Costa Rica Blog » EXT Client Experiences

Tortuguero National Park

EXT Clients — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 21:20:35 +0000

If you love wildlife, you will love visiting Tortuguero National Park. This park is located on the Atlantic side of the country. In order to reach it, you must take a boat through various canals to arrive to the town of Tortuguero. Once you are there, it is possible to arrange a visit through the park, by boat.

Personally, my tour was arranged through my hotel which was one of the bonuses of staying at a nice hotel versus staying in a smaller hotel or hostel in the city. I visited two different canals at two different times. Each tour lasted approximately 3 hours and the price of the tour was included with the room.

The first tour departed at 6am. Yes, it was very early but it was so worth it! I have never seen so much wildlife in my entire life. It was amazing to be able to witness the jungle waking up before my eyes. A few highlights of the tour were seeing a hummingbird come out of its nest for the first time, a sea otter grooming himself, three types of monkeys (white faced, holler and spider), caymans, sea otters mating, river turtles and an incredible number of birds including hummingbirds, toucans, parrots, pelicans, etc. Also, we saw several different types of lizards and insects. The grossest insect was by far a huge purple grasshopper which must have measured approximately 5 inches.

The second tour was not as exciting because it was later on in the day at around 2pm. We still managed to see quite a few birds, insects and monkeys. The animal that amazed me the most on this tour was a cayman. Our tour guide spotted a cayman laying in the grass and when we got closer, we were able to see her very small baby crawling beside her. It was beautiful to see that interaction.

On the canal, all your senses are fully activated! It is so difficult to try and integrate all of this sensory overload. Not only are your eyes trying to take it all in but you hear all the insects and fauna calling, you smell the lush forest and you feel your lungs being filled with rich fresh air.

It is important to note however that you must pay a 10$ entrance fee to the park for every day you are there. So, I would recommend trying to take as much in as possible in one day.

All in all, if you are a wildlife lover, Tortuguero National Park is a must-see!!!

This Blog Post was generously submitted by Stefanie Brunelle.

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Sportfishing in Costa Rica

info — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 17:07:02 +0000

Alright, so you want to go deep sea fishing on your next trip to Costa Rica? I just have one piece of advice before you do so, be prepared to dish out some cash and you will have to do it without any guarantee of catching anything. My friends and I rented a boat (this is what you do in Costa Rica) for about $500 for a half day. We could have paid an extra $100 for a full day (and yes, this is how they get you), but we felt $500 was enough. Our guides were nice and they served us as much beer as we wanted. Our guess was that this was to help us get over not catching anything by the end of the tour. So there we were the four of us, sitting in the back of the boat as our captain took care of everything. Suddenly we were joined by 10 or so dolphins who I could have sworn were playing with us. This in fact was a magical experience and was without a doubt the highlight of our day. But as the half day neared an end, our boat got closer and closer to shore until we finally caught something not worth reeling in. At the end of the day we were a little down about not catching our Marlin, which our guide told us we had a great chance of doing. Overall, I would say the $500 was not worth it. We could have done a lot more with that kind of money.

This post was submitted by David Lauzon.

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Tortuguero Transportation – Passengers Beware !!!

EXT Clients — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:35:09 +0000

My friend and I decided to visit Tortuguero as part of our Costa Rican adventure. We had been advised that the trip from San Jose to Tortuguero would last approximately 8 hours including a 6 hour bus ride to the port and then a 2 hour boat ride to Tortuguero. As part of the hotel arrangements, the tour guides picked us up at our hotel in San Jose very early in the morning. In fact, the pick-up was scheduled for 5:45am. So early! Anyways, we departed for Tortuguero after picking up more people at different hotels. Since it was so early, we attempted to sleep a little bit. However, this was quickly made impossible. At around 6:30am, the tour guide starting interpreting what we were seeing. We thought at first that this would be a quick 10 minute presentation, however, we quickly found out that it was not. The tour guides talked the WHOLE way to Tortuguero. Therefore, we were unable to sleep and were very annoyed.

I must admit however, reflecting back on that day, it was, after all, an educational tour. One goes to Tortuguero to learn and not to sit on the beach and relax. Plus, I still remember the majority of the information that was shared as it was very informative. All the information was given in both English and Spanish.

After our visit in Tortuguero, we decided to visit Puerto Viejo which is also located on the Atlantic coast but in the Southern part. During our trip, we discovered that it was possible to take a water taxi directly from Tortuguero to Moin (which is the port next to the city of Limon). The company would then arrange for a taxi to pick us up in Moin and drive us directly to PuertoViejo which is about an hour away. The cost was 25 for the water taxi then another 15 for the taxi (each). We were told that it would take 3 hours. So, we thought that it would be a great idea (financially and time-wise). When the time came, we were waiting at our hotel for them to pick us up. The man arrived on time but in a scary looking boat without a shirt on and we were the only ones. He did not speak any English. He then took us to a loading dock just past Tortuguero and told us to disembark and to take our luggage with us. We then waited almost 45 minutes for them to get another boat and to find more passengers. Once the boat was filled, we departed for Moen. We were happy not to be the only passengers (especially since we were two blonde “cringas”!) The boat then travelled the 80 km journey. They had told us it was going to take 3 hours. However, in reality, the tour took approximately 5 and a half hours! It was a very long journey. Then, once we arrived in Moin, there was indeed a taxi waiting for us. However, I have never had such an uncomfortable ride! The taxi driver was wearing two huge gold rings on each finger with large gold chains and truly looked like a gangster. Again, he spoke no English. On the way to Puerto Viejo, he stopped to make a suspicious exchange with someone on the street, went to buy a case of beer and had conversations with people on the street on several occasions. Then, he brought us to another town called Calhuita and tried to convince us to stay there even though we already had arrangements in Puerto Viejo. All in all, it was not a very pleasant day!

If we had one word of advice, please stick with known companies! Smaller companies truly run on the oh so famous “Tico Time” and customers well being aren’t always their first priority. After this adventure, we realized that we should have taken the transportation that was arranged by our travel agent and not ventured off on our own. However, if you are adventurous, on a small budget and have a limited amount of time, this could be a good option for you!

This Blog post was generously submitted by Stefanie Brunelle.

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SURFING AT JACO BEACH

EXT Clients — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 21:55:06 +0000

To me, surfing was always one of those sports that seemed almost impossible to learn. Nevertheless, it is a fascinating sport. I decided that since I was in Costa Rica, I might as well give it a try. I have heard many times and from several sources that Jaco beach is a great surfing destination. Apparently, individuals come from all over the world to surf there especially since you can surf there year-round.
Upon my arrival, I debated whether or not I should take a lesson or try by myself. I quickly saw that there were many surf schools and realized that if I actually wanted to stand on my board, I should probably take a lesson. So, I arranged for a lesson with a few of my friends. We started the class with a quick on-land course (how to get up on your board, etc.) and then quickly ventured into the ocean. There was one instructor for every 2 to 3 people which was a good ratio. After my second try, I was able to get up on my board! What a wonderful feeling! Every person in my group managed to stand on their boards and get in a few good rides on the waves. However, please note that this in an exhausting sport. After about an hour, almost the whole group was ready to quit. After two hours, we were absolutely exhausted. So, don’t plan on spending a whole day surfing, it just is not very realistic.

A few more words of advice, I would take a lesson. They give you invaluable advice and pointers and know where to bring you so that it is safe. Also, I would recommend going early in the morning (around 8am) because the waves are best then. By about 10am., the waves were all ready dying out and the tide was way out. Bring water and some fruit because you get dehydrated quickly! Finally, if you have a friend with you that isn’t taking lessons, ask them to take pictures! Such great memories… To conclude, if you are planning on going to Costa Rica, surfing is one of those to-do activities!!!

This Blog post was generously submitted by Stefanie Brunelle

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