Mouth of the Tamarindo Estuary

This is the entrance of the Tamarindo estuary, on the north edge of town.  It is part of the Las Baulas National Marine Park.  These little boats take tourists up into the estuary.  It is a nice exposure to the ecology of a tropical mangrove estuary.

Across the estuary is Playa Grande, and the beach there is part of the National Park because it is the main nesting site for the Pacific Leatherback turtles.  They swim from the area around the Galapagos Islands all the way to Tamarindo Bay to lay their eggs at Playa Grande.

There is a major controversy trying to prevent development near the beach at Playa Grande.  The lights from development are considered detrimental to the turtles nesting.  A recent article in the Tico Times, the leading English language newspaper, predicted declining leatherback turtle populations.  During October - March the park rangers will lead small groups in the evening to sit on the beach in the dark at night to wait for turtles to come ashore.

My niece, who is getting her Ph.D. in marine biology, received a Watson Fellowship and spent a year studying sea turtles and the impact on the local communities from people changing from eating turtles to the benefits of ecotourism from visitors who want to see the turtles.  She spent several months each on Cayman, South Africa, Australia, Indonesia, and Panama.

Today is Sunday, so we have new photos on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.  This week we are showing photos of Bangkok, Thailand, which dazzled us with its temples and the bustle of the city during our recent visit.  We loved it, and we hope you will enjoy our photos.