Tortuguero, Costa Rica

View from the Tortuguero Canal
Del Monte Banana Plantation
Spider monkeys playing in the trees!
Hummingbird in her nest at la Baula Lodge
Tortugero Village

Friday, June 24, 2011…..Cruisin´Route 32 San José-Tortuguero, Costa Rica

A six a.m. wake up call preceeded a breakfast consisting of eggs, rice and beans, tropical fruit, and costarican coffee, famously introduced into the country in 1920 by Braulio Carrillo. This all before we boarded the bus in the direction of Tortugero, a village reached only by boat, resting on the northwest corner of the country. Not five minutes into the ride, my mother looked at me with the ¨big eyes¨as my father called them, and promply headed to the front of the charter bus to prevent motion sicknes. I thought I was in for a long ride/week, but it turns out the cure was riding shotgun next to Margel. At any rate, we headed west out of San José, a capital filled with people, cars big and small, and the majority of the country´s (60%) population, on Route 32. The highway carried us through the contintental divide, a mountain range dividing the country in two, through a cloud forest, and into the tropical vegetation that is characteristic of the Caribbean Coast of Costa Rica. Along the way, we stopped at took picture of a plant called ¨sombrilla del hombre pobre¨ (poor man´s umbrella), only found in the cloud forest, and one of the country´s more than 200 volcanoes. Approximately 2 and a half hours into the drive, and about an hour down a dirt, gravely road, that left us all questioning our destination, we pulled up next to the Del Monte Banana Plantation. We spent about half an hour photographing the plantations workers, and observing the process involved in preparing the bananas before we receive them in our supermarkets. The interesting thing is that the plantation employs more than 300 workers, each earning around $400-month. Although this is considered very little pay, even by Costa Rican standards, the benefits provided by the world reknown fruit company, include free housing and medical services. This also means that the community surrounding the plantation exists because of the plantation, including schools, local churches, and markets. The social guarantees provided by Costa Rica outweigh the poor salary acquired by the banana plantation employees. We saw workers young and old, who work year round, even during holidays until the fruit has all been harvested, washing, and packing the bananas. It was quite a site to be seen, as were the giant bugs that we all posed for pictures with. Getting back onto the bus with our fresh coconuts purchased at a stand outside of the banana plant was the treat as we continued toward our destination.

We passed through small villages, locals riding their bikes to reach their destination, and passed fields sometimes littered with cattle, but nearly always fenced in by a ¨living fence¨, or trees planted and then connected by wire. Por último, we reached the docking point where we transferred to small boats that were to take us to Tortuguero on a one and a half hour boat ride. On the ride through the muddy canals that gave us a preview of what is in store for us tomorrow, we saw two spider monkeys, named this because they have no thumbs, swinging playfully in the trees, bats lined up on their home tree (7 or 8 females lined up ahead of a male), and a short legged flamingo type bird. Finally, we arrived to La Baula Lodge, where we will be staying the next two nights. We ate a great lunch, with the highlight being a banana salad, and then rested for an hour before taking the small boats to the village of Tortugero. We spent an hour roaming the shops, and main street of the brightly colored village, buying jewelery, and observing the locals hanging out on their porches watching the tourists meander by. Althought it was raining, it was a warm rain, that left us all with the decision of whether or not to wear a rain jacket and stay dry but be hot, or not wear it, and get a little damp. I think we all chose the later.

At 6:00, we went to a preview of the optional turtle nesting that we would be seeing later on. Sergio, a local guide, inspired us all with his passion for protecting the sea turtles, and their eggs. We watched a slide show, and he explained to us what we would be doing on our expedition through the beaches. The one thing I was really reminded of was how passion can make a difference, and with passion, one can inspire. I hope my students saw the impact that Sergio´s love for what he did was on display during his presentation. Knowing very little about the history of the turtles in Tortugero, I was ready to follow his lead.

At 8:00 we boarded our lightless boats for what seemed like a ¨secret mission¨to the beaches of Tortugero. Mary and I assimilated it to what it probably felt like to be at war, after having been briefed on the rules, and then hopping on the boat in the dark to take off for our destination. We were told to wear dark clothing, and were going to be split into groups of ten. We followed Juan, our guide, in the pitch dark (no lights allowed except for the ocassional infared light to iluminate an obstacle in our path) for an hour long hike through the jungle, and then along the beach. We had to laugh thinking that we never would have guessed we would be walking in a single file line, in the pitch black, listening to the waves of the Caribbean, holding hands, and following a guide in pursuit of a possible witnessing of the laying of eggs (this was no guarantee). But, this is what we did (and Dad, Mom held my hand the entire time) until after two miles, we reached the Leatherback turtle, who had been on the beach for about two hours. It was a beautiful sight (what we could see with the red light) to watch her cover up the eggs she had layed 75 cm below the surface in a hole she had worked hard to dig. There were about 40 people gathered around to take a glimpse, and we all followed her after she put the final pat on the spot where she layed her eggs, and watched her wander back into the ocean, and get swept away in the waves. As breathtaking as this was, another event that stole my breath was patting Mary on the back to pull my hand back full of sand, and her bursting into laughter telling us that when she was walking in the back of our line, she took a digger and ended up flat on her back. Gotta love that lady!