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2007 SEA TURTLE RESCUE BLOG Saturday, October 6 We're back home now, almost unpacked, washing clothes, doing those things all of us must do when we get home from a trip. We want to thank everyone who read our blog. You helped us increase our website exposure five-fold. The word is getting out about Baja and Beyond, thanks to your support. We have already taken reservations for next year's Sea Turtle Rescue and we don't even have dates yet. So, thank you everyone. We have put our videos in the order in which they should be watched, starting with finding the mother laying her eggs, us finding the eggs and removing them from her nest, then placing them in the protected area, and finally, releasing the little hatchlings to their watery home hoping that someday some will return to lay their eggs on the same beach. So here they are. Enjoy, and consider coming along next year to help us save these endangered animals: Thursday, October 4 8:00 a.m. Within the hour we will be meeting to discuss the Sea Turtle Rescue Tour schedule for 2008. It is our hope to conduct six tours from September 7 - October 7. We'll post the schedule as soon as we can confirm the dates with ASUPMATOMA, the Marina Fiesta and the airlines. Hopefully, that can happen by mid-November. As we sat in our beautiful Marina Fiesta room last night, we talked about the last two- weeks, what they meant to us, but mostly what they meant to ASUPMATOMA and the sea turtles themselves. We know that what we did mattered. We made a positive difference, one of the main goals of Baja and Beyond. In just nine days, we donated almost $2,000 US dollars to ASUPMATOMA that we hope will help sustain them in their, and our, cause. More importantly, we have been part of saving thousands of sea turtles eggs. They are protected now, awaiting the 45-days or so until they hatch and head back "home." We also helped thousands of little baby hatchlings fight their way to the sea. We hope that some will make it back here to begin a new cycle of life. As we pack to go home, we realize we are but tourists, here for just a short period of time, and then gone. But the young professionals led by Elizabeth Gonzalez of ASUPMATOMA, will continue on, night after night, day-by-day, foot-by-foot, egg-by-egg to save this endangered species. We search for words that will best express our feelings, but we find author Carl Safina says it best in his incredible book, Voyage of the Turtle, as he refers to the dedicated professionals who each day work to save "The Earth's Last Dinosaur." "They've felt despair and fought despite it. You dodge despair by not taking the deluge of problems full-bore. You focus on what you can work, what you can help, or what you can do, and you seize it and then...you don't let go. What they see, and what I've come to see, is the possibility of making things better. That's what hope is: the belief that things can get better. The world belongs to people who don't give up." Wednesday, October 3 11:00 a.m. Our group left this morning with Marcelo to go back to the airport and home. They all left with wonderful memories of their time with the turtles. We are now packing our bags and will be going to the Finisterra tonight for dinner. It's hard to believe that we have been here for two weeks. We have enjoyed so much the camaraderie of guests together with our friends at ASUMPMATOMA and the San Cristobal Nature Reserve. In that short period of time, our guests collected over 2,000 sea turtle eggs and released about 1,500 baby hatchlings to the sea, hopefully to someday return to lay their own eggs. We want to thank Rene Pinal and Elizabeth Gonzalez of ASUPMATOMA for their commitment to the sea turtles and the establishment of the reserve. Elizabeth ran the camp flawlessly and provided us with a wealth of information about the turtles. Thanks to Marcelo Espejel and Patricia Banuelos Lopez of NaturAdventures for transferring our guests from the airport and hotel to the reserve, and for sharing their love of nature with us. Thanks to their daughter Jimena also, who presented us with hatchlings. Viviana kept us well-fed with tortilla soup and the best guacamole many of us have ever had, as well as her delicious meals. Thanks to Pablo, our marine biologist extraordinaire who kept us laughing in between turtle patrols, to naturalists Elizabeth and Enrique whose hard work finding turtle nests and transporting eggs to the nursery during the summer months, enabled us to release hundreds of hatchlings each day. To Misha, the camp cat who kept the mouse population under such great control, we didn't even see one. A special thanks to our guests, who came with us to share in the amazing spectacle of the turtles as they crawl ashore to lay their eggs. Your enthusiasm and concern for these creatures was wonderful to behold. Thanks to you more turtles will be swimming in the seas and will hopefully return once again to these shores to lay their eggs. From the bottom of our heart, thank you again. We hope to see you on more trips to Baja and Beyond. Tuesday, October 2 10:00 a.m. - We just returned from a very successful night of turtle patrols. Larry and Suzanne went on a late night patrol with Elizabeth, Viviana (our wonderful cook) and Pablo, marine biologist and driver of the "Tortugamobile." They encountered four nests that all tolled produced about 375 eggs that were transferred to the nursery. Tom and I with Jim and Karen and our naturalist (also expert mountain biker) and driver Marcelo took the Tortugamobile to Suspiro ("The Sigh") Beach, located south of the reserve. Previously, we had been unable to access that portion of the beach due to high tides and the threat of rain. We left at 2am down the sandy trail to take us though the lush thorn forest and then on to the beach. As we came to a rise, we were awestruck by the silhouette of a wild stallion that appeared on a nearby bluff. The clouds, illuminated by the bright moon, passed behind, giving the sensation of movement, but the stallion stood proudly and motionless. Recent tropical storms had left crevices in the dirt road, that Marcelo expertly drove negotiated. We rode up the face of steep hills, through stream beds and past cactus and trees. About a half hour later we arrived at the broad expanse of beach. After about ten minutes of traveling down the shoreline, we saw a turtle laying eggs in the wet sand. When she was done and heading back in the water we retrieved them. We saw more turtles and nests as we continued down the beach under the star-studded sky. We turned around at the lighthouse at Cabo Falso and headed back to the reserve with the 300 eggs we had gathered. So in one night we collected nearly 700 sea turtle eggs and placed them in the protected hatchery! Children from area schools returned again this morning to release hatchlings. It was heartwarming to see such enthusiasm within the kids. Each child was given a hatchling which they held in the palm of their hand. They would then give it a name and then release it to the ocean. One interesting sideline was the number of cell phones that came out of pockets to take photos of this Kodak moment. Its but another sign of our changing world. Field trips to see the turtles are offered to students in the Los Cabos area by ASUPMATOMA, the nonprofit organization we are working through at the reserve. We bid staff at the San Cristobal Nature Reserve "goodbye" and headed back to our hotel. We are going to Cilantros tonight for a farewell fiesta with a view of Lands End ~ a fitting close to another exciting trip. Monday, October 1 8:00 p.m. - Our Internet connection has been down the past couple of days so we could not report in. Yesterday and last night we got quite a bit of rain and wind, but nothing that would deter us from saving our little turtle friends. Three more turtles come ashore to lay their eggs and, once again, right in front of our camp. The group was SOOO happy. We were a little concerned about the weather but as we have said before, turtles LOVE the water. It's such a great feeling to share this experience with others. THe joy and happiness it brings each person gives us hope that maybe, just maybe, the sea turtles will in fact be given a better chance of survival. All we can do is control turtle deaths that are man-made and hope for the best for their future. Baja and Beyond is proud to be part of the numerous world-wide attempts to save the sea turtles. Saturday, September 29 9:30 a.m. - The day started off with overcast skies and quite a bit of wind, so we immediately checked out the weather, and thankfully we didn't see anything abnormal. Our next group is arriving in a few hours. Hopefully they will have smooth flights. Maybe, maybe not. 5:30 p.m. - Everyone had a smooth and comfortable flight to Cabo. We got everyone checked into the hotel, had some lunch and just returned from Super Plaza, the little grocery store about six blocks away. We are meeting in the hotel lobby at 7:30 p.m. and will walk to Mi Casa for our Welcome dinner. We are all looking forward to another exciting trip. Friday, September 28 9:00 a.m. This morning we woke up to sunny skies and wonderful memories of our time together with the turtles.The saying that "time flies when you're having fun," certainly held true for this group. Five days "flew" by and sadly, it was time for our friends to pack up and head back home. We want to thank our turtle compadres Paula, Carol, Wayne, Janet, Diane, BJ, Hugh, Carol K., and David for making this trip so memorable. And a special thanks to Discover Baja for their support and partnership in this endeavor. Images of watching a 100 lb. turtle drag herself up the beach in the glistening moonlight and of hatchlings scampering to sea will forever be etched in our memory. All tolled we released over 600 hatchlings and transferred more than 400 eggs to a protected nursery. We are going to pick up our second group in the early afternoon tomorrow. Now, it's time to get some sleep and dream of the turtles as they make their way on to shore. Here is a third video. This one shows us finding a nest and collecting the eggs to be transported to the protected area. One of these days we'll put the video is the proper sequence. but that will have to wait until we have more time. Thursday, September 27 11:00 p.m. The snorkeling trip to Bahia Santa Maria was a lot of fun. It was a very hot day so it was wonderful to be out on the water. The water visibility was not too good because of Ivo, but the water temp was probably 85. This evening we had our "Farewell" dinner at a Cilantros, a beach-side restaurant located at the Los Cobos Bonita Blanco Hotel. The food was excellent, as was the view of the world famous arches. Everyone is a little tired from only getting a couple of hours sleep today. We will gather one more time in the morning for our drive to the airport. Time for a good night's sleep. 11:00 a.m. - Last night, or was it this morning, was another wonderful experience. We found one mother and rescued 114 eggs from her nest moving them to the protected area. Most of us got a little more sleep than the night before. We are about to head off on a snorkeling trip. We'll gather again at 7:00 p.m. this evening and take a cab to a restaurant on the beach, with a view of the arch for our Farewell" dinner. Tomorrow the group will head back to their homes with turtles, large and small in their eyes. Here is one more video of the release of the hatchlings. We hope you enjoy. The video of the mother turtle laying her eggs was taken earlier, 2:30 a.m., yesterday morning, September 26. The video below of the baby turtles going to sea, was shot on September 25. The two videos are NOT related. The babies are not those of the mother laying her eggs. It takes about 45 days for the eggs to hatch. We have over two hours of video and can only give you snippets of events that take place and won't necessarily be connected in any way to any other video. "Come on Margie, you can do it!" Wednesday, September 26 9:30 a.m. - We had a GREAT first night, all night...more later...after some sleep. 7:30 p.m. We got some very needed sleep today. Below is a video of only one part of last night's adventure. We were very, very lucky to have three turtles lay their eggs right in front of our camp. We took over two hours of excellent video that we have edited down to just the female laying her eggs and returning to sea. We posted this because it is the hardest part to to video and we are very lucky to have experienced it. Because the females can get very confused by anything around them when they come out of the water and are searching for a place to lay their eggs, we do not photograph them until they starting laying their eggs. There is much more to tell and show you, but time does not allow it. We are going to dinner now and will meet everyone in the lobby at 9:00 p.m. for the drive back to the reserve and hopefully another exciting night. Last night we "saved" over 300 turtle eggs and released over 600 hatchlings. A video of the hatching will be available soon. Here is the female laying her eggs and returning "home." Tuesday, September 25 2:45 p.m. - We are all gathered in the hotel lobby awaiting Marcelo's arrival and our drive out to the Nature Reserve. We do not have Interent at the reserve, so any photos and video we have will not be posted on this blog until Wednesday morning sometime. Marcelo just arrived and we are off! Hasta manana. Monday, September 24 10:00 a.m. - We woke up a little later this morning, trying to get into the night-time patrol mode. Our guests arrive this morning and our friends Patty and Marcelo of NaturAdventures will be picking us up at 11:15p.m.. From there we'll drive to the airport where we will station ourselves outside the two terminals there. Our guests should not have a problem finding us. Lynn with her flowing blond hair and me at 6'5" we kinda think we will stand out. So off we go. Ivo is hasta la bye-bye, even though we got a few drops of rain earlier in the morning. 6:00 p.m. - Everyone arrived on time and all said their flights were smooth. We got everyone checked into the hotel with no problems, except for BJ and Carol's A/C not working. But it was fixed in less than 15 minutes. We met in the lobby at 3:00 p.m. and gave them a short tour of the area, and walked to the "Super Plaza" grocery store where everyone stocked up on food and beverages. We're all now resting in our air-conditioned rooms. We are meeting everyone in the hotel lobby at 7:30 p.m. for a short walk to Mi Casa for dinner at 8:00 p.m. So far, everyone is having a blast, as are we. 11:00 p.m. We are just back from a delicious dinner at Mi Casa. Vibrant mural-painted walls were the backdrop for our  festive evening at this vintage hacienda where the margaritas flowed and spirits soared in anticipation of our trip tomorrow to the San Cristobal Nature Reserve. Carol W. snagged a clown, (yes a real-life clown) who made her a balloon hat, that she sported at dinner to the envy of all (ok, maybe some). The clown realized that he found some fun friends and joined us at the table. 
After dessert we headed to an upper level where we found this gentleman looking very lonely, so of course, being the fun-loving group we are, we gathered around him for a photo. The full moon shone on the water as we walked back to our hotel, past the marina, to get some rest. We're lucky to have such an energetic and fun group. Tomorrow is "free time" for everyone until we meet in the lobby at 3:00 p.m. and head out to the Nature Reserve. Sunday, September 23 9:00 a.m. Ivo is now just a tropical depression, with the winds down to only 35 mph. We are expecting rain this afternoon and overnight. Some around here say it will be "just a little rain," while others say we'll get 1-2 inches. The clouds are darker, but no rain yet. Nothing we can do anyway. We had a great dinner with friends last night and today will be shopping for groceries and supplies for the group arriving tomorrow. 6:00 p.m. - Dark clouds all day but no rain and very little wind. Ivo's top winds now are just 35mph. The only question is the rain. Forecasting the weather here is totally related to who you ask. My favorite here is, "maybe, maybe not." Ivo should be out of here by tomorrow night, then again, "maybe, maybe not." 10:00 p.m. Good News! No mas Ivo. He has gone bye-bye. There is not even a breeze right now so it is very humid, and about 92o. Stars fill the sky. Tomorrow will be great. Our first guests arrive at the airport at 12:15 pm., followed by two more at 12:35 pm and three more at 1:07 pm. We are very excited to share our experiences with other people. Finally, we start tomorrow! Saturday, September 22 9:00 a.m. Well, the affects of Ivo are very apparent this morning. It is overcast, but a bit cooler and more humid...the breeze is starting to pick up. We are lucky the center of the storm is north of here. We'll get some rain later today or tomorrow, or...???? It's fun watching the hotel guests come out on their room balconies to check out the weather. Ivo is certainly on everyone's mind. There may be some thunderstorms later today. But even then, it is very beautiful here and we are excited about sharing it with others. This afternoon, our long-time friends, Hugh and Carol Kramer, owners of Discover Baja Travel Club and our God-son David are arriving from San Diego. Tonight we are going to Ruth's Chris Steak House, yes there is one in Cabo, to celebrate three birthdays. Today is actually Tom's birthday and it is a real gift to celebrate it here together. Friday, September 21 5:00 a.m. Looks like Hurricane Ivo will not be much of a factor for our trips. In fact, the Weather Channel did not even mention Ivo this morning. It's likely to make landfall about 200 miles north of Cabo and those flying in on Monday will be able fly around it. We'll be better off then those living on the Gulf Coast. We wish them the best. It is 50o right now - brrrrrr - Time for Changes in Latitudes! Off to the airport soon. Will have update around 4:00 p.m. PDT after we arrive at the Marina Fiesta Resort. 5:00 p.m. Cabo time. The weather is excellent, just a few clouds, about 93o, but the humidity is a little higher than we expected.  The flight was very smooth and as we were leaving the plane I asked the pilot about Ivo and he said it is small and will not cause any problems. No more so than a normal storm in the midwest.
They will just fly around it. Our friend, Carlos, the chief concierge here, told us that Ivo was "nada." This evening's sunset at 7:30 p.m. says it all.
Midnight - The latest reports are that Tropical Storm Ivo is now moving southward again toward Cabo. Tonight we had dinner with the people from the Nature Reserve and their feeling is that we will get a pretty good rain on Sunday, but not too much wind. As usual, we'll see. One thing we do know is that the mosquitos are out in full force! Thursday, September 20 Wouldn't you know that a hurricane may hit Cabo while we are there. We leave tomorrow morning. The latest on Hurricane Ivo, as of 200pm PDT, is that Ivo may make landfall on the Baja peninsula sometime on Sunday, September 23. Our first group is coming on Monday, September 24, so hopefully there will not be a problem. The National Hurricane Center says that Ivo will probably be downgraded to a Tropical Storm by the time it makes landfall. We are keeping track of Ivo and will update this blog as we learn more. Mexico AP report on IVO. Here is an excellent satellite and project path link of Hurricane Ivo that was sent to us by Hugh Kramer of Discover Baja Travel Club (Make sure you "refresh" the webpage) 8:00 p.m. update. Looks like good news. Hurricane Ivo is moving north of Cabo and our friends down there tell us there is "no problema." If fact, Cabo may not get much rain. The National Hurricane Center reports "The track forecast is problematic to say the least." So we'll find out when we find out! Wednesday, September 19 We are very excited to publish this blog about the Sea Turtle Rescue at San Cristobal Nature Reserve. We will try to publish on a daily basis. That way everyone can live the experience along with us and the Discover Baja Travel Club members who are going with us. We will be including photos and even videos once we are down there. Today we are starting to pack and get everything set for our two very exciting sea turtle rescue trips. We leave for Cabo Friday morning and will spend the weekend meeting with Rene Pinal, the head of the nature reserve, to finalize plans at the reserve. Reservations with the Marina Fiesta Resort are confirmed and everything is on schedule. The weather looks like it will be very good all next week. High of 94o, a low of 77o, with only 10% humidity. But these temperatures are for the Cabo area on the gulf side. The nature reserve is on the Pacific side and due to the cold Pacific current the temperatures are usually about 5 degrees cooler than what you see on the weather reports, plus the wind can pick up some off the ocean. Get up-to-date Cabo weather reports from the Weather Channel FOR INFORMATION AND RESERVATIONS CONTACT US 866-558-3180 (TOLL FREE) 619-328-9814 |
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