Turtle Adventure

How about some snake for lunch? Just off the main road, on our way to Ostional to see some turtles we see this on the road. It's not every day you see a massive Boa as road kill.

This lucky fellow saw the potential for a nice Boa sandwich and with a quick snatch he was riding down the road one handed on his Kawisaki, snake in hand.

Because of all the rain the road was washed out so the only option we had was to park the car on the side of the "river" (which was once a road) and walk the last 3 miles to the town.  I waited for the two guys to cross the bridge knowing that once I stepped on it they would make that very sturdy bridge sway... and they did!  I felt like I was in an earthquake.

Here is another bridge we had to cross because another road was washed out.  This one was made out of shipping crates...yikes!  Oh Shannon what a brave soul testing out the bridges before the Byrds cross.

Or first turtle encounter! Welcome to the beach, 

 feel free to lay some eggs any where you'd like I bet you are quite tired after such a long swim!

Even the journey to the right place on shore is a trek!  Man these turtles must be exhausted!  It was great to see the turtles after such a long journey, and to know that they are only here for one reason... EGGS

Oh our good friend Shannon is really excited that this turtle made it.  Man this was a funny picture to take.  Shannon is definitely one of the best people we have met since we have been here!  Any thing we do with him is an adventure.

Oh guess what it's raining... there's a big surprise.  And the only wise one of the group brought an umbrella.   So we had to take a break during our turtle extravaganza and go find a dry place to stay... I think it is time for a beer. 

Here are some eggs that were buried in the sand and the side of it has been washed out by the tide.  I don't know if these little ones will make it.  It's crazy to see how far down the turtles dig before they lay their eggs.  Our guide told us that turtles lay up to 100 to 150 eggs at a time and they are lucky if 40 make it through the whole development stage.  There were so many vultures, hawks and street dogs roaming the beach digging up the eggs.  It was sad to see but I know it's the process of Mother Nature.  After the eggs hatch, which takes about 40-50 days, the little turtles try to make it to the ocean and about 2 out of those 40 will actually make it and survive long enough to come back and lay eggs of their own.  Pretty shocking uhh? 

This little lady just find her spot and started digging.  It was pretty cool to see them up close. 

                           Bloop... Bloop!  There they are and 2 of those will be the lucky ones.

                 This was the sad view of opened eggshells littering the beach... there were so many!!!

Well our trip was coming to an end and then we had the realization that we had to walk the 3 miles back to the car in the dark.  Oh man we were not excited for this part because none of us brought a flashlight or wanted to walk back.  Thank goodness Jose was there to save the day!!!  This man took us in his work truck through the two rivers and to the first river where our car was parked.  What a saint!  He really did save our day.

                                                                                                                                                                                So as we were on our way home we spotted some vines.  It has been on my top things to do here... SWING FROM VINES!!! So we got out of the car and gave it a shot.  It was great!  Now I can check that off my list of things to do before I die.

 It was everything I had dreamed of and more once I saw Shannon try it.  What a sight!  This was the perfect ending to an adventure that turned into one of the best adventures we have had since we have been here.  I can't wait to see what will come next!

Much Love!!!