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Published: October 14th 2012
We left
San Jose by a 7 seater shuttle bus which was a bit cramped but luckily the route took us along the
Interamericana (Pan-American Highway) and the road was fairly good. Our fellow travellers were a mother and daughter from Colorado, a chap from France and a Mexican guy together with his full size surf board which was balanced down the inside of the bus as this was the only place it would fit. The Costa Rican driver could not speak English but handed us a piece of paper that told us that we would be ‘changing buses about half way’. So we were on our way and looking forward to the start of our adventure.
We were heading for the
Nicoya Peninsular in the north east. We knew that once you were off the highway there would be large areas of unpaved roads and had been warned off very bumpy road conditions with plenty of potholes. As we were travelling in the green (rainy) season we also understood that many roads may be impassible. All was good so far though and just over two hours later we pulled up at a very neat little
coffee house where a few other tourists had also arrived by small shuttle buses.
Sitting sipping some very good costa rican coffee we heard before we saw our first
Scarlet Macaw. We had seen many parrots whilst travelling around Australia but has never seen them as big and bright as these. Several pairs were frolicking in the trees right above our head, their vivid red, yellow, green and blue colouring standing out in the dark green foliage and the noise when they took off was deafening.
We changed shuttle bus and continued our journey with just the Americans - so had more space on this next leg of our journey which was just as well as the roads were getting rougher. We finally arrived in
Samara in one piece and were greeted at the
Tico Adventure Lodge by Julie the receptionist and Janice the owener with her three legged dog called Congo. We had not changed our accommodation which we had pre-booked with Jim and Sue when we were in Lanzarote, so again had plenty of space with a huge living room, kitchen and diner and two en-suite bedrooms. Could get used
to all this space but will have to start thinking about ‘downsizing’ soon to save some money.
We have just heard from Sue and she has told as that Jim was improving after his Op which was good news - hope you are fully recovered soon Jim so that you can get back on the move again......... Outside the apartment there was plenty of seating to eat and chill with two hammocks looking out over the 'jungle' garden and pool area. We soon settled in (not much to unpack) and set off to explore the area and get a few essentials.
Playa Samara is an undeveloped surfing town with a few restaurants and surf schools bordering the long palm tree lined beach. There were not many travellers around and our lodge only had a couple of other rooms occupied which was much the same for the other cabinas, condos and small hotels etc in Samara. Fishing boats fringed one end of the beach and a couple of streams flowed out to the sea through the sands at either end. Out at sea a reef protected the bay, making it an ideal place to learn to
surf (not sure yet) but a few locals and tourist were riding the waves making it look quite easy. Just off shore a small island ‘Isla Chora’ had a soft sandy beach which could be reached by boat or kayak.
We walked along the long stretch of beach where several locals were offering horseback rides along the tideline. Backpackers were sunbathing (it was cloudy but warm and humid) and a few walkers were out with their dogs. One young couple on cycles tried to negotiate the stream which crossed the southern end of the beach but one fell off halfway across to the total amusement of the other.
We walked back through the village which was dotted with small shops and eating places, a couple of churches, a football pitch and a small school. Several shops and businesses had closed for the season and the bakery had a sign saying
‘on vacation back on 1st November’ (so no fresh bread for us......).
Shopping in Samara was an experience and reminded us of the Cook Islands, although there were a few more shops here you still had to
go to several to find everything you were looking for. The largest was the Pali Supermarket which sold ‘the basics’ but did not for instance sell jams or marmalade. It sold pasta, but not pasta sauce - all quite strange really. We did manage to find some marmalade in a smaller store by the beach but the next morning found out that it was more like honey - I think they had forgotten to add the pectin!!!! Still it tasted like marmalade, but you had to hold your toast horizontally or it would all run off...........
Janice the owner of the Tico Lodge told us that a large numbers of turtles were arriving at
Ostional beach nearby and that there was going to be plenty of activity over the next couple of days, so she called and booked us on a tour for the next day. 'How’s that for timing', we thought - the main reason we had come here was the turtles and it was looking good.......... However later that afternoon the rain started and did not stop all night long continuing well into the next day. Janice told us that the trip was
cancelled as the unpaved road crossed several rivers and with the rain it would be impossible to travel north.
We were extremely disappointed as we had wanted to see the sea turtles at Ostional. The beach here was the scene of a
rarely seen biological wonder - when a week before the new moon hundreds, and sometimes hundreds of thousands of sea turtles come to one specific mile of the beach at Ostional to dig their eggs into the black volcanic sand. We had planned our trip around being here at this time but as with anything in nature you can never be sure of anything......... Now we were in the right place at the right time but would we be able to get there?
Ostional National Wildlife Refuge protects marine turtle species, such as the Olive Ridley (Lora) and Leatherback (Baula). Only Olive Ridleys and their close relatives the Kemp's Sea Turtles, synchronize their nesting ‘en mass’ which is called an
‘Arribada’ (the Spanish word for arrivals). Arribadas at Ostional are considered to be the largest in the world, occurring all through the year with larger ones
during the green (rainy) season when the number of nesting
Olive Ridley Turtles may be in the range of hundred of thousands as opposed to tens of thousands for the dry season months. The largest recorded took place in 1995 when it was calculated that 500,000 turtles came ashore. We would be happy to see just one.........
The tour operator changed our tour for the next day and we were really excited but the rain continued all morning which was not a good sign. We did not get a cancellation call so we waited for the transport - but no-one turned up! Janice called the local office and they said they were on their way. We waited again but they did not show but a while later they telephoned to say that they had made a mistake and had forgotten us and the bus had gone! The tour owner then said that he would collect us and take us himself - about 20 minutes later he arrived in his 4x4.
It was now getting late and we were getting concerned that we would not get to the beach before dark as we
were hoping to see the turtles arriving on the beach in daylight. Most turtles usually lay their eggs at night and as you are not allowed to use flash it has always been difficult to see them let alone photograph them. During an arribada the turtles usually arrive late afternoon and continue all through the night so there would be more opportunity of getting a clear view.
It is only about 38k from Samara to Ostional but it took ages on the unpaved track which was also extremely wet and muddy after all the rain. It wound its way through the coastal villages of
Garza, Playa Guiones, Playa Pelada, Nosara and finally into
Ostional. Most of the villages we passed were small with just a handful of houses and many locals were either walking or riding scooters in between their villages. Nosara has one of the oldest expatriate communities in the Costa Rica with a large population of foreign settlers living amongst the Ticos. Within the town there was a market, pharmacy, post office, church, school, police station, public library and a Red Cross clinic. It is a fishing and surfing destination as well as the location
of a world-renowned Yoga School - yoga being very popular in CR.
As we travelled to see the 'arribada' we had to negotiate many fast flowing streams and rivers, some had bridges but other you just had to drive straight through - hoping that it would not be too deep. A new bridge had just been opened to cross one river and must have been very welcome to the locals as our guide said that before it was built the only way across was by a small footbridge and there was no vehicle access for the locals or tourist. Anyone crossing was either met by someone on the other side or they just had to walk. The final section of the dirt road between Nosara and Ostional required us to ford the Río Montaña, which can be impassable during the rainy season although sometimes a tractor will be there to pull 4X4 vehicles through (at a fee of course). There was no tractor today and the river was too deep for the 4x4 so we left it and transferred to a truck which slowly crossed to the other side - with us hanging on the back. Our
guide said that as the arribadas occur during the peak of rainy season it is sometimes not possible to get to Ostional or to leave and the tours cannot run, so we were glad that we were able to get here - but we still had to leave.........He said that we were lucky as we only had to change vehicles once and if we had been on the tour bus we would have had to change twice as it was not a 4x4
We finally pulled up outside a small Ranger Office and were joined by a young ranger who travelled with us for a short distance, finally reaching our destination just past the village of Ostional towards
Punta India. Ostional village has a population of about 400 to 500 people, in 110 families. The community has a preschool, an elementary school, and a distance learning high school. Other than that there are a couple of small stores, fast food (sodas) and a bar but no bank or clinic, Nosara being the closest. Plus of course the Ranger Office where all visitors to the beach have to stop and sign in.
Some days or weeks before an expected arribada an increasing number of turtles gather close off shore at Ostional and after an undetermined waiting time, close to the last quarter of the moon cycle, the arribada will begin. At first, a few hundred turtles will come out on to the beaches here, followed by a steady stream for the next three to seven days. So many turtles come onto the beach in a short time span that
Scientists found out that most of the eggs deposited in the first nights are destroyed by subsequent turtles who dig their nests. Therefore in 1987 a project was initiated to allow local people the right to collect and sell a percentage of the eggs from the first days of each arribada - this is the only place in the world where it is legal to harvest turtle eggs. In return, the villagers protect the turtles, clean debris from the beaches and the rangers patrol day and night for poachers. The local school and the ranger station were both funded by this scheme thus helping the community survive in this poor area as well as helping the survival of the turtles. We had finally
arrived so jumped off the truck and walked with the ranger out on to the beach and were greeted with the most enthralling sight we have ever seen................
Thousands of turtles were emerging from the sea and crawling up the beach to find a spare bit of sand to dig their nest and lay their eggs.
Paul said later that he thought it was rocky boulders strewn across the sands not the backs of turtles you could see. The black sand was also covered in white shreds from broken turtle eggs and flocks of
black vultures were sitting in wait for hatching turtles or picking and scratching impatiently with their beaks in the sand to get to any unburied eggs. A few local people, tourists and dogs were wandering amongst the ever emerging turtles - it was quite bizarre. It was just like being in the middle of a nature documentary. There was not much spare space on the beach, everywhere was a ‘hive of activity’ with turtles arriving out of the sea and others returning at the same time each leaving their own individual track like tram lines across the sand. They all seemed oblivious
of each other as they concentrated on finding a spot for themselves. Turtle heads were bobbing everywhere in the water as more waited to be washed in with the next wave...........
Used to a life in the ocean, the turtles painfully dragged their heavy bodies over the black sandy beach until they got over the high tide line. A couple looked exhausted at the effort and didn’t even make it above the line and started to dig just after emerging out of the water - only to find a wave just covered it over! Most though clambered up the beach some even right up to the greenery bordering the track, others were crawling over each other and digging their nest on top of previously built ones. It was very distressing to see a few baby turtles from a previous hatch being tossed out of their nest and egg before they were ready - nature can be cruel sometimes. One female turtle had a large growth protruding out of her neck and the guide said that if a vet was present he would probably remove it but she seemed to be able to nest. Another female was being
turned over by two rangers who removed some fishing line which had got wrapped around its body. A few showed signs of injury with broken shells and lost flippers - but they all seem to be focussed on one thing and that was to lay their eggs and return to sea.
Once they had found their ‘spot’ they started digging with their hind flippers, spraying clouds of sand everywhere, including over us as we watched, as well as any fellow turtles nearby. They dig a large hole first with their hind flippers to burrow into and then dig another smaller but deeper hole scooping out the sand with each flipper in turn, using it like a spade. Once satisfied it was deep enough they proceeded to lay their eggs into the deeper hole. We watched as several turtles deposited around 80 - 100 soft-shelled, white eggs, the size of a ping pong ball, each one individually dropping into the deep hole. After which they covered up the hole with sand, again using the hind flippers and appeared to pat down the sand before returning to the sea and disappearing into the waves without a second glance.
Our guide told us that baby turtles hatch within 45 to 54 days depending on incubation temperatures, which will also determine if they will become male or female. Women and children from the community of Ostional accompany the hatchlings as they clamber toward the sea, protecting them from dogs and vultures. As many as a million eggs are laid in the beach nesting areas each year but the baby turtles face varying degrees of success in each of the clutches that are laid but it is thought that by nesting in large groups it should increase their chance of survival.
Whilst we watched the turtles we were joined by a British film crew who started filming the huge numbers of turtles coming out of the sea with a remote ‘helicam’ - the technician guided the helicopter complete with underneath camera up and down the beach just above the Olive Ridley turtles - so we 'were' in the middle of a documentary, which will probably be shown on a television near you....................
We stayed for ages watching this astonishing mass turtle nesting until it got too dark to see and reluctantly walked back
to our awaiting truck...................
We dropped the young ranger back at his ranger station before setting off home down the dark muddy track. The journey back to our lodge was quite bumpy and it was a little scary crossing the fast flowing rivers in the pitch black but ‘hey’, this is Costa Rica. We continued on towards
Samara watching the twinkling lights of fireflies in the dark fields all around us - see you there..........
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Sue
non-member comment
WOW, what more can you say!
Oh, this was what we have been waiting for, it looks fantastic. You are so lucky to have managed to get through to the beach. I have seen turtles come ashore before but only one at a time. The arribada must be spectacular! We were worried we might not catch your blog as our signal is weakening but after 20 mins it arrived. The scarlet macaws look great too, so I hope CR is living up to expextations. Jim due at consultant'stomorrow so hope we might get a clearer timeline for traveling then, but I know they are reluctant to commit themselves. Cold and windy here between the rain, at least your rain is warm. Looking forwards to lots more photos, have fun and travel safely Love, Jim & Sue x