Day 10: January 13, 2013
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Lily and I and our tortuguitas!
This weekend our group went to Monterrico, a small town on the Pacific coast, for a beach weekend! After a sweaty 2.5 hour van ride, we arrived at the rundown hotel where half of our group was staying, and the other half was staying in a hostel right on the beach called Johnny's Place. What I initially thought were tacky bed canopies in our little rooms, actually turned out to be mosquito nets...apparently Monterrico is a malaria zone. Oops. To our surprise, our room also had other occupants, which included a cockroach in the shower and a little lizard which somehow found itself dead on the sink halfway through our stay. If the hot volcanic black sand beach wasn't a warm enough welcome, that sure was!
Monterrico is a popular breeding ground for sea turtles (especially the Leatherback and Olive Ridley turtle), so fortunately there are a few sea turtle conservation organizations and hatcheries in the town to give the little hatchlings a chance to make it to the ocean. Within an hour of arriving, we were lucky enough to be on the beach to experience a baby sea turtle release! In the few short moments that we were able to hold our black, closed-eyed baby turtles, I named mine Squirt and could not stop admiring at how adorable he was. I carefully placed him (or her?) in the sand from behind a roped-off area, and watched as he joined a swarm of baby sea turtles scrambling to make their way to the ocean. Their little flippers pushed them along in the sand until they were scooped up by a wave. Because they are so defenceless as hatchlings, it is inevitable that many of the turtles we released will be eaten, but at least they were able to avoid being easy prey on land for birds and other animals. Regardless, I'd like to think that Squirt is still alive.
Monterrico is a popular breeding ground for sea turtles (especially the Leatherback and Olive Ridley turtle), so fortunately there are a few sea turtle conservation organizations and hatcheries in the town to give the little hatchlings a chance to make it to the ocean. Within an hour of arriving, we were lucky enough to be on the beach to experience a baby sea turtle release! In the few short moments that we were able to hold our black, closed-eyed baby turtles, I named mine Squirt and could not stop admiring at how adorable he was. I carefully placed him (or her?) in the sand from behind a roped-off area, and watched as he joined a swarm of baby sea turtles scrambling to make their way to the ocean. Their little flippers pushed them along in the sand until they were scooped up by a wave. Because they are so defenceless as hatchlings, it is inevitable that many of the turtles we released will be eaten, but at least they were able to avoid being easy prey on land for birds and other animals. Regardless, I'd like to think that Squirt is still alive.
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Gymnastics photo on the beach...typical.
Once all of the turtles made it to the ocean, we were able to watch the sunset over the water, and some of us played in the ocean and hotel pool before going out for food, drinks, and dancing. At one point in the night, Lily and I found ourselves laying in the sand near the waves for about an hour, simply admiring the night sky which was a canvas of stars. We were taking in our surroundings, and realizing how lucky we were to experience so much in the past week. There was some sort of serenity about it, even with club music in the background and the realization that our mothers would probably have a heart attack if they knew their daughters looked like they were passed out on a dark beach in a country that we hear endless warnings about.
The next day a handful of us went on a little boat ride through the mangrove forest ecosystem along the Chiquimulilla Channel. We saw many herons, termite nests, and beautiful plants. The most interesting thing we saw had to be the four-eyed fish that skips along the water...it has two eyes below water and two eyes above!
The rest of the day was spent relaxing, napping under canopies, and playing in the water. The waves were huge and I've never experienced such a strong undertow! When Lily and I left to go play in the waves, we looked decent and completely dry. We came back looking nothing short of drowned rats. My battle with the water to remain standing was lost, especially when I literally could not breathe because I was laughing so hard at how ungraceful we looked. We only made it 5 meters from shore before we were being whipped around by the waves, rolled around in the sand, spitting out water, and trying to get all the sand out of our bathing suits. We learned the reason why none of the locals were in the water...
Frost week in Guelph (first week back after Winter Break) is traditionally a week of drinking spent in downtown Guelph, but this Frost Week I was in a jungle treehouse, I hiked a volcano, released a baby sea turtle, and enjoyed the beach. Definitely tops being in grimy Trappers!
The next day a handful of us went on a little boat ride through the mangrove forest ecosystem along the Chiquimulilla Channel. We saw many herons, termite nests, and beautiful plants. The most interesting thing we saw had to be the four-eyed fish that skips along the water...it has two eyes below water and two eyes above!
The rest of the day was spent relaxing, napping under canopies, and playing in the water. The waves were huge and I've never experienced such a strong undertow! When Lily and I left to go play in the waves, we looked decent and completely dry. We came back looking nothing short of drowned rats. My battle with the water to remain standing was lost, especially when I literally could not breathe because I was laughing so hard at how ungraceful we looked. We only made it 5 meters from shore before we were being whipped around by the waves, rolled around in the sand, spitting out water, and trying to get all the sand out of our bathing suits. We learned the reason why none of the locals were in the water...
Frost week in Guelph (first week back after Winter Break) is traditionally a week of drinking spent in downtown Guelph, but this Frost Week I was in a jungle treehouse, I hiked a volcano, released a baby sea turtle, and enjoyed the beach. Definitely tops being in grimy Trappers!