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The Costa Rica resort town of Playa Grande was long known for Leatherback Sea Turtle National Park, nightly turtle beach tours and even a sea turtle museum. So Kaja Michelson, a Swedish tourist, arrived with high expectations. “Of course we’re hoping to see turtles — that is part of the appeal,” she said.

Swedish tourists came to Costa Rica's Playa Grande in-part to view the sea turtles
(photo: Ruth Fremson/The New York Times)

But haphazard development, in tandem with warmer temperatures and rising seas that many scientists link to global warming, have vastly diminished the Pacific turtle population.

On a beach where dozens of turtles used to nest on a given night, scientists spied only 32 leatherbacks all of last year. With leatherbacks threatened with extinction, Playa Grande’s expansive turtle museum was abandoned three years ago and now sits amid a sea of weeds. And the beachside ticket booth for turtle tours was washed away by a high tide in September.

Costa Rica baby sea turtles making their way into the Pacific Ocean
(photo: Ruth Fremson/The New York Times)

“We do not promote this as a turtle tourism destination anymore because we realize there are far too few turtles to please,” said Álvaro Fonseca, a park ranger.

Even before scientists found temperatures creeping upward over the past decade, sea turtles were threatened by beach development, drift net fishing and Costa Ricans’ penchant for eating turtle eggs, considered a delicacy here. But climate change may deal the fatal blow to an animal that has dwelled in the Pacific for 150 million years.

Sea turtles are sensitive to numerous effects of warming. They feed on reefs, which are dying in hotter, more acidic seas. They lay eggs on beaches that are being inundated by rising seas and more violent storm surges.

More uniquely, their gender is determined not by genes but by the egg’s temperature during development. Small rises in beach temperatures can result in all-female populations, obviously problematic for survival.

“The turtles are very good storytellers about the effect of climate change on coastal habitats,” said Carlos Drews, the regional marine species coordinator for the conservation group World Wildlife Fund (W.W.F.). "The climate is changing so much faster than before, and these animals depend on so much for temperature.”

If the sand around the eggs hits 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit), the gender balance shifts to females, Mr. Drews said, and at about 32 degrees (89.6 Fahrenheit) they are all female. Above 34 (93), “you get boiled eggs,” he said.

On some nesting beaches, scientists are artificially cooling nests with shade or irrigation and trying to protect broader areas of coastal property from development to ensure that turtles have a place to nest as the seas rise.

Costa Rica "baula" boys protect sea turtle eggs and release thehatchlings safely into the ocean
(photo: Ruth Fremson/The New YorkTimes)

In places like Playa Junquillal, an hour south of here, local youths are paid $2 a night to scoop up newly laid eggs and move them to a hatchery where they are shaded and irrigated to maintain a nest temperature of 29.7 degrees Celsius (85.4), which will yield both genders.

Costa Rica leatherback turtle after laying eggs at night
(photo: Ruth Fremson/The New York Times)

On a recent night, Dennis Gómez Jiménez, a 22-year-old in a red baseball cap and jeans, deftly excavated the nest of a three-foot-wide Olive Ridley, one of the smaller sea turtle species. The turtle had just finished the hour long task of burying 100-plus eggs and then lumbered back into the water.

One by one, Mr. Jiménez placed what looked like table tennis balls into a plastic bag and transferred them to an ersatz nest he had dug in a shaded, fenced-off portion of sand that serves as a hatchery. Sandbags are positioned to protect against tides that could rip nests apart.

Costa Rica "baulas" or leatherback boys move leatherback turtle eggs to safety
(photo: Ruth Fremson/The New York Times)

When the turtles hatch, in 40 to 60 days depending on the species, they are carried in wicker baskets to the ocean’s edge and make a beeline for the water. Gabriel Francia, a biologist who oversees the youths, known locally as the “baula” or leatherback boys, likens their work to delivering an endangered infant by Caesarean section.

“In some ways we’re playing God — this is a big experiment,” he said. The long-term hope, he said, is to build a robust turtle population that will slowly adapt by shifting to cooler, more northern beaches or laying eggs at cooler times of the year.

Worldwide, there are seven sea turtle species, and all are considered threatened. (Turtle populations in the Atlantic have increased over the last 20 years because of measures like bans on trapping turtles and selling their parts.)

Costa Rica sea turtles face many obstacles to their survival - man made and natural
(photo: Ruth Fremson/The New York Times)

The leatherback is considered critically endangered on a global level. Populations are especially depleted in the Pacific, where only 2,000 to 3,000 are estimated to survive today, down from around 90,000 two decades ago. Cooler sands alone will not save them, given the scope of the threats they face. At Playa Junquillal, markers placed a decade ago to mark a point 55 yards above the high tide line are now frequently underwater.

“It’s happened really fast — we have no rain, but water pouring in from the ocean,” said Adriana Miranda, 30, the manager of a local hangout that serves beer and rice and beans.

Beach-side tables have been removed because rising tides have destroyed the restaurant’s concrete terrace and uprooted shading trees there. In different circumstances, the beaches could gradually extend backward as the sea level rose. But along much of Costa Rica’s Pacific coast, the back of the beach is now filled with hotels, restaurants andplanted trees, giving the sand no place to go. “The squeezing of the beaches where turtles nest is going to be a big problem,” said Carl Safina, head of the Blue Ocean Institute, a conservation group.

In Playa Grande, the turtle issue has pitted environmentalists against developers and the national government. To ensure a future for the leatherbacks and the national park, biologists wanted a large section of land extending about 140 yards back from the current high-tide line protected from development. Beachfront property owners, many of them foreigners with vacation homes, demanded hefty compensation.

Arguing that the government cannot afford the payouts, President Óscar Arias has instead proposed protecting the first 55 yards, and allowing about 80 yards of somewhat regulated mixed-use development to the rear. But Costa Rica’s leading scientists have protested that the new boundaries will lead to “certain extinction.”

Turtles will not nest if there are lights behind the beach, Mr. Drews said, and those first 55 yards will be underwater by mid-century.

“Turtles will have to find their way between the tennis courts and swimming pools,” he said dryly.

In a country where turtle eggs are traditionally slurped in bars from a shot glass, uncooked and mixed with salsa and lemon, biologists are also promoting cultural change.

“Of course 25 years ago, you went out with your friends or family and dug up the eggs,” said Héctor García, 42, shopping at the Junquillal market. “It was a tradition. They are delicious, cooked or raw.”

Costa Rica sea turtles hachlings are released and quickly make theirway into the Pacific Ocean
(photo: Ruth Fremson/The New York Times)

Today egg collecting is illegal in Costa Rica, but poaching is still common in many towns. It is frowned on at Playa Junquillal, where the five baula boys, with their piercings and baseball caps, patrol for poachers and are idolized by many younger children. Dr. Francia, the biologist, has also invited local families to watch the babies being released. “There were a lot of people who had eaten eggs but never seen a turtle,” he said.

A baby Costa Rica sea turtle released in the surf by the PacificLeatherback Conservation
Project in conjunction with the World WildlifeFund (photo: Ruth Fremson/The New York Times)

source: The Costa Rica Frog | www.CostaRicaFrog.com

Just before my head disappeared under water, I seemed to stop — freeze-frame style — and ponder what, exactly, had brought me to my present situation: being hurled into a fierce class five rapid on Costa Rica’s Rio Pacuare. Sheer madness was all that came to mind. But with my raft capsized and all eight of my fellow passengers, plus our guide, being swept downstream, that split second was all I had to ponder my plight.

Miraculously, I reached dry ground thanks to a rope tossed from shore. (Apparently, indigenous fishermen gathered here for the daily catch of floundering gringo.) White-knuckled and shaking, all I had time to offer my rescuers was a jittery “Graçias!” before I jumped back in my rubber boat to sail after the 40-odd people I was nominally in charge of keeping alive and smiling. After all, I was on the clock, and my work was rushing downriver fast. It’s all in a day’s work, though, for an adventure guide-in-training in the wilds of Central America.

An unexpected swim often greets rafters taking on the fierce class five rapids of the Rio Pacuare, Costa Rica.

Plunging into the rapids of the Rio Pacuare was just one of my job requirements last summer as a tour leader-in-training with International Student Volunteers (ISV). I had already volunteered with ISV in Costa Rica during a break from my studies at the University of Alberta in 2005, so I guess you could say I knew what I was getting into when I returned for three months in 2008 as an employee. Every summer, ISV student volunteers spend two weeks on a site-specific project in community development, conservation or youth education, followed by another two weeks spent exploring the country’s natural wealth.

Maintaining a “wheelie” on a calm section of the Rio Pacuare, Costa Rica.

As a tour leader-in-training, I was there to help ensure that tours stayed on schedule and that the students learned and had fun, and that meant that I participated in all activities: kayaking through caiman- and toucan-inhabited canals, horseback riding through lush farmland, rappelling beside 60-metre waterfalls, and zip- lining through ancient rainforests. But more than just exhausting my adrenal glands, the experience gave me a unique perspective on both sides of the burgeoning field of “eco-tourism” and an intimate knowledge of one of the most naturally “green” countries on Earth.

Costa Rica two-toed tree sloth.

The “Rich” Coast

Although dubbed “the rich coast” after Christopher Columbus first caught glimpse of it in 1502, Costa Rica was later ignored when its thick jungles, high-altitude passes and lack of precious resources drove its Spanish colonizers farther north to establish their seat of rule in Guatemala City. Ironically, these obstacles, which left the country open to centuries of neglect, are the very attractions that have provided it with a thriving tourist industry today. 

Costa Rica Volcán Arenal during one of its frequent eruptions.

With about a quarter of its land declared “protected national parks or areas,” this 51,000 square-kilometre country — a little smaller than Nova Scotia — leads the world in protected area relative to land size. It also has an incredibly rich biological biodiversity: roughly five percent of the world’s known plant and animal species call Costa Rica home. Jaguars and ocelots still prowl among the heliconias, orchids and ferns, while the forest canopies are home to hummingbirds and macaws, tree frogs, monkeys and sloths.

It may not have been historically wealthy, but Costa Rica’s natural riches makes its people very “rich,” indeed. According to the New Economics Foundation, the nation ranks first on its Happy Planet Index, which rates the happiness of people’s lives relative to their lifespan and their efficient use of the Earth’s resources. Costa Ricans are so happy, in fact, that the nation abolished its army in 1948, and, unlike much of the rest of the Americas, it has not seen civil war since. The country’s reputation as a safe, unspoiled and exotic destination draws over two million visitors annually, and tourism — particularly “eco-tourism” — is one of the country’s fastest growing industries.

Mean Green Eco-Confused Machines

But not all eco-tourism options are created equal. If anything became clear during my summer as a tour leader, it was the muddy puddle separating what is advertised and what is exercised. ISV, the tour company I worked for, offered genuinely ecologically responsible travel options. However, several of the places I routinely visited in my travels would give a one-time visitor a “green-washed” impression. 

Costa Rica beach tracks made by a sea turtle shuffling ashore to lay her eggs and then lumbering back out to sea.

Take, for instance, Costa Rica’s Tortuguero National Park. In Spanish, tortuguero can be translated to mean “full of turtles,” and the park contains one of the most important nesting beaches for green sea turtles in the world. Yet a better name might be “full of tourists,” as the park sees 50,000 tourists flank its shores and canals annually. During our stay in August, it resembled a zoo. Hotels and spas were hastily cropping up along freshwater canals just outside the park’s boundaries, and cocktails were being served to the tune of falling trees. The two-stroke motors of water taxis coughed up exhaust on the waterways, and bold capuchin monkeys snuck scraps from the dining tables. Although tourism financed conservation efforts, created jobs for locals in the nearby village, and helped restore the numbers of green sea turtles — which had been hunted to near-extinction in the 1950s — it cut with a double-edged sword, and myriad concerns were being neglected at the expense of the turtles, which provided such lucrative opportunities.

What should have been an environmental success story has appeared to have converse effects on the people of Costa Rica. The influx of money has brought with it problems with hard drugs, explained our group’s young captain who sported a gold watch and flashy sneakers. Yet it has allowed others to pursue further education in the capital, San Jose. Situations like this illustrate just how difficult it is to assess the overall economic, social and environmental impact of tourism on a region — and reveal the inadvertent shadiness inherent in anything labelled “eco-friendly.”

Pura Vida?

Pura vida, or, literally “pure life,” is a tremendously popular and versatile phrase in Costa Rica, sort of equivalent to “cool” in English. Representing kinship and the will to enjoy life, this catchy idiom is a typical response to “how’s it going?” or used when greeting or parting. Fluency in Spanish isn’t necessary for travel here, but pura vida, along with por favor (please) and graçias (thank you) will take you pretty far, and any effort is warmly appreciated by the locals.

A volunteer enjoying recess with local Costa Rican schoolchildren.

The first time I travelled to Costa Rica, I didn’t know any Spanish, but I quickly learned enough to engage in simple conversations on the bus, in grocery stores, etc. However, one particular experience offered a rather embarrassing lesson in numerals.

Stopping by the bank to stock up on cash, I asked the young gentleman behind the counter for what I thought was “$400 in bills.” Raising an eyebrow, he told me it would take a few minutes. After disappearing into the back for what felt like an eternity, he reemerged carrying two large plastic bags. Each was filled with the equivalent of $200 — in coins — and weighed close to seven kilograms! After we both blushed apologetically, realizing the mix-up, we set the full line of customers behind us into a chuckling frenzy.

Such incidents are becoming much more rare in Costa Rica. As the tourism and technology sectors have grown, so have the prevalence of English and foreign dollars. The foreign influence has also led to the dwindling numbers of an indigenous tribe, the Malekus, who live near the second-most active volcano in the world, Volcán Arenal. La Fortuna, the town closest to the volcano, houses trendy hot springs and is a bustling hive of tourist activity. Most Malekus now earn their livings through local tourism in the sale of tribal art, such as colourful painted masks, and cultural presentations they put on in replica Maleku villages.

Maleku masks for sale in a Costa Rica replica village.

Following ISV’s circuit, I visited one such replica village five times during my summer as tour leader. Striking up friendships with locals there was certainly one of the more poignant aspects of the job, introducing me to a human dynamic a one-time visitor might not discover. One particularly gracious gentleman, a Maleku guide and interpreter, described his dilemma to me at a soda, or diner, after work. In addition to basics such as running water and electricity, recent growth had brought foreign music, fashion, medicine and food into the homes of Malekus and Costa Ricans alike. But as the tribe slowly integrates into the local population, the Maleku dialect is beginning to vanish, along with the traditional way of life. He said he was sad to see his tribe and its traditions fade, but he saw such change as inevitable.

Rising to the Challenge

While change is inevitable, there were two companies I worked with that took responsible and sustainable growth to heart. Selva Bananito, which I visited five times, is a stunning world-class eco-lodge located 30 kilometres south of the Caribbean port city of Limón. Its 11 cabins and one common dining hall, or rancho, were well off the beaten path and provided an Old World escape. Built entirely from salvaged wood, the rustic yet handsome cabins had solar-heated water, clay water filters and natural waste purification systems. 

A guest room at Selva Bananito, Costa Rica.

Visitors to Selva Bananito could choose from a variety of adventure and nature tours, all designed to produce minimal ecological impact, and the owner, committed to reducing the carbon dioxide emissions associated with air travel, spearheaded a carbon-neutral strategy for guests, who could purchase carbon offset credits through the lodge in exchange for reduced rates.

*For more information on "carbon controversies" in Costa Rica, goto:
  An In-depth Look At Carbon Neutrality, Claims, Definitions & Controversies in Costa Rica

Rios Tropicales, our whitewater rafting partner, has been internationally recognized for its commitment to conservation. In addition to employing the top guides on its tours on the Pacuare, it’s actively involved in the local indigenous community, supporting the building of health clinics, schools and sustainable organic produce and coffee bean operations. Spending a few nights in Rios Tropicales’ secluded jungle lodge after rafting in was a definite highlight of the trip, and stayovers there always included some cliff jumping and low-key rock climbing. The food they served had a particularly local flair. On the first night, they served us enormous plates of “Jungle Chicken” — essentially chicken and rice jazzed up with your choice of corn, peppers, heart of palm, tomatoes, macadamia nuts, cheese and more. And in the mornings, hearty breakfasts of pancueques (pancakes), huevos revueltos (scrambled eggs), fresh fruit and coffee were enough to rouse even the soundest sleepers for early-morning bird watching.

Slowing it Down a Nibble

Although most of our outings involved pretty high-energy activities — snor­kelling, tree climbing, kayaking and horseback riding — taking time out to sample the local cuisine allowed us not only to stock up on much-needed calories but provided us with deeper insight into the origins of our food. 

Touring a Costa Rica pineapple plantation.

Tours of pineapple, coffee bean and banana plantations offered a fascinating journey into the life cycles of some of our most beloved snacks and beverages. I will never look at a banana the same way again, knowing the work that goes into harvesting them. Banana bunches, which sprout up to 200 bananas or so each, must be hacked down from the trees by machete and hoisted onto hooks lining a conveyor cable. We saw one man towing 25 bunches at a time — over 900 kilograms — on a “bunch train” attached to his waist. He would then run them down the cable through the Caribbean lowlands, the hottest and most humid region of the country, to the processing station where they were to be cut, sized, sorted and packaged.

I particularly enjoyed traditional Costa Rican dishes, which are heavily influenced by the influx of the Jamai­­cans first brought to the country as slaves in the 1800s. A typical lunch, or casado, includes rice and beans with sides of meat and salad, plantains and cheese. On the coasts, rice and beans, a favourite dish throughout the Caribbean, is usually served with fresh coconut and spices, and its inland counterpart, gallo pinto, is flavoured by the nation’s prized Lizano Salsa. Appetizers, or tapas, tend to be fried foods such as patacones (plantains), chicharrones (pork) and empanadas, but fresh fruits and veggies are always in season, and mangos — which you can pick right off the trees — are unlike anything you can find in Canada. While western fast-food chains were prevalent in the larger cities, I always stuck to the local diners, where the licuados (fruit milkshakes) in blackberry, avocado and papaya were particularly delicioso!

Live, Learn and Vote

As my contract came to an end, my perspective of Costa Rica began to change. Out of the once-alien landscape of canopied forests and cobalt blue oceans, a familiar theme began to emerge: animals, people, plants — all things — were simply making the most of life. Some took advantage, some were taken advantage of, and the tourism industry was no exception. But as consumers, we vote with our pocketbooks, so supporting providers who take into account the environmental, social and economic impact of their projects can go a long way toward making a positive difference.

Rios Tropicales lodge, Costa Rica.

Some people argue that the negative effects of eco-tourism outweigh the benefits and that everyone should just stay home, but I disagree. Experiencing the tastes, sights, smells, sounds and textures of a foreign place is a refreshing reminder that the world is a truly extraordinary place. And certainly if everyone just stayed at home, the economies of places such as Costa Rica would collapse, and the local environment would suffer as a result.

Myka Jones cracking a coconut in Costa Rica

So while my summer as an eco-tour guide scarcely qualifies me as an expert, I did learn that there is a lot one can do to ensure a greener vacation or travel experience. Here are a few small tips I picked up along the way that are useful from Calgary to Costa Rica, and anywhere in between.

source: Myka Jones of the Telus World of Science, Calgary, Canada.

Whether you are visiting or live in Costa Rica, most people spend at least some time in the capital city of San Jose in the Central Valley area.

Many visit the San Jose downtown sites and are then looking for nearby places to visit for half or full-day trips. Most popularly mentioned ideas based on their relatively close geographic proximity to San Jose can still be several hours in travel time due to Costa Rica's terrain, roads and traffic. Examples: Poás Volcano is 1.5 hours away, Arenal Volcano is 4 hours away, La Paz Waterfall is 1.5 hours, etc., etc.

A closer and no less interesting destination is San Jose's neighboring city ... Cartago.

Cartago is the former capital of Costa Rica separated from San Jose by the small mountain range called "Cerros de la Carpintera" which runs from north to south dividing the Central Valley into two sections.

Cartago sits in the eastern section of the Central Valley referred to as the Eastern Valley or "Valle del Guarco" with its own weather and ecosystems influenced by the Caribbean coast weather (as opposed to San Jose's pacific coast weather influence).  It can literally be a cloudy/rainy day in San Jose while just over the hill Cartago is having a beautiful day of sunshine.

La Municipalidad de Cartago is located in the Cartago Province at the base of the Irazú Volcano, 22 kilometers from the capital of San Jose. Cartago is only a 30 minute drive via the Pan American Highway during non-peak driving hours (1+ hours during weekday morning or afternoon rush hours). The city was granted a coat of arms by King Philip II of Spain in 1565 and the title of Muy Noble y Muy Leal ("Most Noble and Most Loyal") by the Spanish Parliament in 1814.

Cartago is a clean, well maintained hub of Costa Rica economic and social activity. Of particular interest to visitors are the Parroquia de Santiago Apóstol "ruins" and the Catholic Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Los Ángeles church.

Located across a historic cobble-stone street from Cartago's central park are the "ruins" of the former main church of Cartago; the "parroquia" of Santiago Apóstol Parish. Since the 16th century this site has been a temple, with all previous buildings destroyed by earthquakes.

The current "ruins" are not real ruins but an unfinished building where construction was started in 1870 but stopped in 1910 after the structure was badly damaged by a final earthquake.

Six blocks east of the "ruins" is the Catholic Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Los Ángeles church. The Básilica was originally built in 1639 and was partially destroyed by an earthquake. The basilica has since been restored and constitutes a unique mix of colonial architecture as well as 19th century Byzantine style.

The Básilica is the destination of an annual August pilgrimage and visitation by about 1.5 million believers throughout the country - many of whom join in the celebrated 22 kilometer walk to the basilica during the Romería. Some even complete their entire journey on their hands and knees as a demonstration of their piety.

Many Costarricenses commute daily between Cartago and San Jose via the frequent and inexpensive local bus service. A taxi ride might be around $30.00 each way (pre-negotiate for a better price).

If planning to see both the Irazú Volcano and Cartago, it is recommended that the volcano be visited early in the morning before the clouds roll-in.  If fortunate the view from Volcán Irazú, Costa Rica's highest volcano, can allow for viewing both the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean on a clear day from one vantage point.

After visiting the volcano be sure to enjoy the sights of Cartago!

For more Cartago pictures, goto: Cartago, Costa Rica Online Picture Album