Jonathan in Costa Rica

Photos didn't work. I will post them in the normal place.

New updates. Thought I'd mix some photos in this time. Also posting some wildlife list stuff.

DAY 36

Feb 13^th 2010

Bird Survey

At last my first bird survey! It's an early start just before dawn to go and pick up our canoe from the ranger station and lug it into the main boat and head off to the start of our assigned canal – one of the one’s that tourist boats aren’t allowed along. It’s a beautiful calm and cloudy morning and the jungle echoes with mysterious bird calls and unexplained noises. I absolutely love it. I have actually been day-dreaming about becoming a river guide in Tortuguero when I’m finished with GVI. Buy a boat and a canoe, take small parties to these quiet canals for some hard-core wildlife watching (after negotiating access with MINAE, the Costa Rican National Parks authority), live in Tortuguero – it’s got a lot going for it…

The first major sighting that we have as we are unloading the canoe is of two Great Green Macaws flying over emitting their raucous calls. These special birds have had a rough time of it in the last few years, having suffered a dramatic fall in numbers; but very recently seem to be staging a bit of a comeback and Tortuguero and the area to the north up the Nicaraguan border and beyond is where they are being sighted more and more. GVI is taking GPS information and details of any sightings, at any time. In any case, this is my first sighting and the first sighting this year of them so that’s quite exciting!

The bird survey consists of a slow paddle down a canal at around 2km per hour. There are six of us and everyone is assigned an area to specifically search as we move along. We have 30 species of canal bird, mostly herons and kingfishers to look out for and we’ve all been rigorously tested on their identification. We need to record every individual of those 30 species that we see along the whole canal. We will be able to get information on whether canals frequented by the large tourist boats with big engines have a different species composition to those without any boat passage.

It’s a fairly slow start with a few common species seen quickly and one notable sighting of the stork-like Limpkin, which is very uncommon. The canal narrows and our patrol leader, Jo, skilfully negotiates us through several tangles of fallen branches. It is quite quiet in terms of bird life for about 40 minutes before we reach a tangle that we simply can’t manoeuvre the boat through. Having to turn back around it looks as though it's not going to be a very exciting survey except we catch sight of a heron hunting in the shallows under the overhanging trees. A closer examination reveals it to be a juvenile Agami Heron. This is another of our ‘special’ species.

The adults are a stunning mix of rich reds and green with extravagant silver plumes along the throat and head. They also have an unusually long beak. For such a charismatic species, very little is actually known about it. They breed along narrow waterways in thick forest such as this and any information we can gather is valuable. Again it’s my first sighting of this enigmatic species and it gives us plenty of viewing time. After we have left it to it’s fishing the final bit of excitement is a flash of the tiny Pygmy Kingfisher zooming along and disappearing into the canalside vegetation. Yet another first for me and a survey that was well worth waiting for. I can’t wait for the next one.

 

DAY 37

Feb 14^th 2010

Valentine’s Day. I normally hate Valentine’s Day. But I couldn’t care less today. It rains in the morning and a few of us head out for a bird-spotting walk which is much more productive than expected given the weather. Highlights are a new bird species for the area, the rather boring looking Willet; and more excitingly a crocodile lurking at the river mouth.

For a bit of fun, there is a Valentine’s Ball at dinner time. Harvard displays an unexpected talent for flower arranging on the tables and we dress as smartly as possible given the circumstances. An Ipod is found with a suitably cheesy 80s power ballad soundtrack and singing along to the likes of Reo Speedwagon, Bonnie Tyler and Meatloaf is compulsory. Sadly (ahem..) a few of us have to cut it short to go out on a night walk. I forgot to mention them before but we have started doing a walk from 18:00 til about 20:00 along the jungle trail. The jungle ambience is completely different at night and last week there were plentiful sightings of snakes and frogs, plus very abundant, very large spiders. I really enjoy them.

We head down the south trail to the estuary where we see several sets of eyeshine most likely belonging to the crocodiles.

 

DAY 38

Feb 15^th 2010

Camp Duty again today. Not much to say about that. It’s a long day but there is a spare slot on the night walk, which I almost decline due to tiredness but decide to go anyway. This proves to be a wise decision as we discover a hairy Two-toed sloth hanging down at head height by the trail.

Everyone is pretty stoked to see this guy up close and awake. He has a longer snout than the ‘smiley-faced’ Three-toed Sloth and is somewhat reminiscent of both an Ewok and a Womble, or maybe even one of those aliens in the Cantina Bar in Star Wars.

 

DAY 39

Feb 16^th 2010

Another proper survey for me today. We are walking a trail known as the Mammal Transect which is a 1km trail leading from the canal across to the coastal trail that we use most of the time and leads back to base. We get dropped off at the canal end by the boat team who are out doing other things and make our way along the trail looking for signs of mammals – tracks and droppings basically. I like it up here deeper in the forest. It’s got a completely different ambience to the coastal trail. You can’t hear the sea all the time for a start – I feels like proper jungle. The bird species are different up here too though they are elusive today and I can’t see many of them. In terms of survey data, the only tracks we find apart from a single Brocket Deer track, are fresh Jaguar prints that we follow all the way along the trail right out onto the beach at the far end. They were probably made the night before.

A bit waterlogged on the Mammal Transect

 

Me practising the patented GVI welly-emptying manoeuvre.

 

There is a bit of excitement on the way back when my roomie Charissa nearly stands on a very long and thin, beautiful green Parrot Snake.

It’s not poisonous but Charissa is not too keen on snakes so it’s a bit of a shock for her. The snake poses nicely in the trail-side undergrowth and we all a good look at its strangely bug-eyed profile and bright colours. I later find out that though not venomous, the Parrot Snake is quite aggressive and can give a human a nasty bite that bleeds profusely, thanks to an anti-coagulant in it’s saliva. Never underestimate a snake!

 

DAY 40

Feb 17^th 2010

We try and get out for some monkey monitoring this morning but it is raining hard. It’s kind of hard to be looking for monkeys when everytime you look up you get a faceful of rain. We call a day fairly early on.

We find out today that one of the cows in the field next door was killed by a Jaguar last night. Some of the staff went with the farmhands to see what was left of the corpse, and it wasn’t much. The photos are pretty unrecognisable apart from one of the head. I’m not too upset about the demise of the cow. As far as I’m concerned I hope the Jag gets them all. They’ve evicted me from the beach too many times, and now they’re getting their comeuppance. They shouldn’t be here anyway. It is still kind of frustrating though that the Jaguars are clearly quite active so close by and yet we can’t see them!

Kyle and James, two of the new guys go out for a walk in the afternoon, which decide against accompanying them on, at the last minute. Big mistake. They return with photos and a tale of encountering a herd of Peccaries (wild pigs) on the trail. I’m gutted – the photos are so cool and I have posted one here courtesy of James just to show you all what I missed.

We have a poker game tonight using Costa Rican Monopoly (Super Banco) money as ‘chips’. It’s a lot of fun and I manage to come out on top winning 6000 colones in the process (just under £6). That’s going towards a pizza at Budda Café tomorrow.

 

DAY 41

Feb 18^th 2010

I am heading to Tortuguero today for my periodic shopping and internetting. Unfortunately, it decides to rain really heavily (déjà vu from our first trip). Luckily Budda Café is covered so we can still sit and use the internet whilst watching the torrential rain pelting down over the river. The pizza is pretty good although my capacity for eating has certainly diminished greatly over the last few weeks as I barely manage half of it (I take the rest with me to eat back at base!).

The journey back is quite simply a nightmare. It never lets up raining. Our waterproofs are largely already compromised, but we have bought a couple of cheap umbrellas that help to keep the water off. We also need to bail out the boat at regular intervals as the water level inside creeps up. Loaded up with shopping and people, we are not making a particularly high speed either. Then disaster strikes. The engine breaks (we would later find out it is a problem with water in the electrics) and we are helplessly drifting in the current, mid-canal. Luckily we have an emergency paddle. One paddle for a 30ft boat with 10 people and a large load of shopping (including a full gas canister). It’s pretty futile, even with other pitching in with shoes, box lids and umbrellas, the pace is slow, plus it’s impossible to steer straight. Due to all the rain, the current is pretty strong too. We have to turn back and head to Tortuguero because we won’t be able to paddle against the current further on. The problem being that we are about halfway between base and Tort at the moment.

The crazed rower

 

He told me to act natural

 

Luckily, after what seems like 30-40 minutes of paddling, a tourist boat approaches and we wave it down frantically. It turns out to be a boatload of American schoolchildren, who of course think this is absolutely hilarious. Thankfully, we have managed to retain our sense of humour throughout our ordeal. One of the local tour-guides climbs down and attempts to fix the engine, spilling out oil and various fluids into the river before informing us the engine is broken and has no oil! Really? I wonder why that could be? The American chap that is in charge of the group explains that they can’t take us onto their boat for insurance reasons. He does seem genuinely guilty about it but I can understand his point of view, particularly when he is responsible for a boatload of 13 year olds. They do say however, that they will alert the park rangers at Tortuguero who should be able to come and rescue us.

They leave us sat on the side of the river against a fallen tree to stop us drifting as night draws in. Eerie sounds drift out of the jungle and the silhouettes of three Boat-billed Herons emerge for their night of fishing. Spirit are still high and the rain has eased off for now. James hands out a six pack of beer that he bought in town and some packets of chocolate and biscuits are opened and shared.

There is no sign of the rangers but eventually a boat appears out of the gloom and we flag it down. It turns out to be three local chaps who agree to help us out by giving us a tow. It feels good to be on the move again and we make good time along the river. I end up talking to our new recruit Jess about music and we find out that we have quite a lot in common and both like some cool stuff that not many other people are into like Thrice and My Morning Jacket. I’m going to make sure I peruse her music collection before she leaves. We are also highly amused by the distinctive scent of weed floating back from the boat in front.

We eventually reach Tortuguero and are dropped off by the now-giggling threesome of locals at the CCC Offices (Caribbean Conservation Corporation) where some friendly American volunteers give us some coffee and buns. They are bird-ringers which means that we end up striking up an interesting conversation – they are based in the North of the park and we are in the far South so we have a few species of bird that are different from each other. I give the chap my email as I want to maybe exchange information with them, plus he has heard of the Greater Ani sighting – another well-known ornithologist has seen it a couple of times apparently, so he is going to send me the right forms in order to report the sighting.

Rich has organised a private water-taxi for us, which smells really nice. I don’t know why, but it certainly makes the journey more pleasant. The rain hisses it down again and the driver has some trouble finding the right turnings but eventually we get back to our landing. The guys at base have heard of our predicament via a text sent by us (we couldn’t get enough reception for a phone-call) to the head office in San Jose who in turn contacted the base camp. And they have turned out in force on the beach to help us carry all our shopping back up the trail, which is pitch-black by this time. Their high spirits certainly help us to keep going as we are all pretty bushed by now. Hot soup and coffee has also been prepared for us. I’m too exhausted to fully appreciate it but it is a really amazing gesture from everyone and shows what a great team we have here. Thanks!!  

 

DAY 42

Feb 19^th 2010

It’s still raining today.

I am pretty wiped out today but they keep me busy. I’m well within my rights to cry off if I want, but I think it would do me more good to keep active so I stick with the program. First of all it's off into the forest to set-up two new Jag-cams. Along the way we see a cool colour-changing lizard which is also shedding it's skin.

Then it’s a beach clean in the afternoon. It’s quite a chore collecting crap in the hot sun of the afternoon but it does seem like we are having a positive effect on the beach. It certainly seems a lot cleaner.

Then just to top off the day I go on the night walk as well, where we see lots of non-descript tree-frogs, a huge Marine Toad and excitingly a baby Caiman or Crocodile which is giving a chirping call. Thinking that maybe where there is a baby, there could also be an attentive mother, we leave it alone pretty quickly.

I sleep very well.

 

DAY 43

Feb 20^th 2010

Still raining. It seems to come in blocks of several days at a time.

We go on a general wildlife walk this morning and despite it being quite wet manage to spot 6 different Eyelash Vipers. Not a lot else though. I’m still pretty tired but keeping active.

I do get an early night tonight though!

 

DAY 44

Feb 21^st 2010

Huzzah! Sun is back. But quickly becomes too hot. There’s no middle ground!

We have a walk out to the beach and estuary where a croc is lurking just offshore, we see a new species of wading bird and a possible rare kingfisher, although I just can’t be sure of it as it flies by so quickly. There are also what are most likely Ocelot tracks on the path in the mud. The Ocelot is an elusive small spotted jungle cat which would be almost as cool as a Jaguar to see.

We are back early and take the opportunity to get some washing done before everyone else gets back.

The boat still isn’t working which puts a damper on the week ahead. Without it we can’t do the Jag-walk today for example, and bird surveys are right out of the question. It’s a bugger actually – because I saw the rota for this week and it was awesome for me. I did not have a bad day! That will of course all change now, and it’s unlikely to work out that way again.

 

DAY 45

Feb 22^nd 2010

It’s a very hot day today. The most exciting walk we do just involved myself, Havard and Andrew walking down to the estuary. First of all, Harvard walks right through a Golden Orb-web Spider web and ends up with a rather large nasty-looking and probably quite shocked spider sat on his shoulder. Luckily, I manage to scoop it off in my hat and deposit it on a leaf to the side of the trail. Thankfully, Harvard was not too bothered by it – some other people I think could have panicked at that point!

When we reach the estuary the dog bounds on ahead of us as there is a tourist boat just offshore. That’s the first thing I see, closely followed by the object of the tourist’s attention – two huge Crocodiles sunning themselves on the bank. Jack the dog seems quite oblivious to the danger presented but thankfully the crocs aren’t in the mood for a canine snack and slide out into the water. There actually isn’t enough room for the largest crocodile to reach his full length away from the beach before reaching the tourist boat. I suspect he actually has to go underneath it. That’s both harassment of the crocodile and also very dangerous as the boat is low in the water and the beast was easily big enough to have snapped up into the boat and anyone’s trailing arms or people leaning out to take pictures.

We have a night-walk later on and manage to set a record of six Red-eyed Treefrogs in one walk, including possibly the largest one yet seen.

DAY 46

Feb 23^rd 2010

This morning finds me out on the beach looking for tracks in the sand. Thankfully it’s stopped raining so we can find some good tracks. The most exciting is the proliferation of crocodile tracks on the beach. There are several possible nests as well and there is even a spot where the croc has pressed it's body so far into the sand that it has left an imprint of it's scales. Very cool.

We have a meeting after lunch to discuss the second half of our internship. I can’t believe we are coming up to 10 weeks already! Sara tells us about our trip to Nicaragua to take Spanish schooling for two weeks. The school and the area sounds really nice and apparently the other interns had a blast when they did it a couple of months ago. We will also be learning a bit more about our options for a work placement elsewhere in Costa Rica when Dave returns from San Jose very soon. Sara quizzes us about what sort of things we would like to be doing. I’m not certain yet. I think Tortuguero still has plenty to offer, particularly increased numbers of turtles in the next few months, and of course I haven’t seen a Jaguar yet!! But I also want to broaden my horizons too. I really just want to know what is going to be available before I make my choice.

This afternoon we start our self-prepared surveys for out BTEC course and Andrew leads us on a butterfly survey, which is rudely interrupted at one point by the bloody cows. There appear to be some bulls amongst them now, which I had never noticed before. I wish the Jags would hurry up and get some more of them. Incidentally, we put up a Jag-cam by the dead cow last week and the next day, what was left of the cow was gone and there were some pictures on the camera.

Our night walk tonight is very productive with a new species of frog (Red-webbed Treefrog), snake (Ringed Snaileater) and lizard (some kind of skink) being recorded and a record number of Red-eyes and Eyelashers seen with 7 apiece.

 

DAY 47

Feb 24^th 2010

I am up for the bird survey this morning, but this time I’m on the boat-team. This involves dropping off the team with the canoe from the motorboat and waiting for them to return so we can transport them and the canoe back. It means a few hours sat out at the edge of a canal keeping whichever staff member is driving the boat (in this case, Rich) company and being the second person should there be an incident that befalls said staff member. I quite like actually. It’s peaceful as ever out on the canal first thing in the morning and we see some parrots and waterbirds whilst we wait. We even hear a Great Green Macaw somewhere in the distance. I get to have a good chat with Rich and we end up playing Scrabble on his Iphone. He gets off to a great start by using all his tiles on his second turn which nets him a 50 point bonus. I don’t give up though and manage to hold my own. The battery runs out unfortunately, but we do finish the game later on at base and despite battling valiantly I can’t make back that points difference.

After we return we find out that there is a small Boa Constrictor on a branch above the trail we’ve just walked from the estuary to base! Andrew, Rich and myself head down there to take a look and sure enough there he is stretched out on a branch at about head-height basking in the sun and looking as though he is digesting a meal of some kind. The icing on the cake is when a long Brown Vine Snake also slithers through the branches past the Boa whilst we are watching.

Boa

Vine Snake

 

I haven’t seen a vine snake yet so that’s pretty exciting.

We have another long weekend coming up and I have planned a trip with Andrew, Kyle and James to a wetland Wildlife Refuge named Cano Negro. During this time of the year large quantities of resident and migrant waterfowl gather here in apparently spectacular numbers and the birdwatching is world class by all accounts. We discuss with Sara who is happy to ring and arrange some accommodation for us. Should be good.

It's really hot in the afternoon, but thankfully after it cools off a bit towards 15:00 I get to lead my BTEC survey looking at Eyelash Vipers. It all goes smoothly and I’m pleased with my efforts. The Boa is still there when we walk past.

We finish off the day with a trip to a local bar who kindly arrange some boat transport for us. It’s fun to get off base and unwind with a couple of beers and get bombarded by some really loud Bob Marley and Latin America music pumping out of a pretty decent sound system. The bar has opened specifically for us but I think we drink enough beer to have made it worth their while and all the guys running the place are friendly enough.

 

DAY 48

Feb 25^th 2010

It’s our day off today and Sam, Andrew and myself are planning an early start to go and head off deep into the jungle looking for hard-to-find wildlife. Unfortunately, as I’m getting up at 5:30 in the dawn half-light, the sky to the south is being periodically illuminated by flashes of lightning followed by ominous rumbles of thunder. The time between the lightning and thunder indicates that the storm is some distance away but it wouldn’t be particularly wise to go wandering if it’s heading our way. I go out and sit on the beach for a little while around 7:30 and the atmosphere is incredible. The sea is usually really rough (I think it's a shallow beach and the force of the ocean makes the waves break early and with a lot of force) but now is eerily calm beyond the breaking waves and a deep green colour.

Pelicans glide soundlessly low across the surface of the sea, skilfully maintaining formation and avoiding the breaking waves with an aerial agility that belies their cumbersome-looking shape. The clouds are forming a dark front to the north and there are several pterosaur-like Frigatebirds gliding high along the dark edge of the front almost like they are harbingers of the oncoming storm. Even as I watch one in the binoculars the grey clouds swallow it up. I can see that visibility to the north is getting less all the time which means that the rain is on it’s way. There is still the odd rumble of thunder and flash of lightning out to sea and I can guess that any moment now it’s going to hit. The wind picks up sharply and sets the coconut trees swaying behind me, yet I can’t bring myself to leave until the first few spots of rain start to patter onto the dry sand. I hurry back to base, which is quiet as a lot of people have gone to Tortuguero for the day, just as the rain and wind intensifies. I do not envy the people on the boat.

The heavy rain persists for much of the morning and I end up playing several games of Scrabble with the newer volunteers Jess, Kyle and James, as well as a one on one rematch with Rich, which goes pretty well until he drops the bomb of Zebras on a triple word score near the end. Game over. We also have a bit of entertainment by looking up the dictionary definitions of dork (stupid, useless person), nerd (socially inept person) and geek (single minded knowledge of a particular subject – or something like that..).

The rain eases off later on and everyone arrives back from Tortuguero in one piece – they had to shelter for a little while at the nearby Ranger Station for about half an hour to avoid the worse of the storm, but otherwise all ok.

I head out to the beach again just before dark and again there is quite an atmosphere. The rain has stopped but there is still a strong onshore wind that feels incredible after the usual humidity of the evenings here. It’s almost cleansing. We actually get to sit outside (on some nice new plastic chairs brought in today) this evening for a change. The wind keeps the temperature perfectly cool and as a bonus keeps the mosquitoes away. Perfect.

 

DAY 49

Feb 26^th 2010

It rains a lot during the night. I’m supposed to be up at 4:00am for a bird survey, but I am awakened by someone knocking on the door at 4:42am. We are due to leave at 4:45am. Luckily, I packed the night before so I hurry out of bed faster than I have ever got out of bed before and grab some snack bars (purchased by Charissa for me from Tort yesterday) and I’m good to go. It turns out that I’m not the only one that had to be woken up either, and I find out that though I clearly remember setting my alarm last night it was for 4:00pm not 4:00am. I feel like such a dork (stupid, useless person)!

It’s drizzling as we do the usual trip to pick up our canoe from the ranger station and the rain develops as we start our survey. It’s still fun even though it’s a bit of a battle to keep your binoculars free from water. But unfortunately, all the rainwater has created quite a strong current in the canal and we simply cannot paddle the canoe against it so we have to abandon the survey and instead explore a few small side canals. We don’t really see anything new, which is a shame, but at least we got to get out.

The afternoon is sketchy. At lunchtime it brightens up and gets quite nice. I am roped into doing a video diary interview by Helen, which no doubt will be going up in the GVI website some time in the future for everyone to laugh at. I think I was pretty good though!

It then gets a bit overcast and drizzly again. We head out in the afternoon to explore a potential new trail which turns out to be too waterlogged to get any distance so we end up heading into the forest for a walk and see a few birds and Eyelash Vipers and a Two-toed Sloth sleeping high up in the crook of a branch.

Night walk is exciting. I’m not there but apparently they chose to walk the beach back to camp and came across some Leatherback Turtle tracks. These guys are the largest turtles in the world and come ashore to nest in small numbers in Tortuguero around this time. The tracks are really fresh and they possibly missed the turtle by minutes. There are also fresh Jaguar tracks over the top of the turtle tracks indicating that they missed it by even less than the turtle!!! Exciting, but frustrating for them.

 

DAY 50

Feb 27^th 2010

Wow. Nearly two months already.

Camp duty today which is never good, especially when you have to get up at 4:00am to make breakfast for the bird survey team and then wait at least another hour for everyone else to start getting up! Then to top it all off the bird survey team comes back having seen a really rare Sunbittern and a nest of Boat-billed Herons (everyone’s favourite freaky looking bird) with downy chicks. Sigh…

I do get the chance to wander around base looking at the birds. It seems to be quite an active time at the moment. It’s migration season so we are seeing a few new species turning up on the coast, presumably on their way back to North America for the Spring. The resident species all seem to be nesting as evidenced by the Bananaquit building a second nest, Boat-bills on the canals and a new Hummingbird (species to be determined) nest discovered in the garden by James. Many birds can be seen gathering nesting materials (as fellow intern Lydia put it recently, “Every bird at the moment’s got crap hanging out of it's mouth”. Succinct.), in particular, large numbers of the bold and noisy Montezuma Oropendola are plundering the coconut trees for bits of fronds that they carry off to an unknown nesting site. 

I also manage to head out early evening just before the sun goes down to see the Leatherback tracks. It looks as though someone has driven a tractor in a U-turn up the beach. It’s a very impressive sight and I can’t help but get some photos taken with it just for the size comparison.

 

Hi peeps. Another dose of exciting adventures for you all to peruse. I'm a bit behind with writing my journal as we had another long weekend break down in Puerto Viejo which meant that I missed writing four days on the day as I didn't want to take my laptop!! I do have a few more days and photos to check out though so please enjoy.
Hope you are all well - congratulations to Julie and Freddy on the birth of their daughter. Very cool! I look forward to hearing more about that. I am well - I have a beard again for the time being and I actually have a bit of a tan. I've also lost a little bit of weight according to some fellow volunteers and think thats true - although not as much as I would like, I think its my turn for the Jag-walk again soon though so maybe that'll be a good indicator of whether my fitness has improved or not?
Right here's some more blog:


DAY 30

Feb 7th 2010

We are spending the day in Tortuguero today. It’s the day of the Jag walk and we will be part of the welcoming committee and also having a walk in the forest at the opposite end of the track that leads all the way down to us at Jalova. The boat ride is nice as always – the most interesting thing that happens is that we see two swallows (that are always present flitting up and down the river) engaged in some sort of duel. They fly tight up against each other flapping and pecking and squawking. They drop in a descending spiral that plunges down towards the river. Just as it looks as though they will hit the river’s surface they separate and fly off in opposite directions. It’s quite a shocking display from a bird that seems so free-spirited and ‘happy’ (though anyone that saw the murdering swallow on Springwatch a couple of years back will know that there’s a darkside to them!).

The walk is nice. Not too much about at the start of the walk, closer to the town, but as we get further in we are treated to the sight of a colourful pair of Black-throated Trogons, a Red Brocket Deer which stands watching us for a couple of minutes before calmly making its way through the forest away from us, and numerous lizards and bugs.

We get a little while in the ever-fantastic Budda Café to use the internet and get some pizza, before the Jag-walkers arrive, exhausted but happy.

 

DAY 31

Feb 8th 2010

We are out early today to set up a Jag-cam in the jungle. We are still not having much luck with these. The films came back blank and the cameras just don’t seem to ever work properly. We do have some new ones coming though.

Back at camp Emily approaches me with her camera eager to show me pictures of a cool snake that they saw. I think my exact response upon seeing it is “Holy crap! That’s a Fer-de-lance!” This kind of puts a different perspective on things. I don’t want to glamorise things like a Channel 5 documentary but the Fer-de-lance is the No. 1 bad boy of the snakes in Central America. It causes an average of 20 fatalities a year and is reputed to be highly aggressive in nature. The one that Emily and her group saw was a juvenile at only around 2ft long but they can grow up to 8ft which is pretty colossal for a viper. A juvenile venomous snake is worse than an adult in some respects as it’s venom is just as potent and it has less control over the dosage and is unlikely to give you a dry warning bite as an adult may do if you’re lucky. Emily has some good pictures and I have say despite the danger, I’m quite jealous as I like my snakes, though from the account I think they were a wee bit too close for comfort. I’ll post the pics from Emily on the blog for your perusal.

In the afternoon we are treated to a visit from a local Botany expert called Mario Rasta. We have already heard about him from several people and he more than lives up to his exalted reputation. We spend a fascinating hour or so wandering around the garden with him talking about all the plants there and their medicinal and traditional uses. As well as being a perfect gentleman and having a gentle sense of humour, he is an absolute fountain of knowledge. I wish that one day I could be as knowledgeable about something as he is on plants – and the thing is, he make’s it so interesting. Plants aren’t exactly my favourite topic compared to animals (although he knows a fair amount about those too!) but I could happily follow him about for hours trying to absorb as much information as possible. It’s too bad that our long weekend break starts tomorrow and we won’t be able to spend much more time with him. He has dinner with us and we have a good chat about where he lives (near where we went rafting) and how he learnt his first plants from his grandmother. He’s a very nice chap indeed.

The evening is topped off by the sight of some very big fish (not sharks, maybe Tarpon?) swimming about in surf close in to the beach. I try to get some photos but it’s pretty difficult as the light is failing and it‘s so hard to predict where they are going to appear. The air is pretty clear of heat haze and ocean spray for once and you can see some 15 miles north up the beach to where the only hill in Tortuguero, ‘the cerro’ can clearly be seen against the horizon. It’s one of those evenings where everything just feels right.

 

DAY 32

Feb 9th 2010

The boat we have hired is due to pick us up at 8:00am. Come 9:00am we are standing in the hot sun on the river shore awaiting this coat. A phone call to their office reveals that they have just left. Whilst this is frustrating it does indirectly lead to quite an exciting event.

Bored and hot, I decide to investigate the dense forest edge bordering the river. There are some Howler Monkeys sat up a tree looking fairly dejected as always. A few birds flit about in the undergrowth and I’m pleased to see a bright yellow Prothonotary Warbler (I think that’s how you spell it?) and add it to my bird species list. A large black bird that I take to be some sort of cuckoo, catches my eye. It appears to be catching the plentiful lizards that live here in the dense vegetation. Quickly I notice the large heavy beak with a prominent upper ridge similar to the Hornbills of Africa or Asia. I quickly realise that I haven’t seen this before and manage to get some photos of it – only one of which comes out, clearly showing the head, I wander back out to my bag lying out on the beach and have a flick through my bird book. I’m quite astounded to find out that it is a Greater Ani and has only been seen a ‘handful of times in 2003-04 in Tortuguero’ (that’s pretty much the line from the book). That means in UK birder/twitcher terminology it would be called a ‘mega’. That means that if this were the UK, birders would flock from all over the country in their hundreds to come and see this. It is statistically a rarer sighting than a Jaguar (although not as exciting on a purely visceral level of course). Unfortunately, by the time I have excitedly explained this to Dave and others nearby and shown them my photo and the book, it has of course disappeared. I need to report this to the Costa Rican Ornithological Society, and maybe in the next edition of the bird field guide it will be know from a handful of sightings from Tortuguero in 2003-04 and 2010?

The boat eventually arrives at 10:00am and we begin the long trek down to a landing called Moin, which is near Limon, Costa Rica’s largest port city and second largest overall. It’s a pretty good trip that takes us nearly three hours. The river habitat is quite varied and mostly quite picturesque apart from one section where we pass a stretch where the riverbank has been cleared of vegetation and dug-up, probably to make way for a banana plantation or something. There is a slightly hairy moment when we reach a river mouth and the driver of the boat actually steers into the breaking waves where river meets the ocean in order to steer around a large accumulation of fallen trees and into the next river. The river boat is not designed for this sort of choppy water and is thumped around alarmingly by the incoming sea. The driver knows what he’s doing though and manages to steer us back into the safety of the river. 

We get off at Moin only to find that the guys taking us have not organised a bus for us, which was the plan. A call to their office produces no results. I’m not particularly impressed with these guys so far, but to his credit, the guy in charge does manage to rustle up a bus for us in about half an hour. The landing at Moin is the diametric opposite of Cano Blanco. It is right next to the port of Limon and yet the only building is a run down block of toilets with doors that don’t shut properly and mostly don’t have toilet seats or toilet paper. The only seating is a couple of decrepit old wooden benches with slats missing. There’s barely any shade and no other facilities. In other words, not a nice place to spend any time at all, especially in the hot sun.



The bus ride is pretty crazy. Driving in Costa Rica is pretty much a free-for-all. The road signs are promptly ignored. Slower vehicles are overtaken at any opportunity. Cyclists are given no quarter. The only good thing is that the roads are not particularly busy. Andrew reassures us by claiming that Costa Rica has the safest roads in Central America! There’s certainly a few buttock-clenching moments but we do arrive in one piece at Puerto Viejo.

Puerto Viejo (or PV as I will refer to it from no on) has a slightly unsavoury reputation to say the least. It’s a haven for surf-bums, ex-pats from America and Europe, backpackers and pot-heads. The last time a group from GVI went here, there were 4 separate muggings – one guy even got smashed over the head with a coconut. To be fair he was drunk as a skunk and wandering about in the middle of the night, and some of the other cases were people that were carrying around expensive camera gear in full view. Still it’s hard to shake the feeling of unease as we arrive. The town itself is much like Turriabla in that its completely different to what I was expecting. I was expecting a fairly large coastal town but its actually quite a small jumble of buildings, each of them differently constructed, many of them wood with the odd larger concrete building standing out amongst them. There is one paved road running along the coast with dirt tracks branching off at intervals. Virtually every building is either a bar, restaurant or souvenir shop. The Caribbean influence is clear by the amount of Afro-Caribbean folk with their richly accented speech, Bob Marley flags and food menus full of traditional dishes just waiting to be tried (there’s also an abundance of ‘pipes’ in the souvenir shops!). Thankfully on the outskirts of town there is a bank with an ATM that we all get to use. I have a feeling it may be an expensive trip!

Rocking J’s is our hostel for at least one night and it’s on the far side of town. It’s a very open plan hostel with a bar and seating area with a pool table upfront, and then behind a mixture of camping area, lockers and random seating areas and lawns. There’s a room full of hammocks that you can hire for the night if you’re on a really tight budget and the upper wooden floor holds around 50 tents set out, each with a mattress and blanket, which you can also hire out for slightly more than the hammock. There are a handful of dorms and rooms available as well. We all opt for different options and I choose the tent, which turns out to be pretty comfortable. The lockers provided for the hammock and tent users are large and padlocked. The décor is completely unique with the floor made up of tiled crazy-paving in a random variety of colours. The walls and doors to the toilets and lockers are all covered in hand-painted murals of varying quality and subject matter. My favourite is one of the toilet doors which features the picture of a gorilla sat on a toilet and the caption “Apes**t”. I’m also tickled by a ‘Deadhead Parking Only’ sign which makes me think of home (my Dad being a huge Grateful Dead fan). The vibe is pretty relaxed and we quickly settle in getting some beer and food (I order the ‘Sexy Steak Sandwich’ which is suitably sexy and very tasty. The pool table is pretty shoddy but for 300 colones a game (about $0.50) who’s complaining?

We head out to explore and walk back into the main strip of town, browsing the tourist shops along the way. They vary tremendously in presentation from proper shops with pleasant music, to stalls blasting out reggae music and manned by some rather nefarious looking individuals, but in essence they all end up selling pretty much the same things. We end up enticed into a bar-restaurant named Chile Rojos (Red Chillies) that has a happy hour on. A nice American waitress named Autumn keeps us plying with Mojitos, Pina Coladas, Mia Tia, Screwdrivers and beers. It’s a very pleasant comfortable place situated on the 1st floor of a large mini-shopping mall, which means it’s above the dust and bustle of the streets below. The furniture is comfortable and the lighting subtle and the drinks are cheap and very nice. We end up ordering sushi to eat, which is fantastic. Jeremy and I have a mixed platter of Tempura Shrimp, Eel, Tuna and more. I also love the ginger that is served with it, primarily as a palate cleanser between different sushi types. It looks like Salmon, pink and thinly sliced, rather than ginger and has a very sweet flavour. I end up eating all of it because Jeremy doesn’t like ginger. I highly recommend this place – it turns out to be my clear favourite of all the places we will visit over the course of the weekend; relaxing, comfortable, affordable and high quality. We head back to the hostel around 10:00 and half of us turn in, including me as I am planning to be up early to head further down the coast to visit Manzanillo, a smaller town with a trail through a Wildlife Refuge that is highly recommended both by Mario Rasta and the Lonely Planet. Nicky, Jeremy, Andrew and Sophie decide to head back out again to continue drinking. I’m a little worried about them to be honest, but it’s their choice – I just hope they look after each other.

 

DAY 33

Feb 10th 2010

The early bus is at 07:00am to Manzanillo, some 13km on from PV and pretty close to the Panamanian border. It’s a pleasant journey and Manzillo is a pleasant place. Its pretty much just a strip of buildings, many with small rooms for rent (or cabinas), camping or kayak/bike/snorkelling hire advertised. There are also a couple of cafes and a large Mediterranean restaurant. The centrepoint of the village is where the bus stops and turns around to head back up to Limon via PV, and is dominated by Maxis. Maxis is a large two storey wooden building with a couple of bars and a café and souvenir shop on the ground floor, some cabinas round the side and a restaurant on the 1st floor. Having walked up the road and seeing none of the places I’d written down to stay in on the way I decide to opt for one of the cabinas at Maxis. I am shown my room by a lady that takes surly unpleasantness to new levels. She has little patience for my attempts at Spanish – “You are English? Then just speak English then” she tells me brusquely. The hospitality industry in Costa Rica doesn’t always seem to grasp the point that if you are rude to the customer they won’t stay. Quite honestly, if I had seen anywhere else on the way I would have gone there instead, but I haven’t and the room is nice (it’s a double room with fans, a fridge and hot showers – ooooh the luxury!), so I take it.

After throwing all my stuff in the room and having a quick freshen up I go and have a look at the beach. The beaches down here have quite an exalted reputation but to be quite honest at PV and here at Manzanillo, they’re not all that. They are good for surfers and nice in the fact that you can actually swim off them unlike at Tortuguero with the dangerous riptides, so this is probably something to do with it. But I’m not really a beach person anyway, so I go and get some breakfast in a pleasant looking local café. The lady serving me is much more patient with my attempts at Spanish and I manage to establish what time the bus leaves back to PV tomorrow and where the hiking trail starts. I also have a delicious Gallo Pinto (fried rice and beans in coconut milk) with scrambled eggs and toast and some much-needed coffee.

After I’m suitably satiated I get myself ready for a hike. I must admit to feeling somewhat out of place amongst the shorts and vest clad tourists and locals, wearing my long trousers, walking boots, long-sleeved shirt and rucksack. I grab a few supplies at a shop opposite. The woman who showed me the room is sat outside and actually musters a half-smile at me and makes a little conversation. Maybe she’s warming to me?

The trail starts at the end of the beach after crossing a small creek and wends its way up a muddy hill into some forest. There are periodic viewpoints out along the coast, which looks really nice from this perspective. You can’t really see any of the buildings and it just looks like a forest swathed coastline in either direction. Apparently at the end of this trail, Punta Mona (Monkey Point), you can see Panama. The trail is not very well marked and because of the previous night’s rain quite muddy and treacherous at times. There are a few birds about and the pick of them is arguably the fierce-looking Hook-billed Kite.

Unfortunately, about half an hour in the trail has been obviously cleared in maybe a 15-20ft swath. Even the under-storey has been chopped down with a machete and trees have been felled. It looks pretty fresh as there is a lot of recent plant debris. Its looks as though this may have had a knock-on effect as several trees perhaps weakened by the sudden exposure to the elements and removal of supporting vegetation, have fallen across the trail. This is a wildlife refuge and not a national park, which means it’s less protected but still it’s an unsettling and heavy handed act. It’s even more of a shame because the forest surrounding it is really nice and there are some really nice big rainforest trees. There are some very interesting bird and frog species here that are all indicators of good forest habitat so it's a shame that it seems to be getting fragmented like this. I also come across an area on the trail where a house has been built with quite a sizable chunk of land that has mostly been cleared down to a rough lawn. It must be at least a hectare – which given the land its in seems very greedy to me. I think it would have been much nicer to have a smaller lawn and still retain the forest around it – but of course that’s my mindset and not the owner of the house’s. I don’t have too much more time now and decide to head back before dark with the intention of heading out early tomorrow.

I spend my evening in Maxi’s restaurant, which turns out to be a pretty wild place in terms of the animal clientale. It’s on the 1st floor of the building and in similar style to Chile Rojos and most other buildings here, there are no windows just open sides to the room to let the air flow through (poor man’s air conditioning!). I am served by a very big, but friendly fellow whose footsteps shake the room as he walks past me. I opt for the fish, which is something I don’t get enough of at base. Whilst I sit reading my book (Shantaram. Read it – it’s fantastic!) and sipping a delicious Bavaria dark beer (brewed in Costa Rica) there is a horrible clattering noise from a duct up near the ceiling. All of a sudden a small grey rodent-like animal (it could be a rat, mouse, mouse-opposum – I don’t get a clear view) comes hurtling out to the floor and scurries under a couch in the adjacent lounge area. It is swiftly followed by a scrawny grey cat, which pounces on its victim as the unknown creature scurries out from under the couch. There is a quick scuffle, a horrible squealing and then a sickening crunch and the cat scampers off round the corner with its victim/next meal. A few minutes after that, something large lands on my arm and the irrational thought that another ‘rat’ has been chased out of a hole somewhere and has landed on me, crosses my mind before I realise that, in fact, it is a moth the size of my hand. Many people would panic here, but I am fascinated and unfortunately the moth flies off before I can get much of a look at it. My fish arrives and is very rich and tasty (and served with Gallo Pinto of course!) and I eat pretty quickly and then finish off with another beer. There is a strange and quite loud chuk-chuk-chuk sound coming from above me and I look up to see two geckos squaring off with one another, over some prime stretch of ceiling. The noise is not something I would ever imagine a lizard, especially one so small, to be capable of emitting. There are several of them dotted about throughout the room and they are clearly quite territorial as I can hear them ‘arguing’ several times whilst I drink my beer and read. None of them seem to come to blows whilst I am watching. A pleasant dining experience all in all – good food and some interesting beasts.

 

DAY 34

Feb 11th 2010

I’m up at the crack of dawn today and squeezing back into my sweaty trail clothes of yesterday. I’m kind of used to it by now.

The hike is much more pleasant in the cool morning air and with no rain in the night, it’s also a little less muddy. I follow the same route and see many of the same birds and animals, though there is a very interesting small red frog in the leaf-litter that seems highly abundant this morning. They are very vocal and I manage to locate a couple of them croaking away. From this I can deduce that there are even more around than I can see judging by the number of croaks I hear as I walking today. Frog diversity is very good here and get some interesting pictures of some more species – one of which I’m sure is a Poison-dart Frog. The forest is still just as good for birds and there are plenty of species here different to those in Tortuguero, and one in particular, the relatively innocuous Spot-crowned Antvireo is only found in this area of Costa Rica. Interestingly, I also meet the owner of the mystery house in the forest. He rides up on horseback along the trail behind me accompanied by a small but friendly little dog. He is actually quite a pleasant chap and I manage a basic conversation half in English and half in Spanish with him. I don’t really want to like him as he has chopped down some of the forest, but then again he has got a machete, so I’m inclined not to try and start an argument. Worryingly, later on, in a particularly nice area of forest, I find a for sale sign tacked to the trunk of a fantastic, huge rainforest tree. It would be really criminal to cut this giant of the forest down, as it must be pretty old (though trees do grow quicker here than back in England). I wonder if I’ll ever come back here in the future and see more houses and trails cut through this precious habitat. I don’t get much further than last time as I need to be back to check out for 12:00 and leave on the 12:45 bus back to PV. I have decided to save some money and go back to Rocking J’s for the last night and that also means I get to spend some more time with the rest of the group and with my roomie Emily, who is leaving tomorrow.

I meet Andrew on the way back. He has a map that I somehow failed to find anyway which shows that the trail may continue for some distance more and there is also another one to the south, which is longer and leads to some marshland. Shame, I haven’t got more time to spend exploring. Maybe a future trip is in order.

My temporary landlady is no more pleasant when I check out. I won’t be using Maxis again if I do return. That’s for sure.

Everyone is pleased to see me back at the hostel and I set myself up with another tent for the night. I have a look round town in the afternoon and browse a few shops and use the internet café. PV certainly has a certain kind of lazy ambience that I’m starting to like a bit more. We head out for a group meal in the evening, with a few people suffering from a heavy night last night. We find a cheap restaurant, which is fairly nice and serves a nice array of drinks. The service is pretty slow though. But all in all, it’s a nice evening. We probably should have gone to Chile Rojos though…

 

DAY 35

Feb 12th 2010

We are up to see Emily off today on the bus to San Jose. It’s a hot day today and I don’t envy her the 4 hour journey. She was the first person I met on this expedition and we’ve been room-mates for the last few weeks. She’s exactly the sort of person that every expedition needs. Always cheerful and smiling, finding the positive in every situation and constantly enthusiastic and excited about everything we see. She’ll be missed and I hope to come visit her in her hometown of Adelaide. The only thing is, if I manage to get all the way to Australia again, I just know I’ll want to head over to New Zealand again. Could be an expensive trip! Anyway, Emily, when you read this as I hope you do – keep in touch and let us know how you’re getting on.

The return journey to Tortuguero is a bit of a nightmare to be quite honest. The bus ride is uneventful although still pretty scary, but it's the boat ride that causes the most problems. Our boat is going to be a hour late (at least) so the guy at Moin landing tells us we can go on a public boat. The owner of this next boat tries to get more money out of us, which we are having none of. We then head off extremely slowly because the boat needs refuelling up ahead. We are hot and tired and just want to get going so it’s a bit frustrating. Finally when we pick up the fuel and learn that our original boat guys were not happy that we left without them (too bad guys – try not to keep being late next time!), the boat picks up speed properly. And then promptly breaks down. We are then subjected to a snail-pace crawl back down the river presumably to the re-fueling station where we don’t know whether they’ll be able to fix the boat or whether we’ll be able to get another one? Normally, I love being on the river but at this point in time it's incredibly torturous and frustrating – especially knowing that we have barely started our 2 ½ hour journey and we’ve been on the go for over an hour already. Luckily, we are saved by another public boat coming back the way we actually want to be going. The drivers negotiate and thankfully we don’t have to hand over anymore money and are able to cross over into the new boat which promptly sets off at a reasonable speed. Almost immediately the mood lightens and my headache stops and I can start enjoying myself again. We are treated to the sight of a medium-sized crocodile on a bank and numerous river birds. It has just grown dark by the time we reach our landing beach. Remarkably, the boat crew have nothing to navigate by in the dark except the light from the captain’s mobile phone!!! We do hit something with quite a bone-jarring crunch (hopefully it wasn’t something alive) but luckily the boat is not damaged and eventually we end up at the beach where we all thankfully hop off onto dry land again. There is an ominous set of orange-shining eyes further up the beach, which almost certainly belong to a crocodile. It’s the start of nesting season so we are going to have to be careful on this stretch for a while. This is incentive enough to hurry back along the forest trail as soon as possible and thankfully there is some food left over from tea for us. There are also three new additions to the volunteer team: Jess from Seattle, USA (the inevitable talk about grunge music starts up pretty soon), James from Bristol, and Kyle from Atlanta, USA (same as Jeremy) although he has spent the last 3 years in the UK. They all seem nice and I’m sure they’ll fit right in.

In Tortuguero Village again at the ever-fabulous Budda Cafe. So Have got plenty of updates for you all to read whilst I sip my beer and await my delicious pizza. Hope you are all well and thanks for all your comments - I'm not sure how to respond individually to them so a big hello to you all and please keep them coming!

DAY 14

21^st January 2010

Tortuguero

Well two weeks in and I get to go back to the nearest village of Tortuguero, with three aims. Firstly, to get some supplies; secondly, to use the internet; and lastly to eat some junk food and drink some beer.

The last time we went to Tort it was raining. A lot. Today, its absolutely glorious and the hour ride along the canal is wonderful. I love being out on the river. Its just so peaceful and beautiful. What strikes me today is that although there are several communities along the river and many boats go up and down it everyday bearing tourists, fishermen or locals, there is very little rubbish and the water is so clean There are plenty of birds around: lots of sinister Black Vultures soaring on the thermals, the quirky-looking Boat-billed Heron, and numerous common species.

Tortuguero is a much more pleasant place when its not underwater. It’s a colourful strip of buildings with about 700 residents sandwiched between the canal and the Atlantic Coast. Its actually only accessible by boat which means certain supplies can be limited and things can run out on occasion. We quickly find a spot on the main street where we can sit in the shade and log on to an unsecured wireless network with my little netbook (what a useful investment that was!). So I spend a good couple of hours updating my blog – as you are no doubt aware. Shopping comes next and I buy some crisps and biscuits for snacks, a pen and paper to do my BTEC work with, and a large towel (I really showed my nerdiness by buying the only towel that had zoologically correct animals on it – Costa Rican towel makers take note – cockatoos and blue macaws are NOT found in Costa Rica. I went with turtles, a safe bet).

We then all convene for lunch at the delightful Budda Café. Andrew and myself both order grande pizzas, which are suitably enormous. He manages to eat the whole thing but I have to leave two slices. Along with a couple of heavenly cool beers, that just about undoes all the exercise and healthy diet of the last two weeks!!! The café also plug sockets so we can continue to use the web and its also situated right on the edge of the river giving lovely views. I highly recommend it to anyone visiting the area!

The boat-trip back again is also glorious and everyone just lays out in the bottom of the boat chatting and enjoying the sun.

 

DAY 15

22^nd January 2010

Another glorious day. Head out in the morning to get some bird records for the area around the base, and manage to get quite and impressive list together including one new species for me, a Chestnut-backed Antbird.

 

DAY 16

23^rd January 2010

The rota is up and I’m on the Jaguar Walk tomorrow. 15 miles across the burning sand looking for Jag tracks and dead turtles. One team has already done it so I’m sure I can make it but I don’t mind admitting I’m more than a little apprehensive about it. Quiet day otherwise, doing some BTEC work.

 

 

DAY 17

24^th January 2010

JAG WALK!

We’re up at 4:15am. On the beach by 5:45 to get started. I’m feeling optimistic. My new walking shoes are comfortable and my pack isn’t too heavy. There are five of us, Rich, our fearless leader; myself; Harvard from Norway; Sophie from the USA and Erica from Zambia.

Quite quickly we run into some turtle hatchling tracks. It looks like someone has raked down a section of the beach about 10ft wide from the top of the beach to the sea. Its amazing to imagine those little guys powering down the beach last night. I’ve seen it on the TV but this actually happened no more that 15 minutes walk away from us last night. Incredible! They would probably be the last of the November 2009 eggs. We actually find more tracks within the first few miles but the first lot are the best.

The weather is on our side for the first half of the trek. Its slightly overcast and we even have a brief rainstorm (maybe a minute at most?). But even so I’m drenched with sweat within the first hour. It’s undeniably tough going and the sand is very soft and powdery for the most part. We set a fair pace of roughly 2 mph, which is pretty standard. We find quite a lot of Jaguar tracks, which is quite exciting, following them along the beach hoping for an elusive sighting. Some of them are quite fresh. But alas we are not to be the lucky few that get to see our feline quarry. I suspect they are more likely to be out in the open during the day when the turtle season is up and running proper. There are a few birds around and I get to see a couple of new species as well as numerous Black Vultures and Common Black-hawks are, well, common…

We stop for lunch at around 10:30 at just over halfway along. I’m pretty tired by this point and the food, which consists of pancakes covered in peanut butter, granola bars and apples, is very welcome. I also have a flask of Tang, which is kind of a powdered squash that actually tastes quite nice. The sugary drink provides a much-needed alternative to water and hopefully a bit of energy.

The first hour or so after lunch is ok, but exhaustion is starting to set in. It’s getting much hotter now too. Harvard manages to walk more quickly than I would have thought possible, and quickly outdistances the rest of us. I guess he’s younger, fitter and weighs a good couple of stone less than me. The rest of us are suffering, though Rich who has done this quite a few times before seems fine. The best moment comes at around midday when we’ve hit around 9.5 miles. I hear a snapping branch in the forest edge at the top of the beach and spin around to see some dark furry shapes dropping down out the trees. For a split second I think they’re monkeys, but they have long white snouts – Coatis! They disappear before I can get my camera to bear, but I’m still chuffed to see them. Rich, who has been here for a while now and is a veteran jag walker has also never seen them! They’ve long been one of my favourite animals since seeing them at Cotswold Wildlife Park when I was very young. Luckily, we come upon another one foraging on the beach. His curiosity gets the better of him and he stops to check us out, allowing me to snap a quick distant shot, before he disappears into the undergrowth. This alone makes the trek worth it. But then of course we still have some 6 miles or so to go.

They are pretty torturous to be quite honest even though it goes partly overcast again. We do see a dead armadillo, which is surprisingly large and was probably killed by a jaguar. The vultures are picking at it now. But even that distraction can’t relieve the aches in my shoulders and feet.

Tortuguero eventually comes into view through the trees and a bunch of American OAPs are lounging on the beach in their swimming costumes. They give us quizzical but friendly smiles, but I can barely raise a smile of my own for them. I don’t mind admitting as we eventually turn off the beach and make our way through the town to Budda Café, where our reception committee is waiting, that I have pretty much been pushed to my physical limit. If it was another couple of miles further or if it was a bit hotter, I don’t know if I would have made it.

But I did and the sense of accomplishment is definitely worth it. I’ll get to do it again, but hopefully not for a little while. I have recovered enough to walk back to base from the boat after a relaxing ride back, but I’ll sleep like a log tonight. Getting back I examine the damage and discover that my shoes have delivered, and I don’t have a single blister or cut. I have developed quite extensive heat rash on my upper legs however. Its not painful but chafes a bit. Tiger Balm (not made from real tigers thankfully. Instead a combination of oils) does the trick (thanks for bringing it back from China for me Julie!) – its also very good on mosquito bites! A cold shower never felt so good.

 

DAY 17

25^th January 2010

Recovery

Well I sleep exceedingly well last night. I think I only woke up once in the night, which is a definite record. I’m still aching a bit, but I do feel surprisingly good. Thankfully it’s a quiet day today.

I go for a walk in the forest with Helen and the black dog (now named Blackjack) and end up watching a group of White-headed Capuchin Monkeys foraging in the trees above us. They obviously don’t like the dog, who bounds around below them excitedly. Uttering little barking sounds they start breaking and chewing off branches to drop down on us. Fortunately, clever though this is, their aim is appalling and they never come close to hitting us or the dog. Eventually, they settle down a bit and although constantly keeping a wary eye on us, they start looking for fruit and bugs to eat. A couple of them start grooming each other, and another enterprising chap finds a hollow full of water high up in the canopy and scoops it out to drink with his hands. They really are quite interesting creatures to watch and we could probably stay for much longer, except we have to get back for lunch.

The afternoon is spent learning more about the birds we will be surveying. Being quite a bird-nerd of course, I kind of already know it. But its interesting to talk about it and test ourselves.

It’s Burns night tonight (as well as Australia Day) so for the small minority of Scots and one Aussie, we decide to celebrate by wearing kilts (well, beach-towels or skirts) and have a bit of Burns poetry before eating. Sadly, there is no haggis, neeps and tatties, but we make do with vegetable and rice substitutes. Then its off to the beach for a game of beach cricket in true Aussie tradition. Its fun for about half an hour before it gets too dark to see the ball. Unfortunately, the one tradition that links these two celebrations, copious amounts of booze, is conspicuous by its absence.

 

DAY 18

26^th January 2010

Canal surveying

We are out on the boat today looking at some small canals where normal boat traffic is not allowed. We have permission to survey them though and once we’ve checked them out will be carrying out surveys of the birds here from a kayak. I can’t wait for that – there’s a good chance of seeing other wildlife too such as River Otters, Caiman (smaller crocodiles) and maybe even the extremely rare West Indian Manatee (er.. kind of like a slow-moving river seal is probably the closest approximation I can think of. Google it.), animals that would otherwise most likely be scared off by the motor-boat.

The day is a beautiful one and it is quite the pleasure to drift along these quiet waterways. There are many waterbirds about, but the highlight for me is definitely the sight of a beautiful Black-collared Hawk, which is a rich red-rufous colour and feeds on fish much like an Osprey.

In the afternoon, those of us doing the internship are out in the field showing that we can identify animal species using our field-guides. This is right up my street and to be honest, I’ve already identified a lot of the birds and animals in the area on my own. But we do manage to see something new in the form of a pair of stunning Black-throated Trogon, which is a very-colourful jungle bird. Well done to Erica for spotting them.

 

DAY 19

27^th January 2010

Long weekend.

We’ve booked a white-water rafting trip for our long-weekend break. There are nine of us going (myself, Nicky and Charlotte from the UK; Jeremy, Lydia and Sophie from the US; and my two roomies, Charissa from South Africa and Emily from Australia) and we’re all excited.

The first step is a speedy water-taxi out of Tortuguero to a landing called Cano Blanca. This is effectively a bus-stop that services the water-taxis. If this were the UK, no doubt the bus station would be an ugly grey building with cheap and unfathomably uncomfortable metal rows of seats, with a couple of crappy vending machines in one corner, some filthy toilets and probably some unsavoury characters hanging about somewhere. But here there is a large wooden covered veranda filled with worn but comfy leather chairs. The outside is painted a cheery yellow and orange, and there are about 15 toilet cubicles all kept clean and tidy, plus a large shop where you can buy snacks, t-shirts, souvenirs and cold drinks (including beer at the very reasonable price of just over a £1 per bottle). I buy a cool t-shirt bearing the logo ‘Costa Rica – No army since 1948’ and some beer and crisps, and we all get comfy and wait for our bus which is due in a couple of hours.

The hours fly by and soon we are on a bus to the town of Siqurres. We travel along a bumpy track through banana plantations and farmland. To start with we have the bus to ourselves and like a bunch of naughty schoolkids we occupy the back end of the bus laughing and messing around. It’s a long journey though, and the bus fills up the further along we go, so we gradually run out of energy until we finally get to Siqurres around 1 hour and forty after we set off. We don’t leave the terminal and quickly find our next bus to the town of Turrialba, where much of Costa Rica’s rafting business is based.

The bus ride goes up through the mountains and offers spectacular views of the forest-covered Irazu and Turriabla volcanoes rising up into the clouds, as well as a few hair-raising bends in the road.

Turrialba is a busy little town and once we get our bearings make our way to the budget hotel where we are spending the night. It’s called the Interamericano and seems to be located in a bit of a seedy district. The hotel is nice enough though, although the American lady that runs the place has a bit of a strange attitiude, she’s actually a little rude and patronising to us when we first arrive. If we had an alternative, I would have actually considered going elsewhere, but we don’t. Its only $10 each for the night and its pretty clean, so can’t really complain at that. We head out for the night to get some food and find a bar, but it’s a Wednesday night and the bustling streets have emptied and the two bars that we do find are pretty ropey and mostly empty. We manage to get a burger and some nachos which are pretty typical bar food quality, but it fulfils a need we have for some junk food. They do serve a nice Pina Colada though.

 

DAY 20

28^th January 2010

We get picked up by Alex Amador in the morning. He’s on the National Costa Rican rafting team and is hoping to be in the 2016 Olympics when they introduce rafting as an event. He runs his own rafting company with three of his team-mates. He’s a very friendly and funny guy and speaks great English. He takes us to a supermarket where we can get some booze for tonight when we stay in their forest lodge. Then we follow the bus route back up into the mountains part way, until we turn off down a track that leads us down to the Rio Pacuare (means ‘young macaw’ apparently), officially the ‘most scenic’ white-water rafting location in the world. We are taking a leisurely two day trip down the river stopping off at some spots on the way and spending the night at their forest camp. We are split into two rafts and we meet our two river guides, Manuel and Fabien. Again, they are both very friendly and experienced guys. Alex will be coming with us but will be piloting another raft on his own and carrying all the supplies (in dry bags) with him. He is also going to stop at various intervals to take photos of us going along. The first thing we do is follow Alex upstream a bit, put on our helmets and lifejackets, and swim across the river. Yep, that’s right, swim across the river. Its quite a strong current but no rapids at this point and we all make it over to where a small stream leads up to a picturesque cascade that we all have a go at sitting underneath. I am also fascinated to see a huge spider sat on the underside of on of the rocks facing down into the torrent. It has one leg outstretched as if feeling for something to go past. What it’s waiting for or how it catches it, is a mystery to me though.

The point of this exercise is no doubt to get us wet through and used to the water, plus maybe a warm-up. It certainly works and we are all having great fun, and the fact that it’s a nice sunny day helps no end.

We then get our raft safety talk and instructions from Manuel and then split off into our rafts. There are four people in ours, myself, Nicky, Emily and Sophie, and we have Fabien as our instructor. He doesn’t speak as much English as the other two guys but we easily manage to understand each other, and we teach each other words in Spanish and English as we are going along.

We spend about four hours or so going along various classes of rapids all the way up to Class 4 (rapids only go up to Class 5!), and the general consensus is that we all have an amazing time. Our guides are so experienced and professional that we never fear for our safety at all, but at the same time it’s really exciting and we are all hollering and screaming at regular intervals. We stop around halfway to walk up to a nice waterfall with a plunge pool that we can swim in. The scenery for the whole stretch is pretty incredible. The only place I think that can rival it (in a different sort of way) is maybe the Dart Valley in New Zealand (Alex does give me a funny look when I mention this later on! I was trying to encourage him to visit NZ because I think he’d love it. I wasn’t trying to put down Costa Rica in any way!)

Perhaps the most memorable discussion is when, on a quiet stretch of river, I am pointing out some birds. The other volunteers call me ‘birdman’ sometimes, for obvious reasons. I attempt to explain this to Fabien using the direct literal translation in Spanish which is ‘pajero hombre’. Fabien doubles over laughing at this, before explaining that it actually means ‘gay man’ in Spanish slang! We all have a good laugh at this, and I make a mental note to never say that again!!

The guys own a small camp up on a hillside overlooking the river and that’s where we spend the night. They have built it themselves over the last nine years, using sustainable methods to keep it eco-friendly and it seamlessly mixes with the forest around it. The centrepiece is a vast wooden balcony with a stupendous view. It also has a kitchen and bar area and they provide sandwiches and snacks for a late lunch before cooking up a feast for the evening meal. We are all knocked out by how nice this place is. After tea they get the radio out with some salsa music and teach (or attempt to teach) us how to dance like a Tico (Costa Ricans name for themselves). Unsurprisingly they are all really good at it. I’m beginning to think there probably isn’t anything they aren’t good at!! We also have a good chat with Alex in which he tells us about his travels to Europe and the US to compete in rafting. He also explains much of what they have done with their company over the last nine years. They really are living the dream. They work doing what they love, and the money they make goes into creating their dream lodge. They also work closely with the local communities, selling local arts and crafts for no profit to themselves, and giving residents of Turrialba free trips so that they can appreciate the beauty and excitement that is right on their doorstep. As well as being very generous, this had the advantage that when the government tried to put forward a plan to dam the river for electricity (that they would then sell internationally), the guys did a door to door survey of the residents of Turrialba to find those in favour of this. 97% voted no to the dam, so the plan was shelved. It would have been a crime against nature, to destroy this beautiful river system, so good on you Turrialba!

The lodgings are a tented camp set-up, which is very comfortable and atmospheric. I have my own room(tent) for the first time in a while and I have to say it is quite nice just to be able to stretch out.

 

DAY 21

29^th January 2010

I’m up early to explore the lodge area for birds. Alex and Manual are also up early to provide coffee and biscuits. Around 7:30 they serve up a fabulous cooked breakfast, which is just beyond amazing.

Afterwards, Manual and Fabien lead us on a trek through the nearby jungle. It’s a different sort of jungle to Tortuguero. It’s more hilly terrain and the trees are much larger, with some huge buttress roots propping them up. We also see a couple of Strawberry Poison-dart Frogs, which I am very pleased about. They are tiny (about the size of the top of my thumb) but with vivid red and blue colouring that makes them stand out against the dark forest floor, and also proclaims their toxicity.

We follow the forest trail down to the riverside where we meet up with the boats, which Alex has been getting ready. Then we’re off for another morning of rafting fun. We only have a couple of hours of it this time. We all wish we had more time.

Fabien is on top form with his jokes. At one point he strikes the water with his paddle with a sound like a gun shot. Because he’s sat behind us, we don’t see him do it and the sound echoes so loudly we all whip round and start looking around wildly, whilst Fabien ducks down shouting “its war! Everybody down”. He then laughs and demonstrates the paddle slap again.

We stop for lunch on a sandy beach area where we can amuse ourselves by walking upstream, jumping into the river and floating down on the gentle current until we reach the beach and pull ourselves out again. The guys put on a slap-up feast again, this time in the form of tortillas with so many different ingredients that I am forced to put them all in and make the hugest wrap in the world!!! We are also highly amused by shoals of small fish that gather in the shallows and swarm on any small morsels of food that you throw in like piranha. They will also nibble your feet and fingers, which is not painful but incredibly ticklish.

Arguably the most spectacular moment of the trip is when the river enters a dark gorge. Cascades of water spit down out of the rock and there is an old and decrepit looking bridge above us. The ambience is peaceful and yet slightly eerie as the sound of the water echoes from the gorge walls. We sit in silence letting the current carry us along gently and enjoying the atmosphere, that is until we are drenched as Fabien sneezes a handful of water over us! A group of rather loud rafters also enter behind us, hollering and whooping, so we decide to carry on.

It isn’t long before a large rusty iron bridge indicates the end of the rafting section of the river and soon afterwards the main road bridge to Siqurres spans the river carrying its noisy cargo of lorrys and cars. It’s a rather rude shock to the system after two days of peace and beautiful scenery. I think we are a bit melancholy as we land the rafts for the final time. Happy that we’ve had such a great time, and sad because I think we could all go and do it again.

Last night we had the revelation that nobody actually knows when our bus goes back to Cano Blanca and when we can get a boat from there. We are supposed to be back tonight otherwise it will mess up the rota for the coming week. Oops. As we are changing out of our wet clothes and gathering our things, Manuel rings the bus station and finds out that our bus leaves in roughly 15 minutes. He then drives us into Siqurres stopping off at a bus stop a little way along from the terminal to find out if the bus has passed yet. He finds out that we still have another 15 minutes or so before it leaves the terminal. Off we go and Manuel actually escorts us into the terminal, helps us find our bus and makes sure we get our tickets.

I can’t recommend these guys enough. As well as being the best at what they do, they are such genuinely good and warm people, that I couldn’t imagine doing this again with any other company. We got a significant discount for being with GVI but even if we had paid double what we paid it would have been a steal. I actually cannot think of anything to improve on this experience!

Please if anybody is considering doing some rafting in Costa Rica (and you should!), get in touch with these guys:

www.costaricaextreme.com

Alex Segura Amador – asa@costarica extreme.com

Incidentally, we got a boat back to the base almost straight away upon arriving at Cano Blanca and got back in time for tea, which brings the weekend to a close nicely!

 

DAY 22

30^th Jan

Out looking for monkeys today. They kindly oblige and we see all three species for a reasonable period of time. The Howlers even set up a nice chorus of hooting and hollering for us from up in a large tree.

We do some more work for our BTEC in the afternoon which consists of discussing survey design. We will have several surveys that we will all pitch in and help to plan and carry out. The most interesting one is a potential survey of the Eyelash Vipers which will of course also pose several important Health and Safety considerations i.e. don’t touch, harass or approach within so many feet/metres. This of course precludes any form of measuring or marking the animals. They are so abundant here that some kind of survey would be pretty interesting.

 

DAY 23

31^st Jan

My turn for camp duty again. So its another sweaty day doing cleaning, cooking and washing up. Its not as much of a stressful day as before, mostly because I decide to leave all the food choices to everyone else and just do as I’m told! We make a pretty damn fine tea, if I do say so myself, consisting of sweet potato mash (made entirely by me!), lentil and sweetcorn burgers, plus a delicious tangy vegetable salsa.

The highlight of my day is possibly when the boat team comes back from picking up another Jag Walk team (which turned out to be fairly uneventful) and they bought me a box of cornflakes (I’m quite honestly sick of porridge for breakfast!) and it turns out to have a plastic Clone Wars lightsaber in it! Its not a very good toy but it provides a bit of amusement for me! I got Yoda’s green lightsaber in case anyone was wondering….

 

Day 24

1^st Feb

I am out on the canals today. Our group is exploring some new canals for possible future bird surveys. Predictably it rains for much of it. We’re fairly prepared this time and have all our waterproofs and equipment in dry-bags. We find some nice spots and see plenty of the common birds, and at one point what is thought to have been an otter plunges into the water from a half-submerged log in front of us. I was looking the other way at the time (of course….). The most humorous moment is when we are treated to the sight of Rich, our boat driver having to position himself rather awkwardly on top of the engine block in order to untangle some weeds from the propeller.

Its very humid today back at base and the insects are out in abundance along with the birds that eat them. I tempt fate by doing some washing (I still had wet stuff from the rafting. Yuk!) and hanging it out to dry but sporadic showers keep it from drying despite the heat.

I manage a quick half hour walk in the forest before lunch. I really love the jungle. There is always something to see: a huge Blue morpho butterfly the size of a bird, a small Red-eyed tree frog asleep precariously on a grass stem, a huge Marine Toad squatting malevolently in the undergrowth, a small Anole lizard basking on a branch, a curious wasp nest that consists of two parallel ‘tubes’ constructed from mud on the underside of a leaf, and finally a large wolf spider lurking next to a red flower has caught and is eating a brightly coloured butterfly.    

 

DAY 25

2^nd Feb

It continues to rain sporadically through the night and day. My clothes have been rinsed through about 4 times now. Come back sun all is forgiven.

We spend the morning working on our BTECs, which is coming on nicely. Again we are out trying to ID species in the field, something which comes quite naturally to me.

 

DAY 26

3^rd Feb

Its still mostly raining. I’m beginning to run out of clean shirts. Fairly uneventful morning although we get to walk a couple of miles up the beach to where a camera trap has been set up, using the cunning disguise of a pink plastic  chair that was salvaged from the tide line. Unfortunately, strapping it to a tree kind of draws the attention. Its still there and excitingly there are lots of jaguar tracks all up the beach at this point – its looks as though it would have walked right past the camera. Its an old film camera and its all been used up. This could mean that it has been taking pictures of the waves of course as it uses a motion sensor, but it could also have the first jaguar pictures on it. We won’t know until the films have been developed and we need to send them off to San Jose for that, so we won’t know for a while. We head back through the jungle to pick up another camera, which unfortunately doesn’t seem to have worked. They are a bit temperamental.

Frustratingly although we did see a cool Red Brocket Deer which wandered out onto the path in front of us at one point, the rain keeps everything else away. Even more frustratingly, other teams got to see a really cool red, black and yellow Coral Snake and some rarely seen birds out on the canal. I guess you can’t be everywhere at once, but I’m still quite a bit disappointed.

In the afternoon we a treated to a visit from all the GVI Regional Directors and Co-ordinators. I must admit I was expecting a bunch of ‘suits’ but they all turn out to be really nice people that come up and introduces themselves and want to hear about what we’ve been up to as well as telling us all about their various projects. We have the overall director of GVI and directors from projects (both community and conservation work; sometimes both) based in South Africa, Kenya, India, Thailand, Mexico and other parts of Latin America. They each give a quick presentation about their projects and then subject themselves to being quizzed by all of us. I’ll reiterate that they are all really down-to-Earth and personable people (as well as being an inordinately handsome bunch!) and the buzz around camp for the afternoon is really fun and enjoyable. I get to speak to the guy from Kenya, who is also starting up a project in Ghana which he is really stoked about and makes it sound really interesting and exciting, as well as Stephen, who has just wrapped a project hiking through remote Patagonian mountains and is due to take over as our co-ordinator when Dave leaves in a few weeks. He seems like a really good guy, though it will be a real change of pace for him and the heat is certainly something he isn’t used to! They don’t stay for long unfortunately, but it was really great to meet them and I think we all got inspired by them and made a few contacts for future endeavours. 

 

DAY 27

4^th Feb

Day off today. I go for a walk with Sam in the jungle and succeed in seeing a couple of new jungle birds including the beautiful Slaty-tailed Trogon. The usual Eyelash Vipers and small lizards abound and we spend a bit of time following the fascinating trails of leaf-cutter ants as they cut across the jungle floor. I try and take some pictures and video but it’s really to capture the flow of the columns of marching ants.

We have another long weekend coming up and the same group of us, plus a few others are planning a trip to Puerto Veijo, on the southern most part of Costa Rica’s Caribbean Coast. It’s supposed to be really scenic and nice down there, although Puerto Veijo is getting a bit of a reputation as a backpacker town, with some negative aspects of this in the form of weed-dealers and touts. I think I’ll probably skip through here and leave the others to party it up and I’ll go and do a bit of exploring in the nearby Wildlife Refuge.

We also have a meeting with the GVI staff tonight, in which representatives from each dorm convey the general opinions and comments on things so far. The over-riding consensus is that we have way too much free-time and want to get more involved with things. Some people I feel are being a bit too negative about things, but I can’t deny that I would rather be out in the field a lot more than we are currently doing. A lot of this stems from the fact that it’s a new base and things are still being set-up, and its also low season for turtles; but the counter-argument is that maybe not so many volunteers should have been taken on at the moment if that was the case. I’m still having a great time, but I can lose myself in the environment and I’m quite happy looking for things on my own. People that don’t have my level of enthusiasm are perhaps looking for a little more guidance and involvement. Still, hopefully things will improve as we are about to start doing proper bird surveys on the canals in a canoe, which I can’t wait for.

 

DAY 28

5^th Feb

Hmmmm. Rota is up for this week and I’m pretty disappointed. There are four days before our long weekend and on three of those days, there are bird surveys. Due to the odd number of volunteers and spaces available in the canoe, someone does not get to do any of them. That someone is me. I’m pretty gutted to be quite honest. I’m on Camp Duty one day, I have a cool forest walk and the chance to use the internet on another day which is good. The other two days I’m not really doing much. I’m not particularly happy about this turn of events.

It doesn’t help when we go out this morning starting at 8 and having to get back by 10, which means we spend the last hour rushing back and not having time to stop to look at the myriad of sights and sounds that the jungle presents. I’m a little frustrated. This is further compounded by the fact that the bird survey saw lots of very cool stuff. Typical!

I cheer up a bit by applying some brain power for our BTEC work this afternoon followed by an evening night-walk in which a few of us venture into the jungle with torches. It’s undoubtedly eerie and the jungle takes on quite an ominous atmosphere at night. You definitely feel out of your comfort zone. I love it though – there’s a different crowd around during the night. The spiders for a start, They are big, mean-looking and hanging around in high numbers on either side of the trail. We also see a lazy Red-eyed Tree-frog who appears to be having a lie-in, an Eyelash Viper just waking up for the night, a new snake – Blunt-headed Brown Vine Snake, long and thin, and best of all my habit of shining the torch up into the trees at regular intervals, finally reveals a Two-toed Sloth hanging motionless above us.

My camera is pretty useless in the dark (or rather I don’t know how to best use it yet!) so Sam is managing some pretty decent pics. I’ll have to borrow them.

 

DAY 29

Feb 6^th 2010

Camp Duty

Great. Camp Duty, my favourite. At least I’ve got my roomie, Charissa, to keep me company – and direct cooking operations. It’s hot and sticky today and typically, the bird survey manages to see cool stuff that I’ve not seen yet. So again mood is not the best. There is the exciting news that one of the survey teams has found the first dead turtle of the year. Charissa and I are given the all clear to go with Leonie, one of the interns, and have a look. It’s a fair walk and it’s pretty hot. I pity the Jag walkers if the weather is like this tomorrow. The turtle is pretty gruesome but kind of exciting. It’s very early for them to be coming ashore, and clearly it was a very bad decision on its part as the jaguar(s) were waiting and it was brutally killed. There’s some photos but use viewer discretion as they are a bit gory.