Spot sloths, monkeys, toucans and tree frogs in Costa Rica's jungles

SAN JOSÉ, Costa Rica - Pack your torch and be prepared to venture out into the wilds of Costa Rica when darkness falls.

After all, to see some of the rarest wildlife in the world, you will need to head out at night as most jungle animals are nocturnal.

Famed for its biodiversity, Costa Rica is home to 6% of the world's species, all these creatures share a small space. The island nation's landmass making up just 0.03% of the Earth's total area.

Take sturdy shoes. Costa Rica has a high proportion of rainforest, as do neighboring Nicaragua and Panama, but better tourist infrastructure.

This is the spot to see sloths, howler monkeys, capuchin monkeys monkeys, tarantulas.

All the more reason to visit.

Sleepy sloth

Here in the jungle is where we saw the sloth, the country's national animal, shortly after sunset one evening.

Following our guide, Ariel Rodriguez Rojas, who strode purposefully across the bridge over a small river, we entered Manzanillo National Park.

He pointed his torch upwards and we gazed at a small ball hanging between two tree branches. It was barely visible, with gray fur with a tint of green. A curled-up sloth, asleep.

Here in Costa Rica, you can see sloths with two and three toes. "This one is a two-toed sloth," says Rojas.

These animals are active during the day, but also at night. The best places you may spot a sloth are in the Cahuita, Manzanillo, and Manuel Antonio National Parks, plus near the towns of La Fortuna and Puerto Viejo. You often spot them right by the roads or in trees above parking lots.

Patient tarantula

We hike onward through Manzanillo National Park on Costa Rica's Caribbean coast. It is pitch black, with the dense canopy above allowing in no light from the stars or moon. All of us are carrying torches. Rojas tells us to be careful, look only at the ground and never step on a snake.

Then Rojas stops and points downward. Is it a snake? No. Barely noticeable, a hand-sized tarantula is sitting in front of a hole. They tend to come out and wait here for prey, especially at night.

Rojas takes a photo. He is barely 10 centimeters away. But scared? "No, this tarantula won't do anything. It's very calm. As long as no one attacks it, it just stays put," he says.

You are most likely to see one during night hikes in the Manzanillo, Cahuita, or Tortuguero National Parks.

Well-camouflaged lancehead viper

Suddenly, Rojas pulls us aside. "Stop," he says quietly. We see a lancehead viper, the snake he just warned us about. It slithers across the path and into the bushes. "If it bites you, your vacation is over," Rojas says.

Perfectly camouflaged, the snake glides through a sea of leaves. Its head is triangular, and its skin has a brown-beige diamond pattern.

The lancehead is one of the most venomous snakes in Costa Rica's rainforest and is also very aggressive. You would survive a snake bite though as antivenom is available nationwide. But it would mean spending time in hospital. You are most likely to see a lancehead viper on a night hike in Manzanillo National Park.

Great Green Macaws

Our trip heads north toward Tortuguero National Park where the rainforest is crisscrossed by a vast network of waterways. This was once the site of intense logging and the area was almost barren when it was designated a nature reserve in 1975. But nature has bounced back with a force in the past 50 years.

The tallest trees are almond trees, never cut down as their wood was too heavy to transport through the waterways. That was good news for the green macaws.

As soon as we reach the main port of Tortuguero, we hear the birds screeching. Three of these colorful birds fly from branch to branch, cracking open almonds and devouring the nuts before disappearing back into the jungle. You are most likely to spot a macaw in Tortuguero National Park, in the almond trees.

Hungry anteater

Thanks to the numerous waterways, Tortuguero is also known as the Amazon of Costa Rica. On a boat trip through the national park, you can spot many wild birds and caimans and even rarer animals.

Guide Luis Tuit steers the boat toward the shore. He has spotted an anteater climbing over bushes onto land. It feels its way along individual branches in search of food. It moves quickly and frantically through the branches, sniffing them then breaking them open.

Your best chances for an anteater sighting are in Tortuguero National Park on boat tours or in Manuel Antonio National Park.

Red-eyed tree frog

Night hikes are also offered in Tortuguero. Once again, we're out with guide Luis Tuit. It had rained a bit in the afternoon. Perfect weather for spotting frogs. Because when it hasn't rained for a long time, they hide under leaves and close to the ground, the damp spots of the rainforest. But once it rains, they come out - and today, it is Tuit who spots a red-eyed tree frog.

Your best chances for a red-eyed tree frog sighting are on night hikes in Tortuguero National Park, in the Sarapiquí region, in the Monteverde Biological Reserve, and around the town of La Fortuna.

Sleeping Toucan

Guide Tuit spots a toucan minutes after seeing the frog. His gaze is fixed upward. A toucan is sleeping in the thicket of leaves, barely three meters above the ground. Its multicolored beak, which has made it so famous, shimmers even in the dim torchlight.

The striking giant beak serves primarily to regulate body temperature. In the heat, the birds pump more blood through it; in the cold, they restrict the flow. Although toucans feed mainly on fruit, they also ruthlessly plunder bird nests, with Costa Rica's macaws worst affected.

The best chances for a toucan sighting are in the Tortuguero and Manuel Antonio National Parks, the Sarapiquí region, the Monteverde Reserve, and around the towns of Puerto Viejo and La Fortuna.

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This story was originally published June 8, 2026 at 3:34 AM.