Dispatches
Central America Expedition 2010: Day 4, part 2 – Leatherback Trust, Costa Rica
March 8, 2010
Conservation begins with education. That’s why Leatherback Trust has made education and voluntourism two cornerstones of its work at Playa Grande. The organization hosts numerous student programs each year and offers volunteer opportunities for adults through Earthwatch. As it turned out, our time with Leatherback Trust coincided with the annual visit by the sixth graders of the Bullis Charter School in Los Altos, California.
Shortly after our arrival at Playa Grande we headed for the elementary school in the nearby village of Matapalo for a ceremony welcoming the Bullis students. The school band played, some of the Matapalo students performed folkloric dances, and the Bullis students presented gifts they had brought and received a Matapalo School banner signed by students. While at the school we checked out the computer lab funded and organized by Leatherback Trust and interviewed the school principal, who spoke about the critical importance of environmental education.
After visiting some of the beaches with Jim during the afternoon, we spent the evening at Leatherback Trust’s research station hoping for a chance to film a turtle laying its eggs. Together with national park guides and local residents, Leatherback Trust researchers and volunteers patrol the beaches every evening for at least four hours during the nesting season (October-February), watching for turtles. Our team joined in for some patrols and discovered just why all the researchers are so physically fit. Walking up and down the beaches for four hours every night is quite a commitment.
Unfortunately no nesting turtles appeared that night – the season was drawing to a close so our chances were reduced – but we did receive word late in the evening that hatchlings had been spotted emerging from a nest on Playa Ventanas. Together with Jim we rushed there and spent about an hour about 15 tiny turtles poking their heads out of the sand and emerging from the nest and then “swimming” down the beach in the direction of the ocean (more or less). An absolutely incredible experience!
