Tortuguero...

There´s a place on the Caribbean Coast that is a refuge for several kinds of sea turtles and tortoises...and a haven for turtle tourism. Hearing that it´s a Caribbean Coast "must visit," we arose very early (5 am) from our delicious La Fortuna hotel and loaded our gear into one of those ubiquitous "turismo" vans. After several additional hotel stops to pick up other early risers, we headed to Rancho Roberto Restaurant which serves as a rendezvous point for travelers coming from other directions. There we gobbled down some breakfast, loaded our gear into a large turismo bus and headed east. Along the way we visited a banana plantation, witnessing the ripening, washing, and packing of bananas. After pineapple, bananas are Costa Rica´s #2 export. Then we drove further to a dock. There busloads of people were being loaded onto river boats. Our group was loaded onto several barge-like boats depending on whether we were going for one, two or three days. We´d selected a two-day trip which included a night in a jungle style hotel, several beach walks and a chance to watch a tortoise lay her eggs on a moon lit beach.

Costa Ricas turtles' reproductive process has been endangered as the result of human activities such as light pollution, garbage and waterfront development. And at tortuguero those turtles who do manage to reproduce (a mature female will lay eggs every three years) are studied carefully by scientists and tracked nightly for tourist-observers. The tell-tale signs of a turtle's readiness to drop her eggs are tracks along the beach and the digging of holes. We were treated to a live-action performance. Our Mama spent nearly an hour dropping her over 100 glistening golf-ball sized eggs. Then she covered them with sand, created a pseudo nest to confuse egg-hungry predators and then returned to the sea. And we spent an amazing evening in our jungle cabanas. The sounds of cicadas and birds filled the night-time air; then the rain began to pound on our clangy tin roofs and I sort of slept. The sounds were so amazing I just wanted to stay awake and listen.

The next day we went out on a nature boatride and a nature walk, feasting our eyes on birds, sloths and monkeys. When photographing these distant creatures wore me out, I´d shoot the beautiful reflections of the jungle leaves on the gray-green river.