Tortuguero – Day 1: The Jungle Waterways
TORTUGUERO
Day 1: The Jungle Waterways
February 01, 2023
To get to my next destination, I was told that the cheapest way would be to catch a bus to Cariari, then another to La Pavona, and from there a boat over the Rio Tortuguero to reach the promised land.
At Arturo’s recommendation, blesseth be his soul, I booked a tour with the same company at a reduced price under the false pretence that I’d only be using it as a form of transport – saving me a hundred bucks and adding more stops to my itinerary in one fell swoop. And so, I ended up on yet another tour with Arturo and a Mexican family to whom I took an immediate liking, bonding over my trip across their country a few months before. One short shuttle ride later, we were at the riverside town of La Pavona, where a motor launch was waiting. I snuck in with the rest of the group and just like that, I too was on the Rio La Suerte.
Arturo explained that the region is shaped by a chaotic U-shaped river system which forms two opposing peninsulas and eventually drains into the Caribbean. Its branching waterways feed rivers heading both north towards Nicaragua and south through the Tortuguero Lagoon to Puerto Limón, creating a brackish wetland rich in wildlife.
The Jungle Waterway
I gotta admit, the boat ride was nothing like I had expected. First of all, it was slower than I’d anticipated, owing mostly to the fact that the maximum speed limit is 15 kilometres per hour to prevent soil erosion, with anyone breaking this rule being fined or having their boat confiscated. Second, whilst coursing through the winds and turns of the green Suerte River, surrounded by dense jungle on both sides, we got to observe way more wildlife than I would have ever thought possible, reminding me of my boat ride through Sumidero Canyon back in Mexico.
Here, we got to feast our eyes on all kinds of birds, including the magnificent great blue, little blue and white herons, white and snowy egrets, as well as anhingas and Amazon kingfishers, perched on branches or trunks by the riverside or standing atop floating aquatic plants. Above us, either soaring through the sky or hidden in the canopy, we could also spot Montezuma oropendolas, mangrove swallows and green macaws. I couldn’t believe I’d stumbled upon such a treasure without even so much as searching for it.
And that’s just birds. From howler, capuchin and spider monkeys to iguanas, caimans and crocodiles, I felt as if I’d already reached my quota for Tortuguero’s fauna. Not to mention, we also saw a couple of troncodrillos, or at least that’s what Arturo called the floating tree trunks we’d all point at, convinced they were crocodiles. Mario, the Mexican patriarch, kept up with Arturo’s dad jokes, his best one being:
What does the Spanish jaguar say to the English one?
Jaguar you? (which only makes sense with Spanish pronunciation)
Frogs, Howlers and an Extinct Volcano
Without even realising it, our trip had taken us to Laguna Penitencia, at the base of which stands Cerro Tortuguero, a 119-metre-high hill that is, in fact, an extinct volcano covered in dense tropical jungle. The short yet somewhat steep hike to the top kept us entertained throughout, finally getting to see the infamous blue jeans frog – and by frog, I mean many, many of them – along with Central American whiptail lizards and lesser long-nosed bats.
Once at the top, howler monkeys made us aware of their presence with yells from hell, which I quickly forgot about the moment I stood facing the vista below me. Murky, brownish canals and lagoons intertwined through the green wetlands of Tortuguero National Park, bordered by the azure blue of the Caribbean and the white dots of nearby towns. Truly a sight to behold and something out of this world.
From there on, we descended the hill and made our way southwards, continuing down the northern peninsula to arrive at the town of San Francisco. Here, we finally got to wolf down some casado, with Arturo joking that it’s called that because once you’re married, that’s all you’re gonna eat for the rest of your life. After filling our bellies and quenching our thirst with some delicious guava juice, we walked a few minutes to a nearby pier where the boat was once again waiting for us.
We made our way down the left limb of the Laguna Penitencia, with the town of Tortuguero sitting right at the curve of the U. Whilst the rest of the group continued their tour of the town, I headed to my hostel to finally unload the huge bags off my back before continuing the adventure on my own.
A Full-Fledged Utilan
The first thing I did upon reaching my hostel was unload a huge bag full of dirty, smelly laundry onto Doña Marina – my host. Then, I proceeded to barrage her with a thousand questions about Tortuguero.
The town of Tortuguero, Marina told me, is home to around 1,500 residents, with the first settlers being Zambo-Miskito people and escaped slaves who lived off agriculture, cacao and turtles. In the early 1900s, Jamaicans, Nicaraguans and Costa Ricans arrived in the region to work for lumber and railroad companies, a past still evidenced by the old machinery scattered around town, now serving as little more than monuments. Today, the region is best known for its wildlife, with the months between July and October marking turtle nesting season and attracting large crowds. As always, my timing was off, and I was gonna miss its main attraction.
That said, there was still plenty left for me to see. In fact, I did my best to book as many tours as possible during my short stay. In the meantime, I spent the rest of my afternoon wandering the colourful, shabby roads of Tortuguero, which in many ways reminded me of Utila, and chilling by the Caribbean, which I’d missed so much.
And speaking of Utila, I now fully lived up to the person I’d become over there, having gone for a nap, overslept, and missed a night jungle tour I’d booked for that same day – something I would’ve never done before. In my twenty-seven years of life, I don’t ever recall oversleeping, yet all it took was two months on that island to change such an integral part of me. Luckily enough, Leeroy, one of the guides who’d earlier given me an informal tour of the town, said I could reschedule without any problems.