A Day in the Jungle

Sunday was a special day as it was Scott’s birthday. Plus, this was our last weekend here. So, for our last adventure here I decided to take Scott on a trip through the jungles of Costa Rica. All Scott wanted for his birthday was to see some monkeys in the wild! The trip was amazing! The area we were headed to was on the Atlantic side, which is also on the Caribbean. It is a 3 ½ hour drive to the coast that takes you through rain forests. Our driver (guide) was extremely knowledgeable about Costa Rica and its history. The place we went is called Tortuguero. Tortuguero is a small village surrounded by canals, or rivers. The village is only accessible by boat. Once we got to the boat on the Tortuguero canals it was about a 2 ½ hour trip to the village. Along the way we saw lots of neat animals including a crocodile, spider monkeys, Jesus Christ lizards (the ones that run on the water with their back feet), white faced monkeys, and even bats. The monkey families we saw were great. They were running around and leaping from tree to tree without a care in the world. There were also a couple of babies hanging on tight to their mom's backs. The river and jungle was so secluded that we felt like we were explorers seeing this land for the first time, it was incredible.

We got to the town of Tortuguero and had a wonderful Costa Rican lunch at one of the small resorts there. After lunch we headed to the beach on the Atlantic side. Tortuguero is located on a small strip of land with the ocean on one side and the river on the other. We were able to walk/wheel from the river to the ocean in about ten minutes. Tortuguero is also known for its turtle nesting grounds. September is the end of the season where turtles come up on shore at night and lay their eggs. While walking on the beach (thank goodness for my off road tires) we saw several nests and even a fresh set of tracks from where a turtle had headed back to the ocean the night before.

Then it was back on the boat and another 2 ½ hour trip back to the van. We took different canals on the way back and saw a lot more animals including a sloth, a huge iguana (probably 6 feet long and fat), another family of spider monkeys, several birds, and a caiman. On the way back we also saw another Jesus Christ lizard and the guide was able to get him to run on the water. It was over in an instant, but really cool to see!

We got back in the van and had a 3 ½ hour drive back to San Jose. It was a long day, but well worth the trip. Scott could not have asked for a more memorable birthday!

Here comes a few of the cool pictures we took!

This is a banana plantation. They were everywhere. The bananas are covered by the blue bags.

This boa constrictor was road kill on the way up. Poor thing.

Here is the boat that took us through the canal and jungle.

We were amazed to see the variety of vegetation which included a lot of palm trees and canopy trees, and vines mixed together.

Here is the crocodile.

One of the many spider monkey we saw. We were told that when the villagers weren't looking, the spider monkeys would steal their stuff like bags or lunches.


Look at the bottom of the picture for the white faced monkey. These were very close and at eye level. We were told that it is rare to see them this close. They were very playful.

Here is another shot look closely in the vines.

This is one of the several Jesus Christ lizards we saw. They are called this because they run on the water with their back feet.

A shot of one of the canals we went down.

Look close. These are bats hanging upside down on the trunk of a tree.

Here is part of the village of Tortuguero.

This is our boat parked for lunch.

Look closely and you will see a couple of turtle nests from the nesting grounds. The sand on this coast is black because it is formed by volcanic rock.

This is a cool coconut tree.

One of the iguanas we saw. This one was small at about 3 feet long. Not coming close to the big one we saw in the trees.

Here we are on the Caribbean coast.

There were lots of turkey voltures around, we felt right at home!

Here is the sloth hanging upside down. It didn't move the whole time we watched it.

The jungle is beautiful. We are so thankful for such a great day.