This was a fun day. We started early to back track from Tortuguerro back down the river, getting briefly stuck on the sand bar and then getting back on the bus. We stopped at the Dole banana plantation to see the process which I will describe when I have more time.
We ran across a suspension bridge at another bathroom stop, something definitely to miss. We arrived at Magic Mountain Hotel in La Fortuna. This is a new hotel of 1 year of age and is quite beautiful although their architect definitely did not have much experience. We got soaked in a downpour and after dinner, just rested for anothe river cruise scheduled for the morning.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Day 4 Tortuguerro
Today we got up a 6:30 am, signed up for the turtle watching tour which takes place in the evening at about 10 pm ($30 US per person) and after breakfast, we went on boat rides to explore the local wildlife and vegetation. We saw monkies, many birds, river turtles and stopped in the small town of Tortuguerro to check it out. The town is one street wide and has a few basic shops. It certainly floods when the river gets high.
After lunch, we rested until and afternoon boat tour started at 3 PM to see a different area. We saw 2 and 3 toed sloths, more monkey troops, birds and turtles.
After dinner, we waited until 9:45 pm to go turtle watching. You take a boat to a point designated by turtle watching rangers. You jump to shore, run through the jungle with your flashlight off, avoid snakes (you hope) and then wait until you can go see a 200 pound turtle digging a nesting hole, laying eggs, covering the hole and lumbering back to the ocean. This is a rather long process but worth seeing.
This is the first batch of turtles which have been protyected over 30 years ago which are now laying their eggs. The female lays about 80 to 100 eggs which look like ping pong balls and she does this about 8 times a year for one yeart before hibernating for several years.
Earline was really freaked out during the jungle walk because of her fear for snakes. The guide and others kept telling he to be tranquillo. :)
Sleep at 12:30 am
After lunch, we rested until and afternoon boat tour started at 3 PM to see a different area. We saw 2 and 3 toed sloths, more monkey troops, birds and turtles.
After dinner, we waited until 9:45 pm to go turtle watching. You take a boat to a point designated by turtle watching rangers. You jump to shore, run through the jungle with your flashlight off, avoid snakes (you hope) and then wait until you can go see a 200 pound turtle digging a nesting hole, laying eggs, covering the hole and lumbering back to the ocean. This is a rather long process but worth seeing.
This is the first batch of turtles which have been protyected over 30 years ago which are now laying their eggs. The female lays about 80 to 100 eggs which look like ping pong balls and she does this about 8 times a year for one yeart before hibernating for several years.
Earline was really freaked out during the jungle walk because of her fear for snakes. The guide and others kept telling he to be tranquillo. :)
Sleep at 12:30 am
Day 3 Tortuguerro National Park
We leave for this great preserve for the Green and other sea turtles. It was a long day of travel to get to Puerta Cana where we were to get a boat to take us to the Laguna Lodge in Tortuguerro. There are no roads, only boats to get in and out of the area. The road for the bus was flodded and looked like we were driving through a river. Fortunately there was a road base. The boat launch had a shallow area to cross with some difficulty and once across, we motored for about an hour and a half to get to the hotel. We arrived at about 4 PM to a NON-ALCOHOLIC welcome drink! We then went to our rather rustic cabins with no top sheet and only a ceiling fan. Aircondition was au naturale via the screened windows. The humitity was about 90 percent and this was winter. The temperature however, was a pleasant 80 to 84 degrees.
You have to be off the beach by 5 pm to avoid disturbing any turtles that might wish to arrive to lay eggs. Basically, after dinner and a beer, we went to bed.
You have to be off the beach by 5 pm to avoid disturbing any turtles that might wish to arrive to lay eggs. Basically, after dinner and a beer, we went to bed.
Day 2 The Poas Volcano
After a nice breakfast at the hotel, we boarded a beautiful tour bus for the Poas Volcano. Earline got motion sick and did not enjoy the trip through the beautuiful farm lands and coffee plantations. They also grow a large number of ferns under shaded cover for export to the USA. Stephen slept the entire way. He didn´t sleep at all last night, like the lyrics to Bobby Darin´s song...Tossin´and Turnin´ probably because he drank some of the rich coffee with high caffeine content.
Arrival at the volcano with an altitude of 8000 feet above sea level, we traverse a cloud forest with orchids and bromeliads and unique trees. Of course, without sun, the prospects for volvano viewing were not great. We walked half mile to the crater rim and saw nothing but white. It was like trying to spot a polar bear on an iceberg during a blizzard. We then walked another 30 minutes to a volcanic lake but still saw nothing but white. This was prooving to be a bad first day.
Back to the bus for lunch at La Mirador resturant in a town I could not remember. Ut had a great view but unfortunitely the food was not great. Earline gave it a 3 out of ten. The served strawberry juice, rice, beans, meat or fish, a squash and a diced salad which I elected to avoid so that the ¨touritsa¨would not visit me. Desert was rice pudding and great coffee. We bought an optional dark beer as we now liked the Bavarian brand.
We had time for a brief look at a coffee plant and a banana tree before boarding the bus for downtown San JOse and a visit to the Natural History museum. The museum was interesting in that it showed some artifacts of the early hispanic cultures and the guide described the mysterious spheres found in the area. They still don´t know the use of the spheres which are 99 percent perfect. Burial practices were described and shown. They let the flesh fall from the bones before piling them in a neal little square before burying them. If the male dies before the female, she is killed and burried with him for companionship. If she dies first, only she is burried. Apparently, she doesn´t need company.
It really poured at the end of the tour necessitating our rain gear to get to the bus. Stephen bought two clay flutes in the form of animals for $5 US.
Back at the hotel, we packed our bags for our TORTUGUERRO TRIP TOMORROW.
Arrival at the volcano with an altitude of 8000 feet above sea level, we traverse a cloud forest with orchids and bromeliads and unique trees. Of course, without sun, the prospects for volvano viewing were not great. We walked half mile to the crater rim and saw nothing but white. It was like trying to spot a polar bear on an iceberg during a blizzard. We then walked another 30 minutes to a volcanic lake but still saw nothing but white. This was prooving to be a bad first day.
Back to the bus for lunch at La Mirador resturant in a town I could not remember. Ut had a great view but unfortunitely the food was not great. Earline gave it a 3 out of ten. The served strawberry juice, rice, beans, meat or fish, a squash and a diced salad which I elected to avoid so that the ¨touritsa¨would not visit me. Desert was rice pudding and great coffee. We bought an optional dark beer as we now liked the Bavarian brand.
We had time for a brief look at a coffee plant and a banana tree before boarding the bus for downtown San JOse and a visit to the Natural History museum. The museum was interesting in that it showed some artifacts of the early hispanic cultures and the guide described the mysterious spheres found in the area. They still don´t know the use of the spheres which are 99 percent perfect. Burial practices were described and shown. They let the flesh fall from the bones before piling them in a neal little square before burying them. If the male dies before the female, she is killed and burried with him for companionship. If she dies first, only she is burried. Apparently, she doesn´t need company.
It really poured at the end of the tour necessitating our rain gear to get to the bus. Stephen bought two clay flutes in the form of animals for $5 US.
Back at the hotel, we packed our bags for our TORTUGUERRO TRIP TOMORROW.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Day 1
We left SFO airport at about 9 pm in the evening on a totally full flight bound for Miami where we had a 5 hr. layover. The only adverse problem was in not having a credit card for use in getting gasoline at Costco. I only packed one credit card for security reasons, in case of pick pockets.
After boarding in Miami, at about 10:30 am, the flight to Costa >Rica was about 2.5 hours. The time zone is equivalent to Central time in the USA. I had difficulty telling what time it is in relation to California since I changed my watch too many times. We were off by an hour when we walked around San Jose.
We walked around the town for a period of time but there was really little of interest. We saw a display of cow sculpture art but otherwise, stores sold imported goods at prices higher than we can obtain them in the USA. We have not seen any real Costa Rican goods yet.
Back to the hotel for rest before dinner and the pretour meeting at 8 pm. Our guide, Tatiana and there are 41 people on the tour.
Earline and I went to hear a 7 piece salsa band for about a half hour but they sound mix was terrible. We drank a brand of dark beer called Bavaria that was quite good at $3.00 US per bottle.
It is funny paying thousands of colones for things. The exchange rate is about 540 colones per dollar. The taxi back from town to the hotel Palacio San JOse was about $6 US.
After boarding in Miami, at about 10:30 am, the flight to Costa >Rica was about 2.5 hours. The time zone is equivalent to Central time in the USA. I had difficulty telling what time it is in relation to California since I changed my watch too many times. We were off by an hour when we walked around San Jose.
We walked around the town for a period of time but there was really little of interest. We saw a display of cow sculpture art but otherwise, stores sold imported goods at prices higher than we can obtain them in the USA. We have not seen any real Costa Rican goods yet.
Back to the hotel for rest before dinner and the pretour meeting at 8 pm. Our guide, Tatiana and there are 41 people on the tour.
Earline and I went to hear a 7 piece salsa band for about a half hour but they sound mix was terrible. We drank a brand of dark beer called Bavaria that was quite good at $3.00 US per bottle.
It is funny paying thousands of colones for things. The exchange rate is about 540 colones per dollar. The taxi back from town to the hotel Palacio San JOse was about $6 US.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Departure Day
Well today is the beginning of the adventure to Costa Rica. We leave from San Francisco on American Airlines at 8:50 p.m. and fly to Miami where we have a 5 hour lay over before boarding a 2.5 hour flight to San Jose, CR. The time zone is equivalent to Pacific Central time, just one hour earlier than California time. I checked the weather and it is indeed the "Green Season" with rain or thunderstorms planned for the next week. The temperatures seem to range from a low of 60-62 degrees F to about 82 degrees F, at least in San Jose. It is winter in the southern hemisphere so this may make it more tolerable than sweltering in the tropics with 100% humidity.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Departure Day Minus 1
Well I made it to Sacramento this morning to link up with Earline and Stephen and to drop off off Spencer, our resident Santa Cruz dog. In addition, Stephen and I are starting off the trip with clean teeth, courtesy of our dentist in Sacramento. We are now prepared to eat a poor diet and lots of mojitos. With a little luck, none of that "tourista" (traveler's diarrhea) will strike us. Poor Stephen went to the Dominican Republic a few years ago to a Club Med and spent the entire week being ill. Of course, the worst illness might be Dengue Fever, carried by mosquitos but we are armed with lots of bug spray. I am hoping that mojitos will repel the little bastards.
Yesterday, Earline tweaked her back while walking our three dogs and I had to put her on high-dose Motrin and Robaxin to fix her up. I feel like one of those sports docs that just gets the athlete through the game. She is working today so I must have done some good. Tonight we are going to see the new movie, "Pineapple Express" which I have no clue as to what it is. We leave for the airport in San Francisco by about 3 p.m. tomorrow for an 8:50 p.m. flight out.
The excitement is building!
-Lee
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Departure Day Minus 2
Tuesday, August 5, 2008.
The time is nearing for our Costa Rica adventure with the Caravan Tour Group. We chose this tour group based on evaluations from some of our friends who have already gone on this adventure tour. Of course we chose to go in the "Green Season" which is when you read between the lines is the "rainy season." This could make it more fun or a total "wash", pardon the pun. We are obligated to travel during this time because Stephen, our 16 y/o son, is off school during the summer and this makes the travel period fixed.
Earline (tangodiva), Lee (tangodoc), and Stephen (no baila tango) leave from San Francisco at 8 p.m. on the evening of August 7, 2008 and arrive in San Jose, Costa Rica at about 10 a.m. the following morning. We then check into our hotel (or at least check bags until we can get into a room) and then explore the city. We have a tour meeting at 8 p.m. on that evening in preparation for an early morning departure for our first tour stop.
The exchange rate is about 500 colones to the U.S. dollar making $20 US give you 10,000 colones. It will be interesting to see how Stephen adapts to the new exchange rate.
We are limited to one piece of baggage and a carry-on for the tour even though American Airlines lets you have two pieces of luggage 50 pounds or less plus a carry-on without extra charge. I packed a small leather carry bag inside my suitcase because we are limited to 25# of luggage on the boats to Tortuguero National Park. Hopefully, the turtles will be nesting on the beach making the extra $20/person charge to see them at night worthwhile.
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