Location:
Costa Rica

Carate, environmental volounteering, jungle

By Dan Anderson

Going out with fellow tourists, getting loaded, and wandering in strange cities wasn’t how I wanted to start travelling in Central and South America. I’d met people who’d done that, and while they got hangovers, I wanted to get something more, to interact a bit more meaningfully with the people and places I’d go. So when I got a chance to volunteer with four different species of endangered turtles in one of the richest environments in the world, the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica, the choice was obvious.

We’d be walking on a beach every night, the volunteer coordinator said, for about six hours. During the day, there’d be a bit of work – cleaning equipment, making sure that any baby turtles in the hatchery were let out, and such. That simple description couldn’t prepare anyone for the gruelling but incredibly rewarding nights or the almost unbearably beautiful days.

Every night, we would start walking at 8pm. We’d measure tracks, relocate nests that would otherwise wash into the sea, and when we were lucky, work with the turtles themselves. Watching a meter-long reptile leave the only environment it’s suited for, crawl along the sand, and then dig and lay a nest was a powerful vision. Catching the hundred-odd eggs that a given turtle will lay in my gloved hand then digging a new nest for them where they’d be safe was incredible but awkward – sorry, mama turtle, but it’s for the best! Being shoved backwards towards the ocean by a surprisingly strong turtle when covering its eyes as ordered, which is supposed to make them freeze, was novel. Thankfully I was told afterwards that it could easily have bitten my fingers off. That was one turtle that didn’t get tagged.

The baby turtles were a different story. They crawl up and over each other to get out of their nests, and by the time they’ve communally burrowed to the surface this way, they’re exhausted. The first few would poke tiny heads out, wiggle, then fall asleep. Soon more would do the same over them, until some lucky and more rested ones actually started clambering oceanwards to start their long and treacherous journey to safer waters and food.

Walking between tracks or turtles, talking with research assistants and watching bioluminescent waves advance in crashing, glowing lines, there was plenty of time to learn about them. All endangered, though none so much as the famous and massive leatherback, they nest up to six times a season. The females often have scars from where the males have hooked in with beaks and claws during mating, and they go into a trance while they’re laying. Mid-info, of course, we’d spot the next track.

How late we stayed out depended on how many turtles we had; the night we had ninety-three, we haggardly returned to camp at 5:30am… only to find a turtle nesting not five meters away, in a river bed where the eggs would surely wash away. Relocate! Though tired and sandy, I don’t think anyone ever went to bed unhappy. Having moved thousands of eggs to safety, released hundreds of baby turtles from the hatchery, and measured and tagged who knows how many live mothers, the good done was always unmistakable.

The jungle we lived in deserves more than a footnote, too. There wasn’t a day that monkeys didn’t show their heads, lizards of varying stripes were everywhere, and impossibly large insects and arachnids were uncountable. We spotted endangered mammals and their tracks on the way to mercifully cool waterfalls and rivers, and we hacked apart fresh coconuts to get at the milk and meat inside. The national saying was perfectly fitting: pura vida!

If you're interested in volunteering with ANAI, www.anaicr.org is their website. $16/day covered room and board.

Further Information

Travel tips: From San Jose, go to Puerto Jiminez in the Osa Peninsula. Twice-daily collectivos from there will get you to Carate; ask for el Casa de Bonito.

Must see/do at this place: Help turtles, hike to the waterfalls, and spend a few days in Corcovado, which National Geographic described as the most biologically intense place on the planet, and which is about a half hour walk from camp.

You should avoid here: Make sure that if you're hungry you ask for seconds, it's not a problem but they won't be offered. Bring good rain gear, and make sure you hang everything to dry immediately to avoid mold.