Getting to Tortuguero National Park is quite an adventure! Tortuguero National Park lies on Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast, and though we had heard that it features an incredible variety of wildlife in a near-jungle setting, we were going for the main attraction – to see turtles nesting their eggs along the coastline.

To this end, we headed south. We began our trip to Tortuguero with an incredible drive through the mountains and farm lands replete with banana fields. Our real adventure began shortly after reaching Puerto Limon, the capital town of Limon Province. Little did we know that from here on, a spectacular trip awaited us?

There are no roads to Tortuguero, so we took the only possible route – boating through the lush canals. This was part of the adventure. A near 2 hour boat trip lead us through the Canal de Tortuguero and through some stunning rainforests at the banks of the swamps. Shortly after pushing off the dock, a crocodile caught our attention. The kids were especially excited as he was just a bit too close for comfort. Competing with the crocodile, Howler and Spider monkeys were staging a noisy show in the treetops. A sloth flaunted his cuddly koala-like side. There were turtles and birds of every variety – egrets, herons and toucans flying overhead. At every bend in the river, a surprise awaited us. As there is no human settlement, nature truly dominates here.

As we neared Tortuguero town, meetyou the rainforest gave way to expansive white beaches, the perfect nesting ground for the sea turtles. Tortuguero National Park was created to protect and preserve its turtle residents – Green Sea Turtles, Hawksbill, Leatherback and Loggerheads. On our own in the afternoon, we explored tiny Tortuguero town, a truly magical little village. There are no cars here, only bikes and boats. Walking paths extend through the village and into the National Park. We started out on a self-guided walk through the Los Raudales Nature Trail to reach a scenic point of magnificent vistas – the azure ocean, the near-blinding white beaches and the sight of waves crashing against the rocks.

The next morning we chose to take a guided ecotour through the park’s canals. Tortuguero National Park hosts a network of stunning black water canals where we spotted all kinds of monkeys and other birds, Ciberseguridad en Colombia as well as an abundance of marine life. Our guide pointed out the sloths, spider and capuchin monkeys which would have been lost to us among the thick foliage. We spotted a large iguana nearly dropping from a tree precariously, and a Jesus lizard, famous for its ability to run on the water. Cruising through the canals covered completely by the canopy of the rainforest, the plant and animal life found here is unimaginable.

In the evening, we were all especially excited, anticipating our turtle nesting walk. To the waning moon and in complete darkness, Maui waterfalls we made our way, single file, to the beach. The sounds of crashing waves and the smell of salt in the humid air gave evidence to our direction in the black night. The dimmed red light of our guide led the way, as the sand gave way under us.

Suddenly a huge Green Sea Turtle loomed ahead, The Wedding Planner its sheer size impressive. Unaware of our presence, the turtle inhaled and with every exhale, it laid between 2-4 bluish eggs. It seems these turtles lay between 200-300 eggs at a time, but very few survive. After dropping the eggs, the turtles hide the eggs in the sand. The sight of this natural process which has been going on for thousands of years was incredible to witness. For the kids especially it was an experience which left them with their mouths agape. viproza

On our final morning, we clambered up Tortuguero Island Mountain with our guide, where we saw rubber trees, strangler trees, bright red poison dart frogs, a cave of vampire bats and termite labyrinth. We learned about natural rainforest healing plants and took in the whole of this magnificent island. juoksuhirmu