Costa Rica - Tortuguero

After a never-ending journey (a total of about 12 hours and several transfers) by public buses and a overnight stop in San Jose, we arrived in Tortuguero. Our first stop on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica!

Tortuguero translates to "land of turtles" (a well-deserved name, more on that below) and is located in the national park of the same name.

The village is located on a small, marshy piece of land in the middle of the national park, which is often referred to as the "Amazon of Costa Rica" because of its canal and lagoon landscape, countless species of animals and plants, and high amount of rainfall.

An almost untouched rainforest full of animals and plants, mostly deserted black beaches, and a unique experience - observing sea turtles laying their eggs at night - make this place absolutely unique.

We explored the nature by canoe and on foot, and were fortunate to have found an incredibly experienced biologist as our guide. She knew every plant and every animal and didn't stop telling us amazing things, even about the seemingly inconspicuous creatures. A small highlight was encountering the dolphins in the canal while sitting in our canoe, as well as an anteater climbing the trees like a monkey - it looked quite funny! (Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take a nice picture of it myself, but I attached one from the internet that comes close :-) )

Together with our biologist, we also went to a more secluded beach at night to look for turtles that regularly return to the beach to lay their eggs. An incredible experience!

We were lucky and were able to observe the entire process from a safe distance. It's incredible how these huge, heavy animals struggle on land, dig a 50 cm deep hole, lay hundreds of eggs, bury them again, and make their way back to the sea. While we were watching one turtle, other turtles repeatedly came to the beach a few meters away and started digging a hole. Absolutely impressive! :-)

During our boat trip from Tortuguero to Puerto Viejo, we had another stroke of luck. Our boat driver suddenly stopped and exclaimed excitedly, 'Perezoso, Perezoso' and pointed to the water. And indeed, a sloth with its typical permanent grin was swimming towards us. It's hard to imagine that these animals can swim and cross rivers when you usually only see them hanging in trees! :-D

A quick word about the photo with the pelican and the fisherman. It was a delightful scene - Michi and I watched the two of them for at least 30 minutes. :-D The fisherman repeatedly went into the water with a kind of fishing rod and caught fish, while the pelican eagerly and excitedly walked around, waiting for his friend. Every time the fisherman had something on the line, he came out of the water and fed the pelican. They continued along the beach like this and both looked very happy - a beautiful image! :-)