Travel day to Tortuguero Nat’l Park 11 FEB 26

First, let’s talk about the craziness of spending 3.5 hours to cover just 75 miles in a bus so we could catch a boat that would take another 1.5 hours along a canal—travel math that felt equal parts patience and adventure. After check-in at our accommodations, Pachira Lodge, we pushed off and motored across the waterway to meet the coconut man.

Canal Safari Tortuguero Nat’l Park

Next, we took a quick boat ride across the canal to the local village, where our group leader accompanied us on a walking exploration. A local resident, “the Coconut Man”, welcomed us to his home and shared the town’s history and his family’s story before giving a hands-on demonstration of coconut processing—showing how coconuts are prepared for oil, milk, and raw coconut used in candy, which was a treat created by his grandmother to celebrate a wide variety of family events. His family had been some of the original settlers of the Tortuguero Canal community. He discussed his grandfather capturing jaguars to sell the pelts, and how his father had to be convinced that seeing a turtle could provide food for many families compared to eating a turtle that would feed only one family. Distracted by the candy making, he passed on the lessons of the community learning to embrace an environmental viewpoint that included the financial impact of eco-tourism.

From there we strolled to the Sea Turtle Conservancy field station to watch a video and slideshow about their mission and to learn why Tortuguero Beach is so vital for the survival of endangered green turtles. The description of turtle egg-laying at this critical location, as described by the host, was so chaotic that she decided she could not participate in the nocturnal event, because it was too crazy. Here is someone dedicating their lives to turtle conservancy but she couldn’t stand to see the natural process. The turtles scramble over each other, and over other turtle nests and destroy them.

A short walk through the tiny town and a cold beer revived me; re-boarding the boat, we returned to the lodge for the day’s final presentation by a longtime resident on the history of Tortuguero and the role of eco-tourism to the community.

Canal Safari Tortuguero Nat’l Park 12 FEB 26

Morning Boat Safari (not birds)

Our first morning boat safari was jaw-dropping—gliding quietly across glassy water, we came within arm’s reach of animals that usually belong to postcards and wildlife documentaries: a basking iguana so close we could see the texture of its scales. The driving rain in Costa Rica blurred the jungle into streaks of green and silver, then eased just enough for me to pull out my camera, water beading on the lens like tiny moons; through the misty curtain, a pair of caymans slid silently past, eyes and nostrils the only alarms above the water, while downstream a hulking crocodile cut the surface with prehistoric indifference, both species gliding as if sizing us up—curious, hungry, and utterly unconcerned whether we were breakfast or merely another soggy disturbance in their ancient waterways.

Afternoon Boat Safari

The afternoon boat safari came with more rain, more birds and animals,

Boat Safari Return to Bus (Travel Day) 13 FEB 26

Lunch Stop (Travel Day)

They call them sloth-jams if they are on the road, but our sloth siting came along with a stop at a road side restaurant. Everyone is very happy to point out the local celebrities. Here’s our close up brush with the local highlights — Mom & baby

Tortuguero Nat’l Park (Costa Rica)