On the night of the 25th I went on a snake walk on the Raphia trail with Josh and Kiersten and was able to catch my first snake here in Costa Rica, and used a snake hook to retrieve it down from a tree. It was a very long brown blunt headed tree snake. As I was getting the snake down it musked on me, as i was below it. The musk landed on my face which may have upset most people but it didn’t faze me at all because I was just so excited to have gotten the chance.

The massive pit we had to dig to find an unhatched Leatherback nest. My team mates from left to right include Caitlin McManus (Fleming Environmental Visual Communications student); Dan Jenner (Fleming/Trent Ecological Restoration student); Khrissy (Cano Palma Turtle Project Co-ordinator); Kate Klarer (volunteer and University of Ottawa student)

On the 28th during morning patrol there was a Leather back excavation. It took a lot of hard work and digging in the sun, heat, and dirt. We were well over a meter down and about 2 meters around. A team had previously tried to excavate the nest 2 days before but were not successful. We were about to give up when we found the ID tag. The eggs once finally were found were below the water table. Although it was sad it was extremely interesting to see different levels of development in the baby turtles. Most of them were in stage 3 which is three quarters of development.

A Leatherback turtle that did not finish development. The nest was most likely flooded during late stage of development.

Later that day we were able to do a snake workup of an annulated boa. This was the type of snake I was most looking forward to seeing. Later that night the whole group went for a boat ride with Josh as he taught us about ecological diversity we were privlidged enough to see a Tamandua in the trees searching for food. A tamandua is a type of ant-eater. I also completed a night patrol that night and completed about 12 miles on the beach within morning and night patrols.

The next morning patrol I completed was on the 30th of July. There was an empty green sea turtle carapace on the beach. This was from either the first or second night here. It was the turtle that had been tied up by poachers. Which reminded me of why people are working so hard to patrol the beach and conserve all of the amazing wildlife that is here.

My experience at Cano Palma (and Costa Rica) has been nothing short of inspiring. In the last five (almost rainless) days I have been fortunate to do some really fun and engaging things:

# 1- While out for an afternoon paddle with Juliette, Jesse and Zach, we watched and observed a troop of about twenty endangered Central American Spider Monkeys, Ateles geoffroyi, cross the canal from West to East. One of the adult monkeys climbed down to our level and took a big gulf of the black canal water less than five meters in front of our canoe!

# 2- Later that night, Juliette and I took a group of Louisiana university students out for a night patrol. Trekking though rain and thunderstorms still in good spirits, we ended the patrol early for safety and headed back to base. We met up with the other two patrols Shenique and Jesse first, then Kierstin and Jaqueline and waited out the storm at Vista al Mar’s boat dock, making it back to the station around 4 am. Josh woke up early to do some last minute database management and ended up teaching Jesse, Juliette and I how to make the most incredible pancakes: turtle shaped, syrup stuffed, jam stuffed and even loaded with ice cream pancakes! It was wonderful to laugh and spend the last few hours with Josh and Liam making and eating such a delicious breakfast.

# 3- The next morning I worked morning census with Ana Laura and Jasper (a University student from the Netherlands) in the sunshine while learning funny Dutch sentences; such as there’s a coconut in the tree (er is een kokosnoot in de boom). After lunch Jasper, Kayla, Jesse, Zach, Juliette and I re-lived childhood memories playing in the sand on Playa Norte; taking over an hour unearthing the biggest drift log I’ve ever seen anyone try to move. We then had fun balancing and battling the ocean waves as they crashed into the log. To top off the afternoon, we ended up burying Jesse and creating a ‘merman’ using the wet sand and anything we could find to suit him.

The crew at Pavona where the water taxi drops us off to connect with the van that will take us to Siquerres on the way to the Pacuare rafting camp.

# 4- The journey to the rafting camp was quite the long adventure. To get to the camp, we took a boat, then a van, and then 4×4 vehicles to climb the steep, rocky roads up part of the ‘hill’. We then hiked for about two hours in the rolling landscape jumping over small streams, slipping in mud and traversing the steep, rocky terrain. We stopped a few times to taste different fruit, capture the scenery and rehydrate. When we finally made it to the camp, we were all speechless. The camp was simply beautiful. There was a breath-taking view of the river below with hammocks, muskoka chairs, picnic tables and benches to relax on. Delicious food, cold nights and great company made the hike worth it!

# 5- After a filling breakfast (eggs, sausage, toast, jam, fresh fruit and freshly squeezed juice) we climbed another steep hill through the jungle to get to an indigenous village which was home to the twenty-four member Cabecar tribe in their tiny village of Jameikari. We met three of the people outside of the school and then went to their newly constructed visitors hut to talk. We exchanged questions and tried to piece together each others’ lives. It was eye opening to see the influences that pop culture played on this secluded village; simply visible in the way they were dressed, with one sporting a MLB hat. They chuckled after learning that we live by schedules, follow rules and live to make money. We were jealous of their ‘pura vida’ lifestyle as they work when they want to, but not so jealous to find that their diet mainly consists of bananas. They were hesitant to admit that they hunt in the jungle for protein or that they sent a jaguar to heaven a few months ago after their chickens and pigs started disappearing. We were amazed to find out that they had a fridge in the school and metal sheets on their roofs (that had been carried by foot up the steep trail). They enjoy playing soccer and often have games against other tribes in the area (3+ hours away by foot).

Posing for a photo with three Cabecar villagers (centre front, right front, far right) in the village of Jameikari.

#6- The following day we met the rafting guides and traveled down the Pacuare river. Working as a team we were able to battle the rapids with ease and demonstrated our paddle skills as we twisted in circles through the calmer rapids.

Battling the white water of the Pacuare.

#7- Every beginning must have an end, and as we said farewell to Juliette, I couldn’t help but reminisce about all moments that are now fond memories.

In five days I will have to say my own goodbye to this place. Simply the wildlife, the people and the culture here are so inspiring and it will be hard to leave. From a crocodile encounter, hiking up the cerro and teaching girl guides are a few more things that have made this trip even more memorable. I have been granted an experience of a lifetime. To see this beautiful, ‘unspoiled’ wilderness and being able to teach and share this with others for the first time is such an incredible thing to witness. It is sad to continuously say welcome, then goodbye to the people that filter through the station, but it has been humbling and interesting to learn about this vast world and all the people that are connected through nature and conservation.

The streets of Cariari.

Yesterday (August 3) I got to spend the day with Charlotte, station manager extraordinaire.  We went to Cariari to run errands for the station.  Cariari is the closest town with services such as the bank and larger stores. It is a hub for several rural communities including San Francisco and Tortuguero.  Cano Palma tries to get as many of its supplies as possible locally but when it comes to certain items such as new telephones, measuring tapes and staplers a trip into Cariari is necessary.  To get to Cariari we needed to leave at 5:30 AM to catch a boat in San Francisco to Pavona and from Pavona we caught a bus to Cariari.  We arrived just before 9am.  Upon arrival, Charlotte and I split up to go to different banks since she had station business at one bank and I was trying to get cash for a couple of people back at base and needed a bank machine with the Plus system.  Apparently it was pension day and the line-ups outside the banks and bank machine were huge.  I had to wait almost an hour to get into the bank machine!  After the bank business was done, we started on errands.  We finished just in time to catch the 3:00 PM  bus back to Pavona and arrived back at the station by 5:30 PM.  So it was quite a long day.

One of the other reasons we went to Cariari was to purchase workbooks for the school in San Francisco.  I had given Charlotte some money for the school and it was an opportunity to get a series of workbooks with improved academic content.  It turned out that getting copies of the workbooks was half the price of buying them brand new so we were able to get 10 copies of the grade one sciences and social studies workbooks and it looks as though there is enough money left for at least another set (the remaining two are mathematics and spanish).  I am so happy that this money has already made a difference.  I donated this money in memory of my father who passed away in November last year.  I have been looking for something special to do and he always spoke of wanting to set up some sort of scholarship or bursary.  My father was an incredibly humble man who believed in the importance of education and life-long learning for everyone and was passionate about providing opportunities to everyone.  So I know he would be pleased supporting the children of San Francisco.  I haven’t told Charlotte yet, but I plan to make this an annual donation.

Textbooks for the school in San Francisco.

Yesterday was a great day.  Charlotte and I had a ton of fun and accomplished a lot for the station and school.  I also really enjoyed seeing Cariari and the people who live there.  Cariari is not a tourist town and most tourists are simply transferring buses to reach the boats to Tortuguero.  So it was full of locals doing their everyday business.  When I travel I always like to see how everday people live so I have loved visiting San Francisco and Cariari.