Nomadic Narrative

After a bus ride that parted herds of cattle and a 4-wheel drive taxi trip that crossed two, door-level rivers, we made it in time for the first arribada of the year at Playa Ostional. The arribadas mark a special time of the year between the months of July and November, during the last quarter of the moon, when the olive ridley sea turtle swims ashore to nest.

The olive ridley is the smallest species of sea turtles weighing around 45 kg. Along with Playa Nancite in Parque Nacional Santa Rosa, Ostional is one of the two main nesting grounds in Costa Rica. The owner of Cabinas Ostional, where we stayed, launched into a passionate story about local politics after I asked her if we could take a tour from both her organization and the tourist information booth up the street. The story begins with a person she describes as a Cuban educated lawyer-mayor who doesn’t tolerate differing opinions.

Unable to reach an agreement with the group of tour guides she has organized over the years, he allegedly evicted them from the tourist kiosk they built around 12 years ago. He then equipped it with his own group of guides who are supposedly not accredited.

“I wouldn’t have told you all of this if you hadn’t mentioned the kiosk up the street,” she said taking a quick breath and continuing the story. Some of the more dramatic parts of the story included fist fights and a tractor ploughing down an attempt to build another tourist kiosk. There seems to be a lot at stake here.

Years ago, the turtle eggs were harvested indiscriminately. However, agreements have been made with locals to allow them to collect just the first batches. The turtles nest in the thousands for what is described as an attempt to overwhelm predators—and the predators come in all shapes and sizes.

On our way down the beach, we passed several young men with cloth bags full of the soft-shelled eggs swung over their shoulders. I wish the tour had started at 4 p.m. instead of 5 p.m. so that I could have seen how the locals harvest these first batches.

Some families sell the eggs for 1 to 2 dollars while others eat what they harvest. Raw turtle eggs are said to be an aphrodisiac—I didn’t attempt to verify this.

Perched in the trees and standing next to many turtles as they dig and cover holes are vultures.

Vultures find their pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

To keep the waters safe for nesting turtles, the waters are cleared.

Surfers steer clear during the last quarter of the moon: the arribadas.

It was an amazing experience to see nature at work in all of its complexities. I’m glad we stayed overnight, despite the ants (read previous post) so that we had a chance to see, not the entire, but at least a much larger picture.