Our first day at Horizonte! We started with a meeting discussing the Turtle Tagging trip, it was presented by Tyler, Jake and Brynn who went last December. After that the first year students were sent out to study and observe the Acacia trees here in the dry forest. After observing the behavior of the ants on the Acacia tree the students discovered that they are an example of perfect mutualism. After dinner we prepared ourselves for a long night on the beach. We arrived at Cabuyal (the beach) at 8:00pm. The students that experienced the turtle tagging in Dec. led groups up and down the coast looking for tracks of nesting turtles. The rest of us laid on the beach under a clear starry sky, many caught a few winks between their walks. Our bus driver is the one who spotted tracks. All of us gathered and waited for the turtle to start laying her eggs. We all got to witness a Black Sea turtle lay a clutch of eggs and then we continued to watch as she covered her eggs. I must say we were all in awe of this special event. We stayed and walked behind her as she made her way safely back into the ocean. We returned back to Horizonte at 1:30am. Time to get some rest before another big day tomorrow.
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