Tortuguero

Tortuguero isn't the easiest place to get to from San José, but that didn't stop me, Jessica, and Julia. Very early Friday morning we embarked on what turned out to be one of my favorite trips. It took two buses and a water taxi to get to the unique little strip of land. Noteworthy for it's geography, Caribbean vibe, and the hundreds of turtles that visit every year, Tortuguero is different than every other place I have visited. 

Geography: As the map below shows, Tortuguero is a small strip of land with water on either side. Interestingly, the water is two separate bodies; one is the Atlantic Ocean. The other is a system of naturally made canals. The canals divide Toruguero from the rest of Costa Rica. Thats why we had to take a water taxi.

Map of Tortuguero

House in Tortuguero

We started Saturday off with another very early morning. At 5:00 am we went to the beach to watch the sunrise. It was beautiful... this picture doesn't really do it justice. 

The beach at sunrise

"It is illegal to touch baby turtles or to excavate the nests" 

Just like the other beaches in Costa Rica, Tortuguero has had an ongoing challenge of protecting the turtle eggs and hatchlings from people who want to eat or sell them. People will dig up newly made nests to harvest the eggs for profit. I've also been told that people will occasionally eat the baby turtles.

Turtle nests with broken egg shells

 It was shocking to see the countless turtle nests on the beach. I wasn't expecting to see so many! In the majority of the nests we saw, the baby turtles had already hatched and all that remained were fragments of their left behind shells. Shell pieces littered the beach. It was sort of comforting knowing that so many hatchlings had had the chance to make it to the ocean and survive, however small that chance was. The journey from the nest to the ocean is a long one for the tiny turtles. Predators, humans, and the distance itself are among the obstacles the baby turtles face after they hatch.

Egg shells

We visited Tortuguero at the tail-end of turtle season.  Turtles were still coming to the beach  to lay their eggs, but the vast majority have already visited. Night tours to see the turtles come on shore can be purchased and are legal. Tours to see the babies can also be arranged, but after speaking with a national park ranger, we learned that any tour to see the babies is illegal. The three of us opted to not take a turtle tour. Instead we went on an amazing canoe tour through the canals. 

Welcome to Tortuguero National Park

The national park consist of beach, canal, and forest. 

With a guide, Jessica, Julia, and I explored the canals in a canoe. We even had oars to row. The canals are nothing short of a wonder. They are all naturally made and are about 25 meters deep. The canal and the surrounding forest are home to innumerable species of plants, fish, and animals. Lining the canal are huge  (I'm guessing over 100 feet tall) trees that are covered in leafy vines. The forest in Tortuguero is a transitional forest, meaning it's rain fall is between the levels in a rainforest and a dry forest. The water is brown, but not from pollution. Many, many years ago manatees swam freely through the canals, but unfortunately that is no longer the case. Propellers from speed boats were harming and killing the manatees. They now live in a special area of the park where they are safe from humans.

Canal

From the canoe we saw some really neat animals; we saw fish, many different types of birds, caiman, and three species of monkey.

Bird

I think this bird looks really cool. He is actually walking on top of a field of water lilies. The birds are light enough and have special wide feet that allow them to do so.

Leaf

This red plant appears to be a flower but it is actually a modified leaf. 

Caiman

I spotted this little guy. He is a caiman (kind of like a small crocodile). He hung out there for a while while we watched him.

Spider Monkey

This is probably my favorite monkey I've seen in Costa Rica. Its a spider monkey. Tortuguero National Park has three kinds of monkeys: spider, white face capuchin, and howler. 

After our canoe tour, we headed back to our hostel to make some breakfast and take a long nap. Once we were all up and ready to go, we went hiking through the beach and forest of the national park. I really enjoyed our hike. Again we saw different birds, a sloth, and howler monkeys. I also saw way too many huge Golden- Orb spiders. 

Newly made turtle nest

While we were walking on the beach, we looked at all of the nests. Most of them, like I said, were old. This turtle nest, however, was new and most likely had eggs buried in it beneath the sand.
The track leading away from the nest to the ocean indicates that it was newly made. Also, there weren't any broken eggs laying in the nest.

Baby turtle tracks

Baby turtle tracks covered the sand. They were everywhere! Trails leading from the nests to the ocean patterned the sand with tiny flipper marks.

Mommy and baby howler monkeys

To hike through the forest, the park requires that rubber boots are worn. We rented ours for one U.S. dollar. The reason for the boots is protection: protection from a yellow, venomous snake that likes to bite people's feet. I think the boots were just supposed to make us look cooler than we already did. 

Boots!
(Julia, Jess, Me)