Kayaking at La Tortuga Feliz
| This entry is part of the week we spent volunteering at La Tortuga Feliz (a turtle conservation project), near Bataan, Costa Rica. |
Happy Birthday Brian! (Brian’s my brother. Today’s his birthday.)
Did you know?:
Sand temperature is the major determining factor in what gender a turtle will be. Higher temperatures generally result in females, while lower temperatures result in males.
Sitting in a hammock which hits the ground except when I hold it up with my feet.
Slept last night from 10:30PM until 1 AM when Carrie came back from her walking shift. Fell back asleep. Alarm clock (purchased in Bataan yesterday) didn’t work. Someone came by and woke me up at 2:15. Sat at turtle hatchery with Jean from Ireland from 2:30AM-6:00AM. No turtles hatched or came up, but great talk with Jean from Ireland and amazing stars.
(Weird to watch chickens come to pick bugs off of the beach – belong to someone who lives there on the island)
Watched sky become lighter at daybreak. Didn’t go back to sleep. Jean made me a cup of tea which I really appreciated.
Took canoe/kayak out on the canal. Learned how kayaking works as I’d never done it before and had a one-sided oar instead of a 2-sided paddle. Saw amazing and huge blue-pink spider (turned out to be a crab), fantastic colors and huge.
Thought I would go downstream to attempt to find the howler monkeys from the ride through the jungle the day before, but never saw them. Just heard them, which was also very cool. They have a crazy woooof, woooof, woof, woof, woof sound, which kind of sounds like wind howling through trees.
(Someone’s horse eating leaves growing by the canal.)
On the way back, saw a Jesus lizard (three of them actually). This is the kind of lizard that can run across water for short distances.
I also got a video of a cool monkey (maybe a red howler?) doing a rico-suave move sliding down the branch of a tree. Awesome!
Came back from breakfast (eggs and pinto gallo (guy-o) and pineapple).
Hung out in the ocean a bit with Neil. Every morning, there’s a 10:00 meeting to get everyone on the same page, so did that.
People saved a turtle (overnight) from poachers that had flipped it onto its back in the forest. Carrie also saw a turtle while walking the beach. No eggs hatched.
Then time for first Spanish class (which we decided to take) at La Tortuga Feliz.
| This entry is part of the week we spent volunteering at La Tortuga Feliz (a turtle conservation project), near Bataan, Costa Rica. La Tortuga Feliz is an ecovolunteering program where the money paid by volunteers provides an experience with protecting turtles from poaching and taking part in new turtle life (hatching new turtles, measuring them, and releasing them into the ocean). Income from volunteers (which is minimal, considering what it goes to take care of) supports a community which has depended on turtles as a way of life for hundreds of years. This wouldn’t be a problem (eating and selling turtle meat and eggs), except that the species of turtles which are being poached are all on the brink of extinction. We spent 7 days at La Tortuga Feliz and have shared our experience here (in case you’d perhaps like to volunteer, and/or) in case you’re researching things you might want to know before going to La Tortuga Feliz. This journal was written on paper and later transferred to typed text to post on the site. If you want to see all of our pictures (over 300 from La Tortuga Feliz), visit our pictures page. |
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