Gandoca, Costa Rica

I spent about a month in this little town called Gandoca. It is on the border of Panama and in a national park. I had an internship with MINAE, The Ministry of Environment and Energy of Costa Rica. I hung out with the park ranger, saved the forest, and was involved in a project to save marine sea turtles. Mostly these were Leather backs, but Green Ridley sea turtles also came to nest.

The turtle nesting beach at Gandoca

The turtle egg hatchery
The eggs would be transfered from the nests on the beach into the hatchery so that they were protected from animals and potential poachers.

Another volunteer and our boyfriend Adonis

Surf!

This is the school in Gandoca where I would occasionally give English language lessons.

This is the MINAE office where I lived. Beautiful, eh?

This is the one dirt road that leads in and out of Gandoca.
Sometimes it would get so flooded that the whole town would not be able to move.

Mincho! The coolest guy in Gandoca. He has a tough shell but his heart is gold.

This is my bunk in the MINAE office. I am a mess! Notice my thin, summer sleeping bag, and the mosquito net. A mosquito net will save your life in tropical climates!

These are my English language students from the highschool. They are performing a song in English. This was at a ceremony for the Azul Playa Clean Beach award.

These are signs that I made to put on the beach. "Do not leave more than your footprints," "Please leave this place equal or better than how you found it," " Do not throw trash."

An absolutely insane german traveller who was also volunteering for the turtle project. He was nuts, and I seemed to be the only person who befriended him. He showed up on my doorstep one night in the pitch darkness and I had to walk him through the town, and through the jungle to his bungalow without a flashlight. All lights are out at night to protect the turtles nesting.

A big squashed bug in the street. It was as large as my palm.

Rasta surfers from Gandoca!