Tortuguero national park is famous for its wildlife watching opportunities along a system of rivers and canals - and for the sea turtles nesting on its Caribbean beaches from June to October. Our two-day tour of the park left from a wharf in Moin, about three hours from San Jose. The fascinating part about this drive was the landscape - or rather, the lack of it. Much of the way was lined by banana plantations. Kilometer after kilometer of banana plantations. And then, closer to the sea, the container terminals started. I didn't count, but there were many. Some of them were bearing labels of well-known banana companies, others didn't. And the roads were, of course, congested by semitrailer trucks - something has to transport all these containers from the terminals to the port. This picture shows one of the terminals; notice the piles of containers to the right!
Before this trip, I had never fully realized the extent of the banana export business going on in some countries. But of course, the banana consuming frenzy has to be satisfied somehow. But after seeing this, I wonder if the variety in our supermarkets might not be bought too dearly...
Anyway, after boarding our boat in Moin, we traveled to Tortuguero along about 50km of rivers and canals, almost parallel to the Caribbean coast. Whenever our guide spotted some animal, he'd slow down and point it out to us. When we saw this crocodile chilling on the river banks, the only thing he said was "This is a killing machine. It's gonna snap your legs with one bite."
After this, I wondered - were the crocodiles the reason we didn't have to wear life vests on board? How fast would the crocodiles find and attack the passengers from a sinking ship? Maybe even faster than it would take to get to the river bank safely - in which case life vests would indeed be utterly unnecessary.
When we got to the lodge we would spend the night in, we saw the next potentially dangerous animal: a small boa constrictor lounging in a plant in the reception area. Since the guide seemed to know where to look for her, I'm guessing that she is a frequent guest there.
The lodge was in a great location, with the river on one side (and the dining area located right next to it), and the Caribbean on the other side, only a short walk away. The beach, being in a national park and a sea turtle nesting area, was completely undeveloped and really beautiful.
In the evening, we visited the lodge's frog garden to catch a glimpse of the nocturnal red-eyed treefrog. Our guide found one for us and, saying that he wasn't poisonous, put him into our hands. When I held him, he promptly took the chance and leapt straight onto my head. What a funny feeling, having a frog climb around on my head ;-)
Later in the night, we made a guided walk on the beach to hopefully see some sea turtles in their nesting process. And, indeed, we were lucky enough to spot one (judging by the very short distance we had to walk until we saw the first turtle, I'm guessing there were quite a few more going after their business on the beach that night).
The entire process of sea turtles laying eggs is fascinating. They come up onto the beach - the same beach where they were born 25 to 30 years ago, incidentally - and start by digging a hole. Then they sit on this hole and take the next 20 minutes or so to lay 100 to 120 eggs. After that, they cover the hole with sand, pat it down, and then camouflage the entire area by throwing sand everywhere with their front flippers. Finally, they march back to the sea and disappear, leaving the eggs and small turtles to fend for themselves. The little turtles hatch after about two months, head into the sea and grow up on their own. I was surprised to hear that only 1% of all eggs make it to become adult turtles. The rest fall prey to predators early in life, either on the beach or in the sea.
Our guide had a red flashlight in order to disturb the turtles as little as possible, and he also avoided illuminating their heads most of the time. Since the entire procedure, from coming out of the ocean to disappearing there again, takes two to three hours, we didn't stay to witness all of it. The first turtle we saw had already started laying eggs, and we stood watching her until she had finished and was in the middle of camouflaging the area - throwing sand as far as three to four meters behind her, showering those of us in sand who were incautious enough to stand behind her ;-) Then, we continued along the beach for a bit to look at another turtle who was already on her way back to the sea. As we stood watching her, we saw two more turtles just coming out onto the beach. According to the guide, sea turtles had been contemporaries of the dinosaurs - they have been reproducing in this way for 250 million years. What an amazing event to witness!
The entire process of sea turtles laying eggs is fascinating. They come up onto the beach - the same beach where they were born 25 to 30 years ago, incidentally - and start by digging a hole. Then they sit on this hole and take the next 20 minutes or so to lay 100 to 120 eggs. After that, they cover the hole with sand, pat it down, and then camouflage the entire area by throwing sand everywhere with their front flippers. Finally, they march back to the sea and disappear, leaving the eggs and small turtles to fend for themselves. The little turtles hatch after about two months, head into the sea and grow up on their own. I was surprised to hear that only 1% of all eggs make it to become adult turtles. The rest fall prey to predators early in life, either on the beach or in the sea.
Our guide had a red flashlight in order to disturb the turtles as little as possible, and he also avoided illuminating their heads most of the time. Since the entire procedure, from coming out of the ocean to disappearing there again, takes two to three hours, we didn't stay to witness all of it. The first turtle we saw had already started laying eggs, and we stood watching her until she had finished and was in the middle of camouflaging the area - throwing sand as far as three to four meters behind her, showering those of us in sand who were incautious enough to stand behind her ;-) Then, we continued along the beach for a bit to look at another turtle who was already on her way back to the sea. As we stood watching her, we saw two more turtles just coming out onto the beach. According to the guide, sea turtles had been contemporaries of the dinosaurs - they have been reproducing in this way for 250 million years. What an amazing event to witness!
