La Pavona, Limón Province, Costa RicaTortuguero National Park
The
mystery of the Alarmclock
they
say the best way to see the National Park is by canoe and you have to
do them early in the morning leaving time 6 am: because that’s when
you see animals and after 9 am it gets too hot – guess that is way
we set our alarm clock for 5.30 – so that we have no stress. Gine
wakes up in the middle of the night for a pee break and also hears
that the phone is low on battery – ok plug in to the charger (not
that the alarm doesn’t go off), and checks again the alarm is on –
yes it says alarm will go off in 1 hr and 20 Min.
We
wake up look on the clock and it is 6.20!!! What happened?? Why did
the alarmclock not work? We jump into the cloth, since it drizzles
outside rainjackets on and more or less run to the dock – but yes
at 6. 35 the canoe is gone. We checked again the alarm settings and
volume and I think it will be a mystery on why it did not go off.
If
it rains it pours
ok
we said backup plan: let’s have breakfast and we will leave early,
and maybe we didn’t totally miss something because now it started
to pour... not rain. And our red rainjackets are not made for
downpours!!! Guess we should have had the ponchos.
We
met the guide from the boat yesterday and he said that we should
check with them and then we could do the 8.30 tour and tell them we
have to be back at 10.30, at least then we would see what we came
for. Ok back to the office – the doors are closed, the phone number
has an answering machine. So we went back towards the hotel soaking
wet|!!!
breakfast
first
we
start to pack everything and then the girl from reception comes and
told us, that Jorge is on the phone He was very concerned that we
didn’t show up at 6 am. We explained what happened and he said how
about you go on the 8.30 tour I will arrange everything – but make
sure you are there at 8.20. We said yes no problem, we are now awake.
And the girl from reception said, we can leave the suitcase and
backpack with her. Did I mention we didn’t had electricity – the
only light comes from the open door!
Time
for breakfast: no light there either and Paul’s favourite: rice and
beans with plantains, fruits, bread but no jam – lucky they make
omelette.
a
late canoe tour in the sun
and
we are there on time – when the girl tells us, that the boat gets
ready and Rey has to remove the water first. And lucky for us: there
is only Paul and me and Rey our guide. We paddle up and into the
National Park along the ig waterway – we went into a smaller
waterway, but got stuck and because we didn’t had the time (because
we needed to be back for the ferry) we went the same way back – and
Paul and I both paddled happily all the time along. We actually came
across the other tour on their way back and it was a full house on
that boat.
We
saw different birds: I liked the snake bird which always sits with
open wings, some funky iguanas, the caiman poking his head and eyes
out of the water and some monkeys in the distance. But most of all we
admired the jungle: it is like a wall of green along the river – it
is unbelievable. Rey also told us that most of the forest is 2nd
growth, because of the foresting.
And
the best of all was: no rain – we could see everything and enjoy –
even taking off our ponchos after a little while. It was super
awesome we totally loved it!!
And
we were back at 10.20 – time to get out suitcase and be ready to
the:
the
public boat ride
we
heard that the private boat tours back to La Pavona are quite pricy
and that we should take the public one – so yesterday we already
bought our tickets. At the dock we were nearly the first one going on
board and the boat got quite full. You should think they now what
they are doing – right? I mean they are public transportation!!
What I thought is funny, that they had life jackets on each seat –
but no-one put them on – even we had two policia on the boat (guess
inforcing this is not high priority).
Good
bye Tortugueros and our last part of this unique stay will start.
It
started out that the engine took quite a while to start up... and
then already through the lagoon the boat was quite slow but then we
could admire the little town a bit more, also we stopped a few times
to pick up and drop of some people, what I thought was really funny
is when we came to a spot with a street sign showing you in which
direction you can go (guess you can’t assume that the people
navigating the river know where to go) – perfect to enjoy right?
But that was only the beginning of:
an
Adventure to remember
once
turning off from the lagoon and going up the river, the boat really
went slow and nearly from the start it was a hassle to go around the
curves – not getting stuck on the bottom or bang into the side.
Once in a while the engine stopped at this time we didn’t know if
it was because of engine problems or because it was so shallow. A guy
told us that we have to move around, because the boat is too heavy in
the back... and then one of the guys was in the front with a huge
kind of paddle and giving directions on where the best spots are to
go through. It went all very slow and we learned that the public
ferry is often overloaded and it can take up to 3 hours for the whole
ride.
In
the river were large pieces of wood and they often had a plastic
bottle hanging on top – to help to navigate?? That is when Paul
wondered why they don’t take it out and soon later we saw a boat
with 3 workers they actually were standing in the river to pull out
some wood... and a policia guy standing and watching them.
By
a lot of mud – we suddenly saw a Caiman sitting on the mud banks
enjoying the sun. As well we saw some beautiful orange butterflies
and some birdds.
Then
we got stuck again – so one of the guys went in the water and
pulled the boat (the paddle) didn’t help a lot, back on the boat a
few meters further down – same story we got stuck and one of the
guys (by the way they are both very young) went into the water again
to hold the boat, pull it, as where the other one took the engine
cover off and tried to repair something on the engine – we didn’t
totally know what was going on... except being stuck since the
conversation went on in Spanish (and ours need quite a bit of
improvement!!). Another boat came by and stopped: he said “Cinque”
- so only five can go on board: so it was the family with the 2
kids... oh yes and some locals... with the boat lighter, maybe he can
get the engine going and we keep going???
and
we went around 3 more curves and we are stuck again. This time on the
left side of the river right in the mud and on the other side it
looked more like a beachy grey sand area (we thought that would be
the better spot – but then we are not the locals). So the guy in
the front bend down and pulled – once in a while we could see him
and sometimes not. When suddenly the guy next to us, jumped up, took
his phone and put it down and jumped in the water to pull him up,
that is when another guy and Paul went to the front helped to pull
the limp body out of the water – turn him around and bang him on
the back until he finally gasp and was breathing again. I think we
were all in shock and very happy that it was a near-death situation.
Another minute or so and it would have been to late.
So
the three younger of our group went and hold the boat in place –
all getting soaking wet and muddy – that is when we discovered that
our captain is not around either – did he vanish?? The policia was
not helpful at all, at least they had some walki-talki and contacted
someone, it sounded like that another boat will come. Today the river
was not too busy... or all the boats went into the wrong direction...
finally we brought the boat on the other side on the sand back, that
means at least you could go out in the hot warm sun on the black sand
if you want to) – stranded in the jungle we waited and waited...
that is when one person told us that the rescue boat will come all
the way from Tortuguero. By the way as per google map we were
straight line 3 miles away from La Pavona (and the river is not
straight).
Finally
the boat comes ad we all moved into this super wobbly boat. Once on
board the guy turned towards Tortuguero, but we could convince him,
that we wanted to go to La Pavona – rocking back and forth we
sometimes wondered if our suitcase will go overboard or we too... but
finally after another half hour navigating the muddy river we see the
stranded boat in the middle of the river and we know: La Pavona is in
sight!!!
We
are thankful to be back, one older lady who left the boat earlier
with the kids said “Adventura – at least we are all alive”. I
think this will be a boat trip we won’t forget. And instead of 1.5
hours it took us 3.5 hours.
Question:
should we use public transportation next time??
A
late starting
our
original plan was to leave here between 1230 and 1 pm – so that we
arrive at around 4 pm... ok so we started out like at 3.30... one
quick filling up gas and bathroom stop and then all we did was
driving south.....
2025-05-23