Monterrico, Guatemala: the Tortoise and the Hare-brained Scheme
Action
After our first week in Guatemala, our language school organized a week-end trip to the coastal town of Monterrico. Monterrico is known for its black sand beaches, mangrove swamps, and weekly turtle races. There’s a turtle sanctuary just off the beach that raises endangered sea turtles and then releases them into the wild. The baby turtles are released every Saturday at 5:30 p.m. in a dramatic “race” to the ocean. For 10 quetzals (just over $1 USD), I sponsored a turtle. At 5:30, I, along with over a hundred other competitive, but environmentally-conscious-animal-lovin’ people, picked a baby turtle out of a bucket full of squirmy amphibians.
I put my turtle on the starting line, and after the command was given, with fervent hand gestures and a mixture of English and Spanish strongly encouraged it to race from one line drawn in the sand to the other. Just beyond the finish line was the ocean, ready to welcome its new inhabitants into its frothy waves. In this particular case, slow and steady did not win the race.
Reflection
I thought this was a pretty neat gimmick. I never would have donated $1USD to the turtle sanctuary, though I probably should have. (Deciding how to spend money when traveling on a tight budget in the developing world is another topic) Spending money to race a turtle, though, was an easy decision. I got to have some personal contact with an animal and the race appealed to my sense of competitiveness. Moreover, the race is mentioned in guidebooks as a local tourist attraction, so I felt like I had to participate in order to experience Monterrico.
Talking with a classmate of mine, I learned of a complication to this issue. Apparently, turtles should enter the ocean within a certain time after hatching. Baby turtles in the sanctuary are held in captivity beyond this time, so that they can all be released on Saturdays for the race. Though the turtles are receiving care and feeding while in captivity, it might be better for them to be released earlier.
Question
Would you have made a donation to the turtle sanctuary if there wasn’t a race?
After our first week in Guatemala, our language school organized a week-end trip to the coastal town of Monterrico. Monterrico is known for its black sand beaches, mangrove swamps, and weekly turtle races. There’s a turtle sanctuary just off the beach that raises endangered sea turtles and then releases them into the wild. The baby turtles are released every Saturday at 5:30 p.m. in a dramatic “race” to the ocean. For 10 quetzals (just over $1 USD), I sponsored a turtle. At 5:30, I, along with over a hundred other competitive, but environmentally-conscious-animal-lovin’ people, picked a baby turtle out of a bucket full of squirmy amphibians.
I put my turtle on the starting line, and after the command was given, with fervent hand gestures and a mixture of English and Spanish strongly encouraged it to race from one line drawn in the sand to the other. Just beyond the finish line was the ocean, ready to welcome its new inhabitants into its frothy waves. In this particular case, slow and steady did not win the race.
Reflection
I thought this was a pretty neat gimmick. I never would have donated $1USD to the turtle sanctuary, though I probably should have. (Deciding how to spend money when traveling on a tight budget in the developing world is another topic) Spending money to race a turtle, though, was an easy decision. I got to have some personal contact with an animal and the race appealed to my sense of competitiveness. Moreover, the race is mentioned in guidebooks as a local tourist attraction, so I felt like I had to participate in order to experience Monterrico.
Talking with a classmate of mine, I learned of a complication to this issue. Apparently, turtles should enter the ocean within a certain time after hatching. Baby turtles in the sanctuary are held in captivity beyond this time, so that they can all be released on Saturdays for the race. Though the turtles are receiving care and feeding while in captivity, it might be better for them to be released earlier.
Question
Would you have made a donation to the turtle sanctuary if there wasn’t a race?
5 Comments:
At 9:26 AM, lernerm said…
Probably if I was there (as you point out it is a tourist attraction), but otherwise not likely - I like to donate when I can to organizations that I know more about, that are more likely to help people (not to say that turtles don't need help). I guess it's a question of priorities. And then the's the eternal question of whether one should donate the dollar or go out for lunch for a few dollars, and if you do go out for lunch, are you responsible for (fill in the blank - death to turtles, death by starvation of a poor person who would have lived had you donated your lunch money to oxfam, etc)? And then there's the question of is it better to invest your time and money into direct donations of say money for food, or to birth control so that there won't be as many mouths to feed, or to opposing the world trade organization so the local government won't have to spend so much money repaying it's debt, and so on. All this from thinking about a little turtle.
At 6:45 PM, Jen said…
Sure, I would donate the $1 if I was there.
We have turtle probs here in Savannah . . . the sea turtles have to cross this main road to get to the ocean water. The road is between 2- 3 lanes and people drive very fast. Some people put up signs that say 'slow down for the turtles', but people down here are generally not very environmentally conscious and get upset over the signs. I don't see why anyone would get so upset, but they don't like anyone restricting their rights to drive like maniacs and squash a couple sea turtles in the process.
We also have rules here that prohibit bright lights on the beach during certain times of the year when the sea turtles are making their way to the ocean. I'm not usually out at the beach at night, so I'm not sure if these rules are being enforced.
Jen
At 2:41 AM, Swilkes! said…
YES I WOULD!!!
Did you take any more pictures of the turtles? Post them!
At 12:10 AM, josh said…
We actually uploaded all the photos we've taken since leaving the US online, and y'all can now view them by visiting the conveniently named "photos" link near the bottom of the menu to the right. enjoy!
At 8:28 PM, brooklynzoo said…
its a good idea to for organizations to think up creative ways to raise funds. the tutle race is a good example. not only you, but i bet most of the people there would not have donated to a turtle sancuary otherwise. its nice to feel like you are getting something out of it (immediately) - i.e. holding a baby turtle! ive heard of other initiatives that organizations and ngos have done to raise funds ...definitely some really neat stuff happening.
did you read about in a lonely planet-type book? i went to a special fish feeding once (that i read about in lonely planet)..... i always wonder what sort of audience reach that book has. like when something is featured in the LP, so many must read about it...making it quite popular.
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