I had a mixed couple days here at La Rana Roja the last two days. Two nights ago I got to do one of the turtle tours and see the giant sea turtles come up on the beach and lay their eggs. It was an absolutely magical experience and there was something so prehistoric about it. The turtles were ENORMOUS, weighing almost 600 pounds. I'd never seen one so big in real life. It was a fantastic experience. The next day was different. It literally poured rain all day yesterday, and while it was a warm tropical rain it didn't really leave me in the mood to hit the beach or even the pool for that matter. As a result I spent most of the day reading and hanging around the lodge. As relaxing as it was, it got lonely and boring pretty quickly. Today was much better. The weather was better for one, so I got to spend the morning sunning myself by the pool. After lunch (chickpeas, beef, rice, fried plantains and potato salad) I made it a point to get myself over to the town of Tortuguero, since my lodge is not actually in the town. I had to wait on one of the lodge's docks for my water taxi, which is what I'm doing in the picture below.
It's not far to Tortuguero, less than five minutes by boat. If the water wasn't full of crocodiles and caimans I would have loved to swim there, but I chose to not be eaten instead.
Tortuguero is a tiny, poor town that thrives solely on the tourist industry. This is the "main street." I asked a woman in a souvenir shop how to get to the beach and she pointed me in the right direction.
Which is how I came upon this...
This is probably my favorite beach I've ever been to. I've never experienced Caribbean water before, it's SO WARM! The water was almost warmer than they air outside because of a light breeze. I stood with my feet in the water for close to half and hour just soaking it all in. Then I went and found a piece of driftwood to sit on.
"Pura Vida" is the Costa Rica's motto. It means "pure life."
This house was facing the ocean. It's crazy to me how poor the people here are, and yet if this kind of property existed in California they would have to pay millions to own it. 
One last look out at the river from the pueblo before I boarded my water taxi home. Fabulous day.
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