Sea Turtles, Monkeys, Snakes- Oh my!

Check! Another item on my bell list completed! For a country with one whole side facing the Atlantic Ocean, Suriname does not offer many beaches. However, on the northeast corner of the country not only are there beaches, but huge sea turtles crawl up on those beaches to lay their eggs in the sand before returning to the ocean. Sign me up!

Info on the "Green Turtle", which is what we saw

 Ryan and I set off with a group of fellow volunteers ready for an adventure. . . which turned into an epic journey. It all began at 6:45am at a meeting place in Paramaribo where we were hoping to catch the government bus. You see, to travel from Paramaribo to Albina, the government bus costs 8.75 SRD per person. If for whatever reason we did not make that bus, the only other option was to hire a private van, which is 70 SRD per person. Quite a price difference and we already knew this trip was going to be very costly. The problem was that none of us had ever taken this particular bus, weren’t sure which bus it was (they aren’t numbered or anything) and were told in advance that this bus is in such high demand that locals will run and shove people out of the way to get on. Some people throw their bags and small children in the open windows to “save” their seat. No joke. It looked like a long shot but we decided to give it our best. As you know, different Peace Corps volunteers in Suriname learn 3 different languages, not including the official language of the country- Dutch. First, we strategically sent out our Aukan and Sranan Tongo speakers to try to talk up other people waiting for buses in order to figure out where the bus would pull up, what time, etc. Our intel told us it might be yellow and could show up any time between 7:30 and 8:30am. We learned who else was waiting for the same bus so when they ran, we would run. Around 8am a yellow bus pulls right up in front of the waiting area. Pandemonium breaks out. People are running. Myself included. Seconds later I find myself and my tiny friend Christine slammed against the door to the bus which has not even been opened yet. There are about 3 people in front of us and a crowd of who knows how many shoving behind us. I have never been in a mosh pit but I now understand the concept. Always looking out for his bride, my herculean husband creates a wall behind us and with a mighty football grunt, pushes the entire crowd back so we can breathe and avoid bodily injury. As soon as Christine and I can enter the bus, we sprint to any open seats and throw our bags down, with the others behind us. Somehow we all found a seat on this bus. It was close.  Two years ago we never would have made it.  

Christine!

After about 4 ½ hours on the back of this ancient bus on a non-paved, muddy road, we arrived in Albina. It had such a different feel than Paramaribo or anywhere in the interior that I had been before! I was out of Saramaaka, that’s for sure. Albina is surrounded by Amerindian and Aukan villages. It is just across the Marowijne River from French Guiana, which is still a region of France. Albina also seemed to have a heavier Caribbean influence. We all bought provisions at the ever present Chinese owned convenience stores and waited for a couple others to meet up with us. Once ready to go, we find out that the boat we were going with left already and only one more would be heading where we needed to go. The driver agreed to take us at a ridiculous price but would not budge. With no other choice, we set out. After a three hour boat ride from Albina to just above Galibi, we arrived.

You can see the red line from Paramaribo, through Moegno to Albina that we traveled. Then by boat from Algina up past Galibi

You could tell that when it had first opened, the little eco-lodge was nice. Unfortunately, years without care had left if pretty dilapidated. We already knew that there would be no electricity and no way to cook food. There were no other visitors and one lone man who would serve as our turtle guide.

That night we feasted on PB & Js, chips and warm bottled water. Despite a bat and red ant invasion of our lodge (seriously, the ants covered the floor so that I was jumping from chair to chair to get around), we were all excited and waiting at 10pm for our guide to take us out to the beach to search for turtles. We were not disappointed. Soon after we set out, we could very clearly see tracks from the sea to the fluffy sand just past the tide’s reach. We hurried over and tried to make out the shape of a turtle in the moonlight (lights are against the reserve’s rules). It took me a minute to realize that the large area in which I was searching for a little turtle, WAS the turtle. It must have been about 4 ½ feet from head to tail and 3 feet across. When we first arrived, I got a kick out of this sign:

Especially, this image:

Once I saw the turtle, I understood. I totally could have ridden on its shell. It was amazing. If I swam up next to one of these while scuba diving, I would have been terrified. We watched as it swept its powerful flippers back and forth, covering up the eggs it just laid. Then, in a specific pattern, it dragged itself out of the nest hole, across the sand and back out to the ocean. It was breathtaking!

Later that night we saw about 3 more. One we caught as she was digging her hole and actually got to see her lay her eggs. Turtle eggs have the same leathery “shell” as an iguana egg, not like a chicken egg at all. I could have stayed out for hours but our guide saw a rainstorm in the midnight sky and practically ran us the ½ mile back to shelter.

The next day, we could see the tracks and nests of many more turtles.  God blessed us with a sunny day (the day before was rainy and dark) and we played in the surf until our boat guy came.

The tire like tracks on the left are turtle tracks and the concave on the top right is the nest

Turtle tracks back out to sea (the tracks coming in were washed away by the tide)

We thought our adventure was over. We got what we came for. Little did we know that we were in for an incredible surprise. On our way back to Albina, our boat guy stopped us in Galibi to check out their beach for a little while. We decided to eat yet another meal of PB & Js and warm water. Someone mentioned there was a “zoo” here, if we wanted to go check it out. I imagined a poor, flea ridden monkey chained in a cage, half mad (yes, from experience). A couple of us obliged the guy and decide to go check it out.

 I could not have been more wrong. Never in Suriname have I seen such well cared for animals. A baby sloth! A baby caiman! A troop of four adorable (and mischievous!) squirrel monkeys! The guy running the zoo would take each one out of their cages and let us hold them or let them get exercise. The area was not fenced in at all! These animals didn’t even try to escape. A majestic toucan! A 5 year old anaconda! A beautiful ocelot (this he did not take out of her cage)! This was amazing! You could tell this place saw a lot of tourists. The guy made sure we all got a turn holding everything and were able to take pictures. That was definitely the most jungle animals that I have been able to touch up close that were still alive.

"Please! No pictures!"

That night we managed to fit nine Peace Corps volunteers in a 3 room house. Our friend Michelle lives in an Amerindian village close to Albina. Her experience in the Amerindian culture is SO different from our experience in a Saramaccan village. It was fun to see yet another side of Suriname. The next day, our trip back to Paramaribo on the government bus proved to be just as epic as our trip out.

I wanted to post a ton more pictures, but they take a long time to load on blogger. So, check out the rest of my pictures here.