Hello from Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui we have arrived here for our week of free travel. The last week we were in Gandoca close to the Costa Rican and Panamanian border where we helped with leatherback turtles. We would either have to go out from 8 pm to 12 am or 12 am to 4 am on the beach to patrol. Once on the beach we would be lead by a guide where we would walk in one of two areas and look for turtles who were laying eggs. It was a tough job having to be awake so late into the night and sacrificing our bodies to tons of mosquitoes and sand flies. We learned alot about the turtles and the orginization and how important the turtles are to the local community. We left Gandoca on Thursday and took around a 5 hour bus ride to Sarapiqui where we will just relax and some people may go horseback riding or white water tubing. We are all living in one house with a shared kitchen so everyone is stocking on groceries and cooking their own meals. We are excited for this week and the next week for Scuba in Roatan.
Trivia
Gandoca had a population of 400.
The first time that leatherbacks come onto the beach they can lay up to 150 eggs.
Each turtle lays small eggs that won´t hatch to help keep a good temperature for the rest of the eggs.
The organization we worked with was a women´s organization.
Sarapiqui has a population of 49,327 and is divided into 5 districts.
