Stephanie Roschi

 

"I went to Costa Rica for three months, to work as research assistant for the Association ANAI, which runs a conservation project for marine turtles. The project takes place on the Caribbean coast, in a wildlife refuge called Gandoca-Manzanillo. Gandoca is a very remote place, close to the border with Panama.  Basically, the work was to patrol the beach every night (two shifts per night, 8-12 or 12-4) to find the turtles coming out to nest. Once we found a turtle, we had to collect the eggs to bring them to one of our two hatcheries. We also had to measure the turtle, tag her if she was not already tagged, and check the body and the flippers looking for any injuries.

 

Another part of the work was the hatchery duty (four 6-hours shifts per day). The people in the hatchery had the responsibility of monitoring it and preventing any animals or peoples to get in it. Later in the season when the first babies begun to hatch, they also had to take care of the babies, but I already left the project at this moment. I must say that sometimes it was hard. Not the work itself, but the presence of the mosquitoes, the fact that we never could have a complete night of sleep or that we had to patrol even if it was raining (and it rains a lot on the Caribbean coast !!).  But that's not so important. Working for this project was a wonderful experience. First of all, we had the unique opportunity to "meet" the leatherback turtle, which is an endangered species. Its a really impressive animal. The female inspires a sort of respect: she is so heavy and the effort she has to do to go out of the water to lay her eggs is incredible. I fell in love with them, really !

 

Then, working in Gandoca was also the occasion to practice my Spanish. Not only with the Spanish-speaking people among the others research assistants, but also with people of the community. Some of the inhabitants were integrated in the project, and it was really interesting to discover each other. We have a lot to learn from them. The contact with all the volunteers was great too. We were all there to share the same experience, everyone was a part of it and we shared strong emotions and feelings together. I will never forget it and know that I will get in touch with some of them for a long time. Last thing, Gandoca is a paradise on this earth... Beautiful beach, deep rainforest, lots of animals, peaceful atmosphere... I hope that many other people will have the opportunity to live this experience and all I want to add is go there !

 

Thank you for having helped me to find this wonderful project !"
Stephanie Roschi, 24 yrs old from Switzerland.