Turtles & Rainforest : Pacuare

After the sun goes down, you’ll accompany one of the biologists on their turtle rounds. During nesting season, your job is to walk the beach looking for a leatherbacks laying eggs. When you find one, you’ll wait with the researcher until the turtle is done laying eggs. Then, you’ll have the chance to approach the turtle and assist in measuring and tagging it before the giant leatherback returns to the sea. Turtle egg poachers are a major threat to the survival of leatherbacks, so your next job is to carefully dig up the eggs and rebury them in another location so poachers cannot find the nest.

When the turtles begin to hatch later in the season, you’ll have the chance to observe dozens and sometimes hundreds of baby leatherbacks scratching their way to the surface and making their way into the surf. The process is grueling. Hatchlings at the top of a nest often pack the sand below them so that their siblings cannot escape to the surface. This means that in the morning you might be invited to play midwife to these trapped baby turtles. By loosening the sand in certain nests, you allow hatchlings at the bottom a chance to escape to the sea to begin their lives. While the leatherbacks are hatching, 250 pound green turtles come to these same beaches to lay their eggs, and visitors will be out searching for these turtles, measuring, tagging, and hiding the nests of these endangered turtles too.

There’s an adventure here for everyone. You’ll have the chance to climb a giant kapok tree and enter the fascinating world of the rainforest canopy. With the encouragement of Jurgen or Sofia Stein, the brother and sister team that created the reserve, even land lovers will find themselves lost in a swinging world 100 feet off the ground and buzzing with life. There’s also horseback riding through the adjacent family farm to learn about the organic tropical farming techniques that their father, Rudi Stein, has developed over the past 25 years. The farm boasts a heliconia garden brimming with enormous tropical flowers, and a half day nature trail through the surrounding primary rainforest where guests can learn about the rainforest ecology. For the adventurous there’s an all day trip deep into the jungle where a dip in a pool below a 70 foot waterfall is the just reward for the effort. At the end of each day, locally grown food is served by candlelight before you retire to the tranquil retreat of your jungle cabana.