Sea Turtles by Starlight - March 2014

I woke in a hammock at Grand Tacaribe. I snuck barefoot past rows of cocooned sleepers, five camping hammocks zipped shut and one hanging open. J- and I are early risers, and I found her already on the beach. Pausing to drink in the sunrise, my feet were immediately swarmed by sandflies. Finding safety atop rocks jutting above the low tide line, I watched a white boat bobbing against the green blue of the sea.

The beach day passed in sand and sunscreen, swimming and calzones cooked over a fire. Finding leatherback sea turtle tracks on the beach, we vowed to return to the beach after dark.

(Leatherback sea turtle tracks)

Afternoon turned to Frisbee, until at last sunset chased us out of the waves back up the hill to tend the "Trini pot" – saltfish and bodi, okra and tomatoes and spices simmering over a driftwood fire. We fed the fire and passed the rum and conversation became punctuated by song. At last the bodi was cooked and Ramen was added to the pot. Plastic bowls and old yogurt containers with mismatched utensils sufficed, and we feasted until the pot was low. Full, we rallied to hike down to look for sea turtles. A huge moon hung promisingly in the sky, summoning sea turtles with the tide. 

Just as we gained the beach trailhead, G- came running back up shouting, “Sea turtle in the surf!” Skidding and scampering down the slick steep trail, I saw necrotizing spiders and and ant armies whizz by. As soon as my feet hit the beach, my flashlight went off and I ran west, sand flying. Three quarters of the beach down, I spotted a dark shape in the water. A wave lapped the beach and the rock swept forward. Green light flashed as the sea turtle lifted, her eyes eerily reflecting the moonlight.

We gathered on the sand, between the rainforest, sea and stars, watching the sea turtle’s slow progress onto the sand.

After an eternity, she ceased crawling and dug a deep well, well below the high tide line. Her nest filled with water, thankfully before she laid her eggs. Giving up on this spot, too close to the water, she lumbered in an awkward circle and ponderously returned to the waves.

Later that night, I woke hearing nature's call. Since I was up anyway, I returned to the beach. Walking the moonlit sand, the full gentle roar of the sea filled my head like champagne, already lifted on heady starlight. As I returned to the base of the trail, a huge shape caught my eye. A leatherback mother was slapping her flippers against the sand, packing the surface of her nest, this one dug well above the waterline.

I froze, delighted. She began lumbering to the water and I followed behind, stepping in the surf after her. As the waves crashed around her body and my knees, she lifted her head and looked straight at me. I was awed, and suddenly very aware of a beak the size of a Yorkie attached to a turtle on the cusp of extreme mobility. I backed off and watched her disappear into the dark Caribbean sea.