This weekend I went to a beach called La Playa Nombre de Jesus to help with a sea turtle project. Our trip was almost canceled last minute since there have been hurricane warnings, especially since we were heading towards the epicenter of all the recent earthquakes. Luckily after one driver told us he wouldn’t drive us to our destination we were able to find another guy named Oscar to pick us up form the bus stop and take us up a long, bumpy, flooded road. We finally got to the volunteers house where I stayed along with seven other students in my program. There were about 15 students from Germany who were also helping on the project this weekend. On Friday morning we went out with Randal the leader of the program and dug up turtle nests to check on the eggs. One nest we checked had one turtle in it that was unable to dig its way out of the sand and was dying. This was extremely sad. But it was reassuring when 82 our of 87 eggs in the next nest successfully made it to the ocean. We then had to check the temperatures of all the nests that Randal and the other volunteers had moved to save from poachers who take the eggs to eat and sell. It’s important to check the temperatures of the nests since the sex of the turtles is temperature dependent. Once we were done with this we had the rest of the day to relax on the beach until dinner.
After dinner we drenched ourselves in bug spray got on our pants and tennis and headed to the beach. By about seven pm we were on the beach and right away we spotted some turtle tracks. At this point our job was to take notes on the mama black turtle including the time she arrived on the land, when she started digging her body pit, when she started digging the nest and when she started laying her eggs. Once she started laying her eggs we were able to measure her shell, check for her tag, barnacles, ect. We would also dig a separate hole into her nest to take the eggs while they were being laid. I got a chance to do this the second night and it was unreal. At one point she laid some eggs on my hand, and it was crazy to feel how delicate the eggs were. Next we reburied the eggs in order to protect them and then our job was done. The rest of the night consisted of walking the beach over and over until you ran into a turtle. Our first night we saw about six tortugas negras and three of them laid a nest. The second night we only saw three. Both nights ended at about 1 am with a long hike back up to our house. Not to mention it was high tide at this point and we had to walk up to our chests across a little river to get back.
Over all this was one of the most unique experiences I have had in Costa Rica. It was a long three days: our mattresses were damp and very uncomfortable, our clothes got soaked, the mosquitoes attacked, and we didn’t shower except for jumping into the pool, but it was worth it. I don’t think I would be able to do it for that many more nights, but I am glad I got the chance to watch the turtles and help with the project. By the end of the weekend we were all ready to go back home to San Ramon and take a shower.
Pura Vida 