Great herons, northern jacanas, tiger herons, and toucans become your focal point. Lush flowers bejewel the jungle and cicadas bid you rest. Late in the afternoon, you gather at the dock for a trip across the canal to Tortuguero. It is a time more for gathering in culture and information than for buying gifts and mementos, although those are available. Several open-air restaurants serve foods with Nicaraguan and Caribbean influence, among them the acclaimed Miss Junie's.
Wondrous aromas permeate the air.
You share the simple delight of eating good food that someone else has prepared for you. Back to the lodge for dinner and sleep, for the next morning begins with six-o'clock coffee, juice and snack before a tranquil cruise beneath the canopy. There is a grace and majesty about the jungle that you can experience only by being quietly, genuinely present in it. Each level teems with life. It is at once mind-boggling and immensely humbling, this contemplative drift into the wilds.