Day 19 - A river runs through it...

 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 know me, you know korma is pretty much my limit... ahhh dammit, that has made me miss a good curry!)

Gallow Pinto Ranchera not to be repeated! 

Then off I went to find my Kayak. Most of my dealings here have been with Tortuguero Adventures... both the kayak hire and the turtle tour have been with them. I'm now in first name terms! And so I have managed to negotiate another night walk, with a small group this time.... not only that but they offered me the turtle tour again.. but at cost price this time... who am I to say no. So night walk tonight and another chance to see turtle eggs tomorrow! Not too shabby!

(I am going to have to stop spending money and start saving again when I get back!)

I got in the kayak and launched... this time heading for the other water trail. It was a bit choppy today and the sun wasn't fully out... but it was warm as usual and there was no rain.!

I slowly kayak as close to the edge of the jungle as possible, listening for crashes through the undergrowth  that indicated I had disturned something, or a flash of yellow that could be an eyelash viper... or the crashing in the canopy that's usually monkeys.

It seemed pretty quiet out there today... the usual heron or 2 and some of the squarky pond weed wader bird things that took fright when I got close and made a noise like I was throttling them (I wasn't but thats what they sound like).

And then the crashing above... gotta be monkeys.. and sure enough leaping from branch to branch were a few cappuchin monkeys. I love watching them leap... with wild abandon and with the ease and carelessness of those who know they aren't going to fall. Impressive to watch... every time... it doesn't get old at all!

Then I headed up the smaller canal and this time turned left instead of right, heading upstream against quite a powerful current. 

If I stopped paddling I was swept backwards and it proved to take quite a bit of effort today to keep momentum going forward. 

It was however extremely peaceful here. There were no other boats out this far and I wedged my kayak by a log and just sat there, enjoying the chirruping of the crickets and cicadas and the fresh damp smell of the jungle, the colours of the leaves and the sound of the water. It all combined to make an oasis of calm and peace. 

I paddled a little further but the current was proving to be pretty strong and I wasn't going anywhere fast so I pulled the kayak round with a few swift strokes of the paddle and then just floated downstream, only having to make the odd course correction by dipping the paddle in the water. 

A kingfisher sat on a branch but I drifted by too quickly and scared him before I could get my camera sorted. A while later I saw another but he was also too quick off the mark and quick to take flight, skimming over the water with ease. 

At another spot I stopped as I saw movement on a half submerged branch. I managed to slowly edge up to it without disturbing the little basilisk lizard. After I had grabbed a photo, he scooted off, running on 2 legs that makes him look just a little comical 

I reached the mouth of this branch and turned onto the main channel, no longer being carried so well by the current. The wind had picked up and was skimming over the water, making small little waves appear on the usually calm surface. It made it quite hard work and soon all effort and concentration was directed at keeping the kayak aimed in the right direction. 

I made it back to the boathouse but it had required probably double the amount of energy than it normally did. 

I looked around for the man who was carving me a snake... no where to be seen today. I headed back to the hotel to chill for a bit before pulling back on my shoes and heading out for a night walk. On the way back I stopped at the mercado and found THE most adorable kitten. He looked like he was barely old enough to be away from his mother but he was bouncing around and exploring. I almost picked him up and put him in my rucksack but it seemed that he belonged to the shop. So tempting though. I did sit and play with him a bit before running away, convinced that if I stayed any longer, I would be googling 'how to bring a cat back to the uk from Costa Rica'! 

This walk was going to take me behind my hotel to an area that was managed by some. volunteers on the edge of the national park. I donned rubber boots and we headed out. 

As we walked through the gate, I looked up and shone my torch in the treetops.... snake! 

I was pretty pleased with myself... I had found this one by myself. It was a cloudy snail eater, the same as I had seen in Corcovado. The guide thought it was a boa, but it most certainly wasn't. Yay! Found one myself!! 

For thise of you that have ever spent any time searching for wildlife in jungles, you will know why I'm so happy! 

It's not easy spotting stuff and that's why it's often better to have a guide, especially if you are somewhere new and don't have an understanding of where to look. Even with a guide, you are often not wholly successful in finding what you want to find. And usually it's the guide who points it out and you still can't see it, because it's so well camouflaged! 

We carried on and the trail essentially turned to a river which we waded through, occasionally becoming stuck in the mud and having to extricate ourselves. It's hard to concentrate on looking for stuff when you are also trying to watch where you put your feet. Wierdly in the water were also lots of fish... actual fish! I wondered how they got there... the trail must have been waterlogged for a very long time! 

The find of the night was undoubtedly a pair of red eyed tree frogs, one on top of the other. They were stunning, one of which, I assume the male, had blues and yellows down its flank. Apparently it's a common species but to see two together I think was pretty special. 

The rest of the finds included a preying mantis which flew past my ear and landed on a leaf whilst I was looking at the tree frogs, and the usual assortment of green crickets and golden orb spiders. It was still a lot of fun. 

I did see the tail of a possum as it disappeared into the undergrowth but it was fast and we never saw it again.

Headed back, tired but happy.