Turtle Tracks in the Moonlight

I had a craving for a margarita last night (OK, 2 for 1 margaritas) so I coaxed my "neighbours", Constance and Jeff, to join me at CCs for a drink. The sky was almost totally clear and I knew there was a good chance we would have a pretty sunset. We were not disappointed. My friend, Tom was also there, on his own for dinner so we invited him to join us. Connie and I had the taco special (3 for 16 pesos -- she had cheese; I had chicken), Tom had the fish special (60 pesos) and Jeff had enchiladas off the menu. With drinks (quite a few!), food and a generous tip, the bill was 400 pesos divided between the four of us.

As we made a move to leave CCs, I saw my friend Christine ("Martillo") hanging out on the beach looking for her boyfriend David. It turns out that they were on "turtle patrol" and were spending their evening roaming the beach between the river to the outcropping at the south end of Los Muertos, looking for nesting turtles. Once found, they wait for them to lay their eggs and then David digs them up to help preserve them. They are both volunteers for the Program for the Protection & Conservation of Sea Turtles in Puerto Vallarta (email the Program at seaturtlespv@yahoo.com).

As we were standing around talking about the group's activities, David came bounding down the beach to tell Christine that there were TWO turtles further down the beach who had come ashore to lay their eggs and we were invited to join them! We ended up almost at the end of Los Muertos, just past the Blue Chairs. One turtle was busy digging her nest while another had just come out of the water and was heading in towards the beach. The first, slightly smaller turtle did her business and left relatively quickly. David scooped out the nest and recovered 89 eggs! He was digging in the sand up to his elbow and let us each hold an egg for a moment.

The second turtle was very tenacious. She didn't just land on the beach. She climbed up a very steep incline and hauled herself over the top and started digging. After about five minutes, she must have realized that the sand was too hard or something else was wrong, because she continued inland about another 15 feet to a spot under a palapa and started digging like crazy! She must have dug that nest for over 20 minutes. Her shell appeared to be bending but it was actually just tipping back as the hole got deeper and deeper.

Finally she stopped moving and started laying her eggs. Christine said she has seen turtles who "cry" with the effort to lay their eggs. We debated the option of giving birth to one 8 lb. baby vs. 90+ golf ball size eggs (I guess you have to be a woman to appreciate this discussion!). She was so still and lifeless -- it is said that they go into sort of a trance at this stage. Finally she was done, almost an hour after coming ashore. She began rocking back and forth, filling the hole with sand. You could actually hear her thumping the sand as she packed it down with her flippers! It was an eery sound on the beach, in the dark, with the full moon shining above us.

All of sudden, she stopped, started to turn and head back towards the water. David said she must have been tired because she made no effort to disguise the nest. The nest ended up holding 93 eggs and it was dug in two adjoining compartments. At first David thought we had stumbled across another nest but she had just dug it an unusually shaped nest. As she slowly made her way back "home", the track she made in the sand was beautiful. So perfect and simple in its design. I actually felt a little bit sad -- I don't why -- but just watching her trundle back into the water brought tears to my eyes. It was truly an amazing experience and one I will never forget!