Volunteering turtle camp in Costa Rica

March - May 2024

It's day 11 and the sun is finally shining after five straight days of rain.  A tropical depression parked itself in the Caribbean spinning waves of torrential rain.  Walking the beach is sad. Tons of debris washed up removing meters of pristine black sand beach. Part of the path to the turtle hatchery has washed into the sea making it impossible to conduct nightly beach patrols. But lets start at the beginning.

Let me start by saying, I am not a quitter.  I will give 120% to everything.  I've walked the 26-mile Inca Trail to Machu Picchu with altitude sickness and asthma.  I stayed in dead end jobs thinking it would get better.  The old adage is true, with age comes wisdom.  Saying enough in a tough situation is hard for me.  While I learned a lot at my time in the rainforest lodge it wasn't for me.  I wasn't happy and asked to leave 2 weeks early and head to the next volunteer work site.  

The turtle camp (Tortugas de Pacuare) is located on the mouth of the Pacuare River and the Caribbean Sea.  I arrived at 3pm for a six week stay.  The camp is very rustic.  Six dorm rooms each housing 3 bunk beds.  Shower and toilet in a makeshift shed.  Definitely not luxurious.  I meet Robbie the leader of the camp and the other volunteers, had a camp orientation and got a chance to unpack.    

Volunteer work at the turtle camp is Monday - Friday consisting of nightly beach patrols, camp and path cleanup, guided flora and fauna walks and building the hatchery.  Saturdays is usually a day trip.   

We got word that a tropical depression was parking itself in the southern Caribbean.  It started raining on Saturday.  And it rained and it rained for 6 straight days.  Finally on the following Sunday, the blue skies returned, and I went for a beach walk.  

That lonely beach walk would ultimately change the entire camp.  I rushed back to camp and let Robbie know the bad news.  Part of the path that connects the camp to the hatchery eroded into the sea.  There's no way through at night without building a new path.  We tried a night beach patrols but the waves were too high, even at low tide, to make it feasible to cross at night.

Central America from Mexico to Panama is important ecosystem for sea turtles.  Leatherbacks, Green turtles and Ridley turtle females come out of the sea to build a nest to lay their eggs.

Sea turtles

There are four species of Sea turtles that nest on the Costa Rican shoreline, (leatherbacks, green and Ridley) nest on the Caribbean coast.  Leatherbacks the largest of the sea turtles build nests and lay approximately 80-120 eggs in a clutch between March and May.  Turtles hatch approximately 50-60 days later.  

Nightly beach patrols

Each night groups of 6-8 volunteers patrol the beach searching for turtle tracks.  The best nights are when we get a wakeup call that a leatherback was spotted in the beach.  We watched the turtle dig around in the sand, searching for just the right spot to lay her eggs.  Part of our responsibilities were to dig out the eggs and move them to a safe location in the hatchery. Poaching is still an issue.  Local indigenous peoples around the sand bar are extremely poor.  They use the turtle eggs for food and sell the rest on the mainland.  Unfortunately, there were occasions when the locals excavated the eggs before we got to them

Hatchery

I volunteered during the early part of the nesting season.  Three times a week we would hike the 2 kilometers to the protected area.  We created a pit, moved in newly sifted sand and built a fence around the hatchery.  Eggs are transported from the beach to the hatchery where they stay until hatching. 

Path Cleanup

Part of the route from the camp to the hatchery includes a kilometer walk through a jungle path.  During my second week there, part of the path eroded away during a tropical system.  The coast guard used a tractor to create a new path, while we had to remove the old growth, coconuts and other debris to make it safe to walk at night.

Camp Cleanup

Couple times a week, all hands-on deck to clean around the camp.  Removing debris from the garden, cleaning showers and toilets and washing down the tables were some of the tasks.

Flora and Fauna Walks

Once a week, Robbie would conduct a flora and fauna walk where we learned about the different species of palm trees, why to leave part of the yucca plant, identifying dart frogs.

It wasn't all work. Plenty of free time to do laundry, read a book in the hammock, play some beach volleyball or head to the local beach bar or a beer or two.

Each Saturday we had a change to take a day trip away from the camp. I spent most of my team in a small town or Puerto Viejo close to the Panama Border. We spent morning walking through Cahuita National Park and taking tour of the Jaquar Rescue Center. Jaguar Rescue Center. The Jaguar Rescue Center is a temporary or permanent home for ill, injured and orphaned animals. With a focus on monkeys, sloths, other mammals, birds and reptiles, the JRC provides veterinary services, round-the-clock care and comfort to animals that would otherwise be unable to survive in the rainforest or the waters of the Caribbean.