Costa Rica

So .... 50% of us got up to put the suitcases out and take advantage of what was actually a very good breakfast and then off we went. First stop 8:30 for a second breakfast ( there's an awful lot of eating on this holiday! )

We were heading for the Tortuoguero Rain Forest National Park. Tortuoguero is most famousuitable for the long Beach where every year thousands of female green and leatherback turtles come to lay their eggs. It can only be reached by boat - a 1 hour trip up river to the economy lodges (no wifi or TV - hoorah ). The whole area is carefully protected and visitor numbers are strictly limited.

We had 2 days here - and what a fantastic 2 days they were. Although this is not strictly a specialist wildlife holiday we were very lucky to spot an amazing variety of animals, birds and plants. We saw capuchin,  spider and howler monkeYstrad and sloths, crocodiles, giant iguanas and snakes including a, luckily very sleepy, boa constrictor, toucans, macawso and several species of herons and egrets including a beautiful female tiger heron sitting on her nest and not batting an eyelid as the guides pulled the boats up to within inches of her.

We had two excursions by boat along the river and canal system plus a trail walk in the forest itself - I managed to get quite a few bird photos but they're on my camera (the ones above come straight off my tablet) so I'll try to post some when we get home. 

There were also a lot of exotic plants in the grounds of the lodges, though I struggled to identify them!

All in all, it was a brilliant introduction to the country - the lodges don't have glass windows, just mosquito netting, so all night you can hear the frogs and cicadas chirruping and in the morning you get woken up by the calls of the howler monkeys and the squawking of the macaws - and they start very, very early!

Today is day 4 and is just a transfer day from Tortuoguero to Arenal, near the country's most famous and still active volcano. So what could possibly go wrong?

We had the return trip on the river, spotted another crocodile and back to the dock in perfect time. But shortly into the road trip the AC on the coach failed and proved to be not  repairable. So we stopped for lunch while the driver and tour manager phoned HQ desperately trying to sort out an alternative. Good news - there's  another coach available. Bad news, it's going to take a couple of hours to arrive. So with temperatures approaching 30° they decided to take us to a local fruit market and lay on a buffet while we waited (and waited and waited!)

Eventually the replacement arrived and we were on our way again. And here we are in a very swish hotel with stunning views of the volcano (and prices to match ). Just had a very nice dinner and chilling before a good night's sleep.

Tomorrow we have an excursion up to the Cano Negra park, near the Nicaraguan border and another river trip so loads of scope for further wildlife spotting. 

Night, night everyone.

Lovely read,  thank you, keep posting 😆.

30c 😉 we are on 32 here in Hamilton NZ today - south island hotter in places reckon it could touch 40 before it breaks 😲😲😲. We had a cracking storm last night with heavy rain and swirly winds. (Sorry to take this off post 😇)

Sounds like a great trip Moulesy, thanks for info and photo's

PS is there high humidity there?

Sounds like an amazing trip moulesy.  Wonderful photos.  Keep posting. It's cold and frosty here......

Sounds fantastic, M. I'm particularly interested as we are embarking on this very trip, or very similar, in about a fortnight's time. Keep the updates coming please and any advice or tips would be most welcomed.👍

Enjoy the holiday Moulesy,  lovely pictures, thanks for sharing.😊

First thing I read on CT today, very interesting and the photos too. Hope you're having a good holiday, it sounds quite a different one. 

Heyup 'moulesy', at last something of interest to read Keep us posted and enjoy every minute of your trip