Surf & Sea Turtles

San Juan del Sur - home to surfers and sea turtles alike. Before I got to the surfing, I headed out at night to try and catch a sea turtle in the act of some egg laying. It was an hour-long, bumpy ride in the back of a jeep to arrive at a protected beach, where we were to wait, without any white lights, until a sea turtle arrived. It was nearly three hours of tedious waiting, but just when we were about to throw in the towel, we spotted the flashing signal from down on the beach that someone had spotted a turtle. The quiet, dozing groups suddenly came to life as we headed down the beach in near total darkness. White lights are not allowed as they can blind and disorient a sea turtle, possibly botching an egg laying, a thing too precious to lose with the endangered status of turtles the world over.

Soon we saw the shuffling track of where the turtle had made its way up from the ocean into the softer sand, and our "guide" had a red light over a nest nearly half full of eggs when we arrived. We watched in awe as the turtle filled the nest, one or two eggs at a time, before burying the delicate, white ovals in the sand. A sort of ritualistic dance, starting gracefully with wide, sweeping movements of her fins, tossing sand into the hole, tucking her eggs in with a protective blanket, her fins then playing percussion as she packed the sand with thumping movements. She then made her exit, scuttling toward the rolling waves, a foreshadowing of what her hatchlings will go through once they crawl out of the nest we saw made this night.

Wanting to experience the waves myself, the next day I headed out with my long board, getting up for the first time on some broken waves. This is like the skier's equivalent to getting of the chairlift without falling down. So not really that cool in the grand scheme of things, but I was pumped! I think it was perhaps a good thing I didn't discover this sport in college, or I might never have finished. Not that it isn't any better now; just one more thing to slow me down and keep me from getting home. Perfect. =D