August 1-4
Hello everyone!
Like most Central American countries, Costa Rica has two coastlines: one on the Pacific and one on the Caribbean. My final stops on my Tico adventure were on the eastern side, where everything moves a bit…slower…
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| If this were true, I'd still be in Costa Rica... |
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| This is a breadfruit. It does not contain bread. |
From the rainforest our group headed to Tortuguero, a village situated within an eponymous national park. The village itself is inaccessible by road, meaning you need to take other transport. Specifically, you cram all of your bags and people into a low motor boat, which carefully navigates narrow, shallow waterways. Many of these were created by humans.
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| It was about 4 hours in total from Sarapiqui |
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| The journey on the boat takes just under an hour |
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| At times there can be a lot of traffic |
This is because the Caribbean side was initially more important for trading purposes. Moving masses of coffee and particularly bananas required access to the coast, though most of this was done by the railroad which connected the central valley with the port of Limon further south. These canals were used to transport wood up until the 1970s. Their existence makes it possible to get to Tortuguero and see something truly magical.
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The beach gets zoned by the authorities - a limited
number of permits are given for each zone per day |
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The migration routes of the green turtles - some have been
found near Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela! |
The numbers involved here are staggering. One turtle will lay up to 120 eggs in one sitting. Female turtles will do this many times in a mating season. 1% of turtles coming from all of these eggs successfully survive their first day. This is a natural percentage, owing to predators in the air, the sea and on land. Add in human factors such as poaching and pollution and that percentage probably decreases even further. It’s probably true that without the protections introduced in the 1950s, turtles would be extinct in this area.
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| The beaches have many dips like these - you'll see why shortly |
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| A cracked turtle shell on the beach |
Nesting season for the green turtle takes place between June and September. We were lucky with our timing and were allowed to get permits to watch the nesting. It happens under darkness, with no lights, phones or cameras allowed. The pictures below are thus internet captures to help visualise what we saw. This National Geographic video gives you a good idea of what we saw.
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| (Internet) Red light is used as it is less distressing for the turtles |
We arrived under an almost full moon onto a sandy beach which contained many dips. These had been created by turtles. Most would have eggs underneath, though some would be false holes designed to dupe predators and protect the eggs. Once given permission, we were allowed in small groups to silently head across to see a turtle nesting.
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| Turtles were used by pre-Columbian indigenous populations for meat |
I hadn’t done a lot of research on this so was astounded to find an enormous turtle plopped in a cavernous dip in the sand. It was over one metre long. This is normal. It’s also normal for them to be tirelessly digging away with their flippers, which they use like scoops to manoeuvre both the sand and themselves.
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(Internet) Their average weight is between 70 and
150 kilograms - they're all heavier than me! |
Once a hole has been made, the turtle then starts laying. And laying. Dozens of what seemed to be perfect spheres, looking like fresh boiled eggs, were dropping into the dip.
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| (Internet) More than one are often dropped at a time |
The next stage is to cover them. The flippers come to the fore once more, dragging sand from the edges of the dip and scooping it expertly to start covering the eggs. Expertly most of the time - sometimes it hit us in the legs.
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| (Internet) As you can see, sand gets sprayed everywhere! |
The turtle paused from time to time. It may be a combination of being exhausted and getting slightly unnerved with the people staring in wonder at this process. Nonetheless, our mama turtle had almost finished her protection about 25 minutes later. We left her at this point as it was starting to rain and lightning was getting ever closer. Our guide explained that turtles don’t like the flashes of light (hence the lack of phones and cameras) and it can disrupt the nesting process.
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| (Internet) This is also an opportunity for volunteers to tag and measure the turtles |
Whilst leaving, we saw another turtle darting towards the warm Caribbean water. Darting may not be the right verb here, actually. It was moving faster than I expected, almost propelling itself along the beach and dragging its hulking frame toward the sea. We saw it submerge in the water just before leaving. Magical.
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| (Internet) Green turtles can swim at almost 60 km/h. They cannot do that on land. |
The verb choice was definitely wrong. Turtles are relatively slow in our animal kingdom, a fact that nicely cooperates with the overall vibe of Tortuguero. It’s not like the other places in Costa Rica, where earlier wake-ups and scores of activities were on the agenda. It’s a place to relax and reflect.
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| Enjoying a piña colada on a hotel boardwalk |
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| After hiking up to a 119-metre-high platform for this view, of course! |
This is also true of our final destination: Puerto Viejo de Talamanca. The vibe here is slow and a bit different to the rest of the country, owing to its large Afro-Caribbean influence. Like the other countries in the western hemisphere, this has a connection to slavery and cheap labour.
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| A horrible, often fatal journey |
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A lot of English is spoken here, though that also may the
influence of older North Americans who move here for retirement |
Much of Costa Rica’s influx came from Jamaica in the nineteenth century to help construct the aforementioned railroad. This population lacked rights such as citizenship, voting or freedom of travel until 1949, with no one of Afro-Caribbean descent being allowed to leave the province. The result of this is a strong culture independent of the rest of the nation.
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| The journey from Tortuguero was over 5 hours |
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| I never got round to trying the jerk chicken |
I do feel that the stereotype of it being the Caribbean and therefore laid-back and lazy is in itself…well, lazy. A lot of hard work and energy is present in Puerto Viejo. It is, however, a place to slow down, have lots of fun and appreciate the natural wonders of the southeastern part of Costa Rica.
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A Caribbean sunset - impressive considering
we were on the eastern side of the country |
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| Coconut water - necessary fuel for cycling and hiking |
One way to do this is to rent a bike. It gives you the ability to move with relative ease (it was very hot and humid) to nearby beaches with pristine sands and glistening waters. Some places are good for surfing, others for swimming.
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| It was just over 13 km from Puerto Viejo to the refuge shown in later pictures |
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| Playa Uva, where I got sunburnt by standing in the water for 20 minutes |
At the end of the road heading towards Panama is the entrance to a refuge which protects the rest of the southern Caribbean coastline. Here you can hike and, if lucky, spot some more wildlife.
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| Can you spot the sloth? |
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Apparently manatees and dolphins
sometimes pass by. Not this time, unfortunately. |
There’s been a different vibe in each place which I have visited in Costa Rica. The Caribbean coast of this rich, diverse country has been a pleasure to experience. From magical turtles to strong cocktails, it’s certainly been a great way to end my first trip to this incredible place. It truly is a land that lives up to its slogan of ‘pura vida’.
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| Sweltering by the sea |
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| Happy hour: never missed |
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| Adios, Costa Rica! |
Love you all,
Matt
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