Room at the Tortuga Lodge

This was our room at the Tortuga Lodge. I took this photo to show the proximity of the room to the outdoors, as you can see the river outside.

The most remarkable feature of the room is that it did not have any windows! The walls on three sides were screens without any glass. There were shades for privacy, and the fourth wall was and interior wall for the bathroom.

There was a large overhanging roof so that the rain did not come in the windows. We had a second floor unit.

With only screens separating the unit from the outdoors, you can imagine that part of the experience is the exposure to the sounds of the jungle at night. Besides the birds, every morning we heard a pack of howler monkeys move through the area. It was amazing. They emit a low guttural sound that is incredibly loud.

A single howler monkey makes a howl that has been measured at 89 decibels. A train whistle at 500 feet (152 m.) is 90 decibels. You can imagine the tremendous sound of a whole pack of howlers.

During the next few days I will take you to the Caribbean beach at Tortuguero, then I will show some photos of poisonous animals that we saw.