Isla Tortuga

Yesterday, we went on an excursion to Isla Tortuga in the Pacific Ocean. We were leaving at 6:20, so I had to be at school at 6:10. I had set my alarm for 5:25 and the taxi driver was arriving at 5:45. Well, I had my earplugs in, so I woke up at 5:51. That’s right, my alarm was going off for nearly 30 minutes and I had no clue. I ran like a banchi outside to tell the taxista that I would be right there, hurried inside, brushed my teeth, and changed. Thank goodness that I am an organized person and had packed my beach bag the night before. Seriously. I am never late! I never sleep until the alarm either. The worst part was that I told someone that I would pick them up in the taxi. Of course, she ended up taking her own taxi because I suck. But, I did get to the bus on time.
The first part of the journey was about 45 minutes to the restaurant. The food was so delicious! That’s not really a surprise since everything here is yummy (minus the Mexican restaurant).

I bought some souvenirs for some lucky people and then we headed back on the bus for another 45 minutes or so. Once we got to Calypso Cruises, we hopped on a catamaran and headed to Tortuga. We got to the island, which is really isolated, about an hour later.



The first thing that Becky (the previously mentioned friend who I abandoned) and I did was go snorkeling. Two little boats took about 40 of us out about 5 minutes off shore. I’d give distance, but I am horrible at that…There wasn’t a ton to see, but there were some pretty fish. After about 30 minutes of that, we returned to shore for lunch. I thought that breakfast was good, but that had nothing on lunch. I even liked the ceviche. That’s right, family, I ate raw fish and it was delicious! Then there was peanut chicken. Mmmm…
Ceviche


After lunch Becky and I lounged around on the beach. It was so nice outside and relaxing. I always say that I hate relaxing because I am not any good at it, but whenever I am on a beach like Tortuga (e.g. Kauai), I love it.


Eventually, we went on the banana boat. It’s basically a long yellow banana that seven passengers ride on and hope not to fall off while the boat tugging it drives. At first, I was white knuckling it for fear of falling off, but then figured, “why not enjoy yourself?” The captain of the boat made sure that all of us fell off. It was really fun (except the mouth of salt water).

By this time it was about time to go, but we had a little visitor. A wild boar came down to say hello. The workers told us that there’s a pack of them, and that this little chica comes down for the free food and some loving. I know that she looks dead in the picture, but she was alive and kicking. Literally. You she was like a dog when you petted her stomach.
On the catamaran back to the dock, it started raining (shocker). There’s not a whole lot of coverage on the boat, so lots of people got soaked. I managed to stay fairly dry. Once on land, we headed back to the buses for San José. The journey was about an hour and 45 minutes. It was a bit scary since it was dark and Costa Rican expressways are (a) often on the precipice of a cliff, (b) don’t have lights, and (c) are filled with crazy drivers.
All in all it was an awesome day worth every penny. Of course, I came home a bit burnt since that’s how I roll. I did put on sunscreen; obviously I should have reapplied it. Oh well. Today was really the epitome of Pura Vida.