Celebrated as one of the world’s most
picturesque countries, Costa Rica is home to an astonishing diversity of
landscapes and climate zones. About five percent of the world’s species of
flora and fauna thrive in this tiny country and local ticos vigorously
protect them by preserving much of their land against development. Tortuguero,
a maze of rainforest canals and inlets on the Caribbean coast linking villages
and traversing palm forests and swamps dense with wildlife, is just one
national park of a vast network.
We went on a tour that took us through the Tortuguero Canals where
we were able to explore a lush network of natural
waterways and manmade canals in one of Costa Rica’s unique coastal
environments. Tortuguero National Park, stretching 14 miles along the shore,
was created to preserve the nesting site of the green turtle. Today, its maze
of watery passageways connects lagoons, deltas and even small villages. The
park’s many eco-zones support a diverse array of wildlife, from manatee to
howler monkeys, making it one of Costa Rica’s most rewarding nature
experiences.
Our guide for this excursion was David. Again, a very good guide.
On the way to the canals we passed through the town. Christopher Columbus
landed here in 1502. In 1821 Costa Rica became independent. Costa Rica is
located between two plates and in 1991 there was a 7.2 quake here. It that time
a lot of the infrastructure was ruined. The blue building you see is the
hospital. Costa Rica is about the size of West Virginia and is bordered on the
east by the Caribbean and on the west by the Pacific. They have a population of
5 million. The currency is the colon, which is the last name of Christopher
Columbus in Spanish. The exchange rate is 570 colons to a dollar. Gas is about $4.65
per gallon and a Big Mac meal is $4.20. Diesel is government subsidized and is
about $2.70 per gallon.
We went down the canals in pontoons. Our captain was Maurice and he was
able to help us spot quite a bit.
We saw the Snow Egret, but not the Cattle Egret, which even though they
are both white the Cattle Egret has a yellow beak. We saw one small Cayman,
smaller than an alligator or crocodile, but could not get a picture. He was a
baby and hard to see. They grow to be about 6-8 feet long. The crocodiles down
here can grow to 18 feet long. Caymans have a rounded snout where the crocodile
has on that is more pointed. We also saw some Squirrel monkeys, but again did
not get pictures. They have four types of monkeys here: Squirrel, White Faced
Caprice, Spider and the Howler. We also saw two, two toed sloths of which we do
have pictures.
And
then it was back to the port.
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