Tortuguero Expanded
Friday, April 25th, 2008I decided that I would chill and let myself sleep in today but do you know what time I woke up? 7;15am! How depressing but it is all good because then I have time to upload the but load of pictures I´ve taken of Tortuguero. Oh. but more on last night. I went to a cafe and watched a band play. It was pretty sweet and I enjoyed watching at the people ¨skank¨which is what I´m going to asuming they would do the reggee music. This kid outside just ate like three cup of noodle. I think he´s on a stricter budget then I am. Maybe I should have the plato de dia again today or the pinto gallo. I can at least tell that rice and beans are going to be eaten. YAY! Is rice suppose to be crunchy in costa rica? Al Dente? because all the rice I´ve had so far was “al dente”
Back to Tortuguero
So the bus picks me up and we go around town to pick up everyone else for the tour. I end up sitting next to this lady that grew up in new york but moved to mexico after college. She´s lived in mexico for 35 years and was a university english teacher. Well she kept talking and talking and the only thing that was interesting about her talks was food. Is it strange that I have a craving for something that is so out there? I haven´t even had it… haha… you want to know what it is? well it´ll gross some of you out for sure. There grasshoppers and ant larvae. They are first blanched to remove the bitterness, then dried of excess water, then they are fried in a out pan of oil, and then are seasoned with limon, salt, garlic powder, and chili powder. They turn out to be these crunchy little bits of goodness. man, i wants some now. She says that they HAVE to be CRUNCHY or else they aren´t that good. Something else I remember her saying is that if you rub so garlic on a ant or spider bite the reacton will significantly be reduced. I´ll try that next time I´m at home.
So were driving in the bus… la da da…. we stop for breakfast… eggs and toast and some nasty yellow fruit drink that is grainy and thick and things get stuck in between my teeth… yum….
drive somemore and we stop at this tropical garden where we see monkeys, flowers, birds, and a frog. But they weren´t in the wild so it wasn´t as inpressing as Tortuguero. The flowers were pretty bad ass though. how come I can´t get away from the train anywhere? its honking its horn as it passes by… i think if you can hear the train you deserved to be hit… I´m just kidding– well back to my story which really isn´t a story but a list of things I did and saw.
After driving some more we pass through a banana plantation (we the tourist think that dole, del monte, and chaquita are the main rulers of the land) The companies pay the workers $300 a month and provide the workers homes and schools for their children.
We stopped off at a processing plant to see how they process the bananas. unlike other countries, this plantation hang there bananas on line and the pull the banana to the plant.
There were these HUGE beetles at the plant. I meant HUGE.
So we get to the dock where they pick us up for part of our boat tour which is really nice. We ride through the canals to get to Torguguero. Eventually I start drifting off because it is so nice and we are going so fast that I have to squint my eyes. Why should I squint when I can just close them? hence the dosing off aspect of the trip.
I get dropped off in the city of Tortuguero which is a poor city but my room is amazing because I get a double bed and my own shower. But I later found out the my bed smells. It smells like when you wash your cloths and leave them in the washer too long and they get that mildewy smell. yea.. i think this smell is because this place is alot more humid than the city and the stuff takes longer to dry… whatever makes me feel better.. right?
we then I meet up with the rest of the group at 3pm and we go to the turtle musem. Looked around and learned. Quite interesting stuff.
Went back to the town and watched the towns soccer game and got dinner. casada con pollo de caribeno. it was very good and was less than $4. YAY
Next day, we sort of go on a 2 hour jungle safari where we try to find creatures of the jungle. We saw croc, caimen, sloths (two toed, three toed), spider monkey, howler monkey, white face monkey, jesus crist lizard, lizards, iguana, birds, and alot more.turtle
The day ended with a trek through the jungle where cows were roaming on the beach. Fun times
The bus ride was a long bumpy ride because half of the way back was a gravel road.
peacedom