La Tortuga Feliz

Last year, I visited Costa Rica to volunteer at a sea turtle conservation project called La Tortuga Feliz.  It was the experience of a life time.  Actually, it is what made me start thinking about this round the world business.  Here is my story:

I found LTF while browsing online for a cheap volunteer opportunity.  It looked like a good deal and I was ready to take a trip out of the country, so I booked it.  I decided to take it easy in case I didn't like it, so I booked for a week.  I made it out to Costa Rica a few days prior to my volunteer commitment.  I was able to take a tour of Poas, one of the volcanos near San Jose.  I met some fun people and had a great time.  Heading out to the turtle project was an adventure, to say the least.  I took a taxi to a bus station (Los Caribenos), and a 3 hour bus ride to a town called Bataan.  Once there, I (along with the other volunteers) were met off the bus by a man named Eric.  Eric told us to leave our stuff with him, go grab some food and any other supplies, and meet him back there in an hour.  That is exactly what we did...but when we returned, Eric was nowhere to be found.  We sat and waited, getting slightly more anxious as the minutes passed by.  I kept running through different scenarios in my head, figuring out what I would do next if Eric never showed.  Luckily, that wasn't a problem...Eric showed up about an hour later (he was picking up a washing machine that was going back to one of the projects on the beach).  Eric loaded us into a taxi, riding for about 30 minutes through banana plantations.  The taxi dropped us at a small boat that took us another 30 minutes through canals and to our final desitnation.  

LTF shares the beach with a research based project called Widecast.  During my time there the 2 projects worked closely with one another, patrolling the beaches for nesting turtles, releasing hatchlings, guarding the hatchery, and cleaning the beach.  The work was fun and rewarding, but the people really made the experience.  Everyone got along well.  We spent our days playing sand volleyball and cards or relaxing in a hammock, reading.  I met people from all over the world, spending most of my time with Sean, "the Irish guy".  

What started out as my first solo trip ended up being one of those life changing experiences that you can't stop talking about.  I returned to LTF a couple of weeks later to carry on the story...had more amazing times, made more lovely memories.  :) 

If you are thinking of traveling/volunteering somewhere, I strongly recommend this project!  Not only are they helping save an endangered species, but they are helping the community.  Many of the poachers live right there on the island.  The project offers an opportunity for them to make money by working for the project to help save the turtles, instead of poaching.

Check it out!!  www.latortugafeliz.com

~Jac