Isla Tortuga

Last night I decided to book a full day tour of Isla Tortuga. I figured I needed to somehow get a reprieve from the hot sun, and spending the day on a boat, snorkeling and laying at a beach you can actually swim at sounded pretty good to me. I was up early and decided to walk around town and take some pictures. I came across a school with kids playing in the front yard. You would never know it was a school by the look of it and it was right on the beach. I never had a school like that before...maybe it is good I did not!!! At 9am I met my tour and was pleasantly surprised to find out that my Turkish-US friends who I met on a tour in La Fortuna were also on the tour. There were about 28 people in this tour and we divided into two groups to get to the island. All boards are boarded right from the beach. For the next 45 minutes we were to spend cruising to the island for our first snorkel. Unfortunately for us, our boat broke down 10 minutes out. It felt exactly like home...stranded on the water in a speed boat waiting to be rescued!!! After about 20 minutes with no boat in sight to pick us up, we decided to do what anyone who would do on such a hot day....go for a swim. The water was so warm, but still a nice way to cool off in the sweltering heat...no sharks or jellyfish either!! After about an hour, our boat finally arrived to pick us up and we were on our way. Turns out the propeller was broken and it was fixed in a flash. The ride to Isla Tortuga was so nice with the calm seas and lovely coastal scenery...high cliffs of black rock, trees and white sand beaches. It was no PEI though...hard to beat!!!! At about 11am we arrived at our first snorkeling destination. Now aside from the many tourists all around, the snorkeling was very good. Lots of tropical fish...such beautiful colours of electric blue, yellow, red, orange, white, black and purple. There were even pelicans flying around diving for food...they are really huge birds. After about 40 minutes of snorkeling we boarded our boat and headed to the island for our BBQ lunch...Mahi Mahi fish, potatoes and salad, along with lots of fresh fruit for desert and a cool Pelsner cerveza to wash it all down...YUMMY!!! It must have been good because just off in the trees were vultures waiting to swoop down for the left overs...they are huge birds as well!! After lunch we had about two hours of free time on the beach. This island has turquoise water and pure white sand beaches, similar to PEI...I loved it!!! One of the best things about the island was the nice breeze that was blowing most of the time...it is so hot here that even a Scarlet macaw parrot I came across needed to lay down for a rest!!! It was also nice to be able to finally go for a swim without being thrown around or pulled under by the undertow...so relaxing. Around 3pm we boarded our boat again to do our second snorkel. By this time the winds had really picked up and the water was much murkier...hard to see the fish and their beautiful colours. When it was time to head back to Montezuma we first had to put our bags into a large garbage bag so our things would not get wet on the ride back. What we did not know was how wet we were about to get. With such high winds the waves were much bigger than before and to make things even worse, we were going against the wind. For a good 45 minutes we held on for our lives as we continually crashed into wave after wave, getting drenched by the water coming right up over the front of the boat. I am sure the captain of the boat was having a great laugh when we would all scream as we hit wave after wave, and then laugh until our sides hurt as we got hit with all the water. This was better than any exhibition ride you could imagine...it was CRAZY!!!! We finally arrived back safe and sound around 5pm...exhausted, drenched and happy to be on land. It was a fabulous day...even if it was full of tourists...and I am so glad that I was able to spend it with new found friends. Once we got back I headed to the hostel to clean up and decided to grab a bite to eat at a local Soda, ¨Mi Tata¨. This little restaurant is right in the hub of the town, so I spent the next hour and a half taking in the sights....watching the local jewelry makers sell their goods, listening to the people at the only bar in town, marvelling at the driving techniques of Ticos, and checking out all the people wandering around the streets. I then did a bit of shopping and on my way home ran into Emilio and his mother, along with a couple people they met from Argentina. It is really interesting to be the only English speaking person in a group. Half of the time I had no clue what they were saying, but it sure sounded good!!! Later in the evening we decided to take in some of the festivities at ¨Reggae Night¨. Weird evening...a bit of reggae music at the local pub, mixed with American pop, along with people drinking in the streets watching the fire show and one car with its radio blaring out some other kind of music. Emilio bought a 1L bottle of beer and we passed it around all taking swigs...apparently this is a typical practice in Argentina, so when with Argentinians, do as they do!!! Had a great chat with everyone and then head back to my hostel around midnight, exhausted and ready for bed. What a great day....definitely a highlight so far. Until tomorrow.....