Costa RicaCosta Rica

Iguanas and Turtles and Sloths

Destination: Tortuguero

Me and Alex just got back a few minutes ago from our trip to the other coast. Each trip I make into a part of Costa Rica, I come back saying, "This is my favorite part!" But, this time I truly mean it!

read more close

On Tuesday morning, Alex and I took a cab ride to a hotel and were picked up by a bus. Alex planned a little trip over to Tortuguero. It is in the state of Limon on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica!

I prepared myself for a pretty grueling trip. We had to take a bus for three hours, and then transfer to a boat and ride down a canal until we got to Tortegero. I was pleasantly surprised that our trip included a guide. His name is Daniel. During the ride, he gave information on various regions as we were passing through them. This made the trip go by very quickly. Daniel is a very passionate naturalist, and loves giving tours and showing people the country.

The bus ride went by fast enough, and then we had to take a boat "taxi" to the hotel we were staying at. The boat ride was a lot of fun. Along the way we saw various birds, turtles and from a very very far distance, we saw a crocodile.

We made our way to the Laguna Lodge, the facility we were staying at for two nights. When our boat landed and we walked out, I half expected a plump man with a beard to come out and say, "Welcome to Jurrasic Park!"

The hotel was BEAUTIFUL! Everywhere there were tropical flowers and plants!

The manager of the hotel greeted us and gave us a run down of the activities and dining schedule, then sent us off to uour room. The room was adequate. Small and charming, there were two beds an extra couch thingy and a large bathroom. The windows were encased with screen to keep out bugs and mosquitos! There was also a ceiling fan in the room to keep the air flowing!

I was eager to see the ocean so i ditched Alex and went for a walk on the beach. The Caribbean Ocean is very rough and you cannot swim in it, that is unless you have a death wish! I walked for about half a mile listening to the ocean and admiring the view. All along the beach there are beautiful palm trees lining the way!

I decided to head back to the lodge and haave some lunch. Part of the trip and stay are the meals. They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner, but the best part is that it is BUFFETT style! (Xingfeng you would have died!)

The food was pretty good, a lot of fruit and veggies, which was fresh and delicious!

After lunch I decided I needed to be IN the water, so I went swimming at the pool. It was the perfect temperature and not too crowded. The best part is that ten yards away was a full bar! Woo hoo! I practically ran to the bar and begged for a Pina Colada! I brought it to the pool and swam and sipped on my drink the rest of the afternoon.

Part of the tour was a trip into Tortegero. I decided to stay at the pool instead of going. I wanted some alone time and to get some sun. The weather was amazing! Not too hot and not a lot of mosquitos! I laid out for the rest of the afternoon and then met up with Alex (sleeping in a hammock!) and we had a few drinks and went off to dinner.

Dinner was served from 7 until 9 pm. We ate quickly and headed back to the room and basically crashed! The next morning I had to awake early because Daniel was guiding us into the rain forest by boat. This was by far the best experience so far. We boared the boat around 6 am and went into the canals near the rainforest in search of wildlife. The trip was amazing, I saw so many different types of birds, lizards and other wildlife. The weather was a bit overcast and it started to rain, luckily they provided us ponchos to keep dry. A lot of the other people in the boat were complaining of the rain. But I was thrilled! Helllllllllllo, if you go into a rainforest folks, you might get some rain.

We went around for about two hours spotting different creatures before having to return to the lodge for breakfast. After breakfast I took a nap. There was another trip out at 10:30 to see more wild life. I almost passed on the opportunity because I was a little tired and bored of spotting bird after bird. Alex told me to get off my ass and go. I am so glad I listened to him. The second time we went in, we spotted so many more animals. Iguanas, Sloths, Camans (think shrunken alligator), turtles and many, many birds! It was great being so close to these things and being a part of the rainforest. In just a few hours, the trip had changed my life!

Afterwards, ALex and I decided to walk down the beach into the town of Tortuguero. It was an interesting time. The town has NO cars. Basically everything is brought into the town on boat, and if you want to get to another destination you have to take a boat taxi.

The town was small but lively. There were a lot of children running around playing soccer and walking with family.

We were only there for about an hour. Alex needed to check his email. It was interesting to see a little cyber cafe right in the middle of this little desolate town.

We walked back down to the lodge in time for some drinks and dinner. Pasta -- not good.

We decided to walk to the pool and sit for a while while we chatted. In the middle of the pool is a little island that one solitary frog lives on. I am not sure but I think he is the lodge mascot. They are nocternal so during the day they are hard to find. But someone else came along with a flashlight and we managed to spot him. I washed my hands and held him in my hand for a few moments. He felt so soft and beautiful. I love reptiles and lizards and amphibians, so this was a high for me. We had our moment and then I passed him into the hand of the woman with me. He jumped from her hand into her hair. I think this was his little way of saying leave me alone!

We decided to turn in after that.

Around I was awakened by a rainstorm. It sounded amazing, and kind of lulled me back to sleep!

We had to leave at 9:30 so we woke up a little early so we could have breakfast and say good bye to the lodge. I walked around and took some pictures while alex rested in a hammock. Alex has done this trip many times before so he wasnt as enthusiastic as i was!

We packed our things and got on the boat and made our way back to San Jose.

I am sitting here now in front of this computer feeling as if the last few days of my life have been a dream.

Costa Rica is definately one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. I cant remember the last time I have felt so peaceful and happy!

Anyhoo, I am going to rest for a few hours and then we are are going to meet up with some of the friends we met in Jaco. Tomorrow we are heading to see some volcanoes and do some souvenier shopping!

I got something pretty for you Adolfo!

Iguanas and Turtles and Sloths in Pictures

Best Hotel Deals in Costa Rica!

Get up to 30% off Hotels & Resorts worldwide compared to other major booking sites like Expedia and Priceline with our exclusive pricing ...