sea-2-see: Act 22 | Costa Rica

Not far from the border is Puerto Viejo, which is home to the hostel with the most character & cool that i have stayed in: Rockin' J's.

For a day and a half i lived in a mosaic palace.

Not far from Rockin' J's is a path that winds its way along the coast through a mangrove forest (where fireflies sparkle in the darkle).

The path led to a beach ...

... which was perfect for rest in the daytime ...

... and for reflection in the evening.

A half day boat ride through the brown (crocodile and water-buffalo infested) rivers of the jungle, brought me to the much visited Tortuguero National Park.

Early the following morning, in between downpours, a boat powered by a skilled oarsman guided us through the jungle river system in search of wildlife.

We saw cayman (little crocodiles), all manner of birds (such as the blue, white & grey/silver herons), monkeys (howler, spider & white-faced), & lizards (including an iguana that was so well camouflaged that i still didn't see it until just a few metres away (somehow the guide saw it from the middle of the river while on the move)).

Our guide was so good at making the monkey calls that i needed to spin around several times during the journey to ensure that a monkey hadn't dropped into the boat behind me.

The animal that i was most hoping to see was the 'Jesus Christ lizard', which i did see, running across the top of the water.

The rain poured down through the afternoon thereby spoiling my plans to walk through the rainforest in search of more animals; It eased in the evening which allowed me to join the expedition to find the large green sea turtles that come ashore to lay their eggs.

I felt a little awkward being part of the small crowd that had gathered to watch the turtle lay her eggs on the same beach that she herself was born (some 30-70 years earlier); standing and staring as the turtle (who had gone into a trance) groaned the groan of labor pains was as weird as it was beautiful - it was a truly intimate moment.

Having done all that there is to do at Tortuguero in a day (even the owners of the hotel i was planning on staying in for three days strongly suggested that shortened my stay) it was time to leave; which meant saying my last goodbye to the Caribbean Sea, turning my back on it as i had done from many a side of the sea before, but this time not knowing when or if i would see or swim in her again.

I had a day or two to organise myself in San Jose, another grubby Central American capital city with not much to do or see (the real attractions in CA are in the rural districts away from the urban centres).

Both the junior and the senior national football teams where playing international fixtures on the day i went into the city centre (i saw the senior game in a bar later that evening).

If I ever put on an extra 20kg of upper body muscle mass, and invest in some more appropriate footwear, I will switch professions and become a rafting guide. (I was smiling in every shot that the professional photographer took of our team.)