One challenge at a time

... Must come to an end... but only so I have time to plan the next adventure. 😜 Day 21... Today was my last full day in Tortuguero.. and it was hot! Even at 0700 when I woke up, it was already boiling.  And so I wasn't sure how to fill my last day. I had seen and done pretty much everything there was to do.... except....  just sit on the beach. I went for breakfast first... back to a nice soda which served a particularly good pancake and fruit platter. Whilst there, I had the dubious pleasure of being forced to listen to two english speaking girls. Why is it that those speaking English seem to be louder than people speaking any other language? In fact it was really only one of them talking. I couldn't help but overhear that she was Canadian, she needed a CPAP machine overnight because she stops breathing over 60 times in an hour... this is one of her many health problems... gut problems, and self - diagnosed autistic spectrum being a couple of the others.  Anyway, by the time

 I'm nearing the end of my time here in Tortuguero and costa rica. To be honest I think I have seen most of what Tortuguero has to offee and these last days are about taking a breath and some time to soak up the fresh air and freedom and space to fortify me for the months ahead. It's going to be a adjustment getting back  into the swing of things, being surrounded by people on a daily basis, being inside for long hours. But as I have discovered... although I love travelling... I also love going. home. I miss friends and family and my pets (who have been very well looked after by Christine, aided possibly by my brother in helping to keep the temps down during the recent heat wave in the uk.) So today, I went for a walk down the trail leading to the airport I wasn't expecting to see lots out as it was warm and animals tend to have more sense than humans and hide away at the hottest point of the day. My walk took me past the sea turtle conservancy place and I darted in there t

 It hadn't rained... at all... overnight. I was greeted in the morning with dry streets.. and I mean completely dry. So what I had decided to do.. was go get wet.! Well kinda. I was gonna go kayakking again. It's a great way to escape the throngs of tourists here, although I seem pretty good at doing that anyway... but the kayak enables me to go and find total peace. Even if I see no animals on my little journey  around the canals here, it is still a good thing. Peace, fresh air, the possibility of seeing cool stuff and some form of exercise, which in this climate is like exercising in a sauna! On my way into town, I kept an eye out for the guy who was going to carve me a snake from a palm tree nut. I couldn't see him but I still had a couple days. Breakfast was gallo pinto with a twist... my spanish is not the greatest, though it gets better with practice, and I found my eggs covered with a kind of salsa. It was by no means unpleasant but it was a little spicy. (and if you

 I came here with a list in my head.. of stuff I wanted to see. In fact 2 lists, the reasonable and the absolutely fanciful one, because after many hours searching for wildlife around the world, I know it doesn't come out on order... for that you go to a zoo... or my house! 😜 So my fanciful list... which included a jaguar, an ocelot, a puma and several snakes, including the Fer de lance, was indeed just that. although I was incredibly lucky enough to see the Fer De Lance, twice if you count the baby one at La Tarde.  My less fanciful one included sloths, tapirs, turtles and the apparently ubiquitous Eyelash Viper, which has so far eluded me. I am trying to book another night walk for one more opportunity to see snakes and frogs not out in the day but until I sort that I have been searching everywhere. Today I took a boat over to Cerro Tortuguero, the 'mountain' which you need to pay $2 to climb the steps. Tours cost $25 but through a bit of research yesterday, I knew when