On May 21 at 5:00 pm I arrived at CEA. I was tired, hungry, but really excited to be there. Two hours later, I went turtling wearing flipflops, a skirt (yeap a skirt!), and had no idea what to do. I met Armando and all the other volunteers and started walking down the beach. Everyone was kind of power walking and already knew where every rock was, and were used to seeing at night. I was freaking out. I couldn't see a thing and I was so ashamed of having to use a flashlight (with red filter of course) to light my way. When I got to Turtle Beach I was exhausted. Ohmigod, walking on the beach with flipflops and with no food inside is not an easy thing to do. We waited there for turtles to come up and meanwhile I talked to Armando. He explained everything that the Turtle Camp did, how to spot turtles on the beach, how to tell apart turtle tracks, and the thing that really stayed on my mind was that you know immediately if a person is fit to do the job. He or she has to have a special connection with the animal. I just hoped that I could do it cause right that minute I was about to die of exhaustion. Then, a turlte came up. She started laying the eggs and we approached it (it's safe to approach it when she's laying). I crawled all the way to the nest and saw the laying process.
It was amazing and the feeling you get when you see it, is indiscribable. I knew that even though I was tired and inexperienced, this was going to be the best two months ever.
Time passed and I am proud to say that I don't use a flashlight anymore to walk on the beach. I know how to spot turtles coming up, and the best part of this is that 3 weeks ago, I got to see the result of all the turtle camp efforts: Hatchlings going safely to the water! In my opinion, the best thing in the whole world are the hatchlings. I just couldn't stop smiling when I saw them crawl out of their nest and we helped them get to the water by lighting the ocean with our flashlights.
I leave CEA in 9 days, and I have to say that I don't want to! It has been a great experience and a dream come true to realize that my efforts, as little as they seem, are really helping this wonderful creature to not disappear from the face of the earth.
Wow... wow... there's no bigger word than Wow.
It was amazing and the feeling you get when you see it, is indiscribable. I knew that even though I was tired and inexperienced, this was going to be the best two months ever.
Time passed and I am proud to say that I don't use a flashlight anymore to walk on the beach. I know how to spot turtles coming up, and the best part of this is that 3 weeks ago, I got to see the result of all the turtle camp efforts: Hatchlings going safely to the water! In my opinion, the best thing in the whole world are the hatchlings. I just couldn't stop smiling when I saw them crawl out of their nest and we helped them get to the water by lighting the ocean with our flashlights.
I leave CEA in 9 days, and I have to say that I don't want to! It has been a great experience and a dream come true to realize that my efforts, as little as they seem, are really helping this wonderful creature to not disappear from the face of the earth.
No comments:
Post a Comment