In February, 2014, I had the privilege of visiting Costa Rica, one of the most beautiful countries in the world. I stayed my first night in the capitol, San José, which is captivating in its own way. I then traveled by tour bus to Tortuguero on the East Coast of the country (I never travel by tour bus, by the way, but taking a tour in Costa Rica is seriously the only way you are ever going to see anything. If you are like me and don't really like tour buses--or hate them with a burning passion--you should still stick it out because when you have a great guide like I did, you actually see things. I realized that if we didn't have a trained guide who knew what to look for, we wouldn't have see anything at all. Please remember, therefore, to keep an open mind). After the long bus ride through a cloud forest, which is a gorgeous foggy forest on a mountain, we arrived to the station to take a boat to Tortuguero (we also did see a very active sloth on our way and we drove through a banana plantation--which was very cool). Tortuguero houses one hotel--as far as I know--called Mawamba Lodge. I absolutely loved it there. It was so relaxing and beautiful, everyone was very friendly, and there were always interesting things to do.
The following photographs I took on tours around Tortuguero in both water tours from boats and night tours, which are magical and a little terrifying.
Here is a complete list of all of the animals we saw in Costa Rica (many of which are not pictured and all a singular even if I saw several):
- Brahma
- 2-Toed Sloth
- 3-Toed Sloth
- Emerald Macaw couple (a rare and beautiful sight)
- Morpho Butterfly
- Blue-Jeans Frog
- Glass Frog
- Red-Eyed Tree Frog
- Iguana (in almost every age--they change colors over their life time, which is very cool)
- Gecko
- Brown Basilisk Lizard
- Jesus Christ Lizard (it's real and it can run on water!)
- Howler Monkey
- White-Faced Capuchin
- Spider Monkey
- Blue Heron
- Great Egret
- Snowy Egret
- Caiman
- Tiger Heron
- Rainbow Toucan (Keel Billed)
- Green Parrot
- Crocodile
- 2 Scarlet Macaw couples (also rare and beautiful)
- Squirrel Monkey
- Turkey Vulture
- Tarantula
- Golden Orb Spider
- Bullet Ant
- Leaf-Cutter Ant
- Crab Spider
- Cicada
- Grass Hopper
- Crab
- Lobster
- Sand Dollar
- Hermit Crab
- Sulfur Butterfly
- Sea Slug
- Sea Snail
- Owl Butterfly
- Bat
- And many more....
I loved my stay at Mawamba Lodge for many reasons. The food was great, my guide, Humberto, was fabulous, the cabin I stayed in felt connected with nature, the vibe was very relaxed and great, there was easy access to a gorgeous beach, and I saw magical things everywhere. Tortuguero blew my mind with its small town charm and the awe-inspiring animal encounters. I would return to Tortuguero in a hearbeat.