Costa Rica- Day 14

Day 8 we made our way to Manuel Antonio, which is on the Pacific side. We got to our hostel called Vista Serena and the adventure began. The hostel owner suggested we take a walk to this creek, follow it down for about 45 minutes and then there was this amazing waterfall we could jump in. Sounds great! So we happily put on our bathing suits and flip flops and made our way there. Well the creek was a bit harder to walk through then we thought but we still continued on. We got to the waterfall and all agreed not to jump. Not because the waterfall was too high, but because it seemed impossible to get back up again. So we turned around and within 5 minutes it was completely dark. So here we are, navigating through running water. Each one of us loses our flip flops, it begins to thunder and lightning, a angry dog comes running down the hill barking at us, Dani lost a toenail... So obviously we made it back... A little wiser. The best part was we got back to our hostel at 7:30. It gets dark FAST here.
Day 9 we explored Manuel Antonio National Park. We saw tucans, iguanas, monkeys, mouthless crabs and more. We swam in the Pacific Ocean and then had some lunch. There were signs that said "don't feed the monkeys" but you really didn't need to. The monkeys were stealing peoples lunches right on the beach. This one ran over, grabbed a whole plastic bag of food, ran up into a tree and threw down what he didn't want. Hilarious.
Day 11 we made our way to the Caribbean coast. We took the bus to Puerto Viejo de Talamanca. We stayed at the hostel called Rocking Js... A really cool hostel right on the water... Our room looks like a treehouse. We went to dinner at a vegan place, got some tour info from a woman named Melissa, got a coffee and then hung out at this bar called Mango Sunset. Women get free dacquris and a reggae band called "Plan B" played. We stayed in Puerto Viejo for a few nights. Enjoyed the beach, the town... And the rain.
Day 14 we took an organized tour to Tortuguero. This is a national park that you can only visit by boat. On the way we stopped at the Delmonte banana factory and a botantical garden. We saw a bunch of monkeys again, cayman babies, poisonous frogs, gorgeous butterflies and tons more. At night we got to go to the beach where sea turtles are nesting. This was really incredible. The female swims to shore, digs a hole and begins to lay her eggs. She spits out over 150 eggs. It looked so painful and so tiring. Then she has to bury the hole AND dig a fake hole to trick predators. Then the poor exhausted turtle has to drag herself back into the water. We couldn't help her because she needs to leave a scent so she can find it again. Amazing to witness, although I kindof felt terrible watching her in that state.