Our trip started at 6 o'clock on Saturday morning. We had to take a bus for about 3 hours (half of which was down a dirt road) and then a boat for about 2 more hours. This is not a ride at Disney World, people! This is the real thing!
On our way to our lodge, we saw more wildlife than we could have hoped for. This was my first time to see monkeys in the wild and I was just thrilled! There are no cages here, and these monkeys aren't the kind who come up to people because they're familiar with them. This was truly a moment that I will remember forever....
(video of the monkeys).... http://youtu.be/qNe5vZfvqIQ
As we were pulling away from viewing the monkeys, someone spotted a three toed sloth just hanging out above the water. At first, I thought it was upside down, but then I realized it wasn't. Our guide said he had been leading groups here for a very long time and had never seen a sloth out here...so this was a special day for us, for sure! Our guide said that since the sloth detected our presence, it was moving at full speed. LOL
Video 1 of sloth...... http://youtu.be/gt_7VlKEvmg
Video 2 of sloth..... http://youtu.be/7YDelHsAyE0
Once we got to our lodge, they greeted us with cocktails. Then we unpacked and had lunch by the pool. Here are some pics of our cabin and room...
After lunch, we headed down to the village of Tortuguero. The guide pointed out so many things. The main one that I was drawn to (of course) was the school. Here is a picture of the library....
There were only two classrooms for the entire elementary and middle school...here is one of them...
View of the "street" in front of the school...
Walking through the village, we saw a lifestyle that we've only seen in books...here are a couple of people cooking their dinner over an open fire....this was what it was like all over the village...
This lady was making carvings from the Jicara fruit. She made cups and candle holders, too. They were really cool and I was surprised when she threw one on the floor to prove to me that they wouldn't break. This is a very strong shell! We bought a carving that she made of a sloth, to commemorate what we saw on our way there. We're going to attach a magnet to it so we can keep it on our refrigerator at home....
After visiting the village, we walked back to the lodge along the coast. We were disappointed to find out that the rip tides are way too strong here, so there were danger signs everywhere and we couldn't swim....
and here's a greeting from me.... http://youtu.be/sZL6QtiOzhk
When we got back to the lodge, we settled for a pina colada by the pool...not a bad second to the Caribbean sea....
Oh, we also saw a toucan in the wild right here by the pool...listen to how loud it is...
That's enough for one post....I'll put day 2 in another post...
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