I wake to the sound of rain. Palm fronds brush against my window pane as the sweet, dewey dawn breeze breathes new life into my still slumbering room. I slowly come to my senses: savoring first the scents of the jungle. Citronella, trod and moistened by precipitation; hibiscus, blooming into sugary perfume; earth, fertile and…
I hear a shout in the distance, calling me to the night-blackened beach. This is it. The moment. The one I have been waiting for ever since we arrived here in Panama. The turtles are hatching. I take off running, trying to get to the hatchery as fast as I can. Shaking in exhilaration, I…