Monday, July 2nd
I met a
Canadian college student named Fay who was going to Hawaii as well to do her
undergraduate thesis using ARCAS’s research (ARCAS is the non-profit
organization running Parque Hawaii). We drove down there together at 8:00am and
it was a nice 2 hour drive. We got to see the Guatemalan countryside and it was
gorgeous! We stopped in Monterrico (a small town about 20 minutes away from the
parque) and had a smoothie in the local restaurant. I love the fruit smoothies
here because all the ingredients are SO fresh!
Later, we arrived at the parque
and were given a short tour by the director, Glenda. She actually speaks a lot
more English then I thought she would, which is nice. Then, it was bye to my
mom! Afterwards, Faye and I got settled in and it was off to the mangroves to
release 4 freshwater turtles. The parque receives illegal pet iguanas and
turtles from the police and then rehabilitates them, so we were releasing some
of those rehabilitated turtles.
We rode
in a small motor boat through the mangroves and it was just breathtaking.
Everywhere you looked, there seemed to be egrets and kingfishers flying all
over the place. The mangroves themselves seemed to be in pretty good condition,
which was nice to see. Once we found the right spot, we let the turtles go and
watched them swim away. It was a great start to my trip here!
Entrance to the mangroves
La flor de la ninfa (not quite sure what this plant is in English...sorry!)
At
night, we went on a night patrol and walked half of the park in search of
nesting turtles. We didn’t find any, but it was a beautiful night to walk the
beach due to the almost full moon. We could see everything in front of us and
didn’t need to use our flashlights once. The nesting season has already begun,
but it is still in the early stages. Hopefully, we will find some turtles soon!
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