San Juan del Sur is just over the Costa Rican border on the Pacific side of Nicaragua. It’s a small beach town enclosed by mountains on all sides with the beach opening into a cove creating a natural harbor. The town itself has a laid back surf vibe with plenty of hostels and restaurants dotting the cobblestone streets. It offers the same activities as most of the beach towns we’ve visited: plenty of beach time, surfing, canopy tours, and the added bonus of turtle watching. After spending the day on the beach we opted for the turtles.
Playing with Hermit Crabs and Silly Bands in the Sand
At 7pm we headed down to the lobby of our hostel for a presentation (Fun Fact: Leatherbacks grow to 12 ft) before heading to Refugio to Vide Silvestre La Flor. We all piled into the back of a pick up truck in hopes of watching Olive Riley turtles make their way up from the ocean to lay their eggs. It was still early in the season so there was no telling how long it would take. Even though the refuge was only 25 miles away it took the better part of an hour bouncing around on dirt roads to get there.
At La Flor they reminded us for the umpteenth time that absolutely no flashes or flashlights were to be used. Too much light deters the turtles from coming on shore. Instead they’ll lay their eggs in the ocean where they stand almost no chance of survival. To prevent this, our guide handed out a couple of red lights so we could still see the turtles in the pitch black night.
As we walked down to the beach we were lucky, we’d found a turtle right away. We all huddled around to marvel at the turtle laying her eggs. My excitement quickly turned to shock as I went to take my first photo and my flash went off. I had switched my camera from “Program” to “Auto” and forgot to turn the flash off a second time.
Oops...
After quickly apologizing to our guide, apologizing to the park official, and quietly apologizing to the turtle I took pictures with slightly more reserve for the rest of the night. An hour later of turtle watching fun we piled back into the truck for our slow journey home. Joee and I both agreed that we would be sad when our lives no longer resembled National Geographic specials.
Laying Turtle Eggs
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