Virtual Costa Rica: Save a baby turtle and entertain your kids!

Posted on by stanleyobando

For the first time I’m doing TWO Daily Boosts in one day because this is just too cool not to share immediately. As I’ve shared on my Costa Rica COVID-19 page, the nonprofit Latin American Sea Turtles (LAST) is in danger of cancelling all its spring programming because its volunteer groups – which help support the organization financially while also doing the grunt work of protecting baby turtles from poachers and harsh weather – all had to cancel their Costa Rica visits. Therefore, LAST is doing an urgent fundraising drive that can also entertain your kids and transport your family, at least for a few moments, to a Costa Rican beach!

Here’s how, taken from the LAST Facebook page:

1. Select a name for a #babyturtle 🐢 with your kid(s), draw it ✏️ and color it 🖍️ together.
2. Post it on social media with the hashtag #mybabyturtlecr and tag Latin American Sea Turtles – LAST.
3. Tag 5 other parents you know.
4. You can also #adopt the turtle by donating through this campaign in collaboration with Amigos of Costa Rica: https://buff.ly/3aYaqZY.

LAST will share the 5 most liked drawings on Tuesday. Please join in and share this with parents you know, or teachers who might like to have their students participate! (The kid in my house has already named her turtle: Turty the Tortoise.) 

Is your community doing creative stuff to drum up support for those affected by the crisis? I’d love to hear about it! Comment here or write me at kstan.cr@gmail.com, because you know what? This LAST campaign came about because one overwhelmed mom mentioned the problem to another overwhelmed mom who mentioned it to another and she to another. Seriously. This is how we’re going to get through this.

I’m a writer in San José, Costa Rica, on a year-long quest to share daily posts on inspiring people, places and ideas from my adopted home as a kind of tonic during a rough time in the world. Sign up (top right of this page) to receive a little dose of inspiration every weekday in your mailbox; tell a friend; check out past posts; and please connect with me on Instagram or Facebook! During the COVID-19 crisis I’m focusing on slices of Costa Rican life that people can enjoy virtually during these tough times. If you see a great Costa Rica cam, FB Live, online class, photo series or other gem being shared from Costa Rica, let me know! If you want to learn more about how to support Costa Rica during the crisis, visit my COVID-19 section, updated regularly.

 

Day 53: Drop everything and watch this video

Posted on by stanleyobando

National Geographic this week shared an astonishing video shot in November 2016 in Ostional, Costa Rica, by biologist and conservation leader Vanessa Bezy.

“To this day I’m still blown away by the video,” Bezy told National Geographic, and I can see why. This is more of a Wildlife Wednesday than my usual wellness theme, but I think this video fits the bill for both: I sat up straighter, breathed deeper and felt an incredible sense of awe when I saw this. Not a bad way to spend one minute nine seconds.

Check out the NatGeo story for more on how she came to shoot this video, just how unusual it is, and what threats Ostional is facing.

I’m a writer in San José, Costa Rica, on a year-long quest to share daily posts on inspiring people, places and ideas from my adopted home as a kind of tonic during a rough time in the world. Sign up (top right of this page) to receive a little dose of inspiration every weekday in your mailbox; tell a friend; check out past posts; and please connect with me on Instagram or Facebook! You can also find me churning out small, square poems on any topic under the sun (here on the site, on Instagram or Twitter). 

 

Day 39: Godspeed, little babies

Posted on by stanleyobando

In the places where I grew up, fall is the time when leaves leave their trees after blazing out in a gorgeous way. In Costa Rica, these same months are when thousands of baby turtles leave the beaches and set out into a vast new life.

I celebrate them on Travel Thursday not because so many of us travel to visit them, but because they themselves are taking such an incredible trip, unimaginable from land. We are lucky to be there at the start. We are also lucky that people like Susan Jackson, who took this photo and is a part of Tambor Bay Turtles, are around to protect these babies from warming sand and other threats.

Here’s to Susan, to turtle champions everywhere, and to you, babies! May the waves be always at your back.

Read more about Tambor Bay Turtles here: https://www.amigosofcostarica.org/affiliates/tambor-bay-turtles.

I’m a writer in San José, Costa Rica, on a year-long quest to share daily posts on inspiring people, places and ideas from my adopted home as a kind of tonic during a rough time in the world. Sign up (top right of this page) to receive a little dose of inspiration every weekday in your mailbox; tell a friend; check out past posts; and please connect with me on Instagram or Facebook! You can also find me churning out small, square poems on any topic under the sun (here on the site, on Instagram or Twitter).