Trip date: March 7 and 8. Reported March 29.
NOTE: There a two accompanying and amusing short story posts for this excursion which I felt deserved individual entries. Here and here.
We started our second day in Tortuguero with a hike on the Jaguar Trail. The trailhead was very near our motel, between the back edge of town and the beach. It is in the protected nature reserve which we were told we needed tickets for, but who would actually check because there isn't an office where the trail starts. Actually, the trail resembled the dirt paths through town except it was amongst the tropical trees. We bought tickets anyways just in case. We were hoping to spot monkeys and/or sloths. We could hear howler monkeys but no such luck spotting them or sloths.
Mural at the trail head
This is a large ant trail.
Leaf cutter ants.
A large prehistoric looking bird crossing the trail.
? What was I seeing here? I think the ocean. There were these occassional breaks in the trees down to the beach. The wind would come through and feel SO good in the heat. Even though it was 7 a.m. we were sweating.
The trail is beautiful, peaceful, and well maintained. Our ticket money at work.
A baby lizard Craig picked up.
On our return, we saw this lone monkey with a squirrel companion. I think we made the monkey very nervous because he worked hard to move away from us. The squirrel? Not so much. Zoom in to get a closer look.
Looking down from our balcony onto the roof below...a cat being a cat...loving to explore high places. I've always thought if I chose to be an animal, I would choose a cat. But I didn't consider this part...I'm not a huge fan of heights. Of course, most cats don't appreciate getting TOO high.
How the sky and ocean were looking that day.
A couple more pictures of interesting art as we headed back to the dock to depart.
Our boat is almost ready.
A sign resembling a street sign but for the canals and rivers here.
A passing boat headed towards Toruguero, loaded with the contents of someone's house. We also saw barges with supplies while we were in town. Similar to our trip to Tortuguero town, our trip back was filled with animal sightings. This time, our boat got a little stuck. A local man on the boat with an excellent spotting eye (maybe he was a guide in the past?) took the initiative to get another local rider to get out and help the captain's assistant push the boat. I thought that was a lovely and extremely thoughtful gesture. It kept us spoiled tourists dry.
Once we returned to the dock restaurant, I wanted a picture of this creative way to provide shade.
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