Las Tortugas

Where to begin!!! So last time we posted we had just hiked down from the indiginous tribe....it was an unbelievable experience being there and just sitting for hours and listening to all the sounds in the jungle kept us more than occupied.,...it was such a meditative experience...looking back now and reflecting on that has been really cool to see how people can live such a simple life and have the hugest smiles you have ever seen...no running water, no electricity, no walls in their homes, hiking 45 min every day to work and they were beautifully amazingly happy people.

Anyways, so we left Puerto Viaje and traveled north to a TINY island called Parismina. To get there we had to take 2 buses and then a tiny boat to the island. On the boat we met a local named Joshua who happened to be the son of the president of ASTOP, the organization we were going to be volunteering with. He took us straight to his mom and we were able to get all of our things situated for the night. We stayed in a great hostel the first night and had very good casada with all the usual fixings (rice, beans, meet, salsa)...

so time out for some details on Parismina...it is TINY...400 inhabitants...there are a few little villages, and lots of jungle and 5 km of beaches...with lots of little lagoons....it is surounded on one side by the Caribbean Sea and on the other by a river....there are lots of animals...crocodiles, monkeys, caymens, birds, iguanas, etc...and lots of bugs!! The town is very very primitive...there are a few restaurants...5 little tiendas....a police station, a hair place and little bity homes....the kids run around all day long and the parents are very chill...

so back to our story, so we decided to volunteer for 4 nights to help ASTOP with their turtle rescue program...basically you can volunteer to patrol the beaches at night looking for Leatherback turtles that are coming up on land to lay their eggs...there are many things that are making these animals endangered, one of which is poaches, who steal their eggs, another is global warming which is making more eggs female than male, etc.

We signed up to stay in a homestay with a Tico family and we moved in to their home on day 2. Our home consisted of 3 rooms, a tiny bathroom and a very pretty yard....the mom was named Leoni and she had 2 children Daikol and Suleika. We mostly spent our time with them as the father was working during the day. Basically our days consisted of waking up super early, doing absolutely nothing...reading, checking internet for a bit (one computer on the island)....and walking around....it was an unbelievable experience....the family took us in as part of their own, they made us different meals every day, we spoke for hours in spanish and we really felt like we were integrated into their way of life, even for only a few days...

then at night we patrolled the beaches... so basically we would start at either 8 pm or 12 pm and patrol for 4 hours with a guide or two, looking for turtle tracks...no lights, walking in sand, gazing at the stars and searching for crocodiles in each lagoon.....it was paradise...

3 days went by and we had not seen a turtle which was very very unusual!!! people had seen turtles on the other shifts but we always missed them...so it kind of became a joke that we hadnt seen one...so last night they decided no matter what, we would be called if a turtle was spotted....

we walked for 2 hours, and nothing....then all of the sudden our guide said wait and ran ahead and through the dark we could see something moving...(we used the red light which we are able to use as turtles cant see it) and it was a HUGE leatherback turtle laying eggs in the sand....like we are talking 5 food long by 3 feet wide....crazy!!!

so the guides marked the hole and the mother works for about an hour covering the eggs up before she leaves and goes back into the water...jenny and i got to walk behind her as she made her way back into the ocean under the most beautiful star filled sky you have every seen...it was undescribable....

then we jumped to our knees, instructed by our guide and started digging....after about 15 min of digging our guide found the nest and we were able to dig them up....60 in total! the process is that once they are dug up, they are taken to safe place called a hatchery, where they are monitored as they take 2 months to hatch...the temperature has to stay just right etc....we walked the eggs there and on our way we saw another one!!!!

Jenny and I were on like little kids as jumped up and down trying not to scare the turtles....they were the most beautiful creatures...jsut the whole process was absolutely amazing!

THere were of other highlights like our guide grabbing a 3 foot long caymen and holding it for us to see, and walking for 16 hours over 4 nights for a total of about 15 miles in teh sand! and eating chocolate covered bananas...and swimming in a lagoon with caymens....and sitting on the beach, etc....

this morning, it was totally hard to leave....the family awoke to say goodbye and we walked to the boat and jetted away for our 8 hour bus rides to La Fortuna....

I would definitely say, seeing that turtle and the stars and staying with our family and chatting for hours about life in spanish and sometimes spanglish, was perfect. so perfect.

now we are off to see the lava shoot out of Volcan Arenal and have dinner before we explore La Fortuna tomorrow....

We miss you all alot and we hope you are enjoying our little story of adventures in Costa Rica...

talk to you soon!

Missy and Jenny