Howling Monkeys and Poisonous Frogs

The thing I'd been looking forward to the most about visiting Costa Rica was the wildlife and so far we've been lucky enough to see a wide variety of different creatures. Not so much in the Monteverde cloudforest, where it was probably just too wet, though we did still manage to see some hummingbirds as well as a rather inquisitive coati.

The real highlight though has been Tortuguero National Park, over on the Caribbean coast. It's not exactly what springs to mind re the Cariibbean - it rained most of the time and the beach was wild and windswept. If a weatherman was inserted with hsi umbrella blowing away it could easily have been the setting for a news report of a hurricane.

Tortuguero's cut off from the rest of the country - we took a bus as far as La Pavona and then a boat took us the remaining hour or so to the village.

We explored the canals of the national park by canoe and saw some toucans and lots of other birds.

We also spotted some spider and howler monkeys, crocodiles, snakes and various insects.

My favourite was probably the Blue Jean Frog - aka the Strawberry Poison Dart Frog. So named because Indigenous groups used their poison to make darts for hunting animals...and because they have blue legs.

The village had a pleasant, laid back Caribbean vibe to it and the creole food made a welcome change from the standard Tican fare of rice and beans. Despite all the rain, the groundsman let nothing stand in his way of preparing the football field.

On the day we left it rained so much that after getting the boat to La Pavona, no sooner had the connecting bus set off than it had be evacuated. We joined the other passengers in having to wade across what had previously been the road but now resembled part of the river.

The empty bus followed behind and somehow managed not to be swept away by the strong current...it charged through the water at such speed that for a second it looked as though it would run down all the watching passengers who were forced to jump for cover. Finally we got back on board and resumed our journey towards the Saripiqui region.