5/5 Thomas V. 5 years ago on Google
Last
week
we
arranged
a
visit
to
the
San
San
Pond
Sak
wetlands
with
AAMVECONA.
You
can
easily
contact
them
by
email
but
they
only
speak
Spanish.
We
chose
to
combine
the
manatee
watching
with
an
overnight
stay
in
their
bunkhouse,
so
we
could
also
get
to
know
the
sea
turtle
conservation
project.
We
arrived
in
the
late
afternoon
and
were
taken
by
boat
up
the
creek
to
the
(very
basic)
bunkhouse.
We
cooked
our
own
dinner
and
by
9
pm
we
were
invited
by
one
of
the
volunteers
to
join
him
on
his
night
patrol
of
the
beach
to
protect
the
nesting
sea
turtles
from
predators
and
poachers.
We
walked
for
three
hours
along
the
beach,
saw
many
tracks
but
unfortunately
didn't
spot
a
nesting
turtle.
Still,
it
was
a
special
experience
to
get
to
know
the
commitment
of
the
volunteers.
A
bit
disappointed
we
went
to
bed
but
early
in
the
morning
we
were
suddenly
woken
up
by
one
of
the
volunteers
with
the
news
that
some
turtle
eggs,
which
they
protect
behind
a
fence,
had
hatched.
We
could
help
release
the
baby
turtles
and
watch
them
reaching
the
ocean.
An
hour
later
the
two
of
us
were
brought
to
the
viewing
platform
by
one
of
the
volunteers,
where
another
volunteer
had
tied
banana
leaves
to
trees
so
they
were
hanging
just
above
the
water.
This
should
attract
the
manatees
but
we
still
needed
to
be
patient.
It
took
more
than
two
hours
but
eventually
two
manatees
came
to
feed
themselves.
For
about
half
an
hour
we
had
a
perfect
view
on
these
amazing,
extraordinary
creatures.
We
are
so
happy
we
did
this
tour
and
that
we
could
contribute
a
bit
to
the
great
work
of
AAMVECONA
and
get
to
know
their
passionate
volunteers.
It
helps
a
lot
if
your
Spanish
is
good,
sometimes
we
were
'lost
in
translation'.
I'm
sure
we
could
have
had
much
more
interesting
talks
with
all
volunteers
if
our
Spanish
was
better.
