A Turtle, Molly and the mother of all storms.

Lucy BIitz
Aug 8, 2017 · 5 min read

Everyone on Tortuguero beach was there for the turtle. They wanted to see it crawl twenty metres, swim into the ocean and wave goodbye. They were given two out of the three things they wanted. No one else on the beach was eagerly searching through the crowd in hope of seeing a small, brown haired girl, who was doing the same thing. So no, Molly wasn’t captured by a cult, or being held hostage, or on another part of the planet. She was her bubbly, loving self, and I cannot tell you how grateful I am to have seen her.


So as I start my sixth blog, I would like to say that having been here for less than a week, the past 24 hours have so far been the absolute highlight of my trip. As I told you in yesterday’s blog, last night we set out for a night time boat ride to see some turtles. Only it wasn’t a boat ride. It turns out that we were watching the turtles lay their eggs, camouflage them, and then return to the ocean.

The turtles must first dig a hole, about 40–50 inches deep, so that they have space to lay their eggs. One turtle can lay up to around 110 eggs when they want to. They then cover the eggs with the sand, and return to the ocean. The whole process takes around two hours. Of course, there are dangers. Many eggs are stolen by humans, as they believe that they can help the turtles or discover something new about the turtle. Eggs are also destroyed by other animals, both of these processes significantly harming the turtle and their nesting habits. So, there’s the background information. You didn’t need it in order to read this blog, but I gave it to you anyway.

We met four turtles last night, who we have named Tammy, Timmy, Tommy and Tummy (last one is a bit odd but oh well). This morning, Tammy was released back into the ocean after being tagged for tracking and data reasons. That was the reason we were at the beach this morning.

Tammy on her way home.

As I said in my opening paragraph, everyone was on the beach for the turtle. And I guess, in some ways so was I, but I was more concerned about looking out for my best friend, with the worry that she wouldn’t be there. By the way, it was once again, complete coincidence that we were both on the beach at the same time, but thank goodness that we were.


So for all of you worried about what Dad said yesterday, Molly is fine. She is enjoying working with the turtles, she has some really lovely friends and she is so tan. I swear, if I don’t come back brown after Costa Rica, someone will need to explain to me why.

Please excuse my face in the second photo. I was telling Josh to hurry up and take the photo. I guess it’s karma.

So after a lovely morning, it was time for us to leave Tortuguero. The town is beautiful and I urge anyone traveling to Costa Rica to visit it.

This afternoon was pretty much a car journey, so I don’t really have many photos from that, but we blasted music from our car, including some very original songs from Frank Sinatra.


We have now arrived at our third stop, Puerto Viejo De Sarapiqui. It is a lovely place, and we are staying in an eco friendly rainforest lodge. And rainforest means rainforest. As we set off for a swim in the lake this afternoon, the downpour started. We swam through it though, but both Mum and I started to get quite nervous as the thunder and lightning grew. Also, what didn’t help was the fact that Josh spotted a giant yellow snake about 2 metres from the river bank. It turned out, in fact, to be a log, and so we wasted ten minutes of our lives staring at a piece of wood waiting for it to move.

The storm grew and grew, and just as we got back, the power went out. So we spent the evening using phone lights as our way around the apartment, and waiting, cold and wet from our swim, to have a shower. It eventually came back on, and with the electricity came the fans. Thank you to the fan inventor, you are my friend.

Wet wet wet.

Wonder whether it’s this wet in London.

Blitz’n x

    Lucy BIitz

    Written by

    Went to Costa Rica in 2017. Now back to school and the wonders that A-Levels bring - I write blogs if I have time.

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