Look at this sea turtle that had the nerve to ruin my sand shot. We had just walked onto the beach and chatted with a French couple (the French are like the potholes here. they're everywhere... jk) who had been scouring the sands in search of the elusive little turtles when this little guy showed up. As he 'clawed/finned/flippered' his way out of the nest and the race to the sea began !
Chelonia mydas aka Chelonia mach-5
Salty
Saltier
NaCl-iest !
Here's a video of the race
well, that's almost how it went down.
The pics are from a recent trip to Tortuguero "Land of the turtles", which is a long stretch of beach and jungle along the carribean side of Costa Rica (Provincia de Limón). Tortuguero is a ridiculously humid area which receives 250 inches of rain a year and due to it's combination of marine, wetland, and lowland tropical rainforest habitats.. it has a crazy amount of biodiversity. The fact that it's an important nesting site for 5 species of sea turtle (Hawksbill, Loggerhead, Green, Leatherback, & Teenage Mutant Ninja), has a nice chilled carribean culture replete with dirt roads, and is only accessible by boat/airplane means that it is exponentially cooler than chepé (San Jose) and one of the greatest places in Costa Rica to visit. Sorry the rules of sigmoidal growth don't apply here cuz there is no carrying capacity for the coolness of spotting green macaws, baby sea turtles, eyelash pitvipers and enjoying an imperial on the carribean.
When we asked a couple of cops about the crime they said the only real problems they have is some drug issues (it's the carribean, so of course ganja is everywhere), the occasional altercation, and poachers. It requires mentioning that the cops were strolling down the beach taking photos of turtle nests with their cell phones.
We dropped our stuff off in our $8 a night cabina (with rugrat pillow). Meandered through the dirt roads and alleys in search of a cheap supper. Leftover delicious burger patties on stale bread and some 10cent bananas. Not quite a breakfast of champions, moreso a supper for the stingy! Following the 5-star cuisine we headed out to the beach to infiltrate the national park and do some night hiking. With my trusty headlamp leading the way we were off!
Night hikes are on par with spelunking or underwater basket weaving. It's as if you're able to see everything in a different light (ha.) or in 3D. But it's moreso like watching paranormal activity in an Imax theater... with giant wolf spiders everywhere... and bats that fly inches in front of your face.
Night hikes are on par with spelunking or underwater basket weaving. It's as if you're able to see everything in a different light (ha.) or in 3D. But it's moreso like watching paranormal activity in an Imax theater... with giant wolf spiders everywhere... and bats that fly inches in front of your face.
Exploring Costa Rica through all the senses, especially taste.
- Disclaimer -
Snakes below (don't worry there are no planes/Samuel L. Jackson)
We weren't sure if it was a non-venomous Milk Snake (Scolecophis atrocinctus)
or deadly venomous Coral Snake (Micrurus mipartitus).
So we picked it up!!!
Haha, just kidding. It was dead when we encountered it (the good ol' poke it with a stick test proved it).
This lil guy however, was alive and venomous... and remarkably beautiful!
Bothriechis schlegelii
We may or may not have spent 30 minutes taking pictures of this sucker.
What's crazy is that it's a fairly small snake (this one may have been 11 inches max) and typically is in vegetation at shin/knee height... just at the protective boot line...
but no worries! It's a high bite/survival rate
The next morning we were off at 5am to find some more baby sea turtles and then take a rented canoe out into the canals. We yet again attempted to infiltrate the national park (this time through the canals) and were nearly in when a couple of rangers told us we were despicable, horrible people.
(they politely informed us about the entry fee)
so we said...nah, lets explore elsewhere (and por dicha we did)
After nearly being dumped on by a male crane we stopped for breakfast, or as we considered it a 9am lunch.
Chef Oli whippin up some of his signature Avocado/Tomato sandwíches.
- They're a ridiculously delicious staple of our hikes
Then we made our way into this tiny canal
Which elevated the trip to a whole nother level.
We saw Green winged macaws, poison dart frogs, an otter, spiders, and a caiman.
caiman !!! like 3.5 feet long
After exploring the canal and getting thoroughly rocked we headed back to the mainland to buy some bananas, japanese peanuts, and super cheap lemon cookies, - all part of a delicious and nutritious breakfast !
While we enjoyed our $2 meal we sat and watched a little guy catch a fish with his handy dandy wal-mart fishing rod, then picked up our stuff and headed to the docks. We arrived bought our tickets and sat back to watch the festivities (Nov. 4-7 is 'Turtle Fest'). Reggaeton blasted in the background, a creepy clown dazzled the crowd, and some guy sawed away at a log with reckless abandonment in an attempt to carve a... turtle/hand/head ?¿
- Interpretive art... gotta love it.
Here's a lil bit of the action
However, the injustices known as our 'spanish projects' had yet to be done and required a early departure... in other words, we experienced Tortuguero in a half shell.
Tortuguero couldn't have come at a better time, as the day before my friend Oli got mugged in suburbia while (the only comical part about the story) walking two poodles. Him and the dogs are ok though !
In all seriousness, it's a problem which seems to be increasing at an incredibly rapid rate. Especially in San Jose, which although it has some good aspects... the bus terminal, El Steinvorth, & graffiti . . . the majority of the city is a congested foul smelling mess. It may seem like a biased gringo point of view, but it's a perspective which ticos of the surrounding central valley recognize. Tortuguero was so drastically different (admittedly due to the lower population of people) from San José that it seemed like an entirely different country. It was truly a breath of fresh air (literally and metaphorically) which demonstrated a side of Costa Rica which at times, can be tough to find.
Hasta Luego !
