The beaches near Tortuguero, on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, are crawling with turtles. Literally. These great sea creatures haul themselves ashore at night, scratch their way across the volcanic sands, scoop a deep hole, deposit a clutch of 100 or more eggs, cover the hole and then lumber back into the sea. The Green Turtle Research Station at Tortuguero studies, monitors and tags these endangered creatures, and helps to protect the vulnerable hatchlings from poachers and predators along 22 miles of beach.
Tortuguero (“region of turtles” in Spanish) is also a great place for bird watching. Herons, egrets, trogons, parrots, toucans, jacanas, kingfishers, anhingas, kites and hawks frequent the forest and shore, along with caimans, crocodiles, sloths, iguanas, frogs bats, basilisk lizards, otters peccaries, ocelots and the shy West Indian manatee
