Costa rica

We contine our drive east. Our goal: Costa rica's Carribean coast. Following a recommendation from other travellers we head three hours to La Pavona, where we leave our car parked and take a boat to Tortuguero and its national park. It's said this part of the country is like the Costa rican version of the Amazon, and we soon see why: it consists of mostly tropical forest with rivers cutting through left and right. You only get to Tortuguero either by boat from La Pavona or Moín, or by plane. Hence getting there always takes quite some time but the other place to go on this coastline is way further south (Puerto Viejo), so we figure we go to Tortuguero first.

The 45min boat tour is already an experience in and of itself. Manoevring first through narrow and shallow curves, the river gets broader the closer we get to the sea. We already encounter several bird species, turtles, and three (!) baby crocodiles, and we haven't even gotten to the main spots yet.

Happy with our discoveries but tired from the long trip we are glad we get picked up from the dock and walk the few meters to La Casona de Tortuguero. Very cute place, right next to a soccer field, almost right at the beach (swimming not allowed due to rip currents...and maybe crocodiles or caimans?), with hammocks and a pool. And what we are especially happy about is that we're in the main village with different options for restaurants and tour agencies. Only drawback: the hotel and the agency they recommend only take cash. (The only ATM the place once had was robbed and no bank wants to come here since. Luckily most shops and restaurant let us pay by card.) Our stash is pretty much down to zero after paying for the accommodation, so we need to book our tour through someone else. Following the receptionist's recommendation we end up at Tortuguero Adventures, where we land a package of doing both the guided canoe tour early in the morning, with kayaking on our own later in the day. Perfect! After the long trip and having organized everything for the next day we reward ourselves with a drink and later a nice dinner at the riverside.Read more