The weeks are flying by, and I’m finding it difficult to keep up with the blog posts! I’ve been planning ahead time slots to work on them. One month from today, I am leaving Tortuguero. Though I love it here, I do miss family and friends back home. Also food. I miss the food. I’m over rice and beans with every meal.
Food I miss: Bacon, Five Guys double cheeseburgers, shrimp, BBQ (basically any meat except chicken), Brussel Sprouts, Jenn’s avocado/tomato/basil/mozzarella salad, that really good coconut peanut butter we get at Publix, the Hawaiian Shrimp Bowl at Salt Life Food Shack, tacos from TacoLu and baked goods. Our meals here are vegetarian, except there is typically a meat option at lunch – sometimes breakfast. Enough mouth watering – on to what I’m doing here.
The turtle nesting season is continues to grow, but we have a few weeks until peak season. We had 4 more eco volunteers arrive at the beginning of the week. The field coordinator asked me to train them on our protocol on working with turtles and general rules and behavior on the beach, which I took as a compliment that he entrusted me with teaching them. I enjoyed it and want to incorporate some sort of educational aspect in my career down the line.
I, along with Addie, took two of them on their first night patrol where they just observed how we worked the turtle while we explained each step. First we encountered a green turtle. Addie was in charge of working the turtle while I wrote the data in the book and explained the steps to the volunteers, so they know how to record data the next evening. Next we encountered a hawksbill. It couldn’t have been more perfect. I had the pleasure of working the turtle (my first hawksbill), while Addie explained everything to the volunteers and wrote in the data book. Afterward, we brought them close to the turtle and I explained the differences between the two species. It’s hard to explain how special this moment was because hawkbills are a critically endangered species that are hunted for their shells. When we encounter one, we have to stay with it during the entire nesting process until she returns to the sea. Later on, we encountered another green turtle and repeated the process.
Toward the end of the week, Emma and I had to open the library in town for the local children. We prepared a rainforest game that included questions on animals, conservation and geography. Though there was some miscommunication, no keys and a late start, we finally made it, but still had to go in to town to recruit some kids for the game.
Danaysha is one of the kids we recruited to play the game.
A few days later we stopped by a local lodge that breeds frogs and butterflies for their guests. They release the treefrogs in the surrounding areas, but keep the dart frogs enclosed in a walk through vivarium called a ranario. There are only three species of dart frogs native to Tortuguero, and they house two of them in the ranario. They release the butterflies in an enclosed area as well. It’s a really cool place, and I’ll definitely make another visit before my departure.
A butterfly (I’m not sure which species in the Mariposaria.
A Green and Black Poison Dart Frog in the Ranario.
A Red-Eyed Treefrog we found after a night patrol.
A Chestnut-mandibled Toucan calling on our way to the Ranario. We found a dead toucan on the beach that morning and suspect it was its mate.
Emma and I (with Silvio in the background) on our way to a track survey in the morning. When you are scheduled for a track survey on the north section of the beach, Silvio graciously takes you to the start by our boat!
Tortuguero Traveler 