxing when we walked up, but as soon as we sit down uptempo mariachi music starts blasting from the speakers. Not my choice at even the best of times, but way more than I can handle when I'm faint with hunger.
Unable to focus on the menu, I order a small fruit plate, while Sandy gets scrambled eggs with ham, bread, a side of fruit and orange juice. I don't like Sandy's food at all, so I am glad I ordered the plain fruit and since Sandy doesn't like tropical fruit she gives me most of hers as well.
After lunch, we walk around and explore the village a bit.
Little play area
The police station
How to transport large items on an island without cars
We stop at the local supermarket and pick up 3 different kinds of cheese snacks for later.
There's a fruit stand next door and we pick up two passion fruit and a granadilla. They also sell a mysterious, small green fruit that I can't identify. We ask about it, but my very basic Spanish doesn't help with this. After thinking it over for a minute, we realize the easiest way to find out more would be to just try it, so Sandy goes back to buy one much to the amusement of the people working the shop and they give her to her free of charge.
It might have been a jocote fruit, but I'm not sure. It definitely tasted good!
Adorable little fruit stand kitty
Back at the hotel, Sandy tries out the little penguin vanilla cake she bought at the grocery store (it's good), while I make quick work of my new fruit and a bag of cheese curls.
Little play area
The police station
How to transport large items on an island without cars
We stop at the local supermarket and pick up 3 different kinds of cheese snacks for later.
There's a fruit stand next door and we pick up two passion fruit and a granadilla. They also sell a mysterious, small green fruit that I can't identify. We ask about it, but my very basic Spanish doesn't help with this. After thinking it over for a minute, we realize the easiest way to find out more would be to just try it, so Sandy goes back to buy one much to the amusement of the people working the shop and they give her to her free of charge.
It might have been a jocote fruit, but I'm not sure. It definitely tasted good!
Adorable little fruit stand kitty
Continued in part II
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