Adios

So long, Costa Rica. Had an awesome time but it flew by! Would have liked to see more but the raging fever I came down with last week prevented any travelling I had planned. So instead of leaving on Saturday, we left Ostional on the 5am bus on Monday morning. Did a whirlwind tour on Tuesday.



Started off with breakfast at a Coffee Plantation. Got to see the whole process of picking, shelling, washing, drying and toasting the coffee beans. Got a picture of this nice oxcart which was the mode of transport they used in the 1800s and early 20th century.


Then off to Poas volcano. The most visited one in costa rica.. probably because its so close to San Jose. Got really lucky. The clouds rolled in about 25 minutes after we got there.. and once that happens they're there the rest of the day and you can't see anything. Took my touron photo in front of the stinky volcano. We also did a nice hike to this beautiful lagoon next to it with this big acidic lake. Pretty.


The view coming down from the volcano. The valley with San Jose in the middle and mountains in the background. It was a bit hazy because its Sugar Cane season. They burn the sugarcane to burn off the leaves and get rid of the snakes that live in the crops.



After the volcano, we went down into the valley and further into the jungle to check out some waterfalls. They were lovely. The jungle was definitely really cool. Picture on right was the first waterfall we got to; Templo Waterfall.. 85 ft tall.




This was the top of the tallest one.. 120 feet. Magia Blanca Waterfall. After a series of about 5 or 6 waterfalls, we headed back to the city. I left on Wednesday afternoon. That morning, me and Stephanie's host mom took us unto San Jose for some souvenir and market shopping.. and also a tour of the Teatro Nacional. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures but it was beautiful. Some part of it reminded me of the Plaza in New York. She also bought us coffee and ice cream. Best host mom ever. Made me wish I was staying with her a little longer :)
Now its back in the U.S... and who knows when the next adventure will be.

La Arribada

The Arribada has arrived. Phenomena that only happens here in Ostional and a few other beaches around the world. I think Ostional is in the top three for the largest arribadas.. or something like that... The arrival of thousands of Olive Ridley Turtles about once a month. This girl on the left was a trooper. Only had one back flipper. Took her a while to get down to the water and she probably had a hell of a time digging her nest.


The Arribadas here have been getting smaller and smaller with the dry season but during the wet season they've seen numbers of about 200,000 turtles over a period of about 5 days. The largest Arribada was in 1995 with 500,000 turtles coming up to nest. The last one was a small one, only 3 thousand in three days. We're not really sure how large this one is yet.
Picture on right digging her body pit before she digs the nest. They look pretty awkward on land, I have to say.



Finished my 12am-6am hatchery shift yesterday and made my way down the beach hoping to see some of the leftover Olive Ridleys. There were still quite a few nesting and moving to and from the water. Cool to finally see some turtles in daylight. I've really only seen them at night on patrols and such.





We're not exactly sure why this occurs here... many people think its because of the moon phases and other think the turtles are able to find their way back because of the high amount of tectonic activity on the Nicoya Peninsula (some geology for you, Jesse)








But of course with every Arribada... in edition to seeing all these turtles, you see the egg harvesters. Ostional is the only beach in the world where egg harvesting is legal. Its very stringent and controlled... the locals are only allowed to harvest eggs if they're part of the association, if they've been approved and accepted, and they can only collect eggs for the first three days of the arribada. While its a bit tough to watch, there are some benefits to it. Having legal egg harvesting greatly diminshes the amount of illegal poaching, and the members of the association keep the beach clean...supposedly. They also harvest eggs that will likely be dug up by the arrival of other turtles as the Arribada continues.



They say it has its benefits but none of us here really see the necessity of it. Really there is no necessity. The locals don't need to live off the money they earn selling eggs and people don't depend on sea turtle eggs for food. I guess its just a tradition thing... and the fact that Sea Turtle eggs are aphrodisiacs.. at least they leave the leatherbacks alone.