July 7-8, 2014

We arrived in groups yesterday in San Jose and convened at Hotel Brilla Sol, a very welcoming establishment with lovely grounds. Our first evening, we spent time getting acquainted with each other, sharing some of our fears and hopes for the trip as well as finding out a little about our backgrounds as teachers.

After a well-needed night’s sleep, many of us were delighted at breakfast with our highly anticipated first cup of Costa Rican coffee. Shortly after breakfast, we set out for the first destination on our itinerary – the Pacuare Nature Reserve on the Caribbean coast. En route, we tried to take a little trip through the centre of San Jose. However, our brief tour of the city was thwarted because roads going into the city had already started to close in anticipation of massive celebrations that afternoon to welcome home La Selección (the national soccer team returning to a hero’s welcome after their great performance at the World Cup). We were all really impressed by the spirit of pride that was palpable in the city.

Heading out of San Jose, we traversed a beautiful national park which led us through a cloud forest and rain forest. Our eyes were glued to the windows in awe at the incredible variety of greenery and amazing size of the foliage. The variety of geographical zone that we have already experienced is quite novel for most of us. In the space of a relatively short drive, we moved from the very temperate central valley where San Jose is situated, through the chilly and damp cloud forest, into the humidity of the rain forest, finally moving into rising temperatures and humidity as we approached the eastern coast. For the last leg of the trip to the Pacuare Nature Reserve, we took a small boat through canals leading to the coast. Along the way, we were on the lookout for crocodiles, but only managed to spot some turtles sunning themselves as well as a few beautiful birds.

Our destination, the Pacuare Nature Reserve, was opened in 1989 in an effort to protect the breeding ground of Leatherback, Green, and Hawksbill turtles from poachers. It still maintains this function of protection today, having reduced the incidence of poaching to 1%, and it also functions as a research centre for biologists from all over the world. The reserve encompasses six kilometres (approximately four miles) of beach. The compound where researchers, guards, and other guest and workers stay operates very sustainably, using only solar power. This offered us a completely off-the-grid experience, a welcome change from our very connected lives.

Our first day at the reserve, we learned about the breeding habits of the various turtles and observed some of the research happening at the reserve. One particular research project is studying the effects of global warming on the sex selection of the turtles which is determined by temperatures in the nest. As temperatures rise more female turtles are being hatched, which could eventually lead to an insufficient number of breeding males in years to come. As we learned, we also had the incredible opportunity to watch four hatchlings make their amazing first journey into the ocean. The independence and perseverance of these newly born turtles was truly admirable. We were an enthusiastic cheering committee as they made their way.

Later that evening under only the light of the moon, we went on a nightly patrol with a researcher to watch for hatchlings and turtles who have come to nest. The nightly patrols serve both a research function and as a deterrence to poachers. While we were not able to see any turtles nesting, we did see the tail end of more hatchlings making their way to the ocean as we finished our three and a half hour patrol. It was a satisfying way to end a busy day filled with new sights, sounds, and experiences.