Tortuguero - Monkeys,Bites&Rain ... But No Turtles

Trip Start Jan 04, 2008
1
53
122
Trip End Dec 17, 2008


Loading Map
Map your own trip!
Map Options
Show trip route
Hide lines
shadow
Where I stayed
Cabinas Aracari
(Tortuguero hotels)

Flag of Costa Rica  , Province of Limon,
Monday, May 12, 2008

Spent a couple of days at Tortuguero which is a national park area on the caribbean coast of Costa Rica covering both inland rainforest and a marine area. Itīs most famous (and gets itīs name) for being a nesting area for different types of turtles such as leatherback , green and hawkshead. Unfortunately itīs not the right time of year to see the nesting turtles but I wanted to go to Tortuguero in any case as the Tortuguero canal is renowned for being a very interesting and picturesque experience with lots of other wildlife to see in the waterways and around. There are a few ways to get to Tortuguero all of which involve a boat at some stage but I treated myself to the rather expensive 3-hour "lancha" (speedboat) trip from Moin near Puerto Limon as I wanted to go right along the Tortuguero canal. There is a little village at Tortuguero right next to the national park entrance which has plenty of places to stay , some restaurants and other facilities. The village is located on a thin strip of land between the beach/sea on one side and the canal on the other side and its all very laid back with a caribbean culture and mostly black caribbean Costa Rican people who seem to effortlessly switch between english and spanish or mix up the two ("Si , man") Tortuguero 32
Tortuguero 32
 . Arrived around saturday lunchtime and wandered around checking out the village and beach area before watching the sunset from a little park area on the canal with lots of brightly coloured animal statues. Booked a canoe tour for early on Sunday morning to explore the narrow waterways off the main canal which over hang with vegetation - figured a canoe tour would be better to see the wildlife rather than going in a speedboat with itīs engine noise scaring off all the creatures. Turned out the canoe tour was just me and the guide/paddler , an affable and funny caribbean chap named Austin and it was great for about 90 minutes until the rain came ! Saw three different types of monkey (howler , spider , cappuchino) , caimans and many different species of birds including herons and kingfishers. The large lanchas from the luxury lodges were a real pain - the boats are loud , the tour guides are loud and some of the people in the boats (no nationalities mentioned) were loud , all of which doesnt help in getting close up to the animal and bird life without scaring them off. After about an hour and a half the tour was abruptly interrupted by rain - seriously tropical torrential rain - as it absolutely pelted it down. We carried on for a bit in the rain , especially down a waterway where there was some pretty good shelter from overhanging vegetation on both sides of the canal , but it became impossible after a while ... no way we were going to see anything more in those conditions so we paddled as hard as possible to get the canoe back to the village Tortuguero 1
Tortuguero 1
 . Still only just after 8am when we got back (as we had started at 6am) so I went back to bed and it seemed to rain solidly until lunchtime. After lunch it brightened up a bit so I went for a walk in the national park , which is a thin area of forest land between the canal and the sea. There is a trail through the forest which runs parallel and close to the beach so its possible to walk along both as you like. Didnt see much wildlife but it was pleasant trekking , apart from the damned insects who bit me to shreds on my face and neck (long trousers and insect repellent on the arms did the trick there ... dont normally get bitten elsewhere). Monday morning I caught an early boat back along the canal to Moin - the boat driver seemed to be in a hurry and was really motoring on the way back as we did the journey in under two hours compared to three on the way there ... but we still managed to stop along the way at a sandbank to see two rather large crocodiles on the bank and then slinking their way into the water - after that I decided to stop dipping my hands in the canal over the side of the boat.

Post your own travel photos for friends and family More Pictures

Tortuguero 2 Tortuguero 2 Tortuguero 3 Tortuguero 3 Tortuguero 4 Tortuguero 4 Tortuguero 5 Tortuguero 5
Tortuguero 6 Tortuguero 6 Tortuguero 7 Tortuguero 7 Tortuguero 8 Tortuguero 8 Tortuguero 9 Tortuguero 9
Tortuguero 10 Tortuguero 10 Tortuguero 11 Tortuguero 11 Tortuguero 12 Tortuguero 12 Tortuguero 13 Tortuguero 13
Tortuguero 14 Tortuguero 14 Tortuguero 15 Tortuguero 15 Tortuguero 16 Tortuguero 16 Tortuguero 17 Tortuguero 17
Tortuguero 18 Tortuguero 18 Tortuguero 19 Tortuguero 19 Tortuguero 20 Tortuguero 20 Tortuguero 21 Tortuguero 21
Tortuguero 22 Tortuguero 22 Tortuguero 23 Tortuguero 23 Tortuguero 24 Tortuguero 24 Tortuguero 25 Tortuguero 25
Tortuguero 26 Tortuguero 26 Tortuguero 27 Tortuguero 27 Tortuguero 28 Tortuguero 28 Tortuguero 29 Tortuguero 29
Tortuguero 30 Tortuguero 30 Tortuguero 31 Tortuguero 31 Tortuguero 33 Tortuguero 33 Tortuguero 34 Tortuguero 34
Tortuguero 35 Tortuguero 35 Tortuguero 36 Tortuguero 36 Tortuguero 37 Tortuguero 37 Tortuguero 38 Tortuguero 38
Tortuguero 39 Tortuguero 39 Tortuguero 40 Tortuguero 40 Tortuguero 41 Tortuguero 41 Tortuguero 42 Tortuguero 42
Tortuguero 43 Tortuguero 43 Tortuguero 44 Tortuguero 44 Tortuguero 45 Tortuguero 45 Tortuguero 46 Tortuguero 46
Tortuguero 47 Tortuguero 47 Tortuguero 48 Tortuguero 48 Tortuguero 49 Tortuguero 49 Tortuguero 50 Tortuguero 50
Tortuguero 51 Tortuguero 51 Tortuguero 52 Tortuguero 52 Tortuguero 53 Tortuguero 53 Tortuguero 54 Tortuguero 54
Tortuguero 55 Tortuguero 55 Tortuguero 56 Tortuguero 56 Tortuguero 57 Tortuguero 57 Tortuguero 58 Tortuguero 58
Tortuguero 59 Tortuguero 59 Tortuguero 60 Tortuguero 60 Tortuguero 61 Tortuguero 61 Tortuguero 62 Tortuguero 62
Tortuguero 63 Tortuguero 63 Tortuguero 64 Tortuguero 64 Tortuguero 65 Tortuguero 65 Tortuguero 66 Tortuguero 66
Tortuguero 67 Tortuguero 67 Tortuguero 68 Tortuguero 68 Tortuguero 69 Tortuguero 69 Tortuguero 70 Tortuguero 70
Tortuguero 71 Tortuguero 71 Tortuguero 72 Tortuguero 72 Tortuguero 73 Tortuguero 73 Tortuguero 74 Tortuguero 74
Tortuguero 75 Tortuguero 75 Tortuguero 76 Tortuguero 76 Tortuguero 77 Tortuguero 77 Tortuguero 78 Tortuguero 78
Tortuguero 79 Tortuguero 79 Tortuguero 80 Tortuguero 80 Tortuguero 81 Tortuguero 81 Tortuguero 82 Tortuguero 82
Tortuguero 83 Tortuguero 83 Tortuguero 84 Tortuguero 84 Tortuguero 85 Tortuguero 85 Tortuguero 86 Tortuguero 86
Tortuguero 87 Tortuguero 87 Tortuguero 88 Tortuguero 88 Tortuguero 89 Tortuguero 89 Tortuguero 90 Tortuguero 90
Tortuguero 91 Tortuguero 91 Tortuguero 92 Tortuguero 92 Tortuguero 93 Tortuguero 93 Tortuguero 94 Tortuguero 94
Tortuguero 95 Tortuguero 95 Tortuguero 96 Tortuguero 96 Tortuguero 97 Tortuguero 97 Tortuguero 98 Tortuguero 98
Tortuguero 99 Tortuguero 99 Tortuguero 100 Tortuguero 100 Tortuguero 101 Tortuguero 101 Tortuguero 102 Tortuguero 102
Tortuguero 103 Tortuguero 103 Tortuguero 104 Tortuguero 104 Tortuguero 105 Tortuguero 105 Tortuguero 106 Tortuguero 106
Tortuguero 107 Tortuguero 107 Tortuguero 108 Tortuguero 108 Tortuguero 109 Tortuguero 109 Tortuguero 110 Tortuguero 110
Tortuguero 111 Tortuguero 111 Tortuguero 112 Tortuguero 112 Tortuguero 113 Tortuguero 113 Tortuguero 114 Tortuguero 114
Tortuguero 115 Tortuguero 115 Tortuguero 116 Tortuguero 116 Tortuguero 117 Tortuguero 117 Tortuguero 118 Tortuguero 118
Tortuguero 119 Tortuguero 119 Tortuguero 120 Tortuguero 120 Tortuguero 121 Tortuguero 121 Tortuguero 122 Tortuguero 122
Tortuguero 123 Tortuguero 123 Tortuguero 124 Tortuguero 124 Tortuguero 125 Tortuguero 125 Tortuguero 126 Tortuguero 126
Tortuguero 127 Tortuguero 127 Tortuguero 128 Tortuguero 128 Tortuguero 129 Tortuguero 129 Tortuguero 130 Tortuguero 130
Tortuguero 131 Tortuguero 131 Tortuguero 132 Tortuguero 132 Tortuguero 133 Tortuguero 133 Tortuguero 134 Tortuguero 134
Tortuguero 135 Tortuguero 135 Tortuguero 136 Tortuguero 136 Tortuguero 137 Tortuguero 137 Tortuguero 138 Tortuguero 138
Tortuguero 139 Tortuguero 139 Tortuguero 140 Tortuguero 140
Slideshow Print this entry