Tortuguero canals boat tour

There are no roads in Tortuguero, and the canals do the work streets would. Many were dug for timber in the 1940s; now they are the way into the national park's flooded forest. Boat tours leave the village and the lodges at around six in the morning. The big lodge motorboats keep to the wider channels. Canoes, paddled or fitted with a quiet electric motor, can slip into the narrow side creeks, and a canoe trip lasts about two and a half hours.

Crocodiles lie so still on the banks they look carved. Guides pick out sloths, howler, capuchin and spider monkeys, little bats pressed flat against tree trunks, tiny bright frogs and a long list of birds. The park entry ticket is paid on top of the tour. Rain falls in every month here, though September, October and February to April tend to be drier.