A short narrative depicting Costa Rican reefs, beaches, and some species native to such environments.

1. Carlitos the Hermit Crab and the Ninja Urchins
Part 1: The missing conch By Marvin Salazar
Hello friends, and welcome to Manzanillo Reef! Where is
Manzanillo, you ask? It is located in Limón, very close to
Panama.
Life is very busy here in Manzanillo Reef. Fish swim really fast
here and there, always in a hurry. But not every creature is
always busy. Carlitos the Hermit Crab lives a very relaxed life,
and he never understands why everyone is always moving so
fast.
“Oh boy,” says Carlitos. “I don’t want to move. I love being
lazy!” And then he lays on the sand and sleeps for a while.
This is what Hermit Crabs do all the time, anyway. They sleep,
sometimes they eat, and that is all.

2. One day, as Carlitos was getting ready to sleep again, he witnessed something terrible: many black
things were coming out of the King Crab’s cave. They were walking very slowly, and they were carrying
something big on their backs. It was a conch. But not a regular conch, as it belonged to the King Crab.
They were taking the conch under the sea.
Carlitos had a slow body, but a fast brain. He understood what was going on… a robbery! In the middle of
the night a big group of sea urchins entered the King Crab’s cave, and came out with his precious conch.
He quickly started moving. Well, you know he is not fast at all, but he did his best to follow the urchins. After two or three hours chasing the
urchins, Carlitos realized he did not alert the other crabs from the reef. He was now alone, under water, and far from home.
He decided to continue chasing, thinking it was better to see where the urchins planned to hide the conch. Then he could return to tell the King
Crab.
By the way, the King Crab’s name is actually Cecilio. Only the Crab Queen knows this!
Anyway, let’s return to the story.
The urchins stopped before a big rock, and they started singing a funny song. Something like: “Cumbayaa,
Cumbayaa! Open the rock now! Cumbayaa!”
“What is that!?” Said Carlitos. “Why are they singing!?”
And suddenly the big rock started moving, revealing a large cave full with other urchins.

3. “NO WAY!” Shouted Carlitos, and he shouted so loud that the urchins heard him.
The urchins realized someone chased them to their secret cave, and quickly chased after Carlitos.
Carlitos turned away and ran as fast as he could, but that was not fast enough.
The urchins captured Carlitos and took him inside the cave, with the King’s Conch. Carlitos was in big
trouble!
“Why are you here?” Said a voice from behind. It was the King Urchin.
“I came because you stole the King’s conch!” Said Carlitos.
“You discovered our perfect crime.” Said King Urchin. “You will die!”
“What will you do with the conch?” Asked Carlitos.
“I will make a nice cooking pot.” Answered King Urchin.
“You cannot make fire under the sea!!” Yelled Carlitos. “Are you crazy!?”
“We have electricity.” Said King Urchin. “That’s how we open the rock door.”
“Then why were you singing at the door!?” Asked Carlitos.
“That was just the secret password.” Said King Urchin. “Now we will eat you, spy!”
“Oh no! Somebody help me!” Yelled Carlitos.

4. But nobody came to rescue Carlitos. The urchins put him in a large frying pan with some other
ingredients, like garlic and butter. Carlitos was very sad.
“Is this were I die?” He asked to himself.
And just as King Urchin turned on his electric frying pan, a very loud voice came from the big rock
door!
“Stop right where you are, Fernando!” It was the King Crab, calling King Urchin by his name. That was supposed to be a secret only Queen
Urchin knew…
“What are you doing here, Cecilio?” Yelled King Urchin. How come they know each other’s names?
“This was part of the plan! We followed you here.” Said King Crab. “Now give me my conch back!”
“Never!” Yelled King Urchin. “If you take the conch, we will eat this guy!”
“I don’t see anyone there.” Said King Crab. “That’s an empty frying pan…”
“What!?” Said King Urchin. “Where is he!?”
As I said before, Carlitos was slow but his brain was really fast. He took advantage of King Crab’s amazing entrance and escaped in the confusion
of the moment.
“You have no choice now, Fernando.” Said King Crab. “Give me my conch!”
“Fine.” said King Urchin. “Wait, where is the conch!?”

5. Even King Crab felt confused. Where did the conch go? And where did Carlitos go? All their
questions were answered when Carlitos appeared from the bottom of the cave, next to a very
colorful urchin. It was the Urchin Princess.
“Daddy, I want to marry this crab!” Yelled the Princess. “If I can’t marry him, I will destroy the
conch!”
To be continued!