September 24 - Tortuguero to Papagayo

Another 5:00am morning for us, packing up our gear and scooting over to the dining hall for a breakfast promised to be merely “continental.” Continental, in Costa Rica anyway, apparently means coffee, orange juice, fresh pineapple, banana and papaya, breakfast ham, perfectly cooked fried eggs and tasty wheat bread, still hot from the oven. I told Gerardo that in the U.S., you could expect a small muffin in a plastic bag as your continental breakfast.

As we stood waiting for our shuttle boat to arrive, a toucan flew overhead! We boarded the boat and made the short ride over to the Tortuguero airstrip. I felt like royalty riding swiftly over the river, with just a driver, Gerardo and Jesse. Little did we know that our small 12 or 15-seater airplane would arrive – and Jesse and I would be the only passengers! The copilot gave a “ladies and gentleman” speech much more relaxed than the standard TSA lecture delivered back at home. We took off from the small strip of concrete boarded by rainforest on one side and the beach just through a line of trees on the other. It was a short ride to San Jose, where we walked off the plane and across the tarmac to a very, very small gate area to wait for our next flight. We had a strange array of snacks while we waited, including a blueberry muffin and a pear yogurt beverage named “Likigurt.”

Our next plane, which was the same size as the first, was full. We flew to the tiny Tamarindo airport to drop off some of the passengers, and then continued on to Liberia. I spotted a really weird bug that looked like it had been covered in white spray paint, but I was feeling a little too rushed to get a picture. We were greeted by a new driver, Armando, with whom we spoke Spanish the entire ride to the resort. Well, Jesse spoke and I generally just listened. Jesse accidentally told Armando that he’d been to all 50 states, which Armando find very impressive.

We arrived at the Allegro Papagayo Hotel and checked in, receiving our prized golden bracelets that let everyone know we were on our honeymoon. The resort was all-inclusive in terms of food and alcohol, but we were promised some extra perks for the occasion. We tossed our bags in our room and set out to explore. We got excited to see a big iguana sunning itself on a bush, and then realized that the creatures dotted the whole place! We got a bite to eat at the snack bar and walked down to the black sand beach. We walked along the shore for a while, examining the thousands of pretty seashells and the occasional fish body.

Returning to our room, we decided to take a nap in air-conditioned comfort. We woke to realize that we’d completely missed lunch, so we went back to sleep. Those early mornings had caught up to us. We woke again in time for dinner and set out for “La Trattoria” – the hotel’s a la carte Italian restaurant. Reservations were required and a dress code was loudly announced – a dress code which we couldn’t abide by due to our limited clothing and shoe selection. Fortunately, another diner had his shirt unbuttoned practically down to his navel.

Thinking our day was nearing its close, we walked back up to our room, spotting a mama raccoon and several babies along the way. We washed some clothes with bar soap in the sink (a necessity with a 25 pound limit on luggage) and decided to take a quick trip to the hot tub and maybe play a short game of darts at the bar before retiring. Unfortunately, we found the hot tub closed by the time we got down to the pool area. And then there was only one dart in the dart board. The foosball table opened up, so we positioned ourselves there.

Less than three minutes later, I was approached by a member of the “Occidental Fun Club.” The young man directed me to repeat his words to Jesse.

Jesse. If you do not participate in tonight’s production. I will not sleep with you.

And so Jesse decided to participate in the night’s production. Then I got roped into participating as well – bikini top and all. What was the production? GREASE. We were directed to a dressing room along with three men, and told to choose button-up suit jackets. We were then herded backstage and told to choose instruments – Jesse got the bongo drums and I opted for a big cymbal. Our “director” told us to watch the stage for the big red car and once the song “Greased Lightning” began, we were to put on our jackets, grab our instruments and position ourselves just behind the curtain.

I wanted to quit. I wanted to go hide in our room till the next day, bailing out on the rest of the cast. Jesse didn’t act like that was an option so I stuck around. In the meantime, we met Will, a Costa Rican native who had spent many years in the U.S. and who had just returned to Costa Rica 11 months prior (read: preemptively running from the law). He convinced us to do shots of tequila to steel our nerves before our Costa Rican stage debuts. A Spanish-speaking man, Patricio, who looked like he was from Michigan, joined us. Then it was time; the car appeared and the familiar notes of “Greased Lightning” rang out. We grabbed our jackets (I was happy to cover my skin), our instruments, and the curtains opened and music began!

We were only to pretend we were playing our instruments. I nervously tapped my cymbal while Jesse bongoed away next to me. Patricio – previously quiet and shy – ran twirling across the stage, sticking his microphone in each of our faces to do singing “solos.” It was madness. The song flowed into another…this was taking fooooreeeever.

Once our part finally ended, we headed back over the bar with Will. Turns out he had worked at the same software sales company as Jesse had – only at a Costa Rica branch rather than in Beaverton, Oregon. The raccoon family came down and raided garbage cans in the bar area. I got close to a little baby who was too immersed in what he was doing to notice me.

The bar closed and we moved to the empty discothèque…which it seems they opened up just for us. The night ended significantly later than I had anticipated.

September 23 - Tortuguero

I mis-set the alarm, but the sound of howler monkeys screaming nearby had woken us early anyway. We had breakfast and the group set out for a nature walk through the forest. We were provided rubber boots to wear, but neither Jesse nor I had packed any socks. (Instead, we each brought a pair of flip flops and a heavier duty pair of Teva-type hiking sandals.) I wrapped a dirty tank top around each foot before donning the boots, and Jesse went skin to rubber. He did wrap a bandana around each of his calves to prevent them from being rubbed raw.

We explored an area a short boat ride away, walking across balance beam logs and trekking through shallow muddy pits. We saw several poison dart frogs (the pretty red “blue jeans” variety), giant grasshoppers and spiders, a cousin of the Resplendent Quetzal (the mystical bird I most wanted to see – this was the closest I’d come – besides my quetzal magnet and keychain) called a trogan, and huge bullet ants. We learned how to survive in the rainforest by making palm roofs and eating hearts of palm.

Hot and sweaty as usual, we returned to the lodge for another swim in the tortuga pool before lunch. Ever on the go, we then got back on a boat to visit the small village of Tortuguero. This felt like the first time we were really being exposed to local culture, which we appreciated. The back side of the village bordered the Caribbean beach, where Gerardo gave a long explanation of how turtles come to shore to lay their eggs. When he had finally finished and we were turned loose for an hour, Jesse immediately stripped down to board shorts and jumped in the ocean!

We spent the rest of our free time exploring the village, walking down its dirt path “main drag.” We watched various small dogs roaming all over the town and stopped in the “super market” for Jesse’s much-desired rum and coke in a can. Many clouds had gathered and it rained for just a little while. We had a hard time believing this was the height of the rainy season.

Back in our cabin, we noticed men working on an electrical box and soon realized the electricity had been turned off. It was cool enough, so I took a short nap. I awoke to Jesse handing me one of those magical tropical fruit cocktails. He said, God told me to get this for you. Thank you God, I said, and the electricity promptly turned back on.

We went for yet another swim – during which Jesse broke all my pool caution rules by:

1. Tossing me in the air and letting me fall completely underwater.
2. Carrying me on his shoulders “chicken” style.
3. Dance lifting me “Patrick Swayze” style.
4. Laying on the bottom of the pool while I tried to walk on his back.

It was dark by the time we returned to our room and we decided to rest since there was still some time before dinner was to be served. We were resting on the double bed, staring at the ceiling, when –all of the sudden- the power went out. We were in utterly dark darkness. Rain had started to fall outside and howler monkeys sounded. It was amazing.

The rain continued to fall even harder and the lights popped back on at a couple minutes to seven. We loaded on raingear and walked over to the dining hall for dinner. More special treatment awaited us. One of the servers with whom we’d become familiar asked if we wanted a table on the porch in order to watch the rain. He led us to a nice candle lit table at the very corner of the covered porch.

We sloshed over to the bar for my nightly journal writing. Jesse had been told a live Calypso band was playing, so as it turned out, I was immediately interrupted from writing by a band member who handed both Jesse and I each a maraca. Holy smokes, I have no rhythm. In fact, I messed up whatever rhythm Jesse may have had alone. My biggest mistake came when the band members were asking whether it was anyone’s birthday…anyone’s anniversary. For some reason I opened my mouth and proudly declared that it was our Luna De Miel! We were instructed to stand and dance, just the two of us. The band began to play “Besame Mucho.”

Oh, I was so embarrassed. The song went on and on. The Spaniards cheered and gave us enthusiastic instructions in Spanish that I didn’t understand. I was happy when the song ended, but what a charming memory!

September 22 - San Jose to Tortuguero

5:00am. We got ready quickly and went outside to wait for our transportation to Tortuguero. We didn’t know just what to expect, so I think we were a little surprised when a massive tour bus pulled up. We boarded and our tour guide, Alexis, did a poll of everyone on board – Does anyone here speak English? Jesse and I were the only two to raise our hands. We peered around at the other tourists and quickly realized every other person on the bus was from Spain. Will do you alright with Spanish, Alexis asked. Jesse quickly nodded. The Spanish onslaught began. I sat quietly in my seat and looked out the window.

We stopped for breakfast at a simple roadside restaurant, seemingly designed for large groups of travelers on giant tour busses. We had our first taste of gallo pinto (pronounced “guy-yo peen-toe”) – the traditional Costa Rican breakfast of white rice, black beans and seasonings. We also had fried eggs, fresh fruit, and hotdogs (yes, hotdogs). Hot, strong Costa Rican coffee rounded out the satisfying meal.

After quite a bit more driving, over mountains, through rainforest and past banana plantations, we reached the chaotic departure dock where a couple hundred tourists were weaving about, trying to collect their baggage. We bought a couple coconuts with their tops sheared off and straws stuck into the sweet, almost spicy water within. We boarded a small, flat-bottomed boat with a new guide, Fernando, and a bunch of new Spaniards. We set out over the Tortuguero Canals, headed for our rainforest lodge, immediately spotting several new varieties of birds on the shore and flying above the water.

We stopped for about 15 minutes at a river “rest stop” with a bar and small gift shop. We enjoyed our first Imperial beers – well loved in Costa Rica – and explored the area. We hopped back in the boat and sped to the docks of the hidden Evergreen Lodge. We deboated (a person can deplane, so why not deboat?), and were immediately handed a glorious cocktail containing, at the very least, papaya, banana, mango and carrot juices. We were assigned to cabin #21, up on stilts with a porch marked with two rocking chairs on either side of the door. Inside, a sizeable room with large “windows” covered only by screen and heavy curtains. One double bed, one twin bed. A fully equipped bathroom and small back porch.

We rushed off to a buffet lunch at the lodge dining hall, then back to our rooms to grab our cameras for the afternoon canal tour. We stopped at the entrance to Tortuguero National Forest so our guide, Gerardo, could pay the requisite fee to a park guard. While he was busy, some men on land called us up from the boat. I didn’t realize what was happening, but Jesse and I got off the boat along with everyone else and stood crowded around a tall bush next to a small, worn-out basketball court. What is it, I asked. A snake, said a nice Spain lady! I maneuvered around the rest of the group, using my height as an advantage to stick my head into the bush and get a great, macro shot of the amazing, bright yellow snake that was curled up on an inner limb of the plant.

Gerardo finally turned around and got a quizzical look on his face when he realized we had all deboated (again). We got back on the boat and entered the smaller canals of the National Forest. We saw an amazing array of wildlife, all pointed out by our highly observant and specially trained guides! There were various types of herons, basilisks (“Jesus lizards”), a caiman, an iguana, howler monkeys, spider monkeys, bats and a gar fish (holy teeth), not to mention a ton of additional types of birds – which we’d later try to identify in my handy waterproof Audubon Costa Rica bird pamphlet. At one point, our guide explained that the striking yellow snake we had seen back on land - the pretty one with the noticeable protruding "eyelashes" - was a Golden Eyelash snake...one of the most deadly snakes in the country. A warning before I climbed into its hiding spot would have been appreciated.

We had time for a swim in the lovely new tortuga-shaped swimming pool before dinner. Yes, that would be the dinner where I poured salt all over my freshly served spaghetti and marinara, thinking it was the (soon to be realized as very elusive) shaky parmesan cheese. I felt a lot better once Jesse and I were bestowed with a giant fruitball-studded pineapple filled with coconut dream cocktail. Oh man. The perks of being on honeymoon.

That night I initiated a tradition of settling down with Jesse at the little bar on the lodge grounds (housed under a simple pavilion) and writing down the day’s events. It was a relaxing end to a long day and we even managed to see two more types of animals before retiring – a gigantic blue land crab and a big ugly frog.