A Month in Costa Rica

As a marine science major, I was extremely excited to be traveling to Costa Rica to work with sea turtles for two weeks. This had been a dream of mine since I was three, and ISV gave me that opportunity. Of course I was nervous to be living with a local family since I barely know Spanish, but after a day, I felt like a part of their family. I learned so much about the culture; it was a very humbling experience. The village where I lived was small, and although people didn't own much, they were happy and willing to take me and my group in. By the end of the two weeks of living with my host family, most of the village recognized me and even knew my name. It was hard to leave the family, especially the two little kids who were like siblings, but I will always remember them. As for working with the sea turtles, it was very hard and tiring work, and it was better than I could have imagined. We went on night patrols since the turtles usually lay their eggs at night, and we counted how many eggs a female would lay, measured the length and width of the shell, and tagged the flipper. On the very first night we found 26 turtles, which is way more than usual. A couple of nights later, a phenomenon known as Arribada occurred. This is the large gathering of nesting turtles in populations of Ridley Turtles. It only happens at four beaches in the world, and during about three days of the month throughout the summer. All I can say is that I was very lucky to see this! I learned so much while working with these amazing creatures, and this project confirmed my dreams of majoring in marine science.
So as I mentioned in the title, this was a month-long trip. After two weeks of working with turtles on the Pacific Coast, we met up with another group who had been doing a different project, and we spent the next two weeks traveling all over Costa Rica. In each place that we stopped, we had various activities that we could participate in, such as white water rafting, zip lining, rappelling, surfing, etc. These were all very exciting, but there were also relaxing activities such as sitting in natural hot springs and even a Thai massage on the beach. This adventure tour offered something for everyone, and the tour guide was very friendly and helpful in any situation. Even though this tour was more "touristy," I still learned a lot about the beautiful country and the different people who live there. This program was the most valuable experience of my life so far, and I will definitely continue to travel in the future.