Hey y’all! My name is Miranda Cave. I actually graduated from Texas Tech on the Saturday before we departed for this trip. My degree is in Natural Resource Management with a concentration in Conservation Science; therefore, Verdiazul’s mission to conserve the Leatherback, Black and Olive Ridley turtles is very similar to a cause that I want to dedicate my career to. Ideally, I would like to work with primates, but the work that the volunteers, Pan and Valarie are doing here for the turtles is inspirational. As volunteers, we are here to do anything that the workers at Verdiazul need us to do. During this trip, our work has been centered around working on improving the appearance of the hatchery, aiding in releasing of baby turtles, and guiding an environmental education program for the local children that come to Verdiazul each week.
On Friday, we got to release our first batch of Olive Ridley, “Lora,” turtles. There were sixty-nine babies to release, and we watched them stumble into the ocean to take on the world. They began their journey at around 5:15 in the evening, so we got to watch them with the beautiful Costa Rican sunset as the backdrop. During our night patrol, we got to release twenty-eight Black turtles, “Negras.” In the dark of the night, it was hard to keep track of which babies made it to the ocean, but Pan assured us that their natural instinct would kick in, ensuring that they would all find their way. On that very same night patrol, Pan found eighty-nine Olive Ridley eggs, so we got to observe him situating the eggs into the hatchery for their incubation term.
On Saturday morning, the rainy weather put a damper on our plans with the children, only allowing five niños to attend. Since there were less kids than we’d expected, we had to change our approach to the morning. We first played a BINGO game with the kids, highlighting the environmental words in both English and Spanish. Gradually, the kids and our group became more comfortable around each other; thus, we began playing, joking around, and having a lot of fun. We learned many words from the kids, and we were able to teach them some of our card games. We rounded out the morning with a game of musical chairs, which we even got our bus driver and guide, Kike, to join!
Overall, this trip has given me a better outlook on what happens on a day-to-day basis in a conservation project, the Costa Rican culture, and the importance of programs and people like the ones I’ve met here. In Costa Rica, “Pura Vida” is the mantra in which they conduct their lives- with a positive attitude and a smile. Despite the rain and mosquitos, everyone here is simply happy to be alive and feels incredibly blessed. I’ve decided to strive to embody this outlook during the next chapter in my life now that I’m finished with my degree, so PURA VIDA, my friends!
