Tortuguero (day 3)

Yesterday, while writing the post the weather started to haunt. Because the rain came pouring from the sky and there was a lightning storm. That's not nice when you're exhausted and the alarm clock rings at 4:15 AM, because today we had an excursion (in two stages) on the program. We went by boat to one of the siderivers to spot some wildlife along the shore but also high up in the trees and in the sky.

After 1,5 hours we went back to the lodge to have some breakfast, where we had 30 minutes to do so and after that we continued with part 2 of the excursion. Exactly the same thing, but now on another sideriver. One that's further away. During those excursions we've seen a lot of animals, including iguanas, tucans, macaws, sloths, howler monkeys, capuchin monkeys, caimans (of which the biggest one right next to the boat), vultures, grey and black eagles, basilisks (also known as 'Jesus lizard', because they can run over water) miscellaneous smaller birds. After the lunch I did a siesta (to catch up the short night's rest). At 17:00 PM we had to gather again at the reception for a joint walking tour wit the guide (his name is Mario by the way) of the last few days and he told us all about the plants and flowers that are common here. In between we saw a big iguana in one of the trees. We continued our way towards the botanical garden (that's quite huge actually). Here someone also spotted a sloth in a tree climbing down, unfortunately I didn't saw it... But don't worry, sloths are the most common animals in Costa Rica so plenty of oppurtunities to spot one the next few weeks! The walking tour ended at the beach of, where Mario told us about the turtles that come ashore here during laying season (unfortunately the laying season starts in July, so there were no turtles to see). Mario told us about the process of spotting a turtle and the associated protocol. Turtles are very shy, when they see someone or something moving they flee back to sea and lay their eggs somewhere else. So there is some caution with it. On the beach Mario drew out an average sized turtle in the sand (about 1,20 m long), at this point he also told that the biggest turtle ever measured was 2 m long (he drew this one out in the sand as well for comparison. What a giant one! In the meantime it was already pretty dark (about 18:30 PM) and the walk come to and end. Mario told about the program for tomorrow and then we walked back to the cabin, but since it was dark I turned on my flashlight (coincidentally had it with me) and right away I saw an American bullfrog crossing in front of me... The first frog in Costa Rica has been spotted! I hope to see some poisonous (and smaller) frogs, they always look so colorful. After quickly freshing up we went for dinner and after that we came back to the cabin. Tommorow we can finally get up at a normal time, breakfast is at 7:30 AM and then we take the boat again to the same place where we swapped the bus for the boat yesterday (now it will be the other way around) and we'll be driving to the restaurant with the butterfly garden to have lunch and from there on we have our rental car and we'll be saying goodbye to the tour group (including a Dutch couple) and our (excellent) tourguide Mario to continue our own way. That tomorrow, first still a night to sleep (even if it's only 21:00 PM).

Day 2

Travel overview

Day 4