May 13th, FINALLY SOME TURTLES!!!

Today was a success, to say the least. It was Katie's last full day, and the only turtles she had seen were the babies from the day before, and a couple on one day at the beginning of her week.
Today...there were 37 nests laid. It was great. We were with the crew taking care of the first 1/3 of the beach. It was Katie, Fernando, Roberto (another boy who works at the camp that I hadn't met until this week), and myself. We took that buggy and rode back and forth for about 6 hours. Of those 6 hours, I believe there were 2 things that are worth mentioning.

First being that the tons of turtles we saw made Katie's day. She is seriously one of the greatest people I've ever met. I haven't laughed as much or as hard with someone I only just met in forever, and we're already planning trips to see meet up in later months. The fact that we had a beautiful, a great breeze, and so many turtles made it that much better.

Second is something not so great. In the beginning of our ride, still close to where people actually played on the beach, we noticed turtle tracks. We saw markings of what looked like where she had laid her nest and recovered it, but we didn't find tracks back to the water. This is just heart-breaking. The truth of the matter is that people will drive onto the beach (despite Fernando's efforts with gates and ropes to keep them off) and hunt for the turtles. These people know when the good days are and know how to spot them. When they do, they carelessly grab the turtle by the shell, and put it in their truck. Then they drive off..never to be seen again.
It's not even random people either that committ this crime. It's people driving the trash trucks, collecting garbage off of the beach. Employed people with official vehicles you want to trust.

We found the eggs safely laid in their nest and quickly collected and re-located them. The rest of the afternoon went like that. No more stolen turtles for block market money. But still...one is enough to really make you think. How can we stop this. Where do we start?

Katie and enjoyed her last night in Tecolutla by going back to the sanitized retaurant, and then getting ice cream. I'm going to miss that lady. Everyone here is wonderful, but truly connecting with someone and making a friend is very hard when they don't speak the same language. I keep trying and the longer I stay here, the more inspiration each day brings.