Back to civilization

Ah how I've missed light switches and the internet. Oh and of course my family and friends! But seriously, I have a new found respect for electricity, well at least for a few more hours. So let me tell you about the last few weeks. I apologise in advance if this turns out to be a very long post, but it's been 2 weeks!
My adventure at Tortuga Feliz began at the Los Cabinas bus terminal in San Jose. I had my ticket for Bataan and was waiting for my bus to start boarding. I thought there might be another volunteer taking the same bus, so I was checking out my fellow passengers. The reservation is owned by a Dutch man and at least 40% of the volunteers are from Holland (actually that isn't a fact, per se, I just made it up, but I think that's about right), so when I spotted Sjenieka a young woman of 6ft I thought "aha a fellow volunteer". Before I could walk over and jump up and down (so she'd look down) a very tall man approached Sjenieka. My initial thought, Dutch Crack Addict. Meet the Turtle reservation founder and all round nice guy Paul. I guess sometimes I can be a little fast to judge. Later I would find out why Paul looked so rough.
It was great to be accompanied on the journey from San Jose to Bataan. Sjenieka and I were able to chat and not worry about going past our stop, as Paul has made the journey hundreds of times. Paul normally meets volunteers in Bataan, but he'd had to go to San Jose for business, lucky us.
We arrived in Bataan some two and a half hours later. First thoughts, it's hot. I mean tropical heat. The sun seemed to glare off every surface and right into my eyes. Bataan is a small service town, surrounded by huge bannana plantations. You can buy pretty much anything you need in Bataan.


Bataan.

We met 3 volunteers from the project, they had come to Bataan to do the food shopping for the project. Sjenieka and I picked up some provisions for the week, by provisions I mean biscuits and lots of them. Paul said we'd understand once we'd completed our first shift patrolling the beach.
We took a 4 x 4 taxi some 20 minutes into plantation land to a small jetty. There we loaded the boat with shopping and our backpacks and made our way to the project. The reservation lies on a small island nestled between a canal, the mouth of a river and the Carribean. Paul suggested we look out for crocodiles on the journey, no he wasn't joking. The journey reminded me of the film (and book) The Mosquito Coast. I just hoped the ending would be a happier one. A delightful 30 minutes later we arrived at the island, as is customary the other volunteers came to greet us.



It felt a little like arriving on a reality tv "island", you know the type, annoying bunch of people given tasks for the public's entertainment. I just hoped no one was going to break into song, on the off chance a record producer is watching. Anyway back to reality.
Everyone at the project was very friendly. There were some more Dutch volunteers, but also 2 English girls, Canadians, an Australian, Kiwi, Swiss, German, Polish, Austrian and American.


Some of the gang.

The project has been in operation for 3 years. It all began when Paul arrived on the island to watch Leatherback turtles make the amazing journey up the beach to lay their eggs. The Leatherback is the size of a VW Beetle and returns to the spot were she was born to dig a nest in the sand for her eggs. This is amazing when you consider she roams all over the world and some 14 years later finds the exact same beach where she began her journey. It's a tremendous effort for a Leatherback to make it up the beach, although graceful in the sea, they are cumbersome and make loud sighing noises once they reach the sand. Leatherbacks lay around 120 eggs, including small infertile eggs they place on top of the fertile eggs. This is in case a predator (maybe a crab) finds the nest and feasts on the eggs. Hopefully the predator will be filled by the infertile eggs, leaving the fertile eggs to develop. With huge flippers the Leatherback is surprisingly dexterous and can build nests with a narrow passage leading to a large chamber.



The whole process of dragging herself up the beach, building a nest, laying her eggs and returning to the sea takes about 20 minutes.
This is were the volunteers at Tortuga Feliz help. The turtle eggs fetch a high price. When Paul arrived on the island he witnessed poachers stealing the eggs (even though it is illegal) and even had to watch (Gayle don't read this aloud to Harry and Emily) a green turtle being slaughtered for it's meat. Some poachers were ashamed but after a bad crop, had little choice if they wanted to provide for their famillies. Paul realised he could try to protect the turtles (he would walk the beach himself each night) but really he had to help the locals if he was to really tackle the problem. At Tortuga Feliz, Paul trains locals to become guides. Each night, every hour between 7 and midnight a guide patrols the beach with 2 volunteers. There is an unwritten rule, whoever sees the turtle first, guide/volunteer or poacher claims the nest. This is obviously very frustrating, but it does keep those on the side of the law out of danger. When there are eggs, volunteers must move the eggs from the nest and re-bury them in the hatchery were they can be guarded 24/7. They must be re-buried in under 2 hours, for the turles to survive. As the beach patrolled is 10K's it can be quite an effort to get the eggs back to the hatchery in time. The project supports itself by charging volunteers $12 a day, this includes food and shelter. But it also pays for the guides, a gardener and Blanca the cook.
The success rate for turtles at the project is fantastic. The success rate in the wild is 40%. When you consider Leatherbacks are endangered, and only 40% of all eggs laid make it, the future looks bleak. Thankfully the success rate is higher at the project, as the eggs are moved to a protected area, where it is difficult for crabs and other predators to eat the eggs. The project has the highest success rate of all the reservations in the area. This is because volunteers must wear surgical gloves to move the eggs, otherwise the oil on our skin could damage the delicate egg. Nests are also built exactly as a turtle builds her nest, each pack the guide carries holds a tape measure. No white flashlights are allowed on the beach, Leatherbacks are very sensitive if they see a light on a beach they will think they haven't returned to the right beach because there wasn't a light last time. No volunteers can wear perfume or insect repellent as this can also confuse the turtles.

After introducing us to the project Paul gave us a few warnings about our surroundings. He reminded us "this is the jungle", there are scorpions, snakes, crocodiles, spiders and much more besides. He stressed we must always check our bedding at night for Scorpions, but not to worry if we are bitten as they aren't deadly... Of course we could only check our bedding with a flashlight as there are only two lights at the project, one outside the kitchen and one in the communal (hammock) area run by solar panels. I started to wonder what I'd got myself into! We were also warned not to swim in the sea. No problem for me, even though I can swim I really, really hate looking out to sea or entering water I can't see into. Okay maybe now isn't the time for me to describe my fears. There are riptides and even if you make it past them, there are bulsharks waiting for you.

Before arriving at the project I'd imagined patrolling the beach at night, I'd also imagined finding eggs, watching turtles, gauarding eggs and releasing hatchlings into the sea. Yes I completely forgot that nature doesn't work like MTV. I expected movie light for my first walk. By that I mean that annoying habit in films to show night with a 200 watt bulb, supposedly the moon. I was in for a big shock.

My first walk was with a young guide called Llucer and a friendly American girl, Kelly. We left the light of the project at 7pm and by 7.01 I believe I'd fallen over twice. I couldn't believe I was meant to walk in the pitch black with no light. I stumbled onto the beach and decided I'd likely fall over a Leatherback than see it. Eventually I learned to keep Llucer's head on the horizon so I could just about make him out. It's important to always walk behind the guide, the beach often has a lot of driftwood and general debris from the sea, in theory the path the guide takes should be clear.



I really struggled on the first walk, not so much with the distance, although the sand really works the calf muscles, but rather staying upright. Often a rogue wave will soak the walkers and if you try to run from it, you usually hit a sand bank. We made a few stops for biscuits on each walk, the guide always uses his red flashlight before we sit on some driftwood. This is to check for crocodiles. It's strange what you get used to, checking my bed and clothes for Scorpions became second nature. But I've no idea what I would have done if one had appeared under the beam of my flashlight.



On my second day at the project, someone asked Paul why he had such a bad limp. 18 months ago Paul had an accident at the project, he didn't go into details, but he had a wound and needed medical attention. While he was in hospital in San Jose he caught some kind of infection. The only way to remove the infection was to amputate part of his leg. The doctors had to amputate 5 times before they stopped the infection. Paul describes this as "just very bad luck". He uses a prosthetic leg, but this seems to give him a lot of trouble. It's very sad when you consider Paul can no longer patrol the beach, he cares so passionately about. Paul has had a huge impact on the island and really made life better for many people and of course the Leatherback and Green turtles. Paul hopes to hand over the reigns of the project to the locals soon. All decisions are made by commitee and everyone turns up to the meetings, young and old. The role of guide is held in high esteem. Some of the guides have a certain swagger to their step and rightly so, they do an important job.



Besides the patrol shift, we also had to guard the hatchery. I had to do this the first night I arrived and wondered what I'd gotten myself into. We had no eggs at the time, but turtles were due any day, so someone had to be at the hatchery in case other volunteers found some eggs. My first shift was between 6 and 10pm, without company. I couldn't use my flashlight and could only allow my imagination to run riot. Thankfully I found listening to music helped. My next shift at the hatchery was between 2-6am, but for the later shifts two volunteers sit together.


I took this photo at the start of my shift at the hatchery.