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Tortuguero – Touring Rainforest Canals in Costa Rica

Tue, May 17, 2011 By 2 Comments

Venice certainly has its charms and there is no doubt that Amsterdam is amazing; but for a truly unique vacation on some of the world’s most beautiful canals, consider traveling to Costa Rica instead.

Costa Rica’s Tortuguero National Park

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Nestled on the Caribbean coast in Limon Province, Costa Rica’s Tortuguero National Park is home to some of the most amazing canals on earth. The nearly 50,000 acres of protected forest and canals have an incredible diversity of wildlife and nature, with areas of rainforest, lagoons and swamps.

Several species of endangered sea turtles make their homes in these canals, including leatherbacks and loggerheads. Manatees live in the canals, as do crocodiles and caimans. In the trees along the canal banks, there are communities of spider monkeys, howler monkeys, frogs, parrots and toucans. There are more than 400 kinds of trees here, and more than 2,000 species of plants.

Scene along Costa Rica's canals

Scene along Costa Rica's canals

 

If you want to visit these spectacular canals, there are no roads into the area. Getting here is half the fun. You can only reach Tortuguero National Park by boat or by plane. However, there are many incredible tours and packages available that can bring you into and around one of the most important eco-systems in the Americas. Its nickname is the “Amazon of Costa Rica”.

Getting to Tortuguero by boat

Tortuguero boat tour

Tortuguero boat tour

Your starting point is the coastal community of Puerto Limon, which is rapidly becoming a popular port of call for cruise ships visiting the Caribbean. Tortuguero park and its signature canals are just over three hours from Puerto Limon by boat.

On your way into the park, you travel up the Canal de Tortuguero, where the tall rainforest casts shadows across the narrow strips of water, and birds call at you from the dappled forest canopy.

Many of the tours here include a stay at one of the eco-lodges or hotels in the area. These facilities range from budget to luxury and you can find any kind of tour and accommodations to suit your needs. At night, you can fall asleep to the sounds of the jungle and the delicate rain.

Boat tours in Tortuguero

Cruising the canals of Tortuguero

Cruising the canals of Tortuguero

During the day, you can take a boat tour on the massive network of canals, spotting the tropical birds, monkeys, crocodiles, and of course, turtles.  Tours on the canals use boats with silent motors, allowing you to get close to shore, and to the incredible wildlife, for the best pictures possible.

There is a 14-mile stretch of beach in the Tortuguero National Park which is one of the world’s most important nesting grounds for the Green Sea turtle. If you visit in July, August or September, you can come to the beaches here and watch thousands and thousands of turtles come ashore to lay their eggs in the sand.

Make sure you book your tour and hotel well in advance, particularly if you plan to visit in the height of turtle nesting season, because visits to Tortuguero’s canals are popular.

More fun in Tortuguero

Aside from getting up close and personal with an incredible variety of natural wonders, there is also a museum here, and a visitors’ center, not to mention many ways to spend your day on your tour, or at your lodge.

You can spend your time resting in a hammock, listening to the sounds of the jungle, or you can take advantage of many of the wonderful activities available here. Go hiking through the park, play beach volleyball, fish for tarpon and spend an afternoon sea-kayaking on the canals.

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One thing that will make your trip to Costa Rica more enjoyable is having the best travel clothes for the tropical location. Get ready, pack up, and enjoy your trip!
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Filed Under: accommodation, tortuguero, transportation, turtles Tagged With: , , , , , ,

5 Exotic birds of Costa Rica

Thu, Apr 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Costa Rica has a nearly perfect climate. With year-round temperatures of about 72 degrees, perfect ocean breezes, warm sunshine, and just the right amount of rain, there is never a bad time to visit.

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This ideal combination of climate and geography has helped Costa Rica become one of the most biologically diverse places on earth. Also, its long history of peace and stability has helped the country preserve that ecological legacy, so that today nearly one third of the country is protected and preserved for the benefit of the region’s wildlife.

That dedication to eco-tourism has made Costa Rica one of the best places to go on a bird-watching vacation. There are more than 800 species of birds living here, in every habitat from the beaches to the rainforest to the mountains. Here are five exotic birds of Costa Rica that are well worth traveling to see.

  • Scarlet macaw

    Bright and beautiful macaw

    The brightly colored Scarlet Macaw can be found in large numbers in the Carara National Park. The bird is mostly scarlet, with splashes of blue and yellow, and you can’t miss them as they make a lot of noise. Every day, flocks of the Scarlet Macaws commute from their roosts on the coast to the park and then back again, giving you a remarkable chance to see great clouds of these bright birds in flight.

  • The Blue-Crowned Motmot is a beautiful black bird that nests in tunnels and can be found in the forests of Costa Rica. Distinctive for its greenish body, blue crown and tail, long tail and yellow or orange breast, the Motmot can be hard to see in the forest, but can be easily spotted in the Parque del Este in San José.
  • On Costa Rica’s lakes, the fascinating Jacana (or Jesus bird) is a delight to find. It is a tropical wader found in many countries around the world, and its large feet give it the ability to walk on top of the vegetation that grows on the lakes, giving them the appearance of walking on water. The jacana can often be found in the Palo Verde Biological Station near San José, which is an important breeding ground for these and other wading birds.
  • The Jabiru Stork is the tallest flying bird in all of Central and South America, standing up to 5 feet tall. It is hard to miss this large white bird, with the black head and neck, as it heavily tromps around on the ground, or flies powerfully through the air. The best place to find the Jabiru is the Caño Negro National Wildlife Refuge, which is a major nesting ground for many aquatic birds.
  • Perhaps the most beautiful of all is the Resplendent Quetzal. Serious birders come to Costa Rica to see this gorgeous bird. This shimmering green bird with the red breast was worshipped by the ancient Mayans and Aztecs, and today, it is the national bird of Guatemala. While its colors are brilliant, it’s the two foot feathers that draw the gasps. Look for them near the dramatically named Cerro de la Muerte (Mountain of Death), or in the Monteverde cloud forest.

If you’re looking for one general area in which to see not one specific bird, but many different species, head to La Selva Biological Station, which is home to more than 300 different species of bird, making it one of the best places in Costa Rica for bird-watching.

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