#1- Taking off in a plane was WAY better than any roller coaster I had ever been on
Okay so, NO ONE EVER TOLD ME HOW MUCH FUN RIDING IN A PLANE IS!! Well, the taking-off part at least. Prior to this trip I had never been on anything bigger than a 4-seater, and that was once. This was definitely one of the highlights of my trip. I just couldn't understand why my fellow passengers weren't as excited as I was, I mean c'mon!
I'm sure you can guess which person is supposed to represent yours truly.
WHEN DOES IT STOPPPPPPPPP
#2- Surviving the Jungles of Tortuguero (Part 1)
A view from my bed on the hottest day of the week. That little fan was my Saving Grace.
Okay, so I'm not usually one to complain. Especially since we were only there for a little over a week and the wildlife was absolutely incredible (and we'll get to that later), but holy crap. The bugs and the sun in Central America are no joke. Since it is a third world country and we were in a small village in the middle of nowhere, we were living minimally. That means: no A/C, a shared room with 5 other people (reminds me of freshman year ahh), and no escape from the bugs. Literally no escape. Our cabin/dorm walls were not attached to the ceiling, so whatever wanted to creep and crawl inside could easily do it. Aside from the cute little house geckos that peeped during the night, I was a little disturbed when thinking about what could possibly crawl over my face at night (I had heard stories of scorpions and spiders, among other things *shivers*) It didn't help that I found THIS THING hanging out over top of my bunk the VERY FIRST NIGHT.
Hello, human. What a comfy-looking bed you have there!
Alright. We've got the bugs and heat part out of the way. Now lets talk about the noises. Ever wake up to the sound of a rooster calling? Try various species of birds (including toucans) and howler monkeys. Never heard a howler monkey, you say? Click on this link (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYtoz-t-bbY). You're welcome. And if you're REALLY lucky, you wake to the sounds of your annoying classmate (named Andy) flapping his trap when you've just fallen asleep after walking the beach from 12am-4am searching for sea turtles. Love you, Andy ;)
Surviving the Jungles of Tortuguero (Part 2)
Lets talk turtles! The whole reason we were there in the first place was to help the current summer researchers and to learn, learn, learn! As eco-volunteers, we would walk the beaches at night from either 8pm-12am or 12am-4am. We also did a morning track shift as well where we would mark tracks/nests from the night before. For the night shift, our duty was to measure turtles, count eggs, note their current physical condition (i.e. barnacles, disease, etc.), and to tag them (that was a researcher duty). We would separate into two groups and briskly walk (or sometimes run) the Boca section, or the Park section. Adjusting your eyes to the lack of light took several minutes, but the stars were normally out which reflected off of the ocean. You could see a small glow on the waves created by the bioluminescent plankton. The sound of the waves crashing on the shoreline along with the beautiful sights made those 4 hours go by pretty fast. Sure, it was tiring and I tripped over random objects several times throughout the night and my legs were chaffed, but the turtles were well worth it.
A photo taken by the talented Ralph Pace.
The turtles we were after were mainly green sea turtles (Tortuga verde, or Chelonia mydas). For those of you that may not know, green sea turtles are the second largest next to the leatherbacks. Greens can get over 500lbs and their shells can measure over 5ft sometimes. Which brings me to my next point...getting slapped in the face from an animal that size isn't fun. I can't tell you how many times I was almost blinded every time I tried to measure a turtle's carapace (the top of their shell). It didn't matter how many times I was warned or whatever position I tried to place myself in...I would either get dragged down into her pit every time she swooped her big fins, get a face full of sand, or a butt crack full of sand (or all of the above). I was doing all of this while trying to get an accurate measurement, not get bitten by her ridiculously strong jaws, not piss her off/scare her away, and not make the researchers get angry with me. Did I mention that sea turtles love building their nests in nearly inaccessible areas covered with brush and ant hills? These aren't just ANY ant hills. These are badass, Costa Rican, human flesh-eating ants. Talk about stressful. Not as stressful as tagging turtles/supervising idiotic volunteers (aka me), but stressful.
How we returned to our bunks every night.
Lets talk about our night hike! You know those episodes on the Discovery Channel where you see people like Jeff Corwin trekking through the jungle in search of highly venomous and exotic animals? That was a reality for us.
Here you see little me (in blue) protecting my friend, Andy, from snakes, spiders, and poisonous frogs.
I will admit that not every person was a fan of this hike. It was really dark, wet, muddy, humid, hot as the devil's butt crack, and the bugs were having the biggest fiesta of their lives. Not to mention we were wearing uncomfortable boots that put huge blisters on our feet. However, we saw some of the coolest animals that I've only dreamed of being able to see in person! We saw multiple species of frogs, pseudo-scorpions, actual scorpions, tarantulas (among other species of arachnids), snakes, etc. Overall, it was an awesome experience! (and we survived).
Here I am with a baby cat-eyed snake. I cropped out my face because I look D-I-S-G-U-S-T-ing.
#3- The lesson of the turtle
If what I mentioned previously didn't already scare you away from ever visiting Costa Rica, here are a few other things that I learned while in this unique and wonderous place:
1) People steal (this is not to pick on the person it happened to). The locals are friendly, but they can be TOO friendly at times, so pay attention to your things.
2) The FOOD WAS SO GOOD. Their coffee and pineapple is the bomb diggity. They also use pure, unprocessed food so you don't feel like absolute crap after eating it.
3) The wildlife/scenery is incredible. I could write an entire blog on this topic alone (maybe later?) ;)
4) The people are passionate and real. A lot of them have nothing and they still manage to get along with their lives just fine and seem very happy with it. Also, my classmates and teacher are some of the coolest and most inspiring people I've ever met. Just saying.
Our class before whitewater rafting on the Sarapiqui river!
5) The biggest lesson of all...the reason I do what I do.
Holding the critically endangered Hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmocheyls imbricata)
I have one last story and then I promise I'll shut up.
#4- Meeting Viernes
For those of you that do not speak Spanish, "Viernes" is the Spanish word for "Friday". I named her Friday because that was our last day in Tortuguero and my last chance to count eggs. All week I had heard stories from my fellow classmates about their egg counting experiences and how incredible it was. Even though I was delighted to see their joy, I wanted nothing more than to have that same experience. To count eggs, you have to catch a female turtle in the right stage of her nest building. You also have to be careful not to scare her away (they can be very skiddish at times). The only time we would count eggs would be during the 12am-4am shift. That Friday, I was supposed to walk the morning track shift, which meant if I chose to do the 12am-4am shift, I wouldn't be able to sleep until the next day. Did I give up my precious sleep in order to have the chance at counting eggs? You bet your sweet fanny I did. It was truly a magical moment. Not to get cheesy, but the situation was perfect. We found a female who had just finished digging her pit and was beginning to go into her "daze" before laying. We carefully and silently made our preparations. I slipped on my gloves, climbed in behind her with a tally counter, and patiently waited. She laid 160 precious eggs in my hands, the most eggs out of any turtle that week. I might have cried just a smidgen. (SEA TURTLES MAKE ME EMOTIONAL, OKAY???) I cried the first time I saw a nest boil, too. Just knowing that I played a part in protecting this species made me all gooey inside. Nothing can ever replace what I experienced in that moment and at that place. Normally I would end this novel that I just wrote with something like..."I waved goodbye to Viernes as she pulled her heavy body back into the sea. Would I EVER SEE HER AGAIN? WOULD HER HATCHLINGS EVER FEEL THE WRATH OF THE SEA AND LAY EGGS OF THEIR OWN??"...but that's WAY too dramatic and deep for me, so instead I'll just end with this picture. Until next time guys!
Looking good, Tyler ;)
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