Los Mangles in The Biotopo Monterrico-Hawaii
At the Tortuguario Monterrico visitors center I made a reservation for an early morning pirogue tour of the mangroves. I paid about $1.10 to visit the center, which hatches and releases sea turtles, caimans, iguanas and a prehistoric river fish. The few-inch deep baby turtle pool was my favorite. there is also a small “museum” with pickled animals, the main-stay of central american natural history museums :). I paid $10 for the tour, which is several hours long. Lonely Planet recommends buying there, rather than from a street tout, because then the tortuguario gets a cut and not a random dude. I got my ticket and was told to be there the next morning at 5:30 am. 5:30 am!!!
I thought: that’s cool, I’ll be out on the boat as the sun is coming up, being paddled thru bird-filled mangrove swamps – but it was about a 15 minute walk from my beautiful bungalow to the tortuguario. On the way home from the visit I attemped to walk to the resort from the road to see if that would be a better way to get there, but I hit a dead end on the road I thought led there. So I figured I would just walk down the beach just before the sun’s up – you know – dusk. It will be lovely.
Tags: central america, guatemala, guatemala, mangroves, monterrico, tortuguario, Travel
Peggy Rehm