Dec 312008
 

After breakfast this morning we visited with the resident spider, who lives on a 3 foot wide web just outside the breakfast area. She was the same type as I saw last night, which leads me to assume that they’re not too dangerous. She was busy repairing her web from, one must imagine, a busy night.

Another big spider

Fixing her web.

Split into three groups of about 15 each, we loaded into open tour boats for our first visit with the Tortuguero wild life. In a short amount of time we had already spotted more birds that I could keep track of, giant iguanas, spider monkeys and howler monkeys. The tour lasted about two hours, so we had time to go deep back into some of the canals and listen to the sounds of the rain forest.

Photo Op

Fellow travelers, monkey spotting.

White Faced Spider Monkey

White-Faced Spider Monkey

Howler Monkey

Howler Monkey

Iguana

Iguana on a log.

Iguana in a tree

Bigger iguana, in a tree.

Hidden Lizard

Find the hidden lizard. Somehow our guide did.

Hidden Lizard - Closeup

Easier to see closeup.

Bats

Bats. They live on the underside of this tree’s trunk during the day.

Green Heron

Green Heron.

Heron

White Heron.

Back to the lodge for a break, then some more sights.

Dec 312008
 

Following a short break back at the lodge, we headed over to the Caribbean Conservation Corporation where we saw a movie about the sea turtles that the CCC was formed to study and protect. Because of the CCC, Costa Rica created the Tortuguero National Park, and set aside 15 miles of protected beach for the turtles to lay their eggs on. They also tag the turtles to study their migratory and other habits. Turtles born here travel throughout the entire Caribbean Sea and return here to lay their eggs.

The Guys

Eric and Kevin on the beach.

Tortuguero Beach

Warning sign. This isn’t turtle egg season, so the beach was safe for us.

From the CCC we walked up the beach to the village of Tortuguero, which supports itself on fishing and tourism. There were about an equal number of tourists and residents.

Tortuguero Village

I was enjoying not being on line, so we just walked on by.

Dec 312008
 

Lunch was back at the lodge, and then another boat tour of the river and channels. We started out spotting a sloth and her baby hanging in a dense tree almost over the water, so we were able to get very close in the boat. Even though there were fifteen or more of us, she didn’t seem concerned at all about our presence, and the two of them continued eating.

Sloth with Baby

Mother sloth with baby.

As we were traveling up one of the canals, it began to rain. By the time the boat’s pilot had pulled out the ponchos and passed them out it had become a tropical torrent. It was warm out, but everything not under a poncho was instantly soaked, and before a few minutes were up, those of us on the right side of the boat had our feet in about three inches of water. Kevin, being on the port side, was able to keep his shoes dry.

It's Called a Rain Forest For a Reason

It’s called a Rain Forest for a reason.

Rain

Luckily I had my waterproof point-and-shoot camera with me, so I could take riveting shots like this.

The wildlife viewing isn’t so good in that kind of downpour, so we headed back into the lodge.

Once dried off, napped and cleaned up, we headed into the bar before dinner for some cards, New Year’s Eve libations and live Calypso music.

Dec 312008
 

After dinner, Eric and I went on another frog hunt – no frogs this time, even in the lodge’s ‘Frog Garden’, but we did encounter a couple of iguanas and another giant spider that took a particular interest in Eric. We were able to take close up pictures of a small iguana that was standing on a flower using a flashlight to light her up with. She wasn’t bothered at all by our presence, even though we got within a foot of her for some of the shots. She was still there at 5:30am the next morning when I stopped by to see her.

Iguana on the Road

Iguana on the road, caught in our flashlight beam.

Posed Iguana

Posed iguana, lit with a flashlight.

Posed Iguana

In her face, and she didn’t mind at all.

Posed Iguana

The mysterious backlit version.

Night Flower

Rain soaked flower, lit with a flashlight.

Night Flower

Close up of rain drops.

Not being be NYE partiers, we hung out on the porch reading and watching the rain before packing it in well before midnight.