Tortuguero National Park

Travel to Tortuguero

Actually, when I entered Costa Rica, I was relatively clueless about what to do next. However, it quickly became clear that 'Corcovado and Tortuguero National Park' are a must-visit.

So, I took the bus from Uvita to San José and stopped here for a night, simply because it is impossible to reach Tortuguero in a single day.

The next morning, I took the bus at 9 am from 'Gran Terminal de Caribe'. It is important to note this because San José has several different bus terminals. First, I traveled within 2 hours to Cariari, and then, in about 15 minutes, I took another bus for almost 90 minutes to Pavona.

Here, I went directly to the 'Rio la Suerte' river, where a few boats were waiting. We traveled the last part, around 45 minutes, exclusively by boat.

Therefore, I arrived in Tortuguero at 2 pm. It is a small lively tourist town between the Caribbean Sea, Rio Suerte, and of course, surrounded by the jungle.

Tortuguero

It quickly became clear why people come here. It is because of the exuberant nature and wildlife. Definitely not for bathing, as it is strongly discouraged due to the strong currents.

But we already know that in Costa Rica.

Everything here revolves around tourism, which is evident as soon as you step off the boat. There are countless restaurants, souvenir shops, tour operators, and spas. Yet, everything is somehow relaxed, with a Caribbean flair.

Tortuguero Volcano

This is a small elevation, 5 km from the town. This elevation was or is actually a volcano.

Anyway, you can take a nice, leisurely trip here.

All you have to do is take a taxi boat in Totuguero and get off at the foot of the mountain. So, after arriving, I intended to walk up there leisurely, but I was initially stopped by a friendly ranger. Because it turned out that I had to pay for it, nothing is free in Costa Rica.

And he immediately said that you can only do it online. Uh, okay, we are in the middle of the forest. Where can there be internet here? He looked at his phone and told me to follow him; we walked 12 meters when he suddenly said, here! Uh, what? I looked at my phone and was speechless. I saw full internet reception. And lo and behold, after two minutes, I had my ticket for 2 dollars.

So, now I could continue my walk. The way up was quick, with stairs. After just 15 minutes, I had a great view of the whole area up to Tortuguero and beyond. Everything was beautifully green.

Then I descended and simply followed the path, refreshed myself with a delicious coconut, and after another 15 minutes, I found myself in the small beautiful town of 'San Francisco'.

At around 3 pm, the taxi boat appeared according to the plan, I just had to wave it down and took the ride back to Tortuguero.

Tortuguero National Park.

This is the real highlight here and should not be missed on any trip to Costa Rica.

For this, you had to get up early; the meeting point was at 5:45 am, and at 6 am, we went out on a canoe. It should be mentioned that you don't have to paddle yourself, although the paddles are ready, most canoes here now have an electric drive, so it goes almost silently over the water.

Tip - only a few still come with their dreadful combustion engine, which greatly disturbs the atmosphere and certainly also the wildlife. Inquire about this when booking and avoid it.

So, we went out on the canals, very quiet and relaxed. And the guide also explained a lot of interesting things. About every animal we saw and about the history of Totuguero.

It is rather unpleasant; although you feel like you are in a pristine forest, that is not the case. In the 1920s, lumber companies from America came and largely logged the entire forest here. They left in the 1940s and left behind the specially created town of Tortuguero. The forest actually grew back within 70 years, thanks to the perfect climate, so there is a large beautiful secondary forest here. And in this forest, there is a wealth of countless animals.

Many different birds and lizards, monkeys (howler monkeys), turtles, caimans, crocodiles, snakes, spiders, insects, frogs, and of course, sloths.

In addition, jaguars roam around. It is said that they now come to the village at night more often to grab roaming dogs and cats.

Also, many turtles come to the beach every year to lay their eggs, unfortunately, it was not the season at the moment.

After we returned with the canoe after 3 hours, everyone went their own way, preferably to have breakfast first. Then, we met again with our guide and walked the next 2 to 3 hours on the 'Jaguar Trail' through the forest and were able to spot several animals again. Including red poison arrow frogs, toucans (a beautiful bird!), a few sloths, and monkeys.

So, as you can see, if you come to Costa Rica, you must definitely go to Tortuguero.

Pura Vida!