Day 21 and day 22... All good things...

... 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 had finished my breakfast, I was ready to run far away from other people!!

Did I mention it was hot!! Boiling in fact, with the bluest sky I had yet seen. 

I walked to the beach and along for a short while, looking for a shady place to sit. On the way, I noted the fresh turtle tracks from last night, looking like tank tracks in the sand. 

I found my spot, plonked myself down, and read my book.... for a few hours! In fact between that and looking at the waves, I was in a bubble of contentment... I barely noticed when a large heron (I'm sure Trevor or my mum will supply the name) flew down pretty much next to me and stalked along the dunes... no doubt looking for crabs to eat. 

The day passed by in a general laziness, not yet tried by me in the last 3 weeks. I wandered down the beach, keeping an eye out for lizards and the like, but I think it was just too hot for everything! 

That evening, I grabbed my torch and headed back. to the beach side trail, hunting in the bushes for any sign of life. It was probably a bit early, but I had an early start in the morning so didn't want to be up too late. 

I found a couple of cloudy snail eating snakes, the same ones I had seen before, and a few interesting insects but on the whole it was a quiet night for stuff being out. 

I headed back and packed my stuff! 

Day 22....

Today was spent travelling back to San José. I got woken up at 0130 by a very loud group of people with no respect for other people and then struggled to get back to sleep so when my alarm went off at 0630... I was already wide awake. I got up and finished packing before shoving my bags over my shoulder and leaving my hotel. It had been a good base and if anyone wants a recommendation, Los Amigos is a nice place to stay. 

I walked down the now familiar alleyways, looking up at the oropendula tree, past the mercado, past the new building site and past the poorer house row... onto the main drag and down to the docks. There I bumped into Alexander, who had made me the carving of a snake from a palm nut. He had finished off a scorpion for me and then threw in a jaguar for free. He is extremely talented and the carvings are a work of art. 

I chatted to him for a bit whilst I waited to board the boat, which would carry me away from this wierd little paradise. The boat when it came was stuffed full of people returning to Pavona and our luggage so that I did wonder whether we would sink the moment we got out of the dock! 

She stood steady however and the hour long journey through the jungle waterways was a delight. 

Back in Pavona, the bus wasn't going to leave for 2 hours, so I grabbed 3 others who wanted to go to Cariari too and we went to find a taxi... as luck would have it, a nearly full minibus came up and had space for 4 more people, perfecto! 

The ride to Cariari was short but bumpy and I was glad my neck was nearly better as it could have hurt a lot more.! We arrived at Cariari with only an hour to wait for the bus to San José. 

That arrived, we boarded and I settled in for 1.5 hours over the hills to San José. The bus was hot and airless and sticky and made me feel a bit funny if I read my book, so I stared out of the window, trying not to look at the big drop down the hillsides and how close the wheels were to the edge. 

San José! Made it! 

I treated myself to a taxi ride to my hotel and then procured his services for the journey to the airport in the early hours of the morning tomorrow. 

All that's left is to fly out of here tomorrow... homebound! 

I have loved my time here... it did not disappoint at all. I have found many animals and pretty much covered my realistic bucket list (the jaguar was on my unrealistic list!) 

It is an extremely friendly country and I have felt extremely safe here at all times. Not as cheap as some places I have been but the experiences have made up for the slight extra cost.  (not including the flight booking error!) 

Below I have put a list of most of the animals I have seen. I may have missed a couple off due to memory or because I don't know the specific name. The long list should give you. a reason to visit here of nothing else.! 

I have spent, by my calculations over 60 hours searching, whether by foot or by kayak so there was some work put in to find them! 

It's more fun that way!

List of animals in no particular order

kincaju (martilla) nocturnal mammal

Spider monkeys

Howler monkeys

Cappucin monkeys 

Squirrel monkeys

red eyed tree frog

american bullfrog

tarantula

wolf spider

aquatic anole

large green anole (? name) largest in costa rica

night gecko

black squirrel

oophaga dart frog x2 These ones did not have the blue legs though they are the same type

golfito dart frog

1 ringnecked snake

4 x snail eating snake

basilisk lizard green and brown varieties

crocodile 

caimen

fire ants

leaf cutter ants

mcaw - green and red versions 

green parrot

toucan - at least 2 types

oropendula birds

possum x2

frog eating snake

common frog

rain frog

crocs with adonis 

3 x red bellied racer snakes

1 other racer snake

footprints of an ocelot and tapir

crested owl

tapier x4

coati mundi lots of

sloth x3

great curacel

central american skink

roadside hawk

red bellied racer snake x2 mating

leaping anole

blunt nose anole

tent making bat

Fer de lance

iguana

false eyelash viper

helmeted basilisk

red webbed frog

dendrobates auratus- green and black dart frogs

oophaga pumillo - blue jeans dart frogs lots of

banana spider

eyelash viper yellow

pit viper green

central american whiptail lizard

strawberry dart frog

2 kingfishers no photo

woodpecker

arctic terns

pelicans (Costa Rica's Air Force) 

and.... 

numerous bloody herons!