The second I arrived at this beautiful place, one of my very first thoughts was I have to extend my stay, and that is exactly what I did. Between the amazing people, the turles, the local atmosphere, the incredible sun and blasting rain, I fell a little in love! Though the mama turtles were sparce in Drake Bay at the time of my arrival, because it was the end of the season for Lora tortugas, there were plenty of babies at the hatchery. On my third day here, I was lucky enough to be part of a group who released 45 baby turtles into the Pacific Ocean at sunset, and it was possibly my favourite moment here. Three days later, I was lucky again and saw my first laying turtle on an early patrol of South Beach. It was a miserable night and it was pouring rain and cold and the tide was high and we had lost all hope and then suddenly, there was a dark line ahead of me that looked like a trucks tire tracks! There was our Olive Ridley, laying her eggs. I collected the eggs, which did not feel as I had expected, and we relocated the nest. I decided to go to Rio Oro for a week because I heard there were many more turtles there and it was really in the middle of no where, dodgey electricity and all, and I was excited to get an even more off the grid, genuine Costa Rican experience. I was not disappointed! Night after night, turtle after turle, some Lora, some Verde,and lots of coconuts, I loved Rio Oro even more than I had thought I would.
Words cannot express the experience you will get here. But if I could give any words of advice, they would be: learn to love rice and beans.
But seriously. Es increible aqui. Pura Vida!

Emily Curtis, 22, Vancouver, Canada.