Check out our video from our tour in Tortuguero of the Caiman.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3h8t8I-JlU&feature=youtu.be

We had a casualty today!

It saddens us to say that we have bad news on our last night in Tortuguero. Our luck has been so good and will not be tainted by what you are about to read. However, it is important for our readers to know that we are down one piece of technology. Maybe it is an omen….as we sit, working on computers, video cameras, cell phones while the beauty of the rainforest is in our reach.

No, we have to believe that cannot be! After all, we are only trying to share the wonders of this extraordinary world with you. The story goes something like this….

One of us was sitting on the dock that overlooks the river, talking to her husband. After getting off the phone, her hand slipped and the phone slowly began to fall to the deck flooring. (No, the phone did not shatter). Before she could reach to grab the phone….(No, the phone did not fall over the side of the dock! And no, a wild animal did not reach up and snatch it. Although, that would have been a fun story.) Her phone slipped right through a crack in the deck flooring. She heard a splash…

It is not known to us if there is a reason behind this unfortunate news, but we can only hope that this will be the end of the bad luck!

R.I.P. Heather’s phone! Pura Vida!

Those are only three of the twenty or more rainforest animals we saw today, while riding along the canals of the Tortuguero National Park rainforest. Our tour guides were great in answering many "I wonders" we had today as well as clearing up some misconceptions. We have taken lots of notes in our travel journals. We are looking forward to sharing those with you soon. We have also been able to gather lots of video footage and still-shots of the animals.

Our personal favorites for the day: 
(Please note this is for today only.)
Zeig says her favorite today was the spider monkeys. "I love the way they jump from tree to tree.  The mom's make a bridge for the babies when they can't make a jump. So sweet!"

Beth says her favorite today was the howler monkeys.  "I spotted one before the rest of the group.  It was super cool to listen to our guide call back and forth to them. I'm hoping that they will be my wake up call in the morning."

Amanda says her favorite was getting to see two-toed sloths. "They are my favorite rainforest animal. Now I know how to identify a two-toed sloth from a three-toed sloth."

Heather says her favorite part was seeing the toucans in the treetops. "Toucans are my favorite bird. I love their colorful beak. It was a treat to see more than one in a tree."

From our tour, we have also met many new friends. Here is a family from Toronto, Canada we have really enjoyed getting to know. They have been great with helping us! But more importantly, we have had many laughs and smiles because of them. We also hear some of their friends are following us on this web page. This is so exciting to us. Any friends of theirs are friends of ours!

"We should not destroy nature. We should learn from nature." -Luis (our tour guide while staying in Tourtugero).  Thanks to their conservations efforts here we are able to do just that.

We have been pleasantly surprised with all the conservation efforts we have observed and learned about during our visit. It is truly amazing that a place so remote with what seems to be little resources is so conscious of the best things in life and how to preserve it for our future. For example, they limit access to parts of the rainforest or the beaches to protect their wildlife and from their cities to remote villages we have noticed lots of recycling collection bins. With the restrictions in place, we have not felt limited in anyway. We can safely say that we have felt just the opposite. We have gotten to see the beauty. Pura Vida is definitely the way of life here.

Where is Amanda?

Zeig and Heather are filming a special music video we are working on.  Also, our guides jumped in and let us get close to a caiman.

Late last night, the four of us got on the boat to go with some guides to search for some sea turtles.  As we were being shuttled through the forest in a single file line, images of New Moon came in all of our minds (You know, the part where they were leading all of the tourists to the dungeon).  These thoughts left our mind as soon as we walked on the beach and the guide told us a sea turtle was nesting about 5 meters away.  Unfortunately, we were not able to take pictures or video but hopefully we will be able to paint a vivid picture in your mind.  They had us wait a little ways away while the turtle was digging the hole.  They scare easily.  As we were waiting, we saw several other turtles come from the sea, only to return again because they were spooked.  A short time later, she had completed her hole, and we were able to go over and watch her lay eggs.  We saw her lay about 10 eggs out of about 100.  We were close enough to touch her, but of course we were not allowed to. She finished laying her eggs and began covering them.  Once that was finished, she camouflaged the area by digging a new hole away from the nest, so that predators would be confused.  As she was camouflaging the nest, she would take her front flippers and throw the sand behind her.  A sea turtle actually threw sand on us!  This is another experience we will never forget! If only we could see the eggs hatch! I guess we have to come back between November and December.

It was the day of many "firsts" for the 1st grade team!

Our first adventure of the day was putting EVERYTHING we needed for two days in our backpacks!  We will be staying in the rainforest for two days without air conditioning, not that we are complaining.

Today we shared an experience of a lifetime! For the 1st time, we watched four blue morphos come out of a chrysalis. We got amazing footage which we can't wait to share with you. We thought this would be the highlight of our day, but things just kept getting better.

After arriving at the docks, we had  another 1st,  We got to cruise along the "Lucky River" in a boat to get to our hotel in the rainforest.  It is unique that the only way to get here is by boat.

I guess the River really is lucky, because as we were cruising along, our driver spotted a sloth in the tree tops. This was the 1st time we were able to see a sloth in the rainforest! We were so excited! It is our favorite rainforest animal! There were also howler monkeys swinging through the canopy!  As you can imagine, we were thrilled!

As soon as we stepped off the boat, leaf cutter ants were crossing our path. They  stopped us in our tracks!  It is incredible how quickly we are coming upon wildlife that we have only seen in books.

We experienced rainy weather today.  It doesn't stop the Costa Ricans and it won't stop us! 

The luck of the river followed us as we visited the local village. As we passed the elementary school, we were invited into a 4th grade classroom. Let's just say it was a life changing experience. It was very different from what we are used to.  The lifestyle here is very different than back home.

Notice in the picture, how all the boys put their heads down and did not want to be in the picture.

Before dinner, we searched for red-eyed tree frogs and saw three!  It was definitely a team-effort!  (Tallulah, you got your wish!)

The day is not over yet for us. It is 8:00 now in Costa Rica and we are looking forward to watching sea turtles nest later tonight!

P.S.  We had rice and beans for breakfast and lunch, however to our surprise, we did not have rice and beans for dinner this time!  We were shocked!

Buenos dias! (Good morning or good day) from San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica!

This is the rainy season, but luckily, we had a beautiful day with plenty of sunshine!  We took a long drive through an agricultural district outside of San Jose.  We saw lots of crops including: coffee, ferns, and fresh strawberries.  The bus driver pulled over and treated us to some fresh strawberries.  Yumm!  The fruit here has been extraordinary!

We were on cloud nine once we arrived at the cloud forest to see the Poas Volcano.  No, for real, we were in a cloud! We learned a lot of new information that we can't wait to share with you. 

We were surprised with a special cultural presentation from local college students in San Jose.  These students performed traditional dances of indigenous people of Costa Rica.

The meals are very different than from home.  Not only did we have rice and beans for lunch, but we also had it for breakfast.  Evidently, they eat rice and beans for every meal.  The rice is good, but it is no Ichiban!

Next stop was Britt Cafe, a coffee plantation.  We were super impressed with how green the plantation was.  It made Amanda's heart smile.  :)  The tour guides were informative in a very entertaining way!  We laughed and learned so much.  We can only hope that we keep our students as engaged as we were.  Hopefully, there will be a video posted soon of our fun guide.  Check back soon. 

First stop, Charlotte. Who knew Megan would be waiting for us in the airport! Now we feel more complete! Love and miss you Megan. You are here in our hearts (and our bag).

We are on the plane and very excited!! Our first stop is Charlotte and then off to San Jose, Costa Rica!! See you in 10 days Chattanooga!!

Again, we do not really know what to expect in Costa Rica. Our research has shown that wifi may not be available in all areas. So, we may not be able to update daily. Please know that on the days we are not uploading information daily, we will be journaling in our travel journals and will upload as soon as possible. Let's just hope wifi is available more often than not!