January 17, 2015
A Night in the Hatchery

Probably the most important Costa Rican expression, the costariquenismo that really sums up this country, is pura vida. It means literally "pure life," but conveys the idea of "what a life!" or "things are going great!" Pura vida is a common interjection upon greeting or departing, or is often used as an expression of giving thanks. But most importantly, it is simply an expression of joy and happiness.

After a long and strenuous night on the beach, we took it a little easy the next day. Chris took Laura and me on a nature walk through a nearby salt marsh, where we were able to learn about some of the native flora and fauna. It's the middle of the dry season now, so much of the marsh has dried up, but there is still a lot of life in the surrounding forest. Snowy egrets and herons were the main attraction, flying gracefully around the estuary that gives life to the marsh.

Chris talked to us about the history of this area and how the salt from the marsh was harvested for many years. At one point we stumbled upon the foundation of an old building, just a stone outline that was gradually disappearing into the encroaching forest. We speculated about its age and origin; maybe it was the home of one of the salt miners, or maybe a building used for storage or processing the salt.

We walked a couple of kilometers through the forest and around tidal estuaries, getting a good sweaty workout before dinner and another night on the beach.

I was assigned to the late night shift at the Hatchery, which is from midnight to 5:00 am. We need to have people in the Hatchery throughout the night, because the raccoons can be extremely aggressive. In the past, they have been known to get into the turtle nests when the Hatchery has been unguarded for as little as ten minutes. It was an uneventful night though; Shannon and I did not have to fight off any raccoons. Fighting off the mosquitoes was another story however, and a constant battle all night long. It was cooler than the past few nights, and light breezes helped to keep the mosquitoes at bay.

Elsewhere on the beach, the other teams came upon three turtles: one leatherback, one olive ridley, and one black. It was the same black turtle that Nathan had examined the night before, and once again, she just wandered aimlessly and did not dig a nest. The leatherback nested successfully and laid 66 eggs. I didn't hear the report about the olive ridley, just that she was very small.

At 5:00 am, Lindsay the biologist came to relieve us at the Hatchery. As we walked back on the narrow path through the forest to the station, the eerie morning calls of the howler monkeys could be heard in the distance. Pura vida.