An early morning pick up in a shuttle van got me from the guest house in Atenas, through morning rush hour traffic of San Jose to the domestic airport, where I boarded this single-propeller 4-seater plane with a couple from Germany. I got to sit up front with the pilot and had a great view as we flew over the mountains east of San Jose, plantations of bananas and pineapples, rivers and villages until we could see the canals, small strips of land and on to the Caribbean Sea. We landed on a very small airstrip between the Tortuguero Canal and the sea, where staff members of Tortuga Lodge met us and loaded our bags onto a flat-bottomed boat for the short trip across to my home for the next two nights. We stepped off the boat and walked into the open-air dining room for breakfast. Gallo pinto, a meal of scrambled eggs, rice and beans, a mild cheese, fresh fruit and coffee fueled my day.
The open air dining room of Tortuga Lodge, seen from the Tortuguero Canal
I enjoyed strolling through the grounds before checking into my room.
the pool, hammocks and lounge chairs face the canal
gardens at Tortuga Lodge
my room at Tortuga Lodge
a boat ride across the canal and a nice walk along the Caribbean Sea to Tortuguero Village