Worlds apart… in Tortuguero, Costa Rica

Another airport, another departure lounge, another plane, another flight, another airport, another bus, another long walk to find the depressing hostel in the depressing city you have to land in to get to the place you actually want to go. And as you and your rucksack try and avoid bumping into the locals pouring out of the numerous discount and outlet stores, you ask yourself how it’s possible that San Jose, the capital city of Costa Rica can so closely resemble a dreary town centre somewhere in the West Midlands.

These are the kind of days when you wonder if it’s all worth it. The tiring days that end when you sink into another alien bed for the night, exhausted and homesick. These are the days when you feel like a fraud for claiming every day travelling is another day in paradise.

It’s Tuesday, and there’s no sun.

Cut to Thursday, and you wake up on an island on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, and know the long journey has been worth it. Tortuguero, or Land of Turtles is a small village surrounded by lush, tropical rainforest, home to an abundance of wildlife and possibly every single shade of green that exists. There’s one full day to explore the island and see as much as we can.

And that we did - ready at 5am and gliding down the canal on a canoe half an hour later, we were transported to a kingdom of magnificent creatures that we only could have imagined being in the presence of just two days earlier. We gently paddled through the cola coloured canal, listening to nothing but nature’s choir: the dull drone of howler monkeys pleading the sky for rain, while the croaking of toucan lovers in trees provided the bass for the shrill chirping of the Northern Jacanas; the only human sound our guide’s thorough explanation of each creature, the distinct Caribbean lilt in his voice in perfect harmony with this elysian ensemble.

Then there was the clicking sound of the camera, as majestic Anhinga birds posed for us, showing off their beautiful black and white feathers, while weeping Caimans lazed around the riverbeds, eyes like deadly snow-domes, their slit pupils portals into the unknown.

Later that night, after a muddy afternoon stroll through the jungle in the pouring rain - it seemed the monkeys got what they wanted - we went to the beach to see the island's namesake: the Green Sea Turtle. Our first glimpse of this ancient reptile was a rather obscene viewing of her laying eggs - white spheres the size of golf balls being released somewhat appropriately into a sand bunker. But when we saw the camouflaging process, the turtle’s paddle-like fins burying the eggs into the sand pit, safe from the eyes of predators, I remember feeling privileged. It was as though I had been let in on a well-kept secret, one I would never have stumbled across in my world of man-made cities a million miles away.

These are the kinds of days when you know it’s all worth it. The exciting days that end when you sink into sleep, alien sounds and images passing through your mind. These are the days when you feel like a fraud for claiming every day travelling is another tiring day.

It’s nearly Friday, and it’s still fun.

Guess what I found out in Tortuguero?

1. Tortuguero National Park has a very high biodiversity, due to the existence within the reserve of 11 different habitats, including rainforest, swamps, beaches, and lagoons. There are more than 400 species of trees and approximately 2,200 species of other plants.

2. Unlike the crocodile, the Caiman only eats things inferior to it in size. But, aside from this rule they eat everything; reason being, they don’t have tongues and therefore can’t taste their food. Perhaps this is why they seem so unhappy.

3. Green turtles travel back to the beaches where they were born to lay their eggs, often migrating long distances. They lay 100-200 eggs at a time and leave them alone for two months before they hatch.