Wednesday 26/10/2022 Hotel El Icaco Tortuguero – Tortuguero Village – Rio Tortuguero – Canales del Tortuguero Rogelio Pardo Jochs
Tortuguero National Park
Limón Province, COSTA RICA
Participants: Adrian (Guide) Stephen Davies (Photos, Report), Sue Davies, Cal Stewart, Kerrie Stewart
Late yesterday we had been greeted by our English-speaking guide Adrian as we arrived at the carpark at La Pavona. This is the “ferry” terminal for transporting people, goods and everything else to Tortuguero 19km, 90 minute trip to the east on the Caribbean coast along Rio Suerte from La Pavona. There are dozens of these long, shallow draft, fibreglass craft constantly ferrying people back and forth along the narrow, shallow tidal canals. Masterful boatmen navigate these canals negotiating a multitude of sharp turns, shallows, concealed boulders and submerged fallen trees multiple times each day with barely the slightest of scrapes across the shallow bottom at low tide.
Max elevation: 46 m
Total climbing: 526 m
Total descent: -538 m
Average speed: 5.28 km/h
Total time: 03:59:09
Today we met Adrian at the foreshore wharf for our early morning guided canoe tour. After waiting for a couple of other groups to gear up and launch off we also donned lifejackets and pushed off. Even with six punters on board, Adrian insisted we leave all the paddling to him as he paddled off to the National Park, forming the tail-end of a small flotilla.
Green guana (Iguana iguana), along Tortuguero River
Adrian with his local and wildlife knowledge and experience was usually the first to spot things and when he did he pulled in closer and told us lots about what we were viewing.
The water-based perspective is great as there is a lot more light on most of the things you see on the forest edge and foreshores than walking through the forest and being under its canopy.
On today’s paddle amongst other things, we sighted lots of birds, iguanas, two-toed sloth, howler and white-faced monkeys along with one land and one water-situated cayman.
Spectacled Caiman (Caiman crocodilus), along Caño Harold
Adrian finally requested our assistance paddling back to the dock as it was against the tide. This was a great way to get a slightly different perspective of the life of the rainforest without much effort at all!
Whilst we were there we saw:
Reptiles: Green Iguana, Green Basilisk lizard
Birds: Bare-throated Tiger-Heron, Little Blue Heron, Anhinga, Maybe a Neotropical Tiger-Heron, Green Heron, Northern Jacana, Anhinga, White-necked Puffbird, Little Blue Heron
Mammals: Hoffmann’s Two-toed Sloth, Mantled Howler Monkey, Central American White-faced Capuchin
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