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.

Jan 012009
 

I got up at 5:20 this morning to take a picture of the sun rising over the Caribbean Sea on the first day of the new year. Sunrises aren’t as dramatic as sunsets, especially when the sky is completely clouded over. Everything gradually got brighter, but there was no way to see that the sun came over the horizon at 5:50am.

Sunrise on New Year's Morning, Tortuguera, Costa Rica

Sunrise, New Year’s Morning

As I was setting up my camera, another gentleman walked out onto the beach. We smiled at each other and he headed down the beach. Then he stopped, turned around and walked up to me with a big smile and his hand outstretched. We shook hands and he said "I wish you a very happy new year," in a wonderful Northern European accent. I wished him the same, and he turned and walked down the beach.

There was something really moving about the encounter – it was so genuine and sincere on both our parts, standing on this remote beach, that was so different from the typical “Happy New Year” greetings we toss about.

Around 6:30 I got the rest of the family up so we could pack up to continue our journey. The boat left the dock at 8am, and we were looking forward to the hour long boat ride through the river and canals back to the bus. Unfortunately, the sky opened up again dumping enough rain to cause the captain to stop the boat and roll down the plastic window sides. If you’ve ever tried to look though the back window of a convertible you know the kind of view we now had. An hour of humming engine and the occasional banking turn, while blurry trees slide by outside the window.

Paul

Paul, our tour guide, on the boat leaving Tortuguero. It’s New Year’s day, he doesn’t normally look like this! (Sorry Paul!)

The rest of the day was primarily a day of travel to get halfway across Costa Rica to our next stop in Fortuna. The bus ride was broken up with two stops – one for lunch at the same place we ate a couple days ago (delicious! No problem having a repeat), and one at a 300 foot suspension bridge over a river. The second was kind of a novelty stop that was fun to do but mostly broke the trip into segments so we could stretch our legs.

Lunch!

Lunch

Suspension Bridge

On the suspension bridge in the Selva Verde Rainforest Reserve.

090101_1816

Kevin and Eric on the far side of the bridge.

We arrived at the beautiful Lomas de Volcan hotel in Fortuna around 4pm. We traveled about 150 miles today by boat and bus, over about 5 hours of travel time.

Lomas del Volcan

Finally there!

Porch View

The view out the back door of our cottage. We’re looking right at Arenal Volcano, which can’t be seen at the moment due to the clouds.

And here’s two shots of the volcano from right outside our room. These were actually taken the next day, but the flow works better if I put them here. These shots were taken about 20 minutes apart – the view of the cone was always changing. I wish I had set up a time-lapse series.

Arenal Volcano

7:03am

Arenal Volcano

7:24am

Jan 022009
 

We woke up to mostly clear skies this morning, with the volcano above us sporting a cloudy cap that changed every minute. While Sarah and most of the rest of the group headed out to a boat tour near the border of Nicaragua, Eric, Kevin and I headed out to do some zip lining.

The Arenal Mundo Aventura experience was recommended to us so we had booked three reservations the day before. They picked us up at the hotel at 7:30am, and after a couple of other stops to pick up four others we headed over to their park, just a few kilometers outside Fortuna.

This was a great zip line experience, the first for all of us. After a safety introduction they loaded us into something like a bus that was towed up a dirt road by a tractor to a cable platform. We got out there, put on our harnesses and hiked up the mountain for another 15 minutes on a dense trail that was mostly stairs. That took us to the first of ten zip lines that we would ride most of the way back down the mountain.

Zipline Ready

Kevin and Eric harnassed up and ready to go.

Zipline Ready

Getting psyched to zip over that waterfall.

A zip line is a cable strung between two points that you ride down alone, suspended from a pulley. In our case, the cables were stretched across deep rain forest canyons cut by a river, and included the dramatic La Fortuna Waterfall that was easily 100’ tall. Some of the cables spanned canyons hundreds of feet deep.

The first three cables were fairly short, and each was faster than the prior. This was to get you comfortable with the ride, with the proper position, and with controlling your speed for a gentler stop at the end.

Go Into The Light

Kevin, riding into the light.

Coming Down

Viewed from the end of a cable with Eric coming down.

Gentle Landing

Eric, making a soft two point landing on one of the platforms.

Me, Landing

I came in a little faster on this one.

The next seven rides were much longer and faster. The longest ride was almost a kilometer, and on the fastest cable they said we traveled at about 35-40 mph. The views were incredible, at one point looking straight down at the pool below the waterfall, on another line looking out to the city of Fortuna, and on another zipping across a canyon then into a hole cut through the canopy to ride between the trees. In total we traveled about three kilometers of cable over a 45 minute period.

A Long Way To Go

Another launch, this time on one of the longer cables. If you look and the larger version of this image (click to go to Flickr) you can just make out the landing platform next to the top of the waterfall.

Yeh, It's Way Up High

Yes, it’s a long way down.

980 Meters

The longest cable, at 980 meters, goes over a waterfall and two canyons. That hole in the trees about 3/4s of the way up the image is the starting platform.

Hauling Himself In

If you happen to slow down along the way, you might not make it to the end. In that case you get to haul yourself in, as demonstrated here by Kevin. Notice the concern expressed by our guide (left).

As a part of the adventure, after the zip lines you visit a re-creation of an indigenous Maleku village, then ride horses back down the dirt road to the main reception area.

Maleku Village

In their re-creation of an indigenous Costa Rican Maleku village, this young man told us about their lifestyle and culture.

Only one of our two guides rode down with us, and he stayed in the rear to make sure there weren’t any stragglers. The horses knew the routine so well that you didn’t have to use your reins. In fact, the herd was lead down the trail by an unsaddled black horse and no guide. A couple of times the horses would break into a trot, but otherwise it was a gentle and fun ride down. Eric’s saddle was missing the right stirrup though, so the trotting wasn’t quite so comfortable for him.

I'm Such a Cowboy

I’m such a cowboy. Even more impressive is Kevin in the background. They didn’t tell us the horses’ names, so Kevin called his ‘Rodeo’.

A Horse With No Name

Mine: a horse with no name.

Riding Down The Mountain

See that black horse way out front? He was our guide down the mountain.

We were taken back to the hotel, where we joined up for lunch with a few other people from our tour who had decided not to take the morning trip. After a nap and some R&R, we called a cab and headed into town to meet up with Sarah and the rest of the group.