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Tortuguero is one of
the wilderness areas with the greatest biological
variety in Costa Rica. Its 11 habitats have 2,000 plant
species of plants and 400 tree species.
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A
visit to Tortuguero is of course to see the
national park, the 19,000ha Tortuguero National
Park, which is one of the most varied with the
national park network. It is also one of the
wettest, with up to 250 inches of rain through
the year.
The
park stretches north along the Caribbean coast
up to the village of Tortuguero, which has a
small population of around 500, no cars, and is
located on a relatively narrow split of land
between the beach and a canal. Just north of
Tortuguero are the various lodges and hotels.
All these sections consist of a canal running
parallel to the beach on the east, and fed by a
maze of serpentine streams and channels from the
west.
Apart from the boat tours along the canals of
the national park (or even beyond), you can walk
along the pristine beach, or visit the simple
Tortuguero village and the Caribbean
Conservation Corporation's visitor center and
turtle museum. If energetic, you can also climb
the only hill in the area, the short but steep
150m high Cerro Tortuguero, for a great scenic
view of the canals and ocean. (But beware a fer
de lance is usually lying on the path uphill, which
apparently the local guides know about!). The
canals around the national park, as well as the
ocean, provide good fishing. |
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Guided canal of
palms tour
Green turtle nesting
Baby turtle hatching |
Location: 258 Km. (160 mi.) from San Jose on the
Caribbean coast 84 Km. (52 mi.) northwest of the city of
Limon
Area: 18,946 Terrestrial Ha. (46,797 acres) 52,265
Maritime Ha. (129,095 acres)
Services: Camping facilities
Hiking: One marked trail along the coast.
Annual Rainfall: 6,000 mm (234 inches)
Entrance Fee: $15 at the gate, $7 in advance
Tortuguero means "turtle catcher" in Spanish. As
the name implies, the Park encloses one of the largest
and most important nesting sites in the world for the
Green turtle (tortuga verde), the Hawksbill (tortuga
Carey), with its distinctive hooked beak; and the ridged
leatherback (tortuga Baula), the largest turtle in the
world (some of these measure 5 meters (16.4 feet) in
length, and weigh in at 300 to 500 kgs. (150 to 250
lbs.) The animals are drawn to this area not only to lay
their eggs, but also to graze in the pastures sagasso
seaweed, their favorite food.
Visitors will find leatherbacks nesting here
March to May. The hawksbills tag along later, July to
October (August is the peak month). Notice that our
turtle friends scheduled their egg-laying activities for
the rainy season, so if you plan to visit them, bring an
umbrella or maybe a submarine. Tortuguero National
Park gets six THOUSAND mm of rainfall (that's almost
nearly twenty FEET of rain) making it the wettest and
most biologically diverse area in Costa Rica.
While turtles have been known to lay their eggs
in daylight, it is far more common to find them at
night, waddling in a surreal procession from the sea to
make their egg-nest in the sand. |
