PHOTO FRIDAY: EATING TURTLE EGGS?

"Hi!" says a recently-hatched green sea turtle about to be released into the wild.

A lot of people still eat the eggs of endangered sea turtles. They say the eggs are an aphrodisiac, among plenty of other baseless, lame excuses.

At a dinner in San Salvador, we were talking to an older couple who told us they’d grown up near El Cuco, where we were heading. Over heaping plates of churrasco, we told them of our travel plans -- we would be surfing and sunset watching, and with luck, we hoped to encounter some of the turtles that frequent the area’s beaches.

The wife’s face lit up when she heard our last statement. “Oh, do you want to eat the eggs?” she said. 

Surprised, we replied that we only wanted to see the babies hatching. That would be enough for us.

Unfortunately, well-organized, sea turtle-related tourism, which benefits both local economies and the sea turtle population, hasn't become a major attraction around El Cuco yet. 

But if the beaches of Panama and Costa Rica are any indication, here's hoping El Salvador's not far behind. 

In the meantime, here's a photo of a freshly-hatched green sea turtle we met while in El Cuco. He says, "Hi!"

LA TORTUGA VERDE AND TURTLE PROTECTION

Todd holding a baby sea turtle about to be released into the wild.

A visit to Playa El Cuco isn't complete with at least a quick stop (or for us, a few nights) at the well-known eco-lodge La Tortuga Verde. Besides cooking up some of the best food for miles, the Tortuga also does what it can to protect the turtles that have used the area's beaches for decades to lay their eggs. 

A recently-hatched baby sea turtle and its former home.

Unfortunately, turtle eggs are still a delicacy in parts of El Salvador. 

To help combat the problem, Tom, the owner of La Tortuga Verde, started buying the eggs from local tortugueros, or turtle egg collectors.

Instead of serving them in his restaurant, where the first page of the menu reads "NO COMAN JUEVOS DE TORTUGAS" (we don't eat turtle eggs), he pays a premium over market price, giving him first dibs on the eggs, and keeps them in his turtle nursery, giving the babies a chance to hatch. 

We were lucky enough to witness some newly hatched little ones the morning of our departure and were able to be a part of their release into the wild. It was a great farewell to our new favorite Central American country.