Day Eleven - Xpicob and Sabancuy

What an amazing experience our group had today. We made a half hour journey from the city of Campeche to a place known as Xpicob Turtle Conservatory. Here we met a biologist named Miguel who explained about the five different species of turtles native to this area of the Gulf of Mexico and what he does to help them survive. Miguel showed us a few different types of underwater animals, including two types of Blowfish, and various shapes and sizes of turtles! All of us had the opportunity to hold baby turtles that were only two days old! Here's a picture of me with one of the babies:

Miguel also showed us an area of his conservatory where he has buried hundreds of turtle eggs, having taken them from the beach, so as to ensure the survival of more turtles (otherwise some predators, like birds, might get to them before they reach the water).


All of this was very interesting, but the most exciting part by far was what happened next! We split into two groups and then traveled by small motor boat about a mile away from the shore. We hopped off the boat and refreshed ourselves in the cool, green water. Miguel explained that the part of the Gulf that is green has a sandy bottom, but the area that is dark blue has a seaweedy-bottom. It was fun to swim…but I didn’t enjoy being an afternoon snack for some small, hungry fish! Since we needed to eat too, we enjoyed some watermelon and cool beverages while floating in the open water!

Then came the best part….we released one of Miguel’s turtle into the wild! The turtle we let go was about six years old and had been born in the conservatory…so it was her first time going into the open ocean. We named the turtle Debbie Grace after one of our Fulbrighters whose birthday is today. What an awesome birthday present! Many of us held her before Jacques finally put her on top of the water and let her free. Here's me holding her:

It was so cool to watch the turtle take a few gulps of air, wave goodbye, and set off on an amazing journey! I took a video and felt like I was a videographer for Disney’s “Oceans” movie!

The second part of today’s trip was a ride to the local beach of Sabancuy for lunch and another swim in the ocean. I was all set and ready to dive in when the heavens opened and it started to pour. While I went inside, our fearless leader and his fellow Comexus staff members decided to swim during the rain storm. Although I’m not so brave, they were and appeared to have an awesome time. Before we ordered lunch, the waitress brought out two HUMONGOUS pieces of fish, which many of us decided to share. They were fried to perfection and devoured in quite a short period of time. Not surprisingly, the highlight of this trip has been the culinary immersion. :-)  Here's the three step process of our fish-eating adventure:

As I write we are on our way to the city of Palenque in the state of Chiapas. As I mentioned once before, I am most excited about our stay in this state, as I’m interested to compare its current political situation with the one I wrote about six years ago during Professor Laremont’s PoliSci class.