I'm still waiting for the catch... Tortugero

This past weekend I went to Tortuguero.  It was absolutely beautiful!  We left on Friday afternoon and I took my first public bus to get to Cariari which is the first stop you make before you get to the Island.  Let me back up, I planned this trip for my friends and I, which was a pain in the butt in itself.  Anyways, I used a tour guide that my friends recommended and he helped me get a hotel for Friday night as well as helping us figure out transportation to and from Tortuguero, and in return we were going on a canoe tour Saturday morning with him for $20/person.  There were only four of us, we were a bit skeptical as to why he was so willing to help us.  Anyways... we stay in Cariari on Friday night and get settled into our sketchy hotel rooms, more like hostel rooms.  Haha.  My friend Katie's infamous line that night was the joke of the whole trip, as we were in our room talking about this man's sketchiness she says "I'm still waiting for the catch."  Hence, my blog title.  It was a had to be there moment haha.  My bed sheets on Friday night were hospital sheets (see below) and we only got one paper thin sheet to sleep with, we woke up freezing in the middle of the night so we had to turn the air off.

The next morning we leave for Tortuguero, we took a 2 hour ferry ride through the canal to get there.  It was spectacular and beautiful... as we were leaving the port at Pavona for Tortugero, a man and a camera crew approach our ferry.  We then proceed to find out that his name is "El Galan" and he is a famous TV star in Costa Rica... we were soon to find out how famous.  My friend Katie was interviewed by him for her show and I was in the background with my other friends, Brittany and Devon.  What a story!  As we approach the island of Tortugero, we see that the entire town has congregated near the port to welcome this man.  The kids were playing music, photos were being taken, the whole nine yards.  It was so neat.  Definitely a great experience.

After, we took a canoe ride through the National Park where we saw monkeys, birds, lizards, caiman, and crocodiles!! Then I went hiking throughout the national Park with my friends (minus Brittany).  We had to buy rubber boots to wear for $1 then return them, the darn things cut my legs up so bad.  It was not fun.  We stayed in a hostel on the ocean for $15/night it was such a good deal!!  Saturday night we went out to dinner, I got a quesadilla that was so good!  After, we went to a local bar and I just looked at the river.  The island was surrounded by the caribbean ocean on one side and a river on the other.  A creepy, Costa Rican man asked me about 5 times and my friends as well to dance with him, he would not leave us alone!  We then got stuck in the rain (the first rain i've experienced since i've been here)... needless to say we started walking home in it and honestly it was so much fun.  It was a warm rain so I felt like a kid again playing in the rain.  Sometimes it is good to just stop and smell the roses and experience the little things in life all over again, such as playing in the rain : )

That night my friends and I shared some laughs and played cards.  We had to leave the next morning for San Jose.  It was a fabulous weekend, probably my favorite yet just because of all the laughs and inside jokes my friends and I had between meeting a famous Costa Rican TV star to being chauffered by a skeptical man haha


On a sad note, my mama tica's mother died on Sunday night so that has been hard for her.  My roommate and I feel bad being here because we feel like we are intruding in her time of grieving.  Also, one of my friends from ISU that came on this trip got mugged at gun point last night when he was walking home.  He lost a lot of valuables.  Instances like that just make me so grateful for the United States and so ready to return to my home!  Other than that, I am doing great :)  Also, any prayers right now for my knee would be great, it has been hurting me really bad lately and I do not have good medical service here so I am hoping/praying it gets better!

Gracias

God Bless

Our hostel :)

Hospital bed sheets!

Tortugero Island

Crocodile!

Ferry Ride!