7/2/2011

I'm so over writing this. I feel like home is so close and I don't want to spend too much of the time I have left in front of a computer. But I also want to remember what I've been doing so I'll write but maybe not too much detail.

La Fortuna was good, not as good as Monteverde though.The afternoon we arrivedI did a hike to try and view Volcan Arenal, which sometimes you can see sparking and spitting lava, but it was so cloudy we couldn't even see the volcano.Next morning I went with a few others from my group and some from other groups on the Canyo Negro boat trip. We cruised down the Rio Frio looking for wildlife and saw mostly the usual stuff, birds and monkeys (one very unusual mutated howler monkey that was gold instead of dark) but also some super cute little wee bats, and on the drive there we stopped at a place where a guy has been feeding and protecting iguanas and saw hundreds of them all in the trees around his restaurant.

After a big night out and a morning hanging out in town, while others did more activities, we took our last group journey, a bus trip to San Hose. We had a farewell dinner and said goodbye before bed as several of us were leaving early in the morning.

My next step was a three night trip to Tortuguero. I was picked up at 6am and drove, with a stop for breakfast (at a place with an awesome butterfly garden) and another to view a banana packing shed, to the dock to meet the boat which took us through the canals. I had another group of sorts for this, mostly older Americans, but most only stayed two nights and I had three so I changed groups and guides half way. After a stop in Tortuguero town, tiny and full of souvenir shops, we arrived at Turtle Beach Lodge in time for lunch, all meals were provided at the lodge, and during travel. Every meal had rice and beans and lots of salad, as well as a variety of pasta and other bits and pieces over the stay. It was good food. The afternoon was free to spend at the beach (scenic, no good for swimming) or pool or anywhere else around the grounds. I spent it sending emails to sort out the activities included in my booking which had been messed up, turns out it was all booked but the hotel in San Hose forgot to give me the envelope of vouchers I needed. No big deal in the end. Then we had an orientation walk before dinner. Day two started early with a 6am boat safari in the canals, returning in time for breakfast. I remembered my binoculars for once but forgot to take my camera. It didn't matter cos we didn't see anything new to me I just got to look a bit more closely through the binoculars. Later in the morning we did a guided walk on the lodge's private trail, my chance, I thought, to look for wild frogs. When I asked the guide though he said they don't come out til late afternoon. I managed to find one on that walk but went back on my own later and managed to find quite a few, but all little red blue jeans poison dart frogs (named after their blue legs), I wasn't good enough to spot the green and black ones! The next day with a new guide and group we did a much later boat safari starting 9am. It was pouring with rain then sunny on and off so we were in our topless boat pulling ponchos on and off as we got wet then too hot, all part of the tropics. This guide did a few extra tricks, he caught a baby caiman and a frog and a little river turtle for us to see. We also saw otters, well smelled before saw, which is something I hadn't seen here yet. We made another stop in Tortuguero town, and this guide showed us around a bit so it was a better visit. Then we returned to the lodge for lunch and later in the afternoon another walk on the trail, but this time with a walk through the medicinal garden to learn about plants we could eat if lost in the jungle. Next morning a boat took us back to where we started and, after a long delay due I think to a road accident, a van took the group back to San Hose, dropping me at a pick up point along the way where another van took me to Puerto Viejo.

I stayed only one night in Puerto Viejo. From what I saw I didn't need more, and it was raining in the morning so no good for the beach anyway. I originally planned to go to an animal rescue centre in the morning and travel in the afternoon, but the transfer to Bocas wasn't running that afternoon so I decided to just move on quickly. I had time for a look around the town and Bocas has beaches anyway.

The transfer to Bocas del Toro made the border crossing into Panama very easy. A van simply took us to the border where a guy met us and showed us to the windows we needed, then put us on another van which took us to the boat to the island. So glad I didn't try to do it on the bus, especially in the rain. I met up with some friends on Bocas, another tour group (one that at one point I looked at joingg when I found out my tour group was cancelling this section) who we've run in to a few times along the way, So even though the weather wasn't the best I had people to hang out with and explore the Islands. After arriving I wandered around the town just to see what was out there, had some lunch, and waited for the others to arrive. No one wanted to go snorkelling with the risk of rain, so we decided to spend the next day taking it easy, hanging out first in town, then taking a boat to another island to a restaurant over the water where we killed a few hours, then met up again later for dinner. It was very cruisy relaxing island time perfect really, after trying to do activities and fill in time on the other islands I've been to it was nice to just chill. I stayed in a hostel called Mondo Taitu, which was a bit of a party hostel and kinda noisy at night but the room I was in was quite separate from the bar so not too bad and way cheaper than a hotel there.

As I was moving on to the same place at the same time as the tour group I was able to arrange to share the van they were taking, a bit more expensive than the bus but way faster. So now I'm in Boquete, another small mountain town comparable to Monteverde. Most of the walking tracks are closed due to heavy rain so I won't be going wildlife spotting here but I've seen enough now that it's the same birds and animals on every trip so it's not a big deal. I've booked to go on a coffee tour tomorrow which shows everything from the plantation to processing to a tasting session at the end. Should be good, something different. Then I'll say goodbye to my friends and go on to Alouatta Lodge, a howler monkey sanctuary in this area where I plan to spend a couple of nights sleeping in a hammock surrounded by jungle and playing with monkeys during the day. Just over a week and I'll be home!