This morning I got up at 5AM to catch by bus at 6:30. I called a cab to pick me up from the hotel – I think I got ripped off. It wasn’t a big deal. I paid $2 instead of $1, but it’s the principle of the matter. I even asked the driver why the meter was reading such a high price already and he told me it “was a little bad.” When I got to the bus stop, he charged me what the meter read in dollars instead of colones, which was strange, too. I paid it because I didn’t do the math fast enough. Oh well. Anyway, I boarded the bus and had a window seat for the 2½ hour ride to Puerto Limón on the Atlantic Coast. It rained part of the way and the windows fogged up so I couldn’t see much. When I could see through the window I just saw mostly green trees alongside the road. Every now and then I saw some countryside or a ravine. This country is GREEN! Wholly moly!

I arrived in Puerto Limón on schedule and grabbed a cab to Moín where the boats leave for Tortuguero. Mine was to leave at 10AM and I got to the dock shortly after 9AM. I believe there were 11 of us plus the captain of the boat. The boat was probably 30 feet long and had a single outboard motor off the back. It had three rows of seats which sat 3-4 people each. Most people had large backpacks with them. At this point I was glad I left my big bag back in San José. People wrapped their bags in plastic garbage bags. The boat’s only protection from the elements was a canvas biminy top which draped across the top and was starting to come apart at the seams. There was no protection on the front or sides of the boat. This was going to be a wet ride. This area of the country receives a ton of rain and at this time, I was later told, the weather was worse than usual. I had my own rain jacket, long pants and boots, and fortunately the captain gave us large ponchos to borrow. I made the mistake of sitting in the front row and instead of wearing my poncho over my head I draped it across my body and legs. I also made the mistake of having a small nylon tote bag in addition to my daypack. I kept my daypack on my lap, concerned very much for my computer. My tote bag contained my Lonely Planet book, my notebook and some things I’d want easy access to. Well, it was rather difficult to manage holding everything while trying to keep everything dry under the poncho, especially that stupid tote bag. At times we went pretty fast through the canals and when the rain started, we got VERY wet. There were times the rain would hit us so hard, I’d have to almost curl into a ball protecting my face and just wait out the downpour. These were moments of misery for me at the time. The rain would stop and start. We would slow down the boat from time to time and the captain would point out wildlife to us as we tried to get closer to it. We saw lots of birds (hurons, egrets), howler monkeys, spider monkeys, sloth and a crocodile or two. About midpoint in the trip, we stopped at a canal rest stop which was a little covered area where a family sold food and drinks. Their house was connected to the hut. Not many people lived along the canals, from what I could see. We passed about 6 homes. The houses were small shacks on stilts. Some had chickens in the yard. Others had a few oxen. The canals were very peaceful and beautiful – there was no one else on the canal but us. The break at the rest stop was good – it was good to get out of the rain for a bit and to finally have my morning cup of coffee. When I got back to the boat, I was able to better arrange my things and put the contents of my stupid tote bag into my daypack which was much easier to manage on the boat.

We got to Tortuguero Village at 2PM. The village was like nothing I’ve seen before – people live VERY simple lives here. The whole area was wet – most locals don’t bother wearing shoes at all. It’s always wet. There are no roads are sidewalks. There are just trees and shack-like houses and a few other small buildings. When I got off the boat there were several people waiting for us. Many were local guides hoping to provide a service for us. I was a little apprehensive at first. I was tired, wet and a little shell-shocked. I didn’t want to be taken advantage of which could have been easily done in my current state of mind. One guide named Castor, who was fluent in English, kind of latched on to me. He walked me around town to help me find a room. The first place we checked cost $6 a night but was full. We walked across a soccer field where some kids were playing for the few moments it stopped raining. Castor brought me to a guest house called Miss Miriams. The rooms there were $10 a night, each with a private bathroom. I took it. Castor suggested I go on a tour with him to the beach. He’d let me rest a while and would meet me in an hour or so.

I sat in the room for a while which was on the second floor with an outside covered walkway. The room had two beds, a fan and a small table. The bathroom had a cold water shower, a toilet and sink, all of which functioned fine. There were two windows with curtains and screens but no glass. This is a humid and generally warm spot. I suppose there’s no point in having glass windows. I plopped my stuff down and walked around the village for a while. I found the tourist office which served as a restaurant and someone’s home as well. I sat down and had a sandwich and checked out what little information they had about the town. I saw what tours were available and what they cost so I could use that to gauge what Castor would charge me.

When I went back to the room, Castor was waiting for me and three other people had checked into the rooms on either side of me. They were also negotiating with Castor about touring the area. They were all German – Martin was traveling on his own and Hagen and Antje were traveling as a couple. The three met at Poás Volcano the day before and decided to visit Tortuguero together. All were staying 2 nights in the village. We started chatting. I told them I was going to go on a walk on the beach with Castor who was going to look for turtle nests where eggs were laid and where hopefully, baby turtles still lay. It was late in the turtle season. Turtles lay eggs in nests buried in the sand in September. The eggs hatch in October – November when the babies leave the nest and head for the ocean to start their lives. No turtles were laying eggs at this time and almost all babies had gone to sea, so there was no guarantee of seeing anything. But, what the heck? So, the Germans and Castor and I headed for the ocean in search of turtles.

We walked for a few minutes. Castor would see a hole in the sand and dig with his hands to look for baby turtles. We went to several nests but all were empty. After about 15-20 minutes of walking, Castor reached into a hole and found babies still in their nest. He pulled out about 15 baby turtles! It was incredible. At first they just sat on the sand as if they were dazed. We were able to pick them up. They were about the size of the palm of my hand. Eventually one turtle started its walk to the ocean. A couple of others followed. They just sort of waddled toward the ocean, taking baby turtle steps. It was the most amazing site to see these little sea turtles touch water for the first time of what could be a VERY long life at sea and we were there to witness it. We were lucky it wasn’t raining at the time. It was a wonderful setting. Eventually all the turtles made it to the sea except for one which had apparently died in the nest. At first we could see their little heads bobbing in the ocean after the surf swept them away and then they went underneath the water. It was a great site – worth the $6 in my opinion.

At this point it was about 5PM. We said good-bye to Castor for the day. We had arranged with him to go on a canal ride through the Tortuguero National Park the following morning at 6AM. The rest of us went for a walk along the beach for a while before going back to the local supermarket to get some bottled water and then to the rooms to freshen up for dinner. We had dinner at the restaurant associated with the cabinas we were staying at. I had looked around at the few restaurants around town – all served roughly the same meals: chicken, fish, steak, pork chops all with rice, vegetables, salad and French fries. We ordered some Costa Rican beer (called Imperialist) which was very good. I ordered shrimp and the others ordered fish. Our meals were served family-style and the food was really tasty! The restaurant and guest rooms were serviced by a mother and her daughter who were very sweet, spoke English and always smiled and giggled. Shortly after we ordered our meals, the electricity went dead. We ate by candlelight and fortunately the kitchen had a gas stove so we were able to eat. We just hung out in the restaurant for a few hours, drinking beer and chatting.

The Germans were all really nice. I quickly learned that Hagen was the comedian of the group. He was constantly on – always joking around. I couldn’t believe anything he said because he was always acting goofy. In fact, I gave him the name Goofy – it stuck. Antje was very sweet and had such a lovely smile. I believe she must be a saint to put up with Hagen’s constant joking around. She said that after their 3+ week holiday in Costa Rica, she will be as crazy as he is. They come from Saxonia in the eastern part of Germany. Martin has been traveling since this summer and doesn’t plan on returning home until next August. He’s from the Black Forest in southern Germany. He was very interesting and was a great source of information about Costa Rica since he has been here for almost a month. I may see him again next week at his friend’s hotel in Carillo which is next to Playa Sámara on the Pacific Coast. Sámara was on my list of places to go and I might as well stay at a place recommended to me by a trustworthy soul. Martin reminded me of me except that he actually appears to have his act together, unlike me. He has definitely inspired me to travel the world. He’s a really good guy.

Anyway, after several hours at the restaurant and finishing a great meal and plenty of beer, we each paid our 2500 colones – about $7.50 – and returned to the rooms. The town still had no electricity – thank goodness for flashlights. (Note to self: GET A BETTER FLASHLIGHT.) We said our goodnights and retired for the evening. I started getting ready for bed and to my surprise I saw that someone had decided to bunk with me. On the wall next to my bed was the largest spider I’d ever seen. With his legs, he, too, was about the size of the palm of my hand. I doubted if was dangerous, but I knew I wasn’t going to sleep well with it in there. I was quite impressed with myself. I was completely calm and just shooed him across two walls and out the door with a towel and a flashlight. Not bad for a city girl. Maybe my experiences with NYC cockroaches and water bugs has toughened me up a bit. Anyway, even though the spider was gone, I still didn’t sleep very well. I was glad I brought my sheet sack – it was like my own cocoon and made me feel a little protected in case something else felt like crawling in my room and perhaps into my bed. I woke up several times mainly because of the pounding rain which would start and stop time and again. Then my alarm clock went off at 11PM because it was acting wacky. (Note to self: GET A BETTER ALARM CLOCK.) Then I was so hot from the humidity but I didn’t want to take my arms outside of my protective cocoon. Then at probably 4AM the rooster outside my window started his day loudly, so that was pretty much the end of my night of “sleep.”