Turtle murder

So we decided to spend the night at the Refugio Silvestre de la Flor, in southern Nica, near the border with Costa Rica. This national park is known to have lots of turtles and this is the right time to see them, and the pictures seem wonderful. We drove the corrugated dirt road, even crossing a stream that was deep enough to almost cover the wheels, and got there just before dark. Turning off the main road our spirits began to soar as the scenery was just gorgeous. We walked up to the ranger station and started the usual conversation, how much, where, and the response was a little befuddling. Mainly because what he was saying just didn’t make any sense. But the gist of it was that it would not be safe to camp here as the usual group of soldiers had left and that there were miscreants and robbers on the beach. But this just didn’t make sense. We were in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of a national park that’s a turtle sanctuary to boot. The ranger bid us to follow him to the beach, and we did. What we saw was horrific. Hundreds of people, men women and children, sitting behind the turtles and putting their eggs into sacks. It was so outrageous that they were even carrying the turtles up to holes, so that the bastards wouldn’t have to wait for the turtle to dig a hole or make its way slowly up the beach. The ranger said that if he were to do anything they would barricade him in his office. The only thing that kept the turtles safe was the soldiers based there. We are not sure, nor was he, as to why they were called away.

We decided to drive back to San Juan del Sur, waves of tears and anger washing over us.