I just got back from my two week vacation in the Big Apple while Mom & Dad jetted off to Costa Rica. While I had a lot of fun playing with Jeff, his partner Andrew and my cousin, Tyler, it seems that my folks had an even better time in the "Land of The Ticos".While they seem to have several highlights of the trip, one of the biggest parts was a visit to the Turtle Station which was created and run by EcoTeach, for the purpose of protecting the eggs of the Leatherback Turtle.
EcoTeach brings groups of students down to Costa Rica to see the nature firsthand, its commitment to the environment and their dedication to the Indigenous People of Costa Rica (including their schools).
Mom and dad were allowed to join one such group from the Fergus Falls Community College in Minnesota (or, as several of the students called it, Minne-snow-ta). My folks loved all ten of the students and teachers and were so grateful that they were welcomed in to their group as if they were not a couple of “old farts” (dad’s words, not mine… I still need dad to rub my belly from time to time). Mom and dad were SO impressed that these young people would brave the back country of Costa Rica during their Spring Break while so many of their friends hit the beaches of Cancun and other more “comfortable” spots.
While at the Turtle Station the whole group patrolled the beach at night, seeking out Leatherback Turtles laying eggs (they saw three). The eggs were then dug up and relocated to the Station and reburied in a secure Hatchery to save them from poachers, who used to dig up all the nests and sell the eggs. The EcoTeach project has virtually stopped that practice and the Groups that visit Costa Rica with them are a major part of that process.
Last year, K94Kids was able to send EcoTeach money for the Indigenous Peoples’ school within the BriBri Tribe which Mom & Dad and the Fergus Falls folks got to visit. This was accomplished after taking two dugout canoes, crossing a river holding onto a rope stretched across it, taking a bus (which looked like a 1955 US school bus) and trekking up a mountain to actually get to the school.
I’ll write more about mom & dad’s trip in another entry as soon as I can get them to stop talking about the Turtle Station, Fergus Falls and the turtles who are over 5 feet long and weigh over 1,000 pounds (not to mention being around for more than 150 million years!).
Looks like this year’s K94kids Walk will be in the Fall. Stay tuned!
Pura Vida Ya’ll!
Bismark
