Saturday, July 28, 2012

Transitions

Thursday, July 26th

TJ and I finished netting the office!! It looks so good and I’m happy I can go in the office now without getting bit by all kinds of bugs! The rest of the day was spent organizing and talking to volunteers. The past week or so I have been going through a job transition. The position I accepted was one as a research assistant. My responsibilities were to include: collecting data, entering data, training volunteers to collect data, organizing patrols, takeing care of the hatchlings, etc. However, what I have found myself doing more and more is giving volunteers tasks and mediating for them. 


 One part of the office

 

The other part of the office


Glenda, the park director, is very sweet, but she also has a ton on her plate. She doesn't have time to direct volunteers constantly and lack of organization has caused some of the volunteers to be unhappy, so more and more I have found myself to be the one to making decisions and organizing everything. It has actually been kind of stressful. I had a long talk with Alejandro (the volunteer coordinator at the other ARCAS site) about what it takes to be a volunteer coordinator. He has been here the past couple days doing some mangrove research. He gave me some great tips and told me he can see a lot of potential in me. He advised that we have a daily meeting here to go over the next day’s schedule, any updates, and hear any complaints or concerns from the volunteers.

Listening to his advice, I held a meeting with the volunteers. It was long and tough, but I think everyone aired their concerns and we were able to make some progress. Sadly, one of the volunteers was disrespectful during the meeting. He spent the whole time rolling his eyes and shaking his head. I called him out (respectfully of course) and told him that I could tell he had something to say so he should just say it. We ended the meeting with highs (or good things) of the day and we all felt better. I think by taking control and holding the meeting everyone kind of accepted that I’m the person to come to from now on. I don’t mind stepping up to the plate and doing more, but I wish I had more of an idea about what this job had entailed from the beginning. Alejandro was apparently listening to most of the meeting and congratulated me at the end, which was nice to hear. 


Hopefully, it is smooth (or smoother) sailing from now on!

Free Day! Sike!

Saturday, July 28th


Today, I gave everyone a free day. Everyone has been working hard and everyone is tired, so I thought it best to give everyone a day to recoup. Some people went to Monterrico and ate and shopped. Other people kayaked in the mangroves. Unfortunately, I still had to work, but I was able to take a short nap after crawl counts. I finished the rough sketch of my hatchery plans and now have a rough estimate of the numbers of materials that we will need. When Glenda comes back, we can work on calling local hardware stores for price estimates so that we can start a budget. I’m hoping to make a trip to La Barrona soon so I can see Scott’s hatchery and get a better idea of how this new hatchery is going to look. 

It's hard to see, but this is my hatchery sketch. You can see I'm not an artist.

Mosquito Nets

Wednesday, July 25th  

Today, TJ and I decided to put mosquito nets over the office. The top of the office is pretty open so A LOT of mosquitoes and bugs get into the room and bite you like crazy. There was a bunch of old, ripped mosquito nets that can’t be used for beds anymore, so we repaired them in order to use them for the office. However, one volunteer told us that it was going to be too hard and that we couldn’t do it. It is people like that who are the reason things don’t get done in this world. Too many people say the word “can’t,” when they should be using the word “can.” We both took his words as a direct challenge and were determined to make it work. Within an hour we had finished half of the office.  

The rest of the day I spent with Alice learning Spanish and talking about plans for the hatchery. She gave me some new phrases to use with the parlameros as well as some new verb conjugations to practice. She also gave me some documents relating to recent hatchery plans in another part of Guatemala, which is super helpful!

The past couple nights have been really good for turtle sightings due to the lunar cycle. Turtle nesting is strongly correlated to the position of the moon, but we don’t fully understand the extent of it yet. The moon set at about midnight, which according to the locals made it a good night for turtles. We got some more donations and more found nests, so we did well! Also on the patrols, one of the volunteers found a dead baby dolphin that was killed by a harpoon. She didn’t get any pictures because she didn’t have her camera on her and when we went back it was gone. Poor dolphin :(.

Community Outreach

Tuesday, July 24th

Today, Andrea, Sara, and I went with Alice to the small town of El Dormido to learn how to make woven bracelets from a local woman, Maria. Glenda, Alice, and I are trying to get ARCAS and the volunteers to interact and give back to the community more so that relations improve. At the moment, the community doesn’t want to donate to us because they think we don’t have the community’s best interest at heart, so we are trying to change that perception.

We caught the chicken bus at 9:30 and boy was it a bumpy ride! Guatemala is famous for its chicken buses (old American school buses), so I’m glad I was able to ride on one. The bus took us all the way to the canal, and then Maria paddled over and picked us up in her lancha (canoe). It was cool to see where the river meets the sea. There were tons of shore birds! Unfortunately, my camera wasn’t good enough to capture any photos of them.

The chicken bus we rode on! 

 

 Andrea and I on the lancha to El Dormido


My new bracelet!

 
We decided that this would be a great excursion for volunteers. It would get them out of the parque for a day and it would also be supporting this local handicraft worker. We were also thinking that if we buy our own materials, we could take volunteers to Maria to learn how to make the bracelets and then they could make more back at the parque to sell and raise money. It would be a win-win situation for everyone.

In the afternoon, we worked more on digging up the plants around the hatchery. We finished 2 meters worth of clearing around the big hatchery. Also in the afternoon, TJ and Fay came back! They were my first friends here, but both left for a week. It made me happy to have both of them to hang out with again.
On patrols tonight, we saw two turtles! We came upon one that was half way through digging her nest, but two parlameros had already claimed her. We ended up getting the donation though! We also got another donation later. The second turtle we saw was found by one of the volunteers and was our second found nest of the season. It was a great night for turtles!

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Errands and Confrontation

Monday, July 23rd

On the crawl count this morning, I found a turtle! She came ashore only a couple meters above the wave line. Usually they crawl up to the high tide line and lay their eggs, so it was kind of odd. Within 10 minutes of digging her nest, she had gotten smashed by at least 3 waves. I’m not quite sure why she chose to lay so close to the water. After another 10 minutes, she headed back to the ocean. Usually Olive Ridleys take about 45 minutes to lay their nests, so I knew that she hadn’t taken long enough. When I went to un-bury the eggs, I wasn’t surprised to see that she hadn’t actually laid any. It was so frustrating! I just want to find a nest!

Later, Andrea (one of the good German volunteers) and I took the bus to Monterrico to run a couple of errands for Glenda. First, we went to the pharmacia to pick up some items for the parque’s first aid kit. Next, we went to a tienda to pick up some baskets for people to keep vegetables and fruit in. Then, we went to all the different tiendas and hung up signs inviting people to visit the hatchery. We waited around long enough so that we could get lunch at one of the restaurants. I really wanted pizza, but the only that sells it was closed for the day. We both settled on a hamburger and fries instead. I also had a chocolate milkshake. It was delicious and soooo nice to have some American style food!

Jordan look there is a restaurant named after you!


When we got back there was some drama with the volunteers. I guess they had been told to dig up the roots and plants about a meter out from around the hatchery. Then later they were told 2 meters and then later 5 meters by Glenda and Willie (a park worker in training). Because I’m the English speaker, I got the brunt of their frustration. It was my first real run-in with unhappy volunteers. It was stressful, but I think I was able to smooth everything out…hopefully!!
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Temperatures

Sunday, July 22nd

We finally installed the temperature gauges in the hatchery! The gauges are to make sure that the eggs aren’t getting too hot or too cold. They also help us to make sure that the 50:50 male to female ratio is being achieved. We were waiting for a while because we needed a large enough nest to bury one of the gauges in. 
This is because the gauges have 3 depths: 45cm (bottom of the eggs), 32.5cm (middle of the eggs), and 25 cm (top of the eggs). We put one gauge on the beach as a control, one in the middle of the big hatchery as a control, one in a nest in the big hatchery, and one in the front of the small hatchery next to a nest. The temperatures get measured at 6:00am, noon, and 6:00pm. The noon measurement is probably the most important because that is the hottest part of the day. I’m really glad we finally have these gauges in place. It makes me feel better to know how hot these eggs are getting, so I can prescribe some watering if necessary.

 Measuring the temperature in the big hatchery for the first time!


The rest of the day was spent entering data. Luckily, I have tons of experience haha! It was actually kind of nice to get out of the sun for a day.

The weirdest occurrence of the day was the baby rats found in Glenda’s hut. They were cute in kind of a gross way. There were about five in total. Glenda spent the rest of the day cleaning her hut out haha.

 Baby rat...probably only a couple days to a week old


During our patrols there was a ferocious storm! Within 5 minutes we were drenched. Turtles come out more during weather events like storms or big winds, so we kept walking. I really wanted to be the first person to FIND a turtle nest as opposed to buying one or getting a donation. Unfortunately for me but good for the hatchery…two Germans found a turtle before the parlameros. We got our first found nest, but not by me. Oh well!!!

RIP Fanta


Saturday, July 21st



Glenda, Andrea (my new favorite German volunteer), Fanta, and I set out to meet Alice for dinner at Susi’s (a local woman who cooks for people on the weekend). We followed the dirt road leading to Hawaii until it led to the small highway. As soon as we emerged on the side of the highway, two motorcycles sped past and one of them hit Fanta. Unfortunately, he was a black dog walking at night, so I’m sure they didn’t see him.

My heart broke when I heard him yelp and saw him tumble down the road. As we ran to him calling his name, he hobbled over to us. The man who hit him came back to pick up his dropped backpack, but not to see if Fanta was OK. The culture here views dogs as “replaceable.” We called Alice and Mariachi to help us and tried to comfort Fanta in the meantime. Once Mariachi and Alice arrived we were able to see that he broke his back leg and tail. The police helped transport him back to the parque for us and we did the best we could to make him feel comfortable. Alice tried giving him some painkillers, but determined that he was suffering from internal bleeding. We petted him and talked to him until he died about 40 minutes later. It was absolutely heart-breaking for those of us who knew him well.

The closest vet was a cattle vet about 4 hours away, so we were basically on our own trying to take care of him. It is so different here than in the US. In San Diego, I know of TWO 24-hour emergency pet clinics within 15 minutes of my house, but here there isn’t even a real dog vet for about 6 hours.

He was one of the sweetest dogs I’ve ever met. He was lovable, goofy, and a great watch dog. Whenever I was with him, I never felt unsafe. He barked at intruders and gave kisses to friends. He walked with me every morning for crawl counts and every night for patrols. Even though other people would walk in the opposite direction, he always chose to walk with me. He kept me company on those walks and it was always fun to watch him sniff and dig around in the sand. Whenever I was eating, without fail he would lay his head on my lap because he knew what a sucker I was for giving him table scraps or a good scratch behind the ears. Although I had only known him for about 3 weeks, I felt a special connection with him. When I arrived here, he was the first thing that made me think I could call the parque home for the next six months. I know he is in a better place now. Although it might not seem like it, his passing now was probably for the best. He had heartworm and it would’ve killed him slowly and painfully over the next couple years.

Thank you Fanta for being such a loyal companion. I’m going to miss you.

Suero (a Guatemalan drink you don’t want to have)


Friday, July 20th

Alice was a champ and volunteered to cover my half of the crawl counts in order to let me have a full night’s sleep for once. When I woke up, I felt much better...still tired, but no stomach problems. Alice recommended I drink Suero, which is the Guatemalan version of an electrolyte drink. It was probably one of the more disgusting drinks that I’ve had, but I needed it. 

 The powedered form of Suero...YUCK!


The small hatchery was finished and leveled today! The volunteers that are left are so awesome and managed to level it all out. Now I just need to start working on my plans to expand and revamp it. The small hatchery is in pretty bad shape. The walls are broken and the door barely covers the entry way, so it isn’t very protected from outside intruders like people, dogs, crabs, etc. Apparently, a new hatchery only costs around $500, so if I can raise some money I think that we could do a lot to make this hatchery bigger and better. 
 We could even just fix the small hatchery and build another small one. No one has taken the initiative yet to make these hatcheries better so I will. In the next week or so I’m going to be making some calls to get a better idea about supplies and plans.



 Why the small hatchery needs to be fixed...


The rest of the day was spent doing odd end projects that needed to be completed like painting trees, organizing t-shirts that the parque sells, and washing extra mosquito nets and towels. Emma and Pernille (two Danish volunteers) left today, which was super sad. They were amazing volunteers and just fun people to be around in general. I’m going to miss them! One of the hard things about this job is meeting super cool people then having to say goodbye to them.

Glenda came back from her mangrove conference for the night and she bought me a little seashell souvenir from Monterrico! She is so sweet. Last time she went to Monterrico she got me a new pair of earrings and now this. She really is the best boss a girl could ask for!! 

 My seashell souvenir!

Sick….Again :(


Thursday, July 19th

I was sick again today. I think I either got food poisoning or I’m just so exhausted that my body was using it as a way to make me sleep. The past week I’ve only been sleeping for a couple hours at a time. I’ve been eating dinner, sleeping for a couple hours, going on patrol, sleeping for a couple hours, conducting the crawl counts, and sleeping for a couple hours, then waking up for the day. I’m not used to such an insane sleep schedule, so it has been hard on my body. I ended up sleeping for most of the day, but the volunteers were awesome and got the rest of the small hatchery dug up. Now it just needs to be leveled.

Later, Alice stopped by to let us know that there was another dead turtle right outside the parque. She showed me the correct way to handle the dead turtle and take measurements and body tissue samples. We determined that it was another death caused by the shrimp boats. At this time, there are not one, but four of them on the horizon. Hopefully, filling out all of these stranding forms will help the Guatemalan government realize how much destruction the shrimp industry is causing. Alice also let me know that it’s both ok and healthy to have mini breakdowns while I’m here. Not only is this work physically taxing, but it is very emotionally taxing. You are constantly reminded that no matter how hard you try, Guatemala has a long way to go in regards to sea turtle conservation. Sometimes you just need to have a good cry, so after seeing that dead turtle I did just that.

 Second dead turtle of the season

 

One good thing about today was that two more of the German girls left. Now the two that are left are much more open and willing to help. It’s funny how big groups can make people more exclusive. I had a great convo with the two that are left and I’m genuinely enjoying their company.

First Spanish Lesson


Wednesday, July 18th

I spent most of the day working on the small hatchery. In the past, for whatever reason they don’t turn the sand over in that hatchery like they do in the big hatchery. Turning over the sand helps get rid of bacteria, rocks, roots, and dead eggs as well as aerates the sand. There is no reason to not turn over the sand in that hatchery…especially due to all the time and money spent on the eggs that go into it! So I took it upon myself to motivate the volunteers to dig this hatchery as well. We made good progress and got about halfway done.

In the afternoon, I went to Alice’s house for a Spanish lesson. We started out with some basic greetings and phrases to use with the parlameros on the beach. My best bet for getting more donations is interacting with them and getting to know them. She also gave me some great advice on how to handle volunteers and various other things around the parque. It was especially helpful because I’m in charge of the parque for the next week and half. Glenda is going to a mangrove conference for a couple days then she gets a week off. She has been working for 2 months straight basically, so for her sanity alone she really needs this time off…even if it does put more stress on me. Luckily, I have some great volunteers here besides the German girls that have been a tremendous help.

Alice also gave me some helpful tips for living in Hawaii…like the fact that there is an ice cream truck that sells ice cream cones for 2Q or .25 cents. SO CHEAP! There is also a cake lady here, so I don’t need to go to all the way to Monterrico for cake. Alice is just full of useful information and I’m so lucky to have become friends with her!

On patrol that night, my new Spanish phrases came in handy. I was able to speak with several parlameros and see how many turtles had come out on the beach. It turns out that it was a slow night for turtles, but it was nice to be able to communicate with them and let them know I’m interested in information. In fact, one that we had talked to came up to us later and told us about 2 turtles that came up in Monterrico. It was really nice to be included in the information mill that occurs on the beach. Once I learn some more phrases I can have some longer conversations with them.

Crawl Count Training

Tuesday, July 17th

Scott, turtle expert of Guatemala, took Glenda and I out in the morning for our crawl counts and gave us a proper training. The whole process made so much more sense after he explained everything. In addition, he came to look at our hatchery and told us that the sand had to be leveled out more in order to make sure that the temperature is uniform for all of the nests. After eating a quick breakfast, Emma and Sebastian (two volunteers from Europe) helped me level out the sand. All of the German girls decided they wanted to paint trees instead of help us in the hatchery. I wish they would have helped us, but we can't make them do anything they don't want to do.

One of the other volunteers informed us at lunch that three of the German girls were leaving this evening. Even though we are in desperate need of volunteers, we do not need volunteers who refuse to do work and cause problems for the rest of the parque. Glenda even was getting upset with them. They left their dirty dishes all over the kitchen and dining table as well as made a mess all throughout the parque. In retaliation, she posted signs in broken English everywhere. I found it hilarious!



Glenda's signs


We ended up finishing all the leveling in one day! It was nice to see the hatchery look all nice and pretty. One of the German girls actually came and helped us in the end, which was nice. I respect her a lot more now. Later on in the evening, I found out that the other four girls are probably leaving on Thursday.

 The big hatchery all leveled!

Volunteers

Monday, July 16th

Today, seven German girls came to the park today to volunteer. However, they are more interested in a beach vacation then actually volunteering. I gave them a tour of the parque, which they didn’t pay attention to and then I put them to work painting trees. They painted for about 30 minutes and then quit, left all the supplies out, and sat around for the rest of the day. It is frustrating because you don’t go somewhere to volunteer and expect to sit in a hammock reading all day.  They also ALL signed up to feed the animals at the parque and didn’t sign up for any of the other 8 different chores that needed to be completed for the day. Feeding the animals is obviously more fun, but not all work can be fun.

One girl actually asked me to a book a tour of the mangroves for her. I’m not the parque’s personal travel agent! This girl couldn't do anything for herself...about every 10 minutes she came up to me to ask me to do something for her. I get the impression that these are wealthier, sheltered girls who aren't used to hard work and living on their own. Later that night on our patrols, the same girl came with me and screamed at every log and rock she saw on the beach. By the end of the day I was at my wits-end with these girls. On top of everything, my buddy TJ left to go travel some more around Guatemala. I’m going to miss his company!

Luckily, I was able to get out the parque for dinner. Glenda, Mariachi, Alice, and I had dinner with some of the egg buyers at Hotel Honolulu. They were hotel workers with the good relationships with ARCAS. They were being treated to dinner as a reward for cooperating. We had chicken katsu, rice, and some weird but yummy potato salad. For dessert, we had fresh brownies. It was delicious and a great change from the parque fare. It was also interesting to listen to the conversations at the table even though it was all in Spanish. One of the egg buyers took a particular shining to me and said I must be his English practice partner.

Monday, July 16, 2012

Training

Sunday, July 15th

Today, we drove over to the El Gariton hatchery where Glenda and I as well as some people from other hatcheries were trained on the creation and maintenance of hatcheries and the care of eggs and hatchlings. Alice was also there so that she could learn some new information. She ended up translating for me since the whole training was in Spanish. I was still able to understand some of what was said though, so it was good practice to listen. It was really informative and I liked listening to all of the speakers…especially Scott Handy from the organization Akazul.

The training participants


Scott used to work for ARCAS, but then started his own organization down at the El Barrona hatchery. He is a very impressive and passionate person. Not only did he start his own organization, but every night he patrols the beaches 4x a night and then wakes up early to do crawl counts. He said that he sometimes only gets about 2 hours of sleep a night! It was really inspiring to talk to him and he is also a great source of information. He agreed to go with Glenda and I tomorrow on our crawl count in order to give us a more thorough training.

After talking a bunch with Alice, I have decided to take Spanish lessons with her. In order to better interact with the parlameros and get more donations, I need to know more Spanish. She also said she will take me around to different families in the community, so that I can get to know the people of Hawaii better. Overall, it will be super useful and I can get to know Alice better as well. I’m excited!!

On our way back from the training, we all stopped at a small restaurant right outside Monterrico to have a beer... a Gallo of course! It was fun to chat with Colum, Alice, and Scott! While sitting on a wall with Glenda, we both noticed a sound coming from behind us. It turned out it was an iguana tied in a bag, which was tied to a motorcycle. They eat iguanas here, so Glenda and I decided to try and save it. Slowly, when no one was looking, we started to untie the bag from the motorcycle. When it was time to go, we had gotten the bag off the motorcycle, but we didn’t get the bag untied. Everyone was looking as we left, so we were unable to grab the bag on our way out. I’m hoping that somehow that iguana got away!

Later, TJ and I went to Alice’s house and had fried chicken and fries for dinner. It was nice to see her house and get the low down on the village and ARCAS. She is a great resource for everything (turtles, Spanish, the town of Hawaii). It was a lot of fun and I’m glad I have a place to hang out outside of the parque.

Poacher Party

Saturday, July 14th

Today was the inauguration for the turtle season at Parque Hawaii as well as the other hatchery, El Rosario. It was a weird concept to hold a party for all the egg poachers. We got up super early in order to make sandwiches for all them. I didn’t really like the idea of making them sandwiches, but I didn’t really have a chance. At the inauguration, Colum talked about the study he did of all the hatcheries in Guatemala and then went over last year’s data for this hatchery. Then, the most collaborative parlamero was given a small gift. 

After that it turned into a discussion about adhering to the 20% donation rule. Most of the time, the parlameros and egg buyers only give donations of 12 eggs no matter the size of the nest, which most of the time ends up being about a 10% donation. This year the organization was trying to push the 20%. One of the parlameros spoke up and asked all of his peers to adhere, so that it would be fair for everyone. However, there was tons of backlash from many of the other parlameros, so he ended up backing down, which was disappointing. It was interesting seeing the dynamics of the egg poaching community though. After most of the parlameros left, the egg buyers stayed around and they decided to adhere to the 20%, but Colum says it only lasts for awhile before they revert back to the 12 eggs. 

 The buyers' meeting



In the afternoon, we went over to El Rosario for that inauguration. It had a much different feel because children were invited. We filled a piñata with candy and they had a great time hitting it down. In fact, I was impressed at how aggressive they were and how hard they hit piñata. I’ve never seen kids go at a piñata quite like that! It was also fun to play with all of them even though I couldn’t understand anything they were saying to me. They loved my camera and kept insisting that I take pictures of them. I got some pretty cute ones of them!


Piñata time!

 

My new friends!


I went on my night patrol last night and was completely exhausted. I was expecting to go out again and not find any turtles or eggs. However, TJ and I ended up meeting with Alice so we could give her back her dog (Juno likes to hang out with us at the parque a lot). As we were talking with her, one of the parlameros that is pretty friendly with her told us about a nest that was laid by El Rosario. As we were talking to the parlamero, the parlamero that found the nest in El Rosario walked by us. Alice flagged him down and asked him for a donation. We tried to get the 20% donation, but he only would give us a dozen. It was disappointing, but we took what we could get. We were just excited about getting the first donation of the season!

Overall, it was a pretty fun day because I got to see and interact with the community a lot more. It was nice meeting some of the people I have been seeing on the beach so often even if the whole idea of a poacher party is off-putting to me. Also, we got some more eggs, which is always good!

Accommodations


Friday, July 13th

All day was spent intensely cleaning for the Inauguration tomorrow, but we did get a short ocean break as well as a meeting break to discuss what needs to be done tomorrow morning before the event starts. Since today wasn’t particularly eventful, I thought I would talk about the park in more detail. 

There is the main building, which doubles as both a visitor center and as a volunteer hangout place. There are signs throughout the building in Spanish and English explaining about the turtle life cycle and other various facts. There is also a small pool where the alligator gar are kept as well as a hammock. Above the visitor center is a small two room dormitory where all of the male volunteers have been housed so far. Off of the visitor center is a small kitchen with two fridges and a little gas stove. The cooking conditions are pretty rustic and it definitely feels like I’m camping half of the time. I get all of my food at a little tienda (shop) up the road about 15-20 minutes. They have some fresh produce as well as LOTS of pasta, so what I end up eating most of the time is pasta and veggies...not exactly the Guatemalan food I was expecting haha.  There is also a small office and storage room off of the visitor center, but most people do not go in there very often.

The rustic kitchen set-up


There is a cage with about 15-20 freshwater turtles and tortoises, which as I mentioned before get released frequently into the mangroves. There is also a cage with about 10-15 iguanas, which also get released periodically. Finally, there are two cages, each with one caiman (essentially small crocodiles). They are actually pretty aggressive, so I try to do as little with them as possible. The park has a guard dog named Fanta, whom I love! He goes on our night patrol with us and barks at all the parlameros. He acts like a big dawg, but he actually is a very sweet dog.

The showering and bathroom conditions are also similar to camping. The shower pretty much just dumps water on you and for the most part it is pretty cool water, but I don’t mind because it is so hot here all the time. The girl volunteers live in a small hut with a bunch of bunk beds. I got the only single though, which is nice. I have a shelf and also tons of room underneath my bed to store stuff. There is also another small hut in which Glenda the park director lives in. 
 

My bed!

Towards the beach, there is another small open walled building that houses four other hammocks. It is a great place to cool off and take a nap during the day. If you walk further towards the beach, there are two hatcheries (a big stone one and a smaller wooden one). Next to the large hatchery is a small pool and hut that is used to care for injured turtles. Also next to the hatchery is a watch tower that I use mostly to watch lightning storms, but is supposed to be used to watch for turtles.  

The hammock and napping spot


A view of the two hatcheries and the watch tower


The conditions are pretty rustic, but they fine for six months and it is so pretty that I can’t really complain.