We gazed, fascinated, until the boatman coaxed his outboard motor to life again. A great and moving drama plays out every year on the black volcanic beach at Tortuguero, but now was not the time to witness it. They then deposit their eggs on a 22-mile protected stretch of coastline and return to the water. These ancient monsters, contemporaries of the dinosaurs, have survived longer than almost any living thing. The baby turtles hatch in 60 days, struggle to the surface and scrabble instinctively over the beach to the sea.
Few humans dare to swim there.
The crocodiles and sharks are waiting. But birds are benign, and they were the focus of our trip. I am a neophyte birder, unlike my husband. He and the others, most of them veterans, constantly helped me pin the birds in my binoculars. You cannot bird-watch without a good pair, just as you cannot snorkel without a mask and tube.