This week Carlos and I were fortunate enough to make a trip to the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica for a little time away from the day-to-day business of Monte Azul. We headed to Tortuga Lodge in Tortuguero. Even though Costa Rica is a small country, traveling from one location to another can be time consuming. The driving time from Monte Azul to Tortuguero on the northern Caribbean coast would be around 9 hours.
To significantly reduce this travel time, we decided to do what many travelers in Costa Rica do and take a puddle jumper. Our plan consisted of driving to the Quepos airport which is approximately 1 ½ hours away and flying to San Jose and then onto Tortuguero. There are 2 small airlines in Costa Rica that fly to the many small regional airports. These airlines are Nature Air and Sansa. The flights are very short in duration ranging from 20-30 minutes.
On our way back home, we flew from Tortuguero to San Jose which took 22 minutes. The Tortuguero Airport is little more than a landing strip that runs parallel between the Tortuguero River and the Atlantic Ocean, literally steps from either and lined with palm trees. We took a 2 minute boat ride from Tortuga Lodge to get to the plane. We stood with 6 or 7 other people on the tarmac watching the plane arrive. Then quickly boarded and took off within minutes. It was like something out of a movie.
We arrived in San Jose and had a short layover before heading onto Quepos. After they announce that they were ready to board and started out to the plane we were stopped by an official. Our flight would be delayed for a few minutes. It seemed that a large iguana had made his way out onto the tarmac and was being rescued. The large fire truck made its way out into the tropical sun and 2 firemen emerged to capture the wayward iguana.
The iguana was quickly in the hands of the firemen. The rescuer walked over to the group of us so that we could get a closer look and the iguana, pet him and take a few photos. The iguana didn’t seem to mind the attention. As we boarded the plane and took off, we could see the iguana being taken to the park across the street and released.
As we flew away there was a sense of amazement that it wasn’t about meeting a flight schedule but more about the safety and well being of the iguana. I am sure that everyone on that plane will remember him for a long time. I know that I will. I have attached a photo of this iguana and the fire truck used to remove him from danger.
