Tortuguero National Park

In Tortuguero National Park is the eponymous village of Tortuguero, where about 700 people live. Tortuguero is located on the Caribbean coast of the Central American country of Costa Rica, about 40 km from the Nicaraguan border in the province of Limón.

The name translates as "place to which the turtles come " and is derived from the Spanish word " tortuga ", which means "turtle".

The National Park provides habitat for, among others, howler monkeys, capuchin monkeys and sloths.

In Tortuguero there are no cars, the village is accessible only by boat or plane.

History

The village of Tortuguero has only existed since about 1930, when a Colombian family settled in the area. Around 1940 was begun in Tortuguero with the cutting down of the rainforest. For this river arms were extended to channels, to allow easier removal of the wood. Today there are in the area there is very little primary forest, most of the vegetation consists of secondary forest.

Since about 1975, the National Park is a protected, main source of income for the inhabitants of Tortuguero is now tourism, which is mainly because of the nesting beach at Tortuguero sea turtles still growing.