Giant Sea Turtles and Monsoons

Just a quick update with news post end of Raleigh...we are currently sipping fruit shakes in a little wooden shack off the Carribean sea, in a place called Cahuita, home to Costa Ricas largest living reef which we are about to explore with snorkels. After suprising Hugo at Juan Santa Maria airport, (excellent suprise, highly recommended) and a day exploring San Jose properly, we donned the life jackets and met our one legged 17 year old guide, Sassy, who then rafted us down the Pacuare, one of the worlds top ten rafting rivers. I have to say, a combination of a one legged guide and the significant lack of water in the river following a long dry season, did result in us being beached on massive volcanic boulders more than once. It was hilarious though, and the overnight trip included a long walk to an indiginous reserve where we watched a group of kiddies learn Spanish in their mud and stick hut. We also saw 2 snakes, which is more than I had seen in 3 months here, so I reckon that was pretty good luck. After being spat out at Siquirres, 1 hr from Limon on the Carribean coast, we headed up north to Parismina, an Amazonian-esque island reachable only by launch, surrounded by mangroves and brown murky canals, packed with crocs, caimans and the sea was packed with bull sharks, tarpon and snooks. Needless to say, we didnt do much swimming there, preferring to hire kayaks and paddle at water level around the swamps. There was stacks of wildlife there, and it was absolutely beautiful. The best part of our visit to this part of Costa Rica was helping the Turtle protection association, co-ordinated by a totally zoned out but extremely funny American called Rick. We met our guide at 9pm and after walking down the moonlit beach for about half an hour, saw turtle tracks in the whiter dryer sand. There was a giant leatherback turtle, huffing and puffing in its dinosaurian form, using all 4 flippers to create a nesting site. By the time we arrived, the figure of 8 had been created and we then watched for half an hour as she used her back flippers to dig a hole 80 cm deep. Once she had finished, pretty tired at this point, she covered the hole with one flipper to prevent theft of her eggs, and went into a trance. Once in her trance, we could move the flipper aside and watch as about 120 eggs dropped into the hole. The whole process took about an hour and then after covering the hole, and trying to confuse any predators about where exactly she had laid them, she turned around and slowly crawled back towards the sea, one little step forward at a time. When the first wave reached her, she raised her head in a sort of goodbye and then in a flash, was gone. It was absolutely amazing.

We left Parismina a couple of days ago and were going to head to San Jose but a last minute fit of wild spontaneity saw us in a crunched up taxi heading south to Cahuita instead. We arrived in time for the first day of the monsoons, and yesterday there was no respite AT ALL from the torrential rains. Regardless, we hired 2 horses and along with a foal, spent 3 hours galloping up the beach to a rainforest where we jiggled along underneath the sloth-filled almond trees, rain coursing down our backs and into our boots. Neither of us can walk very well today, but we reckon we can tackle the surf and definitely the snorkelling.

Nuff chatting here, got to dust off my mask now..!

Next update, hopefully Nicaragua