Baby Sea Turtle Awesomeness

Remember the first time you went to the beach to help set baby sea turtles free on their life of adventure?  Thanks to some kind volunteers and community members in Nayarit, I can now say yes!  I headed out to the coast for a serious sweat cleanse while helping two other Peace Corps volunteers with their Conservation Week activities and learning about environmental education in Mexico.  

 I think this beautiful tree gives you a sense of the humidity. 

 Welcome arch to beautiful San Blas.

Great kingfisher mural. 

On the way, I had a quick layover in Puerto Vallarta where I immediately started dripping sweat and encountering lots of Canadians.  After traveling to the next bus station (and getting advice on how I really needed to be looking for a boyfriend), I met an older woman who chatted with me while waiting for our next bus.  She works on the beach braiding tourist’s hair and was going to visit her pregnant daughter up the coast.  We talked about if I had any children, why I was living in Mexico, what my work was, who was paying me, what I was going to do in San Blas, if I had found a boyfriend yet – i.e., the usual.  Then she asked me how many years I had been studying Spanish and when I said 7 months, her face had such a great look of surprise, and her praise was so sweet that I honestly started to tear up.  When she randomly pulled a sliver and turquoise ring out of her bag and said that her friend who sells jewelry on the beach gave it to her as payment for braiding her daughter's hair, and did I want to buy it, I said sure.  It wasn't something that I needed but it was lovely, and I thought “every time I look at this ring, I will remember this nice woman from the bus station.”

  Old church in San Blas, which is conveniently located next to..... 

  ...the new church in San Blas. 

 Town center, home to many great stands for local artists. 

There was quite a bit of confusion for my new friend and I when we tried to board the bus as the driver insisted he was not going to the locations printed on our tickets and sent us back inside where the people at the ticket counter insisted he was indeed going where we wanted to go.  We went back to see him and he left the bus in a huff and brought back a man in a sweater (seriously – in a SWEATER in Puerto Vallarta) and he explained that I had to go to Tepic to change buses but could use the same ticket, and the other woman had to get off earlier and then pay 10 more pesos for her connecting bus.  When we finally arrived in Tepic, the bus driver yelled for me to wait and then took my ticket with instructions not to move.  When he returned he said there was no time to spare, but after 4 plus hours on a bus with no bathroom I pleaded for el baño and he said “Ok, but hurry” and then gave me the 5 pesos to pay for it from his own pocket.  I ran to the bathroom and made it back just in time to get on the bus with my fellow passengers, for the last 1.5 hour leg of the trip.

 Jess took me to a fort above town; a soaking wet hike with great views. 

  Old fort. 

  View from the fort. 

 So many palm trees. 

I finally arrived and dropped off my bags at a gloriously air –conditioned apartment and then went to help with a painting exercise with a gaggle of happy, energetic kids.  I’m not one to wake up before 8:30 AM these days so I was really surprised to see how dark (and dripping hot) it was at 5:30 AM when we set off for turtle glory the following morning.  We passed by half of a giant commercial airplane that is placed near the beach as a tourist attraction, walked by the perpetually flooded street, and arrived at the beach to find crates full of uber cut baby sea turtles!  A little after 6 AM we headed down to the water with local children and adults to set those turtles free as the sun rose and flooded the clouds above the Pacific with colors.  Bucket list item completed!

 This is how dark it was when the first turtles were released. 

  Site of our early morning start. 

  You're free little buddies - head for the water! 

  Turtles heading into the surf. 

 Baby sea turtles entering the sea at sunrise. 

 Sunrise in San Blas. 

Afterwards we did a trash clean-up on the beach where we found plastic rings from six-packs, cigarette butts, beer cans, 4 baby diapers, plastic soda bottles, corn cobs and about ¾ of a watermelon.  Gotta give those sea turtles a fighting chance when they return.  Other fun activities included Storytime with a very energetic storyteller who had us impersonate wolves in front of the kids (nothing like howling gringas to make kids really laugh), an activity where kids created notebooks out of scrap paper, cardboard and fun animal stencils, a composting workshop and a screening of “Buscando a Dory.”

  Early morning beach clean-up. 

  Sunrise view during our beach trash clean-up; not bad! 

  Composting workshop. 

 I'm pretty much an expert at drawing apple cores and banana peels now. 

I also heard about the importance of building good relationships to really be effective in your work and saw the strong relationships one of the volunteers had formed after 2 plus years in the community.  Before I left for the Peace Corps, another volunteer told me they thought the people who worked with kids were the happiest, and I can see why she said that.  It takes a lot of energy to be "on" with kids for extended periods of time but they can be so much fun and energize you at the same time.  

  Casa de Cultura. 

  We got to watch this mural progress during the week. 

  Jess took me to Our Lady of the Rosary near the fort above town. 

 Outside old church ruins. 

I returned home after an 11-hour, 3-bus travel day with a few more bug bites than when I left, and a greater appreciation for what the environmental education volunteers do and what kind of challenges they encounter.  Most importantly, I returned to a MUCH cooler climate for which I have never been more grateful.  I will also always be eternally grateful for the opportunity to get to know two other volunteers better and witness my first ever sea turtle release.  Baby sea turtle awesomeness for sure.