View of Playa Grande, and a comment about turtle conservation

This is a closer telephoto view of Playa Grande, across the mouth of the Tamarindo Estuary.  The protection of the endangered Pacific Leatherback turtles who travel from the Galapagos Islands to nest here is critical.

There was a controversy recently because a person who was convicted of poaching turtle eggs was convicted, but the Judge reduced the sentence so that the man has to serve only 3 years of probation, without any jail time.   The person was arrested with 200 turtle eggs.  Conservation groups have bee pressuring the government to take stronger action against poachers.

Taking turtle eggs is illegal throughout all of Costa Rica except for a stretch of beach in Ostional, which is in our region of Guanacaste in northwest Costa Rica.  An agreement between the government and local citizens in that area allows about 200 people to harvest and sell turtle eggs from one part of the beach in exchange for the locals protecting the remaining 7 km of beach in that area.  The turtles who nest in that area are olive ridley turtles, which are not endangered.  In fact, they lay about 10 million eggs each year in our region.

The locals in Ostional are complaining, however, that the public campaign against poachers and to promote protection of sea turtles is also causing people not to buy the turtle eggs that they legally harvest and try to sell.

My niece is finishing up her Ph.D. in Marine Biology, and she got a fellowship to spend a year researching how turtle conservation programs are impacting local populations in various parts of the world.

This week we are showing photos from Cabra Castle, a castle-hotel northwest of Dublin Ireland, on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

View of Tamarindo Bay and Playa Grande

This is a telephoto view from our Diria condo across the southern part of Tamarindo Bay to part of Playa Grande.  There are a few houses on the hillsides and there are others tucked behind the trees.

The preservation or development of Playa Grande is very controversial.  This beach is the main nesting site for the endangered Pacific leatherback tortoise.  They swim here from the Galapagos Islands to lay their eggs.  If there is more development, the lights from buildings will confuse and deter them from nesting here.

The beach at Playa Grande is part of the Las Baulas National Marine Park.  My wife went on tortoise watching outing with a park ranger.  They take people in small groups out on the beach at night, with red night lights, and wait for tortoises to come ashore to lay eggs.  None came the night she went there.

This week we are showing photos from Cabra Castle, a castle-hotel northwest of Dublin Ireland, on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Surfer

After showing a young woman with a swim suit top during the last few days, I thought I should have some gender equality on this site.

What struck me about this young man is how he is carrying his surf board. Most people carry surfboards cradled under their arm, extending up to their arm pit. Not this guy, He has a strong enough grip and arm to hold the surfboard in his hand, arched away from his body.

He is walking towards the mouth of the Tamarindo Estuary. Across the estuary mouth is Playa Grande. The area where the estuary flows into the ocean is a popular surf break.

We are showing photos of Chichen Itza this week on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

The mouth of the Tamarindo Estuary

This is the exact spot shown in yesterday's aerial photo, except this is a ground-level view. The water in the foreground is the mouth of the Tamarindo Estuary just before it flows into the Pacific Ocean. The beach across the way is the southern tip of Playa Grande. The water in which the boat is anchored is the Pacific Ocean.

I thought it might be an interesting perspective to show from the ground the same scene that I showed from the air in my photo yesterday. This photo was taken on a somewhat hazy morning, and the blue of the water seems to blend in with the blue of the sky, creating a tranquil atmosphere that I think is quite appropriate for such a serene scene.

Playa Grande & the Tamarindo Estuary from the air

Here is the first photo from my son's gyrocoptor aerial tour of Tamrindo. This shows the mouth of the Tamarindo Estuary, with the beach of Playa Grande running to the left and the estuary snaking behind it on the right.

Playa Grande and the Tamarindo Estuary are part of the Las Baulas National Marine Park. The beach at Playa Grande is the primary nesting site for the endangered Pacific leatherback tortoises. They swim to Tamarindo from the Galapagos Islands to lay their eggs.

If you enlarge the photo and look closely, you may be able to detect that there are some homes and small hotels nestled within the trees near Playa Grande. That is the site of a major environmental controversy over the boarders of the park and whether private property near the beach should be purchased by the government to protect the beach (and, of course, at what price should the land be purchased).

As I have mentioned before, Costa Rica prides itself on having a larger percentage of its land set aside for national parks and wildlife refuges than any other country -- 25%. The country has many needs for government expenditures, including roads and other infrastructure. Spending tax money to buy expensive beachfront land, primarily from foreigners, is difficult. On the other hand, some international environmental groups have put pressure on the government to proceed with expropriating land, otherwise they have threatened to withhold funds from conservation initiatives underway or planned.

Landowners have challenged the government's right to take their land, but my understanding is that earlier this year the court has ruled that the government has the authority to do so. This is a difficult issue and the position of both sides undoubtedly has merit.

As you can see from this photo, Playa Grande and Tamarindo Estuary are a beautiful area. With all of the growth and development in recent years in Tamarindo, which you will see in some fo the upcoming aerial photos, I think it is worthwhile to have areas set aside for wildlife and conservation close to Tamarindo. And the pristine area shown in today's photo is indeed close. The town and beach of Tamarindo are right below the spot from which this photo was taken, as the mouth of the estuary is a very popular place for surfers.

Playa Grande from the air

This is a photo of Playa Grande from the air. Because I posted some aerial photos of Papagayo during the last couple of days, I figure I should post some aerial photos of Tamarindo during the next couple of days.

To give you a frame of reference, the airplane from which this photo was taken is over Tamarindo at about the time this photo was taken. Playa Grande and Cabo Velas, shown in this photo, form the northern half of the crescent shaped bay and beach at Tamarindo.

The beach at Playa Grande and the ocean are part of the Las Baulas National Marine Park. It is the primary nesting site of the endangered leatherback turtles. During the fall and early months of the year, it is possible to take escorted visits to the beach at night with park rangers, in small groups, to watch the turtles as they come ashore to lay their eggs.

There is a major controversy regarding the boundaries on land of the Las Baulas National Marine Park. Some conservation groups are withholding donations to wildlife preservation projects unless the federal government expropriates some land, largely owned by North Americans, to prevent homes, condos and hotels from being built next to the beach.

The conservation groups assert that the lights from nearby buildings inhibit the tortoises from laying their eggs on the beach. They also argue that people bought land nearby when they knew or should have known that the land was located within the National Park.

The landowners assert their rights as property owners and demand just compensation, which the government cannot afford. They also argue that the main threat to the turtles is not the houses near the beach, but hazards at sea from fishermen. I don't know the background of how the land in the area was sold. I do think the turtles' nesting beaches should be preserved, but I don't know how to balance that with the rights of property owners.

Tamarindo -- Life's a beach

Tamarindo is know for its glorious beach, surfing, and tourist services, including fine dining, banks, shopping, and tourist activities. Its wide, crescent-shaped, gently sloping beach, with multiple surf breaks, has warm water all year. This photo was taken from the heart of the Tamarindo beach looking north to Cabo Velas at the end of the bay. The palm trees from the Tamarindo Diria resort provide the shade from the rising, morning sun.

Between Tamarindo and the point to the north shown on this photo is Playa Grande, which is the nesting site of the endangered leatherback turtles, who return to Playa Grande each winter to lay their eggs.

Much of the ocean area shown in this photo is protected as part of Parque Nacional Marino Las Baulas de Guanacaste - Tamarindo, one of Costa Rica's many national parks.