Tortuguero is, in my opinion, one of those can’t-miss-this things to do in Costa Rica. It is a place covered by jungles and mangroves that hide a large number of animal species. It is also a place that still isn’t covered with the traditional resorts and huge hotels. Everything still feels organic.
My family and I took a trip to Tortuguero from San Jose and it was so great and chock-full of fun. Almost everything from the hotel to the tours was spot on. We didn’t go during the nesting season for sea turtles but even so, it was amazing. Below is a quick description of everything we saw and enjoyed.
Visting Tortuguero in Costa Rica
Mawamba Lodge picked my family and I up at 7 AM from our decided location in a comfortable, air-conditioned bus with an extremely knowledgeable and interesting tour guide.
We were instantly welcomed into the family as we headed for our first stop: breakfast.
Mawamba Lodge owns a huge property with loads of local wildlife, a small trail for you to go for a walk-in, and a delicious private restaurant just for their tour guests traveling between San Jose Costa Rica and Limon. Filling our bellies with one of the numerous upcoming yummy meals, we continued onwards.
Before coming to the waterways that took us to the Tortuguero island, we had a stopover and visited one of the most important industries in the Limon Province. This meant seeing Bananas everywhere!
I know it’s not that big of a deal, however, I was a sucker for this kind of stuff. I mean, how often in our daily lives do we get to see where bananas come from and how they end up in our supermarkets?
So even though it was a very short pit-stop, it was an experience in and of itself. I think that, especially if you come with kids, it will be an educational, eye-opening, and fun for them.
After an hour more on a dirt road, we arrived at the complex canal system that would eventually bring us to our final destination: Tortuguero Village. This is a small and colorful place and it’s people maintain a strong Afro-Caribbean culture.
Tortuguero, or better known as the Amazon of Costa Rica, was about an hour and a half by boat through the canals of Tortuguero. We passed the Tortuguero National Park and ended up in the heart of its colorful, inviting village.
We walked around it, saw its landmarks, and then continued moving toward the main attraction of this tour.
It is said that it rains 500 days a year in Tortuguero, so yes, it rained on us while we were exploring parts of the Tortuguero national park. But it was worth it! With clenched teeth and white knuckles, we sailed forth through mild rain before getting to Mawamba Lodge.
Luckily for us, our home for the next three days just happened to be under a huge clearing in the sky. The sun shined on our heads and beckoned us to explore the grounds.
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