Tortuguero, Costa Rica

I turned down my soul mate’s first attempt at a date because I was busy dissecting a baby green sea turtle as a college student. It seems sadly pathetic, therefore, that the great green sea turtle nesting beach and egg-lying season was not even close to our collective radar screen as we were planning a Costa Rica family vacation some 20 years later.

A stop at the Tortuguero Caribbean Conservation Center, created by Archie Carr the godfather of turtle ecology was a small side-bar in the itinerary of the spring break trip we had arranged for the family in 1996. A small canvas-covered boat took us through a complex lacework of rivers and swamps ingrown with vines, reeds and water lilies to Mawamba Lodge, an airy, spartan establishment in the midst of lush gardens bursting with the color of birds of paradise. After a long day of navigating the swamps, wet, tired and sweaty we learned almost as an afterthought that we had arrived to the very spot and at the exact time that the green sea turtles come out of the ocean to lay their eggs on the sandy beach.

It was a stormy, quarter-moon lit night. The wind was gusting and distant lightening pierced the sky, turbulent waves crashing on the shore as we followed the Conservation Center guide onto the beach. We stood in the dark straining our eyes until we saw what looked like a truck-tire mark coming off the water, up the beach: the trail of a turtle coming to nest. The guide held us back until he was sure that the nesting hole was dug and the egg laying had begun (disturbed prematurely the turtle would turn around back to the ocean). Only then did we tip toe up the sandy beach into the vine-covered strip between sand and forest and saw the nest. The turtle half buried in the sand, head invisible, body covered with dirt and tail clean in the air over a hole one foot wide and sea water level deep was dropping her eggs. In intermittent spurts, out plopped soft glistening round white eggs like eyeballs: one hundred eggs.

We watched transfixed this primal force of nature, an ancient rhythm that extends back thousands of years, the mysterious creature returning after 30 years of absence, navigating by an unknown compass to a desolate stretch of sand to nest and continue her cycle of life. After a few minutes that seemed an eon, the turtle flipped sand onto the nest with her clumsy hind flippers and slowly crawled back toward the ocean. Exhausted, making frequent stops it crept to the water then seemed to wait for the right wave before disappearing into the night. Back at the lodge in sweltering humid heat we lay down to ponder this awesome glimpse into the beginning of time. The next day at the Conservation Center I learned with dismay that Archie Carr had a distinct liking for turtle egg omelets.

Costa Rica is a favorite ecotourism destination, most itineraries focusing on the rain forests and the plantations. If you plan a trip there, go when the turtles come out to nest. After all the years and the trips, the memorable sites and experiences of travel, that one night remains etched in my memory as no other.