Journal 3
July 6, 2008
My trek to the Jungle Camp started in gleaming prosperity then ended dreadfully with failure. I got lost on my way to the project. I was repeating the directions that I had received to get there in my head. The Collectivo stopped to see if I wanted a ride back to where I was going. I told them that I didn’t need a ride and that I could walk. About ten more minutes of walking went by when I tiny car came down the road. They rolled down the window and I saw the guide that I had asked directions from earlier before I left the Collectivo drop off. He yelled at me out of the window telling me that the turtle project was too far and that I would not make it by dark. The tourists sitting in the front offered to give me a ride, I refused at first and then after them agitating me for awhile I got in the car.
We were driving down the road and I was constantly on the alert, looking for if we passed it. The couple sitting in the front I learned was from Sweden and they were on vacation, and Carlos, the guide, was sitting in the back with me. I was creeped out by Carlos and I was extremely uncomfortable sitting in the car with them. They eventually dropped me off at Rio Oro at 4’oclock meaning I only had two more hours of light to find where I was supposed to be going. He pointed down the other road and said “It’s that way”, I was scared. I asked him how far it was, he told me it was only about a kilometer. At a fairly quick pace, I walked down the road hoping and praying this is where the turtle project was. About a kilometer down the road I came up on some houses and an old school. Outside there was a middle aged lady and a small child, probably about five years old. In her language I asked her if she spoke English, she told me a little. She told me that this was not the turtle project and that it was about seven kilometers in the direction that I had just come. After our extensive conversation I decided it was time to get moving. Moving at an even quicker pace, almost running down the road, it began to rain. I knew that if I couldn’t find where I was going I was probably going to have to pay the money to be able to sleep somewhere else. I thought I wouldn’t recognize it when I saw it but somehow I did. Walking through the small ponds in the forest to get there, I found Benito, the owner of the camp. He didn’t speak much English but he was very helpful, he took my 40lb. pack for me and carried up to the cabina where the rest of the girls were. I met everyone that night right before we had to go to bed. The leader of the group was Lia, she told me to sleep the night away and she would put me to work in the morning. The next day one of my roommates woke me up at 6:30 to take me down to breakfast. We had pinto (which is black beans and rice) grabbed the shovels and headed towards the beach. We walked about a kilometer on the beach and found the spot that we were going to dig. They explained to me that we were building a hatchery for the sea turtle nests that we would relocate. After about three hours of digging, Lia told us it was time to start heading back for lunch. So we grabbed the shovels and started walking back for our ever so exciting pinto. After lunch we had an hour to sleep, read, write, or listen to music. After our free time we grabbed the shovels and headed back out to the hatchery. After another four hours we came back took showers and naps then went to dinner. For those who were going on the night walk had to get all of their things together then go back up to their beds and sleep. Then at 9’oclock we would get up and go walk the beach for six hours. We had this routine for about six days then Pablo, the director of the organization, paid a visit to us. He told us that we had not dug the hatchery deep enough, and that our night walks were not effective. The hatchery work meant digging the sand out, cleaning, chlorinating it, it sitting for a day, the shoveling it back into the hole. This process ensured the turtles an almost perfect environment for hatching. Now the hatchery work meant that we had to dig the sand again, accept this time, fifty centimeters and repeat the whole process. This week was just a week of labor and learning the ropes. Next week is a different story.
My trek to the Jungle Camp started in gleaming prosperity then ended dreadfully with failure. I got lost on my way to the project. I was repeating the directions that I had received to get there in my head. The Collectivo stopped to see if I wanted a ride back to where I was going. I told them that I didn’t need a ride and that I could walk. About ten more minutes of walking went by when I tiny car came down the road. They rolled down the window and I saw the guide that I had asked directions from earlier before I left the Collectivo drop off. He yelled at me out of the window telling me that the turtle project was too far and that I would not make it by dark. The tourists sitting in the front offered to give me a ride, I refused at first and then after them agitating me for awhile I got in the car.
We were driving down the road and I was constantly on the alert, looking for if we passed it. The couple sitting in the front I learned was from Sweden and they were on vacation, and Carlos, the guide, was sitting in the back with me. I was creeped out by Carlos and I was extremely uncomfortable sitting in the car with them. They eventually dropped me off at Rio Oro at 4’oclock meaning I only had two more hours of light to find where I was supposed to be going. He pointed down the other road and said “It’s that way”, I was scared. I asked him how far it was, he told me it was only about a kilometer. At a fairly quick pace, I walked down the road hoping and praying this is where the turtle project was. About a kilometer down the road I came up on some houses and an old school. Outside there was a middle aged lady and a small child, probably about five years old. In her language I asked her if she spoke English, she told me a little. She told me that this was not the turtle project and that it was about seven kilometers in the direction that I had just come. After our extensive conversation I decided it was time to get moving. Moving at an even quicker pace, almost running down the road, it began to rain. I knew that if I couldn’t find where I was going I was probably going to have to pay the money to be able to sleep somewhere else. I thought I wouldn’t recognize it when I saw it but somehow I did. Walking through the small ponds in the forest to get there, I found Benito, the owner of the camp. He didn’t speak much English but he was very helpful, he took my 40lb. pack for me and carried up to the cabina where the rest of the girls were. I met everyone that night right before we had to go to bed. The leader of the group was Lia, she told me to sleep the night away and she would put me to work in the morning. The next day one of my roommates woke me up at 6:30 to take me down to breakfast. We had pinto (which is black beans and rice) grabbed the shovels and headed towards the beach. We walked about a kilometer on the beach and found the spot that we were going to dig. They explained to me that we were building a hatchery for the sea turtle nests that we would relocate. After about three hours of digging, Lia told us it was time to start heading back for lunch. So we grabbed the shovels and started walking back for our ever so exciting pinto. After lunch we had an hour to sleep, read, write, or listen to music. After our free time we grabbed the shovels and headed back out to the hatchery. After another four hours we came back took showers and naps then went to dinner. For those who were going on the night walk had to get all of their things together then go back up to their beds and sleep. Then at 9’oclock we would get up and go walk the beach for six hours. We had this routine for about six days then Pablo, the director of the organization, paid a visit to us. He told us that we had not dug the hatchery deep enough, and that our night walks were not effective. The hatchery work meant digging the sand out, cleaning, chlorinating it, it sitting for a day, the shoveling it back into the hole. This process ensured the turtles an almost perfect environment for hatching. Now the hatchery work meant that we had to dig the sand again, accept this time, fifty centimeters and repeat the whole process. This week was just a week of labor and learning the ropes. Next week is a different story.
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