PN Tortuguero, Costa Rica

The Flooded Costa Rica of Tortuguero


Mrs. of Tortuguero
A Lady sheltered by a large tortoise sculpture, outside La Pavona.
Palma channel below
Public boat transports passengers through the Canal de Palma.
Tortuguero. El Pueblito de
A resident of Tortuguero passes behind the village's two avian statues.
golden afternoon
Couple under the porch of their house in the village of Tortuguero.
Great Fishing
Don Emílio and his sons return from another fishing trip on the Tortuguero river, with large sea bass.
lazy maternity
Sloth mother holds a cub and looks for the sun after a long period of rain.
Socializing by the water
Friends live in a house on the banks of the Tortuguero canal.
anhinga anhinga
PN Tortuguero, Costa Rica
Intersection in the Channel
Captain Mainor maneuvers one of the many boats that navigate the Tortuguero canals.
dizzy iguana
Iguana climbs back up a tree after an ostentatious fall in his sleep.
Tortuguero
The sun sets over the horizon and gilds the Caribbean coast of Tortuguero, on Costa Rica's northeast coast.
The Caribbean Sea and the basins of several rivers bathe the northeast of the Tica nation, one of the wettest and richest areas in flora and fauna in Central America. Named after the green turtles nest in its black sands, Tortuguero stretches inland for 312 km.2 of stunning aquatic jungle.

Traveling 50km across the rural and sunny Limon province, the road threshold of La Pavona quickly puts the dots in the i's in terms of the illusion of some barometric goodness.

We were still heading for the protection of the bar-restaurant when leaden and unrelenting clouds cast a deluge over the shipboard.

At a time when the boats lightened, we climbed aboard the boat we would follow with final destination to Tortuguero. Waiting for other passengers, we went back out on photographic prospecting.

We find ourselves trapped by another rain under a rough shelter of beams and planks.

Blessing it and the newcomers to the riverside a sanctuary the like of which we had never seen, composed of a leggy turtle carved from dark wood.

And, under the high carapace, a bright green statuette of what looked to us like Our Lady holding a baby Jesus.

Finally, with everyone on board, Carlos Arceyut, the host at Laguna Lodge welcomes us, introduces us to the captain of the boat Minor.

Minor sets sail for the Suerte, a tributary of the Tortuguero River, another of several rivers that flow from the Cordillera Central towards the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica and that flood vast areas in its path, as is the case of the de Caño Negro, further west.

After 20 minutes, as if by a miracle of the unusual divinity, the clouds open up. For almost an hour, under a dome that was almost azure blue, we zigzagged through the meanders of the Suerte, until we entered a wide channel pointing to the town of San Francisco and the Laguna Penitência.

Folding the hook of an Isla Quatro Esquinas, we left a passenger in the village of Tortuguero. We went back up the channel parallel to that of Laguna da Providência until, about the scheduled time, we anchored at Laguna Lodge.

Laguna Lodge, between the Tortuguero Canals and the Caribbean Sea

There we settled, between the last channel of the trip and the Caribbean Sea and, as soon as we went out onto the porch of our room, we were already in contact with the surrounding fauna.

A great thud makes us startled. It occurs to us that it should have caused a coconut discarded by its coconut tree.

A closer look reveals a large iguana that has just fallen from the top of a tree and sprawled on the wet ground. We accompanied her, unharmed but somewhat stunned, as she returned to her interrupted sleep in the heights.

In a unique setting and ecosystem like that, we didn't want to waste even a minute. Accordingly, we returned to the canal, once again captained by Mainor and guided by Carlos Arceyut.

Tortuguero's Almost Amphibious and Risky Life

We scour the vegetation on the banks for animals when a trio aboard a canoe “rosmery”, struggling to row against the current, catches our attention. “It's Mr. Emílio and his children.” tells us Carlos. “They went fishing at the mouth of the river. Let's see what they caught"

Carlos questions them. Moments later, the fishermen show us a huge sea bass and a snapper just a little smaller. “For them, fishing like this is routine. They know these channels like no one else and have been through it all.

Just to give you an idea, once, one of Mr. Emílio's children was attacked by a crocodile, even close to where they caught these fish. Do you know how he got away with it? Hit him with a stick. That's not why they stopped going back there.”

Emile and his descendants were not the only ones to refuse to be intimidated by the omnipresence of the voracious reptiles.

A few hundred meters upstream, we crossed paths with another trio, this time aboard the canoe “Miss Sibella”. Dona Rosana, Axel and Genesis fished for river shrimp, which they unraveled from floating islands of vegetation. We established a new approach.

Despite a certain initial shyness, they also remind us that they live on water and that if crocodiles kept them away from the canals, they would not be able to live. “Anyway, it's to avoid any hassles that I have the canoe between me and the bank. We do what we can.”

Tortuguero, the Caricata Village

The sun was almost setting over the jungle to the west. We continued the navigation towards the Tortuguero village. We landed to the sound of cumbia coming from a street bar, at that hour, with few customers.

More than the Caribbean soundtrack, it is the imposition of an unusual nucleus of statues that takes us seriously.

Just in front of the pier, beyond the colony of tires that cushion the mooring of boats and above a multicolored playground, a green macaw coexisted with a toucan. A few yards to the left, two polar bears sat on a shed enjoying the birds' chatter and their flickering reflection in the dark water of the canal.

The raison d'être of birds was clear to us. That of polar bears lacked an explanation. “Ah! It stayed there from an advertising or sponsorship of an ice cream brand.

I think it was Eskimo.” elucidates us Carlos.

Statues on the sidelines, the hamlet of Tortuguero was generated by ancestors, mestizos of Afro-Caribbeans, Indigenous Miskitos and immigrants from far away places.

From the Origins of Tortuguero to the Rewarding Return to Laguna Lodge

It was mainly developed by the need for labor in cocoa plantations, which, due to its imminence, ended up giving rise to additional exports of turtle meat, also for the USA and Europe.

We admired the way the sunset gilded the houses of Tortuguero. Exhausted from a whole day of road and river travel, we decided to exchange the intriguing dimness of the village for the cozy shelter, which recharges energy at Laguna Lodge.

While we ate, we resisted an attempted assault by a family of hungry coatis.

We went to bed early, convinced that we would face a new sunny day, full of newness and activity, like the one that was closing. We were wrong and it was not little.

An Unexpected Meteorological Dramatism

In the middle of the night, a roar like the Caribbean Sea passing over the room makes us wake up with a start. When we looked out the window, we realized that it was a deluge rain, pushed from the north by almost cyclonic gusts of wind.

The Caribbean hurricane season had ended some ten days ago. Still, in December, it is common for cold fronts to descend across Central America and release their moisture and fury on the Caribbean side.

Bategas followed each other every night. They continued throughout the day. They agitated and inflated the grayish Caribbean Sea and, there, even in calm times, not suitable for bathing, due to the strong currents and the abundance of bull sharks.

Every other day has passed. The storm has not passed.

In this meteorological disaster so natural in the rainy Tortuguero, the Caribbean Sea was limited to projecting its waves almost to the coconut forest.

In the canal, the water rose before our eyes. He invaded the pier. He climbed the edge of the garden.

In that time, three times, Luís Torres, another guide at the service of the lodge, appeared at our service and, to our shared frustration, saw his services postponed for us.

So it went on until, two tenebrous and stormy dawns later, on the third, the bad weather took over.

We wake up without rain or wind. Instead of the angry sky unfurling over our heads, a gentle mist massaged the verdant top of the jungle.

Finally, Back to the Channels of PN Tortuguero

When we finish breakfast, Luís Torres is once again ready at the pier, accompanied by the boat's captain, Chito, nickname that replaced his real name Braulio.

“This time it really is, Luís, don't worry. It is, and it will be soon”, we assure you, imbued with the same evasive anxiety as the guide. Minutes later, we were browsing the channel.

The predicted territory was much wider than that of the opening day. And yet, it was enough for us to cross to the opposite bank to marvel at it.

After the long soaked punishment, like us, a good part of the animals yearned for the sun caress. Chito and Luís detect a family of howler monkeys in a tree.

As we admire and photograph them, they find a lazy mother, still soaked, dozing in the sun, with a winking cub on her back.

Enthusiastic about the absolute setback in the luck that Tortuguero kept for us, we made an effort to leave the creatures to their perennial sleep.

We point once more to the village of statue birds and then to the hook of the canal. In the extension of the village, we reach the entrance of the homonymous National Park.

After three days of access and forced shelter, we finally reached the wild and flooded heart of Tortuguero National Park.

Article written with the support of:

JUMBO CAR COSTA RICA

https://en.jumbocar-costarica.com/?utm_source=got2globe

Use the code JUMBOCARCOSTARICA and get a 10% discount on any reservation, until 31-12-2022

LAGUNA LODGE TORTUGUERO

www.lagunatortuguero.com

Miranda, Brazil

Maria dos Jacarés: the Pantanal shelters such Creatures

Eurides Fátima de Barros was born in the interior of the Miranda region. 38 years ago, he settled in a small business on the side of BR262 that crosses the Pantanal and gained an affinity with the alligators that lived on his doorstep. Disgusted that once upon a time the creatures were being slaughtered there, she began to take care of them. Now known as Maria dos Jacarés, she named each of the animals after a soccer player or coach. It also makes sure they recognize your calls.
Passo do Lontra, Miranda, Brazil

The Flooded Brazil of Passo do Lontra

We are on the western edge of Mato Grosso do Sul but bush, on these sides, is something else. In an extension of almost 200.000 km2, the Brazil it appears partially submerged, by rivers, streams, lakes and other waters dispersed in vast alluvial plains. Not even the panting heat of the dry season drains the life and biodiversity of Pantanal places and farms like the one that welcomed us on the banks of the Miranda River.
Serengeti, Great Savannah Migration, Tanzania, wildebeest on river
Safari
Serengeti NP, Tanzania

The Great Migration of the Endless Savanna

In these prairies that the Masai people say syringet (run forever), millions of wildebeests and other herbivores chase the rains. For predators, their arrival and that of the monsoon are the same salvation.
Hikers on the Ice Lake Trail, Annapurna Circuit, Nepal
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna Circuit: 7th - Braga - Ice Lake, Nepal

Annapurna Circuit – The Painful Acclimatization of the Ice Lake

On the way up to the Ghyaru village, we had a first and unexpected show of how ecstatic the Annapurna Circuit can be tasted. Nine kilometers later, in Braga, due to the need to acclimatize, we climbed from 3.470m from Braga to 4.600m from Lake Kicho Tal. We only felt some expected tiredness and the increase in the wonder of the Annapurna Mountains.
The Little-Big Senglea II
Architecture & Design
Senglea, Malta

An Overcrowded Malta

At the turn of the 8.000th century, Senglea housed 0.2 inhabitants in 2 km3.000, a European record, today, it has “only” XNUMX neighborhood Christians. It is the smallest, most overcrowded and genuine of the Maltese cities.
Salto Angel, Rio that falls from the sky, Angel Falls, PN Canaima, Venezuela
Adventure
PN Canaima, Venezuela

Kerepakupai, Salto Angel: The River that Falls from Heaven

In 1937, Jimmy Angel landed a light aircraft on a plateau lost in the Venezuelan jungle. The American adventurer did not find gold but he conquered the baptism of the longest waterfall on the face of the Earth
shadow of success
Ceremonies and Festivities
Champoton, Mexico

Rodeo Under Sombreros

Champoton, in Campeche, hosts a fair honored by the Virgén de La Concepción. O rodeo Mexican under local sombreros reveals the elegance and skill of the region's cowboys.
Itamaraty Palace Staircase, Brasilia, Utopia, Brazil
Cities
Brasilia, Brazil

Brasília: from Utopia to the Capital and Political Arena of Brazil

Since the days of the Marquis of Pombal, there has been talk of transferring the capital to the interior. Today, the chimera city continues to look surreal but dictates the rules of Brazilian development.
Meal
Margilan, Uzbekistan

An Uzbekistan's Breadwinner

In one of the many bakeries in Margilan, worn out by the intense heat of the tandyr oven, the baker Maruf'Jon works half-baked like the distinctive traditional breads sold throughout Uzbekistan
scarlet summer
Culture

Valencia to Xativa, Spain (España)

Across Iberia

Leaving aside the modernity of Valencia, we explore the natural and historical settings that the "community" shares with the Mediterranean. The more we travel, the more its bright life seduces us.

combat arbiter, cockfighting, philippines
Sport
Philippines

When Only Cock Fights Wake Up the Philippines

Banned in much of the First World, cockfighting thrives in the Philippines where they move millions of people and pesos. Despite its eternal problems, it is the sabong that most stimulates the nation.
Cove, Big Sur, California, United States
Traveling
Big Sur, USA

The Coast of All Refuges

Over 150km, the Californian coast is subjected to a vastness of mountains, ocean and fog. In this epic setting, hundreds of tormented souls follow in the footsteps of Jack Kerouac and Henri Miller.
Singapore Asian Capital Food, Basmati Bismi
Ethnic
Singapore

The Asian Food Capital

There were 4 ethnic groups in Singapore, each with its own culinary tradition. Added to this was the influence of thousands of immigrants and expatriates on an island with half the area of ​​London. It was the nation with the greatest gastronomic diversity in the Orient.
portfolio, Got2Globe, Travel photography, images, best photographs, travel photos, world, Earth
Got2Globe Photo Portfolio
Portfolio Got2globe

The Best in the World – Got2Globe Portfolio

Angra do Heroísmo, Terceira, Azores, from historic capital to World Heritage, urban art
History
Angra do Heroismo, Terceira (Azores), Azores

Heroina do Mar, from Noble People, Brave and Immortal City

Angra do Heroísmo is much more than the historic capital of the Azores, Terceira Island and, on two occasions, Portugal. 1500km from the mainland, it gained a leading role in Portuguese nationality and independence that few other cities can boast.
Navala, Viti Levu, Fiji
Islands
Navala, Fiji

Fiji's Tribal Urbanism

Fiji has adapted to the invasion of travelers with westernized hotels and resorts. But in the highlands of Viti Levu, Navala keeps its huts carefully aligned.
Reindeer Racing, Kings Cup, Inari, Finland
Winter White
Inari, Finland

The Wackiest Race on the Top of the World

Finland's Lapps have been competing in the tow of their reindeer for centuries. In the final of the Kings Cup - Porokuninkuusajot - , they face each other at great speed, well above the Arctic Circle and well below zero.
Kukenam reward
Literature
Mount Roraima, Venezuela

Time Travel to the Lost World of Mount Roraima

Persist on top of Mte. Roraima extraterrestrial scenarios that have withstood millions of years of erosion. Conan Doyle created, in "The Lost World", a fiction inspired by the place but never set foot on it.
Windward Side, Saba, Dutch Caribbean, Netherlands
Nature
Saba, The Netherlands

The Mysterious Dutch Queen of Saba

With a mere 13km2, Saba goes unnoticed even by the most traveled. Little by little, above and below its countless slopes, we unveil this luxuriant Little Antille, tropical border, mountainous and volcanic roof of the shallowest european nation.
Mother Armenia Statue, Yerevan, Armenia
Autumn
Yerevan, Armenia

A Capital between East and West

Heiress of the Soviet civilization, aligned with the great Russia, Armenia allows itself to be seduced by the most democratic and sophisticated ways of Western Europe. In recent times, the two worlds have collided in the streets of your capital. From popular and political dispute, Yerevan will dictate the new course of the nation.
The Gran Sabana
Natural Parks

Gran Sabana, Venezuela

A Real Jurassic Park

Only the lonely EN-10 road ventures into Venezuela's wild southern tip. From there, we unveil otherworldly scenarios, such as the savanna full of dinosaurs in the Spielberg saga.

Fort Galle, Sri Lanka, Ceylon Legendary Taprobana
UNESCO World Heritage
Galle, Sri Lanka

Galle Fort: A Portuguese and then Dutch (His) story

Camões immortalized Ceylon as an indelible landmark of the Discoveries, where Galle was one of the first fortresses that the Portuguese controlled and yielded. Five centuries passed and Ceylon gave way to Sri Lanka. Galle resists and continues to seduce explorers from the four corners of the Earth.
now from above ladder, sorcerer of new zealand, Christchurch, new zealand
Characters
Christchurch, New Zealand

New Zealand's Cursed Wizard

Despite his notoriety in the antipodes, Ian Channell, the New Zealand sorcerer, failed to predict or prevent several earthquakes that struck Christchurch. At the age of 88, after 23 years of contract with the city, he made very controversial statements and ended up fired.
Soufrière and Pitons, Saint Luci
Beaches
Soufriere, Saint Lucia

The Great Pyramids of the Antilles

Perched above a lush coastline, the twin peaks Pitons are the hallmark of Saint Lucia. They have become so iconic that they have a place in the highest notes of East Caribbean Dollars. Right next door, residents of the former capital Soufrière know how precious their sight is.
self-flagellation, passion of christ, philippines
Religion
Marinduque, Philippines

The Philippine Passion of Christ

No nation around is Catholic but many Filipinos are not intimidated. In Holy Week, they surrender to the belief inherited from the Spanish colonists. Self-flagellation becomes a bloody test of faith
Chepe Express, Chihuahua Al Pacifico Railway
On Rails
Creel to Los Mochis, Mexico

The Barrancas del Cobre & the CHEPE Iron Horse

The Sierra Madre Occidental's relief turned the dream into a construction nightmare that lasted six decades. In 1961, at last, the prodigious Chihuahua al Pacifico Railroad was opened. Its 643km cross some of the most dramatic scenery in Mexico.
Military Religious, Wailing Wall, IDF Flag Oath, Jerusalem, Israel
Society
Jerusalem, Israel

A Festive Wailing Wall

The holiest place in Judaism is not only attended by prayers and prayers. Its ancient stones have witnessed the oath of new IDF recruits for decades and echo the euphoric screams that follow.
Daily life
Arduous Professions

the bread the devil kneaded

Work is essential to most lives. But, certain jobs impose a degree of effort, monotony or danger that only a few chosen ones can measure up to.
Boat and helmsman, Cayo Los Pájaros, Los Haitises, Dominican Republic
Wildlife
Samaná PeninsulaLos Haitises National Park Dominican Republic

From the Samaná Peninsula to the Dominican Haitises

In the northeast corner of the Dominican Republic, where Caribbean nature still triumphs, we face an Atlantic much more vigorous than expected in these parts. There we ride on a communal basis to the famous Limón waterfall, cross the bay of Samaná and penetrate the remote and exuberant “land of the mountains” that encloses it.
Napali Coast and Waimea Canyon, Kauai, Hawaii Wrinkles
Scenic Flights
napali coast, Hawaii

Hawaii's Dazzling Wrinkles

Kauai is the greenest and rainiest island in the Hawaiian archipelago. It is also the oldest. As we explore its Napalo Coast by land, sea and air, we are amazed to see how the passage of millennia has only favored it.
PT EN ES FR DE IT