Hi, All! If, like me, you grew up adoring Gilligan's Island, you would feel right at home in Tortuguero National Park! After a grueling bus ride over gravel roads filled with potholes, we took a sometimes leisurely, sometimes rip-roaring hour-and-a-half boat ride down a river canal, finally ending up in a lagoon on which numerous eco-lodges have been built, including our own Laguna Lodge.
I could just picture the crew from Gilligan's Island stranded here. We had a wonderful time, but let me tell you, the actual experience of the jungle isn't quite as glamorous as Gilligan's Island would indicate! Though we haven't been bothered by bugs nearly as much as we had been led to expect, we all have itchy bites on our legs and arms, and it is so unbelievably hot and humid on the Caribbean coast that we were drenched in sweat all day long. We enjoyed numerous swims in the ocean and in the pool to compensate! 
In addition to the thatched huts just like those the crew of Gilligan's Island slept in, the vegetation in the lagoon area also mirrors that of Gilligan's Island - think of those long palms swaying in the breeze and the inviting hammocks the crew liked to laze in. Those hammocks are everywhere on the Caribbean coast and they are a necessity, as it is very difficult to do much work in the heat of the day. Life does indeed move at a different pace here!
We had many wonderful moments in Tortuguero - Spanish for "land of the turtle." On one of our canal tours, we happened upon a most amazing sight: a female spider monkey with a tiny baby on her back crossed from one side of the canal to the other over the tops of trees. 
Our boat sat below and we watched as she leaped from the end of the branch on one side of the river to a branch on a different tree on the other side. That baby clung for dear life and we held our breath, but...success!
Martin achieved local fame by spotting caiman after caiman lazing on the shallows of the canal banks. As our boat silently glided under the palms, everyone straining their eyes to spot birds, mammals, and reptiles, Martin would shout, "There's a caiman!" or "There's another caiman!" in great excitement. By some odd twist of luck, every caiman we saw was on his side of the boat. He became known as "The Caimain King" that day!
Alas, the boys and I endured a prudent disappointment. Our guide in Tortuguero did not want to take the children on one of the jungle hikes to the top of Tortuguero Mountain - an ancient volcano arising straight up out of the ocean. It was last active about one million years ago and affords a spectacular view of the many miles of protected Caribbean coastline in the park. 
He said it was too strenuous, which didn't faze us, but he added that a bug lived in these parts of the jungle that, if it bit you, introduced a parasite into your heart that would eventually cause a heart attack. He didn't want to risk the children. Yes, that fazed us! Our guide didn't seem to mind risking the adults, so Glen emerged from the jungle several hours later filthy and exhausted, insisting that he was NOT bitten by that bug!
To make it up to the boys for missing the hike, Glen arranged with another local guide to take them ocean fishing that afternoon. They headed out of the lagoon into the open ocean in a little Boston Whaler and went snook fishing! 
Lady Luck was now smiling on William, and he hooked both of the snook they caught! He reeled the first one in and Martin reeled in the second one. They learned a lot about ocean fishing, and the restaurant cooked their catch that evening for supper! Snook's reputation as a fine eating fish is well deserved! 
Leonard and I sat on the beach while they fished and built another Frosty the Sandman as well as houses and fences of sticks and other beach paraphanalia.
We left Tortuguero, accessible only by boat or plane, amazed anew at jungle life. Though we did not see any of the green sea turtles that nest at night on the beaches of Tortuguero and for which the area is famous, we are determined to return some September or October to witness this amazing and unpredictable natural occurrence.
After one last night at EARTH, we moved west, past San Jose and into the drier ranching province of Guanacaste, named for the readily identifiable Guanacaste tree that grows here, as well as in the rest of the country. The Pacific coast is very different from the Caribbean, and so is the terrain itself. It is very mountainous, and the beaches aren't one long sweep of sand but rather rocky coasts with little sandy coves tucked here and there. Hotels and resorts are quite predictably centered around the beaches.
We saw many vaqueros (cowboys) on horses and mules herding cattle on our way to the Pacific Coast, and many horses and cattle were loose in the roads, grazing where they pleased and not at all bothered by the cars passing by. Guanacaste, we are told, gets really busy only during Easter Week, the national holiday when virtually every middle class Costa Rican has the week off and heads to the coast. We can only imagine how congested the roads must be then, and we are grateful we won't experience this annual migration!
We will be in Guanacaste, slowly making our way north to Santa Rosa National Park, for the next week. Today we do homework and settle in, and tomorrow we go snorkeling for the first time! 
Life is very good!
You will find a photo album with pictures at our linked site. Click on the thumbnails to get a 4X6 photo to print.
Martin! What is a caiman? I hear you are a local legand! I wish the Reints and Fouseks and Martins including Papa and Other could be there! Wouldn't it be grand!!! William! As an experienced fisherman I am sure you had a thrill hooking those snook! What does a snook taste like? Maybe salmon? Maybe lake trout? Leonard! What does Frosty the Snowman look like when he is made of sand? Tell Mommy to get a picture! Love you all!
Uncle Brennie!
Posted by: Brenda Reints | March 29, 2006 at 07:47 AM