A Jungle Christmas

All I wanted for Christmas (actually all I always want) was a trip to the unknown, a voyage, an expedition. A place far from concrete, the internet, and commercials. A place of peace and discovery. Somewhere to rest my eyes on the beauty of nature. So with family in tow I traveled by plane and boat to the Costa Rican rain forest. We traveled to places unreachable by road. Canopy covered outboard skiffs ply the canals of Tortuguero on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica and move people and supplies in Drake Bay on the southern Pacific.

Rain on the river

Tortuguero 

On the boardwalk

In Tortuguero, known for the green sea turtles who lay their eggs on the beach there, we stayed in rooms built on stilts connected with covered boardwalks.  Screens instead of glass cover window openings, nothing to keep out the sounds of the forest growing around us. Rain poured from the sky in torrents at night prompting loud complaints from the howler monkeys. The metal roofs intensified the sound of the rain and one night a monkey cavorting on the metal roof woke everyone at 1:30 leaving us wondering what in the world was going on. We took a boat tour up the canals of Tortuguero National Park to see wildlife. It takes a very good eye to spot animals in the rain forest. The forest there grows right down to the water, dense and green. We started in sunshine our guide pointing out birds and plants and continued in a downpour clad in thick army green ponchos. When the rain finally ceased and we pushed back our hoods many of us were quite wet. You'd need a poncho sealed to your face and neck with duct tape to be completely dry.

Muddy boots

Mud, mud, and more mud. Sticky, thick, slurping mud. We donned rubber boots for a trek through the forest surrounding the lodge. We didn't see many animals, our slopping around wasn't very quiet. Our guide proceeded confidently through the mud along the trail stopping to tell us about the trees growing above and around us. Their adaptations for growth and reproduction  in near constant rain are fascinating. Their roots are tall yet shallow and spread out around the tree to keep it anchored in place. On the ground we trudged through and around ankle deep mud trying to keep our boots on. Our feet made loud sucking sounds as we pulled them from the muck toes curled to keep from leaving the boots behind. The sky was clear then but the dripping of water from leaves continued sending rivulets of water down our backs or faces. In fact the constant dripping left me unsure about  the weather. Was it raining or was I just walking under some trees?

A little blurry but....

During the rainy season, we were there during the "dry" season, the sea turtles come ashore to lay their eggs. No pictures or ponchos are allowed and tourists must be quiet as possible. But during the dry season those eggs hatch and the baby turtles race unerringly toward the surf to be swept into the vast ocean. To hell with watching the mamas lay eggs, our guide rounded us up and we caught a boat across the canal to the beach. The babies were hatching! We hurried down the beach in time to see a nest of new turtles scrambling up from their sandy hole and dashing to the sea. For this experience you need only watch where you step, turn your flash off, and be amazed. We took pictures and video and oohed and aahed like proud new parents. We warned each other not to step back or to be still. Those babies weren't deterred by the deep footprints we left in the sand nor the three foot sand cliff that stood between them and the sea. Falling off the cliff they'd land upside down exposing their white undersides, right themselves and scoot toward the water to be swept away. I was giddy with excitement and wonder. In less than 30 minutes the nest was empty and the turtles were at sea. What a truly awe inspiring experience.

This was why I'd come. Wonder, awe, peace, discovery.