After leaving the island of Ometepe we once again awoke well before sunrise in order to make the journey to Costa Rica in time for dinner at our new home in Playa Longosta for Proyecto Baula. Surprisingly Crossing the border between Nicaragua and Costa Rica went smoother than expected. With our passports freshly stamped we were ready to venture into a new paradise known as Costa Rica. We soon experienced much greater prices in Costa Rica then what we were used to in Guatemala and Nicaragua. The country is clearly more of a touristy country and some shopping areas looked straight out of Southern California. We arrivd in Playa Tamarindo which is quite the colorful party town. We got a short ride to Playa Longosta where we have been staying for the turtle project. Our set up is quite simple two large tents and small cots but it is a very unique and rustic experience sleeping no more then 30 meters from the beach. We are staying with Carlos and Adrian who are in charge of the turtle project and leading the nightly patrols. And of course our friendly, loving Abuela who has filled our stomachs and intrigued our minds with a variety of important Spanish curse words and phrases. We also have been enjoying the companying of lots of biting flies on the beach, raccoons, iguanas, crabs, and many many welcome mosquitos who have thouroughly enjoyed our presence especially Max´s. Of course the most important yet rare visitor are the turtles. The first over night shift was very incredible for the equipo chicos guapos con suerte. We immediately found a Lora turtle which is not an endangered type of turtle but we still collected here eggs and buried them in a higher safer place. It was a strange yet amazing experience wondering the beach at 2 in the morning and it only got more amazing when Andy nearly tripped over a massive Baula turtle. The turtle probably weighed around 700 pounds and it was quite a spectacle to see this creature digging its nest with its powerful rear flippers and laying 126 eggs. Of course making it up the beach and digging there nest is extremely exhausting for these turtles and the entire process can take anywhere from 1 to 2 hours. The Baulas or leather back turtles are an endangered species as well as the negra turtles. We recorded the needed information and gathered the eggs, burying them at a more choice location for the success of the newborn turtles. It is such a shame to see several nests that have been dug up and the eggs eaten by the dozens of raccoons that roam the area. The next night shifts were longer and the late shift stretched from 11:30p.m to 4a.m. One group saw another Lora that night, but my group came up empty handed wondering the beach for hours spending time looking at the constalations in the sky a viewing the dozens of shooting stars that night. Last night our group saw a Negra turtle and collected and reburied the eggs only for half the nest to get eaten by raccoons later that night. It is an ongoing task to save these magnificent creatures and i know we all feel grateful to have experienced and contributed the survival of these species. Tomorrow we leave for our free travel portion of the trip and we are going to the Corcovada national park to see the wildlife and and incredible nature Costa Rica has to offer. Tonight are our last shifts for Proyecto Baula so hopefully the other group will ge the chance to see a Baula. Thats all for now.
Much love, Kaise
