The morning of December 12th, my sister and I headed for the airport to embark on our journey to Costa Rica to volunteer with a sea turtle conservation project. Although we had numerous meetings with the leaders beforehand, I still wasn’t quite sure what to expect on this trip. Almost immediately, the group started to bond, make jokes, and get comfortable with each other. When we arrived at the airport, everyone but two group members were there. Ten of us had to wait outside the airport for two hours for our last couple members. This is an ongoing joke that the group brings up to tease the two. After all of us had finally arrived, we traveled to an Airbnb in San Jose. It was beautiful with a pool, outdoor kitchen, Foosball, and a grassy area. We all felt at home quick. We soon met our cook, Tati. Tati was not only an amazing cook but became like family to all of us. After a couple days in San Jose, we departed to Junquiallal beach where we spent most our time. We met our community partners at Verdiazul, Valerie and soon Danny. Valerie taught us all about the project, what they do, and night patrols. Later that night we had our first night patrol with one group going at 11:30pm and the other at 12:30am. During the patrol, we were walking up and down the beach and then suddenly stopped and our leader in the group, Sebastian, started sticking the end of a broom into the sand and dug a hole and suddenly found eggs and we took them back to the hatchery. I was confused as to how he knew the eggs were there and what the stick was for.
The next day came and we worked with Danny and he taught us about what we are supposed to be looking for on our patrols. The group learned all about the turtle tracks, different types of turtles, what the stick is for, and how to dig the hole to retrieve the eggs. From now on, on our night patrols, we as a group knew exactly what to look for and we were even allowed to collect the eggs ourselves. Our role with Verdiazul was night patrols, beach cleanups, which is insanely difficult, hatchery work, and work at Verdiazul. On our third day at Junquiallal, we had to clean out the hatchery and take out the shells from the turtles that have hatched. This job consisted of digging the hole up without collapsing it, cleaning it all out and putting clean sand back in it. This may sound simple; however, each hole is about arm’s length, so your whole body is down in the sand cleaning it. At that moment, I realized just how important this work is. Valerie and Danny are doing this work everyday for these turtles and I did it one time and I was exhausted. It showed me how much truly goes into this organization and how much mental strength it takes. It also made me realize how important this all is. How much help the turtles actually need and how trash and plastic from humans affect them tremendously. There is so much more people could be doing, but we don’t.
During my first 3am night patrol, we came across turtle tracks and then followed them up to see the momma turtle beginning to dig her hole. Our leader Valerie said that one of us was going to be catching the eggs as they came out of the turtle instead of digging them up. I was the one selected to catch the eggs and I was so beyond nervous because I’m not usually the type to do something crazy like this. Especially with my sister being on the trip, she is usually the one that would volunteer to catch those eggs in a heartbeat, but since she wasn’t on this night patrol, it was my time to shine. The turtle dug her hole and began releasing eggs. I was right behind her, laying in the sand, catching all her eggs. They were so slimy, and it was kind of gross, but it was one of the best experiences ever. I had to count each egg as they came out and we ended up with 105. I delivered 105 baby turtle eggs. I still can’t get over it. This experience not only made a positive impact on our community partner, Verdiazul, but it also taught me so many things about myself. I learned that the most nerve-racking and scary experiences can turn out to be some of the best memories made. I also learned to not let the nerves win because if I would have passed the job onto someone else, I would have regretted it so much.
After going on this Raider Service Break trip, I plan to pick up trash outside when I see it and not just walk by, reduce my use of plastic, and spread the word to others. This trip and project opened my eyes to what people are doing to the earth and how much of an impact it has on animals. Trash island is a massive collection of trash in the ocean and one of the main places where turtles and other animals drown because they can’t come up for air. By littering, we are literally killing animals. This trip has also introduced me to some amazing individuals that I am striving to be like. One of our leaders, Danny, is a perfect example of what I want to become. Danny was always willing to teach locals about turtles, bring them along to release turtles, and even on night patrols with us. He wanted to get the community involved as much as possible and that’s the main thing I took away from this trip. Danny not only inspired me, but our whole group and I think we will all work hard to continue to spread the word about turtle conservation. I am forever grateful for this trip. I learned so much not only about turtles, but about myself and I feel that I am a better person today than I was before the trip.
- Maddy Agner