Illustration by Dawn Cooper
1. Mantled howler monkey, Santa Rosa NP
Mantled howler monkey © Kryssia Campos / Getty
The rasping calls of adult males can travel up to 1km even in dense rainforest, so you will probably hear these monkeys before you see them. Morning and evening are the prime howling times.
2. Resplendent quetzal, Los Quetzales NP
Resplendent quetzal © Juan Carlos Vindas / Getty
Covering some 5,000ha of cloud forest in the Talamanca Mountains, Los Quetzales is a great place to encounter one of Central America’s ‘must-see’ birds – they are often spotted in wild avocado trees.
3. Jaguar, Tortuguero NPas
A jaguar at Las Pumas Rescue Shelter © Paul Souders / Getty
The most sought-after of the Americas’ big cats, the jaguar is fond of nesting green and leatherback turtles. Look out for paw prints on the beach.
4. Strawberry poison arrow frog, Puerto Viejo de Talamanca
Strawberry poison dart/arrow frog in Tortuguero National Park © Sean Arrowsmith / Getty
While poison arrow frogs can be seen over much of lowland Central America, Puerto Viejo de Talamanca is extremely accessible – listen out for the ‘chirping’ of the strawberry or ‘blue jeans’ species.
5. Olive ridley sea turtle, Caño Island Biological Reserve
Olive ridley turtle in Costa Rica © Nature Picture Library / Getty
There’s a host of marine wildlife – from brain corals and sea fans to reef sharks and pilot whales – to be spotted in this fabulous island paradise, but an encounter with an olive ridley would take some beating.
6. Three-toed sloth, Manuel Antonio NP
Three-toed sloth in Corcovado National Park © Kevin Schafer / Getty
A small national park with easy trails, Manuel Antonio is the perfect place to search for either of Costa Rica’s common sloth species – look out for large, grey-brown mammalian oddities high in the canopy.
