Costa Tortuga

Tonight was a special treat. We went out to Playa Camaronal about 45 minutes south of Sámara. This is a wildlife refuge where sea turtles come to lay their eggs. You have to go out at night because that's when the females come ashore to avoid predators. In addition, the sand dries more slowly and stays firmer longer, so that the turtles can dig holes without them caving in. The females come ashore just after high tide, when the water has just receded, leaving the sand in its wet, workable state. The males stay at sea to continue breeding.

We got to Camaronal around 8 o'clock and after watching a short presentation on the life cycle of turtles, we walked down to the beach to see if we could spot any turtles. Searching for them is an exercise in patience, because you have to look for them in the dark. You can't use a lot of white light or flash since turtles depend on the light of the moon reflecting off the sea to guide them off shore. Our guide, Alicio, had a small pocket light that could shine with both white and red light. He had to use the white light sparingly, just to comb the beach in search of turtle tracks. We ended up finding two Olive Ridley turtles (tortugas lora). We came across the first one pretty early on, but after she started digging Alicio told us she was having problems digging the hole. Apparently she'd hit upon a spot where the sand was too soft and the hole kept caving in on her. So, as Alicio told us, the turtle would actually go back out to sea without laying any eggs and come back another night.

We left the first turtle to its own devices and walked down the beach again. Soon enough, we encountered another set of turtle tracks and followed them up to another turtle. This time, she was able to dig a stable hole and lay her eggs. Alicio showed us some of them up close and we watched as the turtle laid more and more eggs, upwards of forty. Once she was done, the turtle covered her clutch with sand and started turning toward the ocean. But she had put her nest in an enclave of scattered wood, so she was tired and it was hard for her to find her way back. Alicio helped her out by picking her up and pointing her toward the ocean with uninterrupted sand in front of her. We watched as she slowly disappeared into the ocean, under the dim light of a quarter moon. The entire process took about an hour and we left the beach a little after 10 o'clock. It was one fascinating trip.



Although protected as an endangered species, it is actually legal to collect Olive Ridley eggs in small amounts for human consumption. These eggs are a delicacy in certain circles; my mamá tica Norma even told me she likes them with salt and lemon. On another note, there are plans for real estate development on the cliffs overlooking Playa Camaronal. If these projects are built as planned, the artificial light will make the beach unviable as a turtle nesting ground. It's yet another example of the struggle Costa Rica continues to face between humanity and nature.

Sand and surf

This afternoon, Cathy and I tried our hand at surfing. Neither of us had ever tried it. She was a little hesitant but I got her to go along anyway. Both of us figured we ought to try it at least once while we're here. Cathy is a funny sort, enjoying the quirkiness and campiness of Sámara and being as casual as she can be in her first ever pair of flip-flops, all the while donning a Bulgari necklace and Movado watch. She works crazy hours and is going through a divorce right now, so everyone in her family (and even her soon-to-be ex-husband) told her a trip to Sámara was exactly what she needed. We sauntered over to Jesse's Gym and Surf School about a kilometer east of Intercultura. It was about 3:30 in the afternoon when the tide was high enough to get some good waves.

The instructors started us out on the beach practicing how to lie on the surfboard, then hop into the surfing stance once you find a wave. The foot position is very specific – front foot in the middle of the board with your feet shoulder width apart – and you've only got one chance to hop onto the board. Of course, jumping into the stance is a very different exercise on water than on land. It took me a few times before I got it right. The first few times, we started with our instructors pushing us forward as a good wave was passing by. I started to get into a little groove after three or four attempts. Then we had to try paddling ourselves forward as the wave was coming before hopping on the board. This was hard, as it never felt like I was paddling strong enough to match the speed of the wave. Timing your stance with the front of the wave is hard, too. Then we had to learn how to swim ourselves out into the water and turn back toward shore as the wave was coming. It's a very complex sport that requires a lot of coordination, although Cathy and I both had a few successes. But both of us knew we still had a lot to learn, and today was not the day. By the end of our lesson, it was drizzling pretty hard and even though we still had the surfboards for another hour we decided it was time to go back to shore.

Election Day

This is it, the day we've all been waiting for. Ticos follow our elections almost as closely as we do, since U.S. foreign policy has such an important effect on Latin America. This morning, local news stations were covering our elections intently, even stationing reporters in various cities around the U.S.

The Costa Rican economy seems very intertwined with ours. American tourism is such an important part of the local economy that many if not most tourist goods and souvenirs are priced in U.S. dollars, and almost all places around here accept greenbacks. The cars for sale in the newspaper, the tour packages that Intercultura offers, the tickets to tour the National Theatre and Gold Museum, the bags of coffee at Café Diriá, the horseback ride we took on Sunday, the lessons at Sámara's three surf schools, even the leather sandals I bought last week – all quoted in dollars. I'm sure Costa Rica's inflation rate of 16.3% also figures into why so many places prefer quoting in dollars. I'd read about this before, but had no idea how widespread the custom actually was. If I'd known, I would've kept more of my spending money in dollars instead of converting it into colones. Even places that price goods in colones will often times accept American currency near the mid-market rate of around 550 colones to the dollar; in contrast, a bank or forex such as Travelex will typically offer you a rate of only 500 to 1. A good tip for any compatriots planning to visit Costa Rica.

I submitted my final essay for Advanced 1 to Viki yesterday and she gave it back to me today. As mentioned before, we were to write about the effect of mass media on our lives and the relationship between mass media and the rest of the world. She noted only a few minor mistakes, such as some of the more obscure por/para distinctions, a few misconjugated verbs and an error in word order. ("Cosas ciertas" means "things that are true or certain" while "ciertas cosas" means "certain things in particular.") Viki enjoyed reading my essay and thought it was clear, coherent and insightful.

I've started Week 3 with my new professor, María. Yesterday, we began our first class talking about what I did over the weekend and the places I'd lived in. So far the subject matter seems less intense than last week, although María told me we'd be watching a film on Thursday so that could be a big test for me. This week we're studying the subjunctive, which is a source of dread for many English speakers. I have a little bit of a grasp on the subjunctive, but lack a lot of everyday practice with it. I'm the only one in the class, so I've got a private lesson every day this week. On top of that, we churn through each day's material in three hours instead of four, and we've got a big panoramic window that overlooks the ocean. It's been a great start to the week.

Vista del mar

Seven of us went horseback riding this afternoon. It was a new experience for most of us. The horses were very easygoing and I found it was a quick study learning to steer. A few of the others had some issues and on a couple of occasions we ran into each other like equine icebergs. Patrick, one of the Dutch students at Intercultura, got stuck on the bridge that traverses the creek on the west side of the school. He was lagging behind and it was funny to see him helplessly stuck with his horse facing up the creek, as two cars from opposite directions were waiting (im)patiently for him to get his horse turned around.

We traveled the road going up to my casa tica then went past the neighborhood and into the countryside. We made our way to Buena Vista beach about a mile and a half west of the school. It's a tiny alcove with no services to speak of, and the waves are much rougher than in Sámara. After taking a few pictures we took a gallop up the hill to a cliff overlooking the ocean. The view was spectacular as we waited for the sun to set. It was a wonderful sight to see, as the sunset is not visible from Sámara due to a big rock of a land mass sitting in the way.