Last Saturday night, we took our kids to the Beach Not during the day, but we arrived during the evening. A Mexico Beach somewhere between Tulum and Playa del Carmen A beautiful beach not well known, hardly any tourists know of its existence, but it is one of the most important beaches of Quintana Roo in regards to the Mexico Sea TurtlesDuring these dates, Turtle eggs begin hatching and a delicate life cycle begins.
The initiation of this period is celebrated by the people of Playa del Carmen, Tulum and the people from Xcaret ecological parks They invite the children of the region, to pparticipate to witness, and most important to learn and educate others of the fragile life that exists and shares this planet with us What better way to educate a child…and an adult… than with an outdoor theatre on the Mexican Caribbean Ocean!
We parked the car alongside the highway and walked towards a dirt road hidden in the jungle and mangroves. Soon the lights of a bus started to near us arriving from the beach Full of excited young staff of the Xcaret park. They invited us into their bus, and began an explanation to the kids that we would be going down onto the beach to witness a magical event that occurs once a year. Today was a party to celebrate this occurrence. But, as what we should always do with mother nature, try to leave as little evidence as possible that you or your family were present Leave as little of an ecological footprint as possible.
One Flower was given to each person as they entered onto the beach We sat on a beach towel, a dark night as the clouds hid the Moon and most of the stars yet it made a nice dark backdrop for the event Zen music began lightly in the background against the waves pounding of the Mexican Caribbean Ocean Suddenly, 50 yards down the beach, Mother Nature appeared, dancing, slowly, and nearing to the invited witnessesShe was the host, speaking to the children, she was the story teller
“Nature has Guardians that live amongst us humans They are here to help the balance, to help the probabilities of survival and reproduction for the weak creatures that live on this planet Guardians such as Earth, the Guardian of the Winds, the Water Guardian, and the Guardian of the Fire.”
The actors appeared during her explanation with magnificent costumes and on stilts The interesting fact was how these wonderful actors were able to dance on the beach and on their stilts After the 4 Guardians danced, Mother Nature went on to introduce the sacred Mexico Sea Turtle 50 yards down the beach, again with the assistance of the dark shade cover from the clouds, appearing out of nowhere, a large SEA TURTLE the size of a Suburban Truck was crawling slowly towards the audience The gasps came from all the kids (and many adults) at the beautifully designed costume The Mexico Sea Turtle was lit up underneath and the light transparented through the fabrics, making a magical theatrical representation of this creature We later learned that it took approximately 7 actors to move this micro float around the stage
“I am so exhausted, I have swam from so far away over 100s of miles, I feel as if my interior is about to explode, I can`t go on much more” the voice of the female turtle whispered “Yet, something draws me to this place It feels like…home, I have been here before.” The children then witnessed how the dirt started flying as the huge turle begins digging a hole to bear her eggs With the music playing, the turtle then finishes laying, and then crawls towards the Caribbean water Mother nature says that the turtle is sad to leave her babies, because she knows that many will not survive their long journey, will not survive all the predators, and will not survive the dangerous waters But, when she gets to the water, she rejoices and has hope A beautiful message and our kids abosorbed it like spongesBack on the stage, the beach, about 12 eggs lit up in greenish colors the size of huge pillows were left glowing on the sand Little actors, the ages of 6 and 8 picked up the eggs which were dangling at the end of sticks, started dancing on the beach with Caribbean music After this dance, the lights on the eggs slowly flickered off one by oneBut as they flickered off, the lights of small turles began flickering on, also on the end of sticks Again the music very festive as the small actors ran around the dark beach with only the figures of small turtles bouncing in the darkness Soon the music began to slow down, and a adult actor dressed as a mix of a wild dog, wolf, lioncat appeared and started to chase the turtles Soon it was joined by another adult actor representing birds with large vicious claws and beak Finally, as mother nature explained “the worst enemy to the turtle that does most harm…Man” An actor in a over sized human puppet appeared on the beach to join the other two predators chasing the turtles. Our kids… wide eyed and sitting on my lap by then grabbing a hold of my hand
To the rescue, the four guardians who were standing in the four corners during the entire show, came back to the center stage The music picked up, and they began their dance amongst the turtles and the predators They saved the day as all three predators were chased off back into the jungle with the cheers of the children The small turtle lights than began moving towards the shore, their lights slowly flickered off representing their arrival to the beautiful and magical Caribbean OceanMother Nature finished her story by inviting all the children and adults to throw the flower that was given to them at the entrance, into the ocean in rememberence of the bravery of the small turtles who survive
The kids were then invited to see actual live baby turtles as the biologists had various eggs that were just hatched over the past week Many ready for this first stage of their beautiful, adventurous life in the Ocean Waters and shores of Mexico To become part of this society and to get involved in helping the education and communication of saving these and other species, please contact this wonderful Mexico organization www.florafaunaycultura.org
*There are seven living species of sea turtles in the world.
*Some of the largest sea turtles, measure upto six or seven feet (2 m) in length at maturity, and three to five feet (1 to 1.5 m) in width, weighing up to 1300 pounds (650 kg).
*The fact that most species return to nest at the locations where they were born seems to indicate an imprint of that location’s magnetic features with the turtles.
Bea Lozano
(512)879-6546