To Costa Rica and Beyond!: Tortuguero

November 8th

This past weekend I took a trip with AFS up to the Northern Atlantic coast to Tortuguero National Park. I spent Thursday night in San Jose where we went to the mall for dinner and I finally satisfied my craving for Mexican food that I have had since like my second month. We left bright and early Friday morning in buses and once again we had to take a boat from the bus to our hotel. I think you can also fly there, but whats the fun in that? The hotel was right on the river and made up of little cabins spread throughout the jungle which made it feel completely secluded. After arriving, we had about two hours to walk around and explore before lunch. My friends and I ran directly to the turtle shaped pool, despite the fact that it was raining and the pool, like all other pools here, was freezing. After lunch we got back on the boats to cross the river to a little village and the beach. The village had some houses, but most of the part we saw was composed of tourist shop after tourist shop after tourist shop. We were given trash bags and gloves and spent a couple hours walking up the beach collecting trash. While this task was definitely met by quite a bit of grumbling, I absolutely loved it! This was the first time since I got here that I have felt like I was actually doing something productive that might actually be benefiting someone besides myself. That night we went back to the pool and stayed there until it closed.

Saturday morning we woke up early and got in boats (again), and as we traveled through the canals of the park, we had the pleasure of seeing some iguanas (which wasn't quite as exciting as it was when I first got here because I see them basically everyday at my house), lots of birds, and monkeys! After a delicious breakfast of gallo pinto (I'm not planning of eating rice of beans for a solid year after I get home) we pulled on rubber boots for a trek through the rain forest. I figured the boots were just to keep our shoes clean, but what we found had to have been at least six inches of mud. After lunch we got to paddle up the river in duckies and swim and then hung out in the hammocks at the hotel. While we were hanging out by the cabins, we saw a little sloth about two feet away in a tree. Later, we all gathered to plant a tree which I guess is a tradition for every time an AFS group goes to Tortuguero.

Sunday was an even earlier morning. We woke up right at sunrise, boarded the boats, and crossed the river again to the beach where we watched baby turtles crawl out to to ocean. This was probably my favorite part of the trip. The turtles were sooo tiny and its amazing to think they grow up to be so big! Unfortunately, like usual, the weekend flew bye and before we knew it the trip was over. I had such an amazing weekend hanging out with friends and relaxing. I am enjoying my time here, living with a host family, going to school, and stumbling my way through the Spanish language, but sometimes it can be stressful and its nice every now and then to kick back and just enjoy this beautiful country that I am learning to call home.