We had a busy day at Mawamba Lodge. Breakfast was delightful in their pretty, open air restaurant with great food and service. Martha fell in love with our waiter, who was very nice. Next, we were taken by boat down the river to the village of Tortuguero. A walk through the cute, little village and we arrived at Tortuguero National Park, the third most popular park in Costa Rica.
There is a good path into the park, which goes a long way in this 19,000 hectare (75 sq. mi.) park, but wherever we walked, we had to walk back, through the village and another 15 minutes back to the lodge. A lot of people were walking in and out and were helpful in spotting wildlife. The park is known for the sea Green Sea and Hawksbill turtles that nest here on the beautiful beach. We didn’t see any turtles, but we saw a sloth and monkeys. They are having a problem with jaguars coming into the village and attacking dogs, but we didn’t see those either.
Walking through the cute, little village, we stopped to help a boy shooting a ball into a bucket, working on his basketball skills. I helped, but soon deferred to Ed who played basketball for his famous coach/father in high school. The boy appreciated the help with a big smile on his face. In a central park people ate their lunch while one group of men played dominoes. It’s a delightful little town.
After lunch, we went for a canal tour by boat. It was hot and the middle of the day, so we were lucky to see a fair amount of wildlife.
We had a little time by the pool. We had all signed up (or at least we thought we had) for a night hike in the National Park jungle. Most were happy to relax by the pool, but Ed, Debbie and I went. We took a boat down below the village where our guide gave us all flashlights before warning us not to touch anything, not even the hand railing on a narrow boardwalk. There could be spiders or biting insects, so “don’t touch anything!”
We set out in a grassy area next to the dock where we found frogs, toads and a huge spider web that is so strong it is used for fishing line. It is from the Golden Silk Orb Weaver that weaves a sticky web to catch its prey, but also a protective barrier to keep birds from flying into it. The tensile strength is 8 times that of steel! (https://www.golfodulceretreat.com/the-golden-orb#:~:text=The%20golden%20silk%20orb%20weaver%20epitomises%20the%20grandeur%20of%20the,fauna%20of%20this%20beautiful%20country.) The silk is also used in surgery to repair nerve damage.
From: https://www.farmersalmanac.com/orb-weaver-spiders-pest-control
Walking a 1-hour loop on a narrow boardwalk, we saw so many things, we could see why he warned us not to touch anything. I kept looking for jaguars in the trees, but with no luck. No bit snakes either, but we saw some crazy-looking bugs, spiders, the biggest being a banana spider. There was an owl moth that with his wings spread, it looked like an owl. It was a long day, but we were glad we went on this walk through the jungle.
The last things he found were bullet ants, which I never saw, being at the back of the line. He said it is the most painful bite you can get. On one trip a bullet ant fell on his hand and bit him. He said it was horrible, and his hand quickly began to swell. He quickly headed back to the boat and into the village, but the doctor was not there. He had to make the long journey to San Jose for treatment. “Don’t touch anything!”
