...noventa días en Costa Rica: June 2012

Travelling to Tortuguero

Mariya and I started out our exciting journey to Costa Rica at 10:45 am on May 17^th. As I boarded Taca Airlines, it finally hit me that this was real and that for 3 months I would be learning, sharing and working in a new environment, meeting new people and enjoying novel experiences. Our 6 hour flight included one stop over in San Salvador. Here, we had great difficulty finding the washroom after the airport worker we asked didn’t speak English, who then had a good laugh at us as we took out our Spanish dictionary and pointed anxiously at the word ‘banos’. Soon, we were finally en route to Juan Santamaira International Airport, Costa Rica. After blank stares as we tried to ask questions in English and heard our most common phrase for the day “No hablo ingles’, we were finally out of the airport and could tell as the humid air hit us full force.

We were instantly swarmed by uniformed taxi men and women offering to take us to hostels, offering us usage of their cell phones and many friendly nods as everyone tried to get passengers. Hot, sweaty and fatigued, we finally saw our names being firmly held on a crumpled white piece of paper and were assured that our ride was there. Beatrice, the friendly soft-spoken owner of Gaudysbackers Hostel, where we would be staying for the night saved us from the very hot, busy airport.

As we entered the busy streets of San Jose a picturesque scene emerged. The mountains instilled a sense of peace and lush green vegetation adorned with brightly coloured blossoms waved in the gentle breeze. In many ways, my first impression of Costa Rica echoed home; from the loaded mango, papaya and avocado trees, to the rustic countryside scene , the weathered zinc roofs of the houses, to the bright hot sun and the laid back vibe of the people, it all greeted, and welcomed us ‘home’.

The following day, after spending our first night in a tiny partially windowless bunk room, we were on our way to the station. The journey into Tortuguero was met with many interesting and helpful individuals who made our journey much more entertaining. First, we met Anthony who gave us a mini guided tour experience on our first bus to Cariari, pointing out beautiful rivers and towering volcanic landscape as the bus sped through dark meandering tunnels cut through mountains. We were then fortunate to meet Bonny, a Costa Rican Jamaican bilingual tour guide on our second bus into La Pavona. I must say it all went much more smoothly than anticipated.

As we rode into San Francisco on the taxi boat (a regular form of transport in these parts) other than the occasional splash by other boats passing by, I was overwhelmed by the beauty of it all. Who on a daily basis gets to see Jesus Christ lizards running swiftly on water, front feet outstretched like hands, white faced capuchins swinging from tree to tree, wild hibiscus along river banks and the common sight of large-billed multicoloured toucans and hummingbirds feeding in the trees? Mariya and I were soon in San Francisco, a tiny town and apparently where we can find ice cream and cheese burgers! Here, we met up with one of the station mangers -Manuel and the very smart 2 year Emanuel as well as the excited faces of the other two interns Sarah and Kirstin for another boat ride that would take us to our final destination, Cano Palma. It became obvious as we pulled into the biological station that the phrase ‘waking up to the sound of nature’ would be an understatement here, for it was clear that we were not brought to nature, but nature had come to us.