Tortuguero

3.11.2026 - Tortuguero Canal Tour, Jaguar Trail and Night Hike

Today we start very early; we have to wake up at 5 am and be at the office of our tour provider, Tortutours, by 5:45 am. We have booked a combo package for the day that includes a canal tour, a daytime hike on the Jaguar Trail in the national park, and a night hike. It will be an intense day. Jessica, the German owner of Tortuguero Tours, is already waiting for us with coffee and fruits. I was drawn to the website and the slogan 'Adventures Close to Nature', which is why I chose this tour provider in advance, even though there are certainly no shortages of offers in Tortuguero.

We are the only participants; apparently, two other participants canceled at the last minute, which Jessica says unfortunately happens very often due to low-cost offers and competition from other providers, especially hotels and lodges. So it's a private tour in German, which can't get any better.

We get into the open canoe with an electric motor, put on the life jackets, and off we go into the canals of Tortuguero. Numerous other boats from other tour providers are already on their way, but this can also be helpful, as the guides help each other find the animals. Jessica's stories about the flora and fauna are very exciting and informative... and in German, they are also very understandable, especially the names of the animals and plants.

Tortuguero translates not to 'turtle' (Tortuga) or 'place of turtles', as is often mistakenly assumed, but to 'turtle hunter', historically describing the people who hunted the animals for their meat and shells before the region fully transitioned to conservation and ecotourism.

The Tortuguero National Park covers over 26,000 hectares and consists of an extensive network of natural and artificial blackwater channels. It protects eleven different habitats that are home to jaguars, sloths, caimans, and over 300 bird species. Since it rains heavily year-round in this humid region of the country, the jungle remains extremely dense and biodiverse. Today, the protected coastal strip serves as the most important nesting site for the endangered green sea turtle in the Western Hemisphere.

We travel for almost 3 hours in the canals, primarily on the main channel; the smaller navigable canals are currently either closed for conservation reasons or are impassable due to fallen trees, according to Jessica.

Here are pictures of the animals we saw. We also spotted howler monkeys, spider monkeys (including a mother with her baby), and Morpho butterflies. Thanks to Jessica's fantastic binoculars, we could zoom in so close to the animals that we could see colors, feathers, scales, and faces up close. That was a highlight.

After a short breakfast break in the hotel, we continue at 10:30 am for the guided daytime hike with Jessica in the national park on the Jaguar Trail.

We also see spider monkeys, a howler monkey sleeping on a branch, and a mother with her baby, Morpho butterflies, soldier ants, two beaked parrots, and finally the long-sought sloth. Jessica did not give up on tracking it down for us. Wow, what an incredible experience. And thanks to the superb binoculars, we could see its face up close.

On the way back, we buy a type of baguette at a small stand right by the harbor. It tastes okay, but the coconut cookie I take for afternoon coffee is fantastic and definitely leaves me wanting more. In the afternoon, we relax on the small porch in front of our rooms. It was quite exhausting, strolling, stopping, constantly looking up; we are just exhausted.

At 6 pm, we set off again for the night hike. It has started to rain, and we briefly discuss with Jessica whether to postpone the hike to the next day, but eventually decide to go for today. Putting on rain ponchos, taking a flashlight, and off we go. Since the national park entrance closes at 3:00 pm, we take a hiking trail on the other side of the town.

What an intense beautiful day. Huge praise to Tortuguero Tours and Jessica for the wonderful and well-organized tours, for the many wonderful and informative stories, the great binoculars, and of course for finding so many different animals. Thank you very much.

Such a day makes you hungry. It's already 8:30 pm, and at this time, there's not much happening in the town. The clocks tick differently here. The restaurant with Ninjo, which Jessica recommended, is unfortunately just closing, but next door at his son's 'Juniors', we can still get vegetarian tacos with pico de gallo and avocado, unfortunately again for my taste fried and far too greasy. I still can't quite warm up to the (affordable) food here in Costa Rica.