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Pococí, Costa Rica

Martin , our very first driver picks us up at the G… Forsaken hour of 5 am. Our drive to our breakfast stop is about 3 hours . Christianne tries to sleep. I stay up and take in the scenery where we cross many small towns, banana plantations , new developments , various volcano parks, but the vegetation is always lush and green.
We finally arrive at Rio Danta for breakfast at about 8.30. We are the only ones in the restaurant which is located near a stream in tropical forest. Suddenly, we see the Blue Morpho butterfly endemic to Central America. The breakfast is not worth talking about. But walking in the tropical forest with its beautiful stream was worth it!

We met our guide Stephen who would be with us for the next 2 days. We boarded a big bus and 20 of us from different parts of the world were heading for the Mawamba resort in Tortuguero.
After a couple of hours of driving on all types of roads, we get to the Tortuguero River and board a boat all 20 of us with our luggage.
Let me tell you! You only come to this country with carry-ons. As the trip goes on we all wear the same clothes anyway.It’s so damn humid, you’d better have long lasting deodorant!
Our trip is about one hour long on a narrow sinuous River. But now you’re in a different world, very few houses on either sides bordering the river, on each side is a wetland jungle.

We finally arrive at the Mawamba resort which is near the small town Tortuguero.
We are given our rooms which are literally cabins.We have to schlep all the way to the end of a long road. It’s very much like a youth camp, something I’ve never done in my life, I guess it’s never too late to try! This means no TV no phone reception, no hotel products, no AC, only a fan and to top it all- cold water for showers and A hamac on the porch.
Christianne almost steps on a little black snake and a huge lady bug welcomed us! I can just imagine my mother here ! Oh and we have to carry our own luggage here too and quite far- so no butler and no porter!

We have just a little time to change and meet our guide naturalist Stephen, who leads us to the back of the hotel which the Caribbean side to be precise,. This long thin strip of land which our hotel sits on extends all the way to Nicaragua, the ocean side is the Caribbean sea, the front side is the river Tortuguero. I must say it’s a very unusual topography.

This area is where the greenish blue turtles come to nest, there were plenty of eggs and broken shells for us to see. The ocean was wild, the sand is blackish with lush jungle and no front of the beach hotels exists. We continue to the town of Tortuguero about 20 minutes away. It’s definitely poor but colorful- children playing soccer- woman making lamps. The Ticos are very pleasant but reserved and they do not push their wares on the tourists like other cultures might.
We felt safe. To come back we took a water taxi, a much more efficient way to come back.
The grounds of our lodge are stunningly beautiful, we encountered poisonous frogs, huge Iguanas, giant lizards, Toucans, beautiful butterflies, hummingbirds, snakes, all kinds of plants like pineapple, peppers and beautiful plants with stunning flowers.

Then it was time for dinner which was buffet style under a huge wooden canopy surrounded by heavenly landscaping. The food here is mediocre always with rice and beans, it definitely feels like cafeteria food. We met lively and lovely German woman, Claudia from Ibiza and Claudia from Switzerland. We had lots of good laughs with them; great sense of humor. Although Switzerland is more adventurous than Ibiza! Ibiza invited us to visit with them. We enjoyed them both and perhaps we will go to visit them someday!

We went to bed and went into never never land quite fast!

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