Tuesday 25/10/2022 Hotel El Icaco Tortuguero – Tortuguero Village
Tortuguero National Park
Limón Province, COSTA RICA
Participants: Bernardo (Guide), Stephen Davies (Photos, Report), Sue Davies, Cal Stewart, Kerrie Stewart, two others.
Seven of us left Hotel El Icaco in Tortuguero at 6:20pm, walking out through the northern end of town and along the beachside trail on a warm, dark, moonless night. In several places, we headed off onto small barely existent sidetracks. Tonight our two-hour wildlife tour was led by Bernardo, a local professional guide.
Max elevation: 12 m
Total climbing: 163 m
Total descent: -163 m
Average speed: 3.88 km/h
Total time: 02:41:51
One blue butterfly took a liking to me and repeatedly landed on my blue shirt. We were hoping for it to open its wings to capture an image of its beauty. Although it spent many minutes over several separate stops on me it rarely opened its wings and when it did it was always only a momentary flutter. Cal seemed to enjoy the challenge but did become a little obsessed with his quest.
Blue Morpho Butterfly (Morpho peleidesjust) north of Tortuguero
I finally got my chance as it landed on a green concrete wall and gave me a couple of quick flutters.
On bushes next to that wall was a pair of lizards who didn’t seem perturbed at all by our close proximity. This was close to the opposite behaviour we observed during daylight hours when all of the smaller lizards high-tailed it away from us whenever we got within a couple of metres of them. Most larger lizards and iguanas on the other hand basically ignored our presence.
One of the highlights of the evening was seeing a hummingbird perched on a trackside branch at eye level. It must have been asleep, as it remained stationary as I got within centimetres of it with my camera-mounted ring light. This was much easier than trying to capture them in broad daylight when they don’t stop moving.
Band-tailed Barbthroat (Threnetes ruckeri), north of Cabinas Beyetty
Lagunas del Tortuguero – Rio Tortuguero – Tortuguero Village
Max elevation: 29 m
Total climbing: 61 m
Total descent: -51 m
Average speed: 20.72 km/h
Total time: 01:24:10
Our 19km, 90 minute boat journey to Tortuguero started at La Pavona Harbour and then followed the Rio La Suerte, Canales de Tortuguero, Lagunas del Tortuguero and Rio Tortuguero to Tortuguero Village. Some deft boating and navigation skills were required by our captain to negotiate the brown, shallow and obstacle-strewn waterways. We were fortunate along the way to sight both a Mesoamerican Slider turtle and American Crocodile on the river bank. It should be noted that the waterways are the only way to Tortuguero, as it is a wonderful car-free zone with no road access.
Whilst we were there we saw:
Insects: Moth (Genus Feigeria), Common Morpho butterfly, Blue Morpho Butterfly, Litter moths, Cabinas Beyettybutterfly, Trechaleid Spider, Roseate Skimmer
Amphibian: Toad (Order Anura)
Reptiles: Mesoamerican Slider turtle, American Crocodile, Border Anole lizard, Cricket, Iguana, Brown Basilisk lizard, Common Blunt-headed Tree Snake, Common Basilisk lizard
Birds: Band-tailed Barbthroat hummingbird
Mammals: Sloth
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