Tortuguero
We traveled to a remote location by boat to a section of the rain forest near the town of Tortuguero. The traveling took most of the day, but we did end up going into the village soon after arriving. The section of the beach that connects Atlantic Ocean was mostly Turtle Refuge, which meant that individuals were not allowed to hunt the turtles and their eggs. As far as I could tell, individuals weren't even allowed to swim there! The town was small, and 80% of it's shops along the main avenue seemed to be tourist oriented. After some time there, we returned to our hotel, which was a sprawling area of interconnected cottages. One walked along a path through the rain forest to get to the hotel. This was absolutely amazing and while I have a few pictures of the hotel, none of them do it justice.
Rain Forest
Today we stayed in the rain forest area and traveled around looking at the wildlife and plants. Early in the morning we took a boat into the canals and skimmed along the edge looking through the dense green foliage for wildlife. There were 2 different types of monkeys, Howlers and Spider monkeys, various types of lizards, an Iguana, Caiman, Crocodile, and various forms of birds. We returned to the hotel for a quick reprieve and then once hunted for various forms of life. This time however, we had the opportunity to trudge the the forest itself, and quite honestly I would have been happy to have done that all day. It was an amazing experience being among the vegetation and animals. We had to wear rubber boots that came up to mid-calf because of the amount of mud on the forest floor, but getting slightly dirty was so very much worth it. We made a circuit around the hotel, coming out on the complete opposite side of the compound from whence we started. we once again had some brief leisure time, but then late afternoon we were out on the boat hunting for more images of various forms of life. I can't even begin to explain the beauty that is the rain forest, and so I hope the photos that I am attaching impart some sense of what it was like. again set out in search of wildlife to shoot (with our cameras of course).
Arenal
We left Tortuguero today and spent most of it traveling. along the way we stopped in some town were the Iguanas gather in mobs! We arrived at the town of La Fortuna and are staying at a hotel nearby. Arenal is the name of the province in which we will spend the rest of our time in Costa Rica. This evening we traveled to some natural hot springs and lounged around in pools of water ranging from warm to near scalding. Some were nearly still with little current and others were at the base of a miniature waterfall. If waterfalls had any use for money, he would have gotten a tip from me for the best massage I have ever had.
The hotel is amazing, but unfortunately I have no pictures as of yet because my camera died shortly before arrival, I will try to include some in the next posting, which should be back to daily schedule as long as I can remain connected to the internet. Because of the limited amount of pictures I am allowed to post on this blog, please click the link below to see the rest of the pictures :) http://www.facebook.com/media/set/set=a.10150499136747550.386664.584287549&type=1&l=9169d04fe8
Pura Vida! ( this phrase is used throughout Costa Rica to mean everything from Hello to good health to thank you to goodbye).
No comments:
Post a Comment