Day 3 - Tortuguero extreme

If you thought that yesterday was packed, today was twice as full.

After coffee and cookies we climbed in boats at 6am to tour the canals of Tortuguero National Park in search of wildlife. We saw:

Howler Monkey
Anhinga
Green-backed Heron
Bare-throated Tiger Heron
Rufescent Tiger Heron
Little Blue Heron
Boat-Billed Heron
Northern Jacana
Keel-billed (or Rainbow) Toucan
Collared Aracari
Green Iguana
Spectacled Caiman
Emerald Basalisk
Mealy Parrot
Red-lored Parrot
Montezuma Oropendola
Short-billed Pigeon

After a quick breakfast we left for a hike in the pouring rain. (It was AWESOME!!!!) We literally soaked up the rainforest experience, down to the mud ground into our socks. Meg nearly had her boot sucked off her foot by mud several times, Mackenzie took a fall in the mud and Brittany was bit by a bullet ant (which is a strong bite, she was a real trooper and is totally fine).

Hike list:
Fer-de Lance (The Lancehead Viper, Bothrops asper) (Which David pursued extremely zealously… launching himself right at the snake to get a good video of it!!!!!)
Bullet ant
Blue jean frog
Monkey Comb (a tree)
Walking Palm
Amazing Daddy Long Legs
Termites
(Unidentified lizard)

After our hike we cleaned up, ate lunch and played a game with the other group we are traveling with. I think the kids enjoyed it and we seem to know each other better.

In the late afternoon we got down to business taking soil, weather, canopy and forest classification data. I will try to update this with one of the students’ data later. Later on we had some free time and saw so much more…

Late afternoon:
Summer Tanager
Spider Monkey
Pygmy Rainfrog
Freshwater Crab
Golden Orb Spider
Glass frog
Flowers at the Samoa Lodge

At 5:30 there was a Latin dance party hosted by Sylvia, the leader of the other group who teaches Spanish and is from Columbia. There were some truly priceless moments that were caught on film, I’ll add them ASAP.

At 9:30 tonight we took a trip to the beach to try to find sea turtles… I wrote this when I returned, exhausted at 1am.

Tonight has been one of the most amazing nights of my life, I mean this whole-heartedly. We hiked on the beach for 3 hours looking for sea turtles and for the first time in my life we saw one. A Leatherback Sea Turtle laying her eggs on the beach in Tortuguero National Park. The Leatherback is highly endangered, extraordinarily enormous and beyond remarkable to see. Watching her bury her eggs and walk back to the ocean was one of the most moving experiences of my life. Beyond my own feelings, the students were touched, crying and speechless. Although it was only by chance that we saw her and I can never guarantee more students will have this opportunity I feel that for these 13 young people this experience alone makes the efforts to offer this class worthwhile.

I truly feel at this moment that my existence on this Earth is justified because I have helped students see this. If I have done nothing else of value, I have brought them to this place, this time, this moment.

Because we were in the National Park and the turtles are confused and disrupted by lights we were not allowed to video or photograph the turtles at all. In fact, we were not even allowed to bring our cameras with Theus into the park. Because of this, what follows are the accounts, comments and thoughts of the students in description of this once in a lifetime experience.

In all honesty, I didn't expect to see a sea turtle on our two hour walk along the beach of Tortuguero National Park. I knew that regardless it would be a great experience, but possibly just a hot walk on a long beach. When we came upon the red lights of the CCC’s researchers, I had a feeling of excitement and hope that our goal of seeing a sea turtle laying eggs would be accomplished. After pleading with the scientists we were finally able to witness the elegance and beauty of the amazing Leatherback Sea Turtle. We watched as the volunteers took measurements and tagged their first find of the season. We all sat in awe as the magnificent creature buried its recently laid eggs and began it’s journey back to the waters from which it came. Seeing this animal was an incredible event in our journey through Costa Rica and I know that I will never forget it.
-Marc Case-

The chances one in a million, the sights indescribable, the experience priceless. It started with a boat ride at 10:00 pm from Samoa Lodge to Tortuguero National Park. The boat ride was quick and a little wet thanks to Mrs. Sudomir. When we arrived on shore we were told the rules of the walk; no flashlights, no cameras or video cameras, and single file lines when told so by the tour guide Mauricio. Walking through the little town of Tortuguero we were told that the conditions were in our favor, but the chances were slim. It was a breezy overcast night with the moon hidden behind the clouds. The beach was beautiful with the black volcanic sand and the breeze off the Caribbean Ocean. The walk started off with much excitement for me. I had seen turtles hatch in Florida a few years ago, and was dying to see a female laying eggs. We walked down the beach for what seemed like a couple miles. About an hour into the walk I saw a few red lights in the distance which got me excited. As we got closer I could make out a few people huddling around what looked like a huge rock. When we got close enough to the action we were stopped by members of the CCC. They did not want us to see the turtles for what ever reason. Mauricio and a few of the members of the CCC were talking to each other but they talked too fast for me to translate. It may have had to due with the fact that we were kids. Mauricio convinced them to let us see the marvelous sight. The female had just finished laying her eggs and began to cover the nest back up. The sight was unimaginable and I did not expect to see a Leatherback turtle. It is truly something I will remember for the rest of my life.

-David Doria



Last night when we first started walking on the beach I was very excited. I was like “ this is going to be sweet walking on the beach at night looking for turtles,
Sweet!” Then after about ten minutes I was saying “ I paid for this?” I kept thinking we were going to walk all night, and not be able to see anything!! I also thought that my feet were definitely going to be bleeding. After walking for what seemed like three hours, we stopped to take a break and that was when we saw the red lights. Just about two minutes from where we had stopped there was a group of CCC staff and volunteers. They were all around a Leatherback turtle who had just finished laying her eggs. So after some persuading they allowed our group to take a closer look. We got up right behind her and watched her as she covered her nest up. Then they tagged and measured her. By this point we were all pretty quiet and in shock. We could not believe we actually got to see a turtle. After we watched her swim back into the ocean we started walking back and again there I was talking to myself saying this time “that was sweet, totally worth the money and the fifty hour walk”.
-Meg Sullivan