Yesterday we left San Miguel and Turtle Trax, which was bittersweet. I am very grateful for the time I had there, as I learned so much and made memories that I will never forget. For me, the most impactful part of working with Turtle Trax was being exposed to the amazing, thoughtful NGO leaders and…

To start off the morning we visited the local elementary school and saw some traditional dances. We all loved watching the dances and learning about how the girls learned how to dance. In addition, we showed the kids some American line dances and taught a few of the girls the Cotton Eye Joe. We loved…

This post is from July 21…. Today we got the opportunity to really see the effects of all of the plastic waste in the world. We started off our morning by cleaning up as much trash as we could around the hatchery, and in doing so, we saw so many things that are such common…

It was a long day of travel so there is no post but the leaders report the group has made it to La Fortuna and is settled in to finish the last phase of their field study.

Today we spent time with jungle mike who is an expert with insects and gave us a good insight of how insects interact in different climates, we also went on a jungle hike in which we were able to see how different species interact with the environment around them. We were also able to eat…

Today, we started the day by sleeping in until nine. After breakfast, Juan took us on a walk on the beach. Because it was so hot, we found a shady spot along the beach where we sat in a circle as Juan, our guide, taught us the process that must happen after finding a turtle…

oday was a mix of learning and relaxation. We were able to go to the turtle trax office and learn more about turtles from a researcher that we haven’t seen before. She had a lot of knowledge and expertise about specific turtle facts. The information helped us be more aware of all the threats to…

Today we woke up early in order to be at the greenhouse on time. When we arrived at the greenhouse, Edger split the group up into smaller groups who would each completely different tasks. One group transplanted trees from small pots to large bags which were reused. Another group fixed the mesh along the greenhouse…

Today, our fourth day on our Shoulder to Shoulder excursion to Costa Rica, we woke up an hour later than the previous days in order to recover from our first turtle patrol. For our turtle patrol, we split into four groups. Two groups left the house at 10:30 to do the first hour and a…

Today we woke up bright and early at 6:30 for a delicious breakfast cooked by our awesome chef! We had pancakes and fruit, and then we headed to the hatchery. At the hatchery, we met some amazing researchers who truly care so deeply about the work they are doing. We helped out by splitting into…

Getting to know people who do not live in the same area as you is kind of hard but at the same time it helps better yourself and because we did not have out phones it made us be able to connect more, also the pressure of looking good is relaxed, the feelings of having…

Even though traveling was really hard we really enjoyed seeing all of the animals and looking at all of the scenery. In addition, we enjoyed bonding with all the girls and getting to know everyone individually. We stopped for lunch(Soda) at a restaurant that had local Costa Rican food and it was our first local…

The Turtles I group has arrived safely in Costa Rica. They will spend the night in San Jose before departing tomorrow morning for their field study site.