Taking a Working Vacation with Earthwatch

When traveling I like to feel that I am accomplishing something, not just having fun. So what better way to do this than to join an expedition as a volunteer?

And what better place to do this than through Earthwatch Institute, the not-for-profit organization that “engages people worldwide in scientific research and education to promote the understanding and action necessary for a sustainable environment” (http://www.earthwatch.org)?

With more than a hundred expeditions a year in over fifty countries it is easy to find an Earthwatch trip for every taste. From exotic locales to familiar national parks, from camping in a desert to fairly comfortable hotels or inns, young and old can choose according to their stamina and willingness to cook and share chores or not. Volunteers pay a “contribution” to Earthwatch for the experience; prices begin at around $2000 for a 10-15 day trip, which does not include airfare to the rendezvous point of the expedition, and go upwards to about $5000.

At my age (I am now over 70), I will not be tracking the elephants of Namibia nor breaking my back studying the prehistoric pueblos of the American Southwest, fascinating as those subjects may be. But there were plenty of choices left after I discarded the most strenuous ones, so I have done several expeditions through the years, all of them very rewarding.
The beach at Playa Grande, Costa Rica.

The one that comes to mind is the Costa Rican leatherback sea turtles expedition that I did in 1996. The research took place in the Guanacaste Province of Costa Rica, on the northwest coast of that lovely country, facing the Pacific Ocean. Our theater of operations was the beautiful beach of Playa Grande, a great tour destination, much to the misfortune of the turtles that lay their eggs there. We were helping study the leatherbacks, the largest species of turtles in the world. They spend most of their lives roaming the oceans and little is known about them, except when the females come ashore to lay their eggs.

To protect the turtles the beaches are closed to the public at night during the egg-laying season; only a few tourist groups under close supervision by a local guide and the Earthwatch team was allowed after a certain hour. Our mission was to measure, tag, and record the repeat visitors if they had been tagged previously, and to count their eggs, being careful no to disturb the animals. The job was made easier by the fact that the females go into a trance while they are doing their job.

The little plane that brought voluntourists to the Guanacaste region.

When there was no action we sat on the soft sand, lulled by the sound of the ocean and studying the constellations. It was easy to doze off now and then and I discovered for the first time in my life the lure of becoming a beach bum. One night we found a handful of babies emerging from their buried nest and running toward the ocean. We rooted for them and refrained from giving a little push to the slowest one. They all made it into the ocean under the safety of the night; it may have been another story in daylight when predators can spot them easily.

The research team was also starting a new project, radio-tagging animals so their travels could be traced by satellite later on. Little did I know that twelve years later I would be sitting at my computer following the great turtle race of eleven tagged individuals through the entire Pacific Ocean at http://www.greatturtlerace.com, past Hawaii and beyond to the international date line. I wanted to believe that I knew which one was my turtle, the one I helped tag: Go, Drexelina, go! But I am probably wrong.

A painting done by the author, inspired by Earthwatch.

These experiences and a few others have been so memorable that although I am getting older I plan on continuing my voluntourism with Earthwatch; may be an archeological one will be next.

The turtle-tagging Costa Rica expedition is a trip that Earthwatch is not currently offering; visit http://www.earthwatch.org/expeditions/paladino.html for more details about the expedition. Many others are ongoing, however, including a similar trip to Trinidad to tag leatherbacks or a domestic trip to New Jersey’s Barnegat Bay to tag diamondback terrapins.