a washed-up shoe, a Croc, aloft. We were joining the monthly beach clean on Playa Tortuga in the southern Pacific region of Costa Rica. The beach sits between two river estuaries, perfect crocodile conditions. A part of me was relieved he’d merely picked up a discarded, plastic shoe; but there was a small part of me that was disappointed not to see one of these majestic reptiles. This is what volunteering with kids in Costa Rica looks like.