[19 Oct 2009 | Written by Erin | 4 Comments]
Back to Nature in Tortuguero

Before visiting Tortuguero, I associated the area with turtles. Just turtles. All I wanted was to see a turtle, and so when, on my second night, I saw four nesting green sea turtles, I thought to myself, “Wow. I’ve seen the turtles, but I have four days left. Now what?”
I needn’t have worried. Though Tortuguero is known and even named for its nesting turtle populations, this northern Caribbean town has so much more to offer. I found myself enchanted by the area’s winding canals, especially the mysterious Cano Palma, where the water is so black …

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[27 Oct 2009 | Written by Erin | One Comment]
Day 7: A Beautiful Tortuguero Sunrise and Ride Home

This was my last day in Tortuguero and Vincent and I were getting up early to stroll the beach — we were hoping to see green turtle hatchlings and a beautiful sunrise. At 4:15, I turned off my alarm, hopped out of bed, and grabbed my camera.
The beach was dark and deserted when we walked out; to protect nesting turtles, Tortuguero’s beach is closed from 6 p.m. to 5 a.m. Our feet in the sand, we sat and waited for 5:00 to roll around — the sky stretched out before us, deep blue in the …

Location: Northern Caribbean, Tortuguero »

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[26 Oct 2009 | Written by Erin | One Comment]
Day 6: Sport Fishing Success and an Exciting Canal Tour

When we met Elvin at 5:00 a.m. for this morning’s fishing excursion, he had good news and bad news. I asked for the bad first and he told me that the ocean was even rougher than it had been two days ago. A look of horror must have registered on my face — I had been worried about seasickness and capsizing in the “calmer” seas — because he laughed and told me the good news: we would be fishing the canals and not venturing into the ocean.
Good is relative, of course. Ocean fishing generally yields …

Location: Northern Caribbean, Tortuguero »

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[25 Oct 2009 | Written by Erin | 4 Comments]
Day 5: Wild for Wildlife

After yesterday’s unseasonal rains — the Caribbean is usually dry during September and October — I was happy to awake to a sunny, beautiful morning. We ate a big breakfast, packed our bags and hopped across the canal to Mawamba Lodge, our final stop in Tortuguero.
As soon as I got off the boat, I felt a tug of nostalgia — more than ten years ago, I made my first visit to Tortuguero. I couldn’t remember where I had stayed, but the question was answered as I toured the lodge: I remembered Mawamba’s wooden decks, rustic …

Location: Northern Caribbean, Tortuguero »

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