Highlights: The highlight of my volunteer project was seeing my first nesting Leatherback sea turtle. She wasn’t tagged yet, so I got to see how that was done. I also got to hold a bag under her while she laid her eggs, so we could safely relocate them to the hatchery. These turtles are huge and have an ancient presence. It was something I’ll never forget.
The highlight of the adventure tour was white-water rafting for two days! It was something I never thought I would do, but it was the adventure of a lifetime. We went down Class IV rapids, ate a picnic lunch, and stayed in an eco-friendly lodge. I would do it again in a heartbeat!
Morning:Our mornings in Gandoca, Costa Rica varied. Sometimes you might have a shift in the sea turtle hatchery, where we would check sea turtle nests for babies. Other days you might be patrolling the beaches until midnight or 4am! And every morning our host family cooked us breakfast. We didn’t sleep much, but that way we got the most out of our trip!
Afternoon:Since a lot of our work was at night, we had most afternoons to relax. (Unless you were at the hatchery again). We did a few beach clean-ups during the day. We had to clear the beach of logs and natural debris for volunteers, who made their beach patrols in complete darkness. A lot of afternoons, we explored the town, played cards with our families, played soccer with the local kids, and relaxed together.
Evening:At night, before we started our shifts, we typically went to the pool bar that was close-by. While some volunteers played pool, others played dominos with our host families and they typically had dancing, too!