Jonathan in Costa Rica

DAY 112

1^st May 2010

Nest check this morning with Jackie. It's very enjoyable and we have a good chat as well as seeing some fresh turtle hatchling tracks from the very early turtle nests, a couple of new species of bird including the beautiful Blue-chested Hummingbird and a Two-toed Sloth sunbathing in a beach edge tree, which makes Jackie happy as it's her first sloth! We also witness a short but brutal battle between two of the yellow crabs that live on the beach. The tussle lasts for a few seconds before the loser scuttles off minus a claw and the tips of two legs, which are left in a twitching pile.

Andres and I get the chance to head down the 'boundary trail' today which is a relatively short and often waterlogged trail that leads directly away from the beach. Andres is convinced that it will be good for reptiles and amphibians (or 'herps' as they are known in the trade. Not to be confused with the rather nasty disease, it in fact, stands for Herpetofauna, which means reptiles and amphibians.). Indeed, true to his word we soon stumble across a pair of Speckled Racers, long ground-dwelling snakes that feed mostly on frogs. Andres manages to get a hold of one of them which rears up and attempts to bite (it's not venomous unless you happen to be a frog). Can't blame it really, but for a 'harmless' snake it really is feisty. Eventually, Andres using his 'Irwinesque' skills gets a hold of it around the neck, allowing me to step in and touch it and examine the quite beautiful speckled pattern that gives it it's name. Further in, the ground becomes muddy and there are several pools and sure enough there are some tiny black frogs hopping around. I've seen these before but never had the expertise to identify them. Andres is a little way off so I make a grab for one of them and scoop it up in my hands. Holding my hands closed as tightly as I dare, I scamper through the trees towards Andres only to find a boggy pool in my way. It's too deep to wade so I clamber out onto a log in a half crouch because the canopy is low here. Still holding the frog. I can feel it moving in my hands as I hop onto another slightly wobbly log before leaping across to the other side. Triumphantly, I scoot between some small tree trunks towards Andres who has been watching my progress with a broad grin and shouts of encouragement. I'm about 2 metres away when the frog wriggles free and disappears into the leaf litter at my feet. Andres roars with laughter at my dejected expression before clapping me on the back and claiming that he'll make a herpetologist out of me yet and commending my overall efforts. He then proceeds to find a couple of cool lizards that I would probably never see otherwise, by looking under logs and at the base of trees, including the Tropical Night Lizard which is quite interesting due to the fact that it is parthenogenic (they are all female and self-fertilise). Good thing that never caught on with us humans. This trail is a bit tough going but there are rewards to those who look and in addition to all these reptiles we manage to find Tapir and Peccary tracks here. Hopefully, we will get chance to fully explore this trail a bit more and Andres is convinced that if we can do a night walk here, it would be well worth it, with good chances of Fer-de-lance and maybe Bushmasters.

DAY 113

2^nd May 2010

Good long walk today to retrieve some Jag cams, none of which seem to have caught anything other than the people who set them up! We still get to see a variety of jungle wildlife including Capuchin and Spider Monkeys, some nice dragonflies, frogs and toads, lizards, a snake, plus Tapir and small cat tracks and a new species of Wren on the beach edge. We are also treated to the sight of a beautiful Golden-hooded Tanager in the coconut plantation.

DAY 114

3^rd May 2010

Today is the community event in the village of San Francisco. I'm quite excited as that's where Charissa is doing her intern placement so I will get to see her again.

First of all we get to climb the Cerro, the only hill in Tortuguero. We get a bit disorientated in the thick forest around the base of it, but I manage to get to us to the top where the view is still worth the steep climb. There are still Strawberry Poison Dart frogs everywhere, and though the thick forest is hard for birding I can hear Toucans somewhere.

The actual community event is at the school where Charissa is teaching. She is very happy to see me and I am likewise. It's great to have a catch up with her and I do unfortunately find out that she has to head back home to South Africa a bit early, so I may not get to see her again after this. I resolve to try and arrange something before she goes. The remaining volunteers have come up with a play to perform for the children, who are a lovable bunch of scamps. I must admit I have my reservations due to the amount of prep time that they have put it, but it is quite a success. It tells the story of a turtle trying to find a safe place to lay her eggs. Ben, who speaks fluent Spanish, holds it all together perfectly as a very expressive narrator and Hans steals the show as the villainous turtle-egg poacher, and is so good even the dog barks at him. A quick chat with the kids at the end reveals they have a surprising amount of knowledge about the creatures that give Tortuguero its name. All in all a resounding success and a game of footie afterwards is the perfect way to end things.

DAY 115

4^th May 2010

Andres, Molly and I head out this morning first of all to do nest check. We are quite dismayed to find that three of the Leatherback nests appear to have been poached. It kind of brings it home that even though Tortuguero appears to be a well-protected and beautiful national park, it is still all to vulnerable to these kind of illegal activities. Costa Rica has its problems just like any other developing country despite it's vaunted reputation as a conservation paradise and more developed (compared to other Central American countries) infrastructure.

We also carry out the mammal transect which involves following a trail into the jungle away from the coast looking for signs of large mammals. It's a great trail to walk with a completely different feel to the coastal trail and as well as recording numerous tracks of Jaguar, Tapir, Peccary and Deer, we also a few snakes, one of which, a Speckled Racer, has caught itself a small toad for its lunch. Sadly, our morning ends with a long walk back to base in the torrential rain which starts almost as soon as we have finished our transect.

The afternoon is spent on base, which is all quiet as the volunteers have another long weekend, during which they are heading down to Puerto Viejo.

DAY 116

5^th May 2010

Nest check again this morning with Sarah. I don't mind as I enjoy the morning walk. I get to see a new bird, the oddly named Brown Noddy ( a type of tern) and a Red Brocket Deer. Thankfully, there has been no more poaching that we can detect.

I have a night walk tonight with Alex, a tall Canadian. He has hurt his toe so we take it fairly slowly. It's a good night. We work one green turtle and I get to count the eggs again, an experience that still hasn't lost its appeal for me. Lying face down in the sand with my hand under a turtle's 'bum' feeling the eggs tumble down my palm and into the nest is a pretty cool way to spend half an hour or so. She has a few deformities on the shell but it doesn't appear to have affected her egg laying ability and produces around 85 or so. During the rest of the night Alex and I chat about our respective travel experiences. He has had some pretty cool (and quite risky) adventures travelling West Africa, including a truly mammoth trek through some real wilderness along a nomadic trade route. On the downside tonight, I manage to lose my hat, which I only had because it was raining at the start of the night and it was good for keeping the rain out of my eyes. I'm a bit upset as it was a good hat.

DAY 117

6^th May 2010

Manage to get into town today and have a marathon internet session and speak to my parents. Very satisfying.

DAY 118

7^th May 2010

Nest check with Sarah again! We have to cover all these surveys in the absence of volunteers and I am getting to know the nests by memory now. It starts off sunny then gets a bit stormy out to sea. The view is amazing, the sea is a deep, deep green and the sky is black. We are also treated to the sight of a Laughing Falcon, a squirrel and the Noddy is still hanging about.

The new volunteers arrive today and all seems well. They are a fairly even mix of UK and US residents and they all seem to be a pretty friendly bunch with a couple of quiet ones.

DAY 119

8^th May 2010

I give my incidentals and snake presentation this morning. It goes pretty well even though its really hot and some of them newcomers are feeling the strain already. They will hopefully acclimatise. I take them for a quick walk around the garden to show them some common species and a vinesnake puts in an unusual appearance crawling along the doorstep of one of the dorms. There is also a fledgling Montezuma Oropendola flapping around underneath the colony out back of the base.

Elliot and I manage to find two more snakes in the hedge around base this evening, a blunt-headed treesnake and my first Cat-eyed Snake.

There is an ice-breaker games night tonight to try and get everybody to know one another. Its weird having so many new faces. On our phase just about everyone was staying for 10 weeks so we already knew each other well enough by this point. There definitely does seem to be a bit of a split between the existing and new vols, which I guess is perfectly natural and hopefully will resolve itself over time.

DAY 120

9^th May 2010

Nest check this morning with intern Ruth. She's very nice and we have a good chat about GVI, Costa Rica and life in general. There is an awesome sunrise but unfortunately there is also a bit of rain on the way back.

I'm on Night Walk tonight so I attempt to get some sleep using one of the recently installed hammocks on the shady beach edge. I've never really used a hammock before but I must admit that once you find the right position it is rather comfy, especially with the nice sea breeze washing over you and the sounds of the waves crashing. Despite this, however, I find it pretty much impossible to sleep. I find myself watching a trio of the funny yellow crabs that live on the beach squaring up to each other like the three-way shootout at the end of the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. They circle warily with their white claws held ready. One spineless (figuratively of course, because none of them actually have spines) individual decides to edge out of the fight and scuttle off leaving the other two to lock claws as though they are dancing a waltz. The fighting waltz doesn't last long and one quickly backs off and leaves the victor to gloat over his patch of sand.

The night walk is quite frankly awful. It starts to rain not long before we start and continues solidly for the first 5 miles of walking. It's pitch black and we are soaked through our waterproofs. I can't see my feet let alone a turtle and I am a little worried about our safety to be honest and it comes as quite a relief when Marlena, our patrol leader, decides we should stop after 3 hours plus of solid rain. It doesn't stop until morning.

DAY 121

10^th May 2010

I'm up reasonably early but I start to feel a bit rough – faint and nauseous. A couple of other volunteers have come down with a bit of a stomach bug and in an attempt to stop it spreading we are all banned from entering the kitchen. A wise precaution, I guess.

I end up doing a bit of computer work as I can't sleep during the day here no matter how hard I try.

A wildlife highlight of an otherwise quiet day is a Common Snaileater snake in the garden. It's a harmless but quite pretty snake with a marbled black and white effect going on.

DAY 122

11^th May 2010

I'm recovered today. I suspect just a bit of wear and tear. It's another quiet day but I do have another night walk to look forward to. Sadly, it decides to rain a lot today, but this has the effect of setting of the frogs in the field behind base. Well, never ones to pass up an opportunity, Elliot and I go to have a look with Stephen and volunteer John (other Jon) from South Wales. There is a small pond not far away surrounded by a few trees and some lillies around the edge. Tonight, it is frog heaven. The volume and variety of croaks is astounding and in a half hour investigation we discover 8 species of frog ranging from the tiny exquisite Tink and Hourglass frogs (no more than the size of the top section of my thumb) to huge Smilisca treefrogs (that could comfortably occupy most of my hand) and of course a couple of showy Red-eyes. The numbers are staggering and listening further out into the field and towards the forest edge – there must be hundreds upon hundreds out here. There are of course the party poopers, the enormous Smoky Jungle Frog who likes nothing more than to snack on other frogs can be seen lurking around the periphery of the pond and we also see two Northern Cateye snakes which are top frog-hunters. It's a wonderful little ecosystem here and I hope we can come back and maybe try and do some kind of frog census here on another good night.

Elliot and myself are on the night walk and whilst vision is clearly improved over the previous one we did and we are still all buoyed up from our frog encounter and chatting away for the first few hours, sadly the night turns out to be pretty disappointing with not even a turtle track to be found.

DAY 123

12^th May 2010

Sleep in today and nothing scheduled. Never ones to stay at base if we the chance to be elsewhere, Elliot and I head down the estuary track for a quick walk before dinner. It proves to be one of the best casual decisions we have made.

As we are nearing the estuary itself we hear a strange noise up ahead. I don't recognise it as any kind of bird that I know of yet – which is exciting, but as it turns out its not a bird at all. As we get close to the source of the noise we realise that it is a large treefrog. Clearly, it is a distress call because the next thing that we notice is that it is dangling from the jaws of a rather large Green Parrotsnake. The snake isn't venomous but its saliva does contain factors that cause profuse bleeding and maybe mild toxins suitable for use on small prey. This frog isn't small though – it's one of the big Mexican Treefrogs, the size of my hand, and its not going down without a fight. The frog has inflated itself as best it can to stop the snake swallowing it, but the snake is actually dangling the frog downwards from the branch it has anchored itself to, presumably to stop the frog getting a purchase on anything with its sticky foot pads. We have to stop and watch this struggle. We feel for the poor frog, but its a fascinating event and I manage to chronicle it with some photos and video footage. I'm not going to spoil the ending – watch the vid!!!

DAY 124

13^th May 2010

Visiting Tortuguero today to see Charissa for the last time in ages, as she is heading home to Durban, South Africa soon. Her brother, Jeremy has also come down to visit her before she leaves and they are going to go rafting again on their way back to San Jose in a week or so. We go for lunch at a local restaurant which serves a mean rice and beans with the best bit of chicken I've had for ages. I also get to meet a guy that Charissa and Jeremy met on the way to Tort, called Kendal who is originally from Limon, so has a rich Caribbean accent (but has Irish roots), but went to Uni in Panama, married an Italian and has lived in Europe for many years. I'm not quite sure what he's doing back here, but he's a nice guy and it rapidly develops into one of those afternoons where we have a few beers and it just starts feeling like I could hang out with these guys all day and evening. Sadly, I have to cut it short as I have to go and get the shopping for base, and plus they are leaving at 15:00 anyway. It's a sad farewell to Charissa. If you read this Cherry, it was an absolute pleasure to be your roomie and travel with you. You're a truly amazing person and I really hope than I'll be able to come and visit you in Durban one day. If you're ever in the UK when I'm there, please consider yourself under obligation to come and visit!!!

DAY 125

14^th May 2010

Back to reality again on base with an early morning nest check. It is raining on and off and I'm with intern Ben, who I get on with a lot. He is around my age, done quite a bit of travelling and is a very good wildlife photographer. It quickly becomes apparent that the Hummingbirds are out in force today. The male White-necked Jacobin, the stunning blue head and white belly stand out even in this dim light, is the dominant force here and there must be two or three territories every 200m or so. Beautiful as they are, they have the annoying habit of chasing off all the other species, and there are a lot of other species around today. We see the common Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Long-billed Hermit, Stripe-throated Hermit, Violet-crowned Woodnymph (another real stunning though it looks all dark in this light with a fabulous iridescent green throat patch) and best of all my first ever Band-tailed Barbthroat. These names probably don't mean too much too anyone but six types of hummingbird in a relatively short space of time plus the sheer numbers of Jacobins makes for a very memorable experience, but sadly there are no photos as they are fast little buggers and the rain made it almost impossible. The icing on the cake however, comes when we have reached Mile 14 or so and I manage to somehow spot a furry creature sat up in a tree just inside the forest. It's a great spot with clear visibility and the creature soon reveals itself to be one of the animals I have long wanted to see, a Northern Tamadua. A tree-climbing anteater. I'm so happy and Ben is equally pleased to see it. Though again light is bad, I manage to get some poor quality record photos as it moves along the branches searching for a termite nest (presumably). It's a beautiful and unique creature with quite a long body, a long head with a long tongue and a long prehensile tail. Long it definitely the word that springs to mind when describing it! It's fur is a rich golden-orange with a black back and shoulders that make him look like he's wearing a waistcoat like some kind of exotic Beatrix Potter character. It seems completely unaware of our presence and just makes his way through the branches at an easy pace. Perfect. Except for the rain. But you can't have it all! Nest check is not everyone's favourite activity but all you have to do is look around you enough and you can see what an amazing opportunity it is to be out in the National Park early in the morning with the chance to see these incredible creatures. It's all about perspective, I guess.

We get back to find out that the incidentals survey team have had some luck as well, with a Boa Constrictor in the forest and also a rather bedraggled young Crested Owl sat in the middle of the path. I think its a recent fledgling judging from the pictures. Molly, Elliot and the rest of their team actually took pity on the poor little soul and built him a shelter out of palm fronds. I really want to go and see if it is still there as it is a new species for me, and Elliot leads myself and Shelbi back there. Sure enough, 'Owlbert' as it is now known is still there and looking quite miserable though considerably dryer thanks to the seriously good quality shelter they constructed. I wonder if the parents are around at all but scanning the surrounding forest reveals nothing.

The rest of the day is quiet as I'm on duty staff, looking after things on base.

DAY 126

15^th May 2010

Bird survey time again. My favourite! Sadly, it's still a bit rainy and we see very little on our survey. The birds before and after it kind of eclipse it. The Sunbittern is still out in his usual spot making his mournful call. I wonder if there are any more here in the park or if he is doomed to be alone. On the return we see my first Mississippi Kite, a migratory bird of prey. So a nice morning still.

Owlbert was found dead this morning. Something predatory found him before he was able to dry out and start flying. Sad.

Bird firsts continue into the afternoon as I find myself chasing an active Mourning Warbler around the garden trying for a picture. It's a nice combination of grey head, yellow belly anf pink legs. It's also a migrant, presumably stopping off for a snack on its way to the USA.

I'm in a positive mood for tonight's night walk – I'm determined to break my dry spell! The light is better and the group is larger than normal with two volunteers joining me, Laura from the UK and John. We are with Arturo tonight which is also cool as we have a bit more in common to be able to talk about. Spirits are high and we keep a good level of chat up as we make our way up to mile 13. We are doing the longer distance walk tonight and dissapointingly we make it up to 13 without much of a sniff of a turtle (apart from a recently killed turtle which we most certainly get a sniff of!). Thankfully on the way back we are lucky enough to come across a nesting Hawksbill Turtle. She has unfortunately already started laying eggs so we can't count them. The Hawkys lay around double the amount of eggs that the Green and Leatherbacks do. They get their name from their beak like snout which helps them to feed on crustaceans. They also have a distinctive ridged shell edge and a much more streamlined profile than the Green turtle. They also leave a distinctive asymmetrical track as they move along using one flipper after another rather than both flippers at once (kind of like front crawl instead of breaststroke). They are Critically Endangered, just like the Leatherback, which is about as threatened as you can get whilst still having a just about viable population. So all in all its quite a privilege to be able to witness virtually the whole nesting procedure – we get to measure her (88.5cm) and tag her, and wait for her to cover her nest and head back into the sea. I find it still quite a magical sight and the rarity of the species adds that extra dimension to it. We don't see anything else tonight but it was worth every mile.

DAY 127

16^th May 2010

I find out today that Rich, our fearless leader, was on Eggheads (a UK quiz show) once. I used to see it a lot, and its pretty likely I once watched this episode! They didn't win and unfortunately Rich himself did not make it to the final (he refused to say who knocked him out), and his team did not win. And CJ is actually as big a tool as he appears on the show, apparently. I must try and find out if anyone is sad enough to have posted this footage on the internet anywhere....

Night walk again tonight. It starts promisingly with a huge Leatherback, the biggest I've yet seen, measuring at a whopping 166cm. Unfortunately, it has already begun laying its eggs so we don't get to count and it has already been tagged (I need to get some practical experience of tagging a turtle so that in the future we can lead turtle walks ourselves with out the presence of the CCC), but we still get to measure it and examine it for injuries or other notable physical abnormalities. She is pretty healthy and we leave her covering up her eggs to continue with out walk. After that we all get a bit tired and quiet and the night seems to get darker and spirits drop somewhat. Then right at the end we meet the other team with a smaller Leatherback that seems very indecisive about whether to nest or not. Some of the volunteers are feeling the strain so we split up and I take half back whilst half stay to work the turtle (although apparently it never does decide to nest).

DAY 127

17^th May 2010

It's quite a hot day today and after my lie-in the only thing I have to do is take a group out to look for things in the forest. There are lots and lots of lizards skittering around on the jungle floor but not much else. I was hoping that with the profusion of lizards there would be some things around that eat lizards i.e. snakes. But not today. Owlbert's sad little corpse is still strewn about the trail.

DAY 128

18^th May 2010

It's my day to walk the Mammal transect. This is high up on most people's list of favourite surveys. For those who may not remember, the transect follows a trail into the interior of the forest instead of along the coast parallel with the beach. This means you get a real difference in the habitat – more 'proper' jungle i.e. bigger trees, more open forest floor and different species of animal. We are looking for tracks, signs and if we are lucky, sightings of large mammals that use this area frequently. Unfortunately, because the ground doesn't drain so well, when you have rain recently like we have, large areas of the trail become standing pools of water. These areas are all the coast end where we are starting. Our team is four, three interns, Elliot, Siobhan and Ruth, and myself. We've all been looking forward to this so spirits are not dampened by having to wade for a bit. I actually find that the water running into my wellies actually quite refreshing. It is whilst wading through one of these pools that Elliot makes our first discovery of the day. He is on the opposite side of the trail to me and stops. 'Snake', he calls over his shoulder. 'I think its a Fer-de-lance'. He says it pretty casually given that he thinks he's looking at the most dangerous snake in Costa Rica. I wade over to him, attempting to make as little splashing as possible, and indeed he is correct. A Fer-de-lance is sat coiled up on the bank above the pool just off the trail under some overhanging branches. It's not moving and we can't see its head so I assume its asleep. The girls join us and we gather round (at a safe distance of course) and take some pictures. I can't deny it's a slightly more subdued first sighting of a Fer-de-lance than maybe I would have liked, but I'll take what I can get. Everyone is pretty happy with that and we haven't found a single track yet!

The forest floor dries out a little and gives us some nice mud and some Jaguar and Peccary (wild pig) tracks. I love the atmosphere of the forest here and my enjoyment is heightened my another exciting first. The Red-capped Manakin makes its home down here and has been seen by several other teams but I've never managed to see it whilst I've been down here. This time though one is perched bold as brass on a branch ahead. It's undeniably an extremely handsome bird with a jet black body offset by its bright red head and glaring white eye. It's the sort of bird that you don't have to be a birdwatcher to get excited about. They snap their wings rapidly when displaying – I've got recordings of it and it sounds like someone bashing two marbles together impossibly fast. Sadly, he doesn't feel like doing that for us today. We also managed to see some Eyelash Vipers, some lizards, monkeys and some other bird species and we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Somewhat worryingly the Fer-de-lance is not there on the way back causing us to be on our guard, but we are treated to a small freshwater Turtle instead.

It's not over yet as we still have to walk back 2 miles along the coastal forest path, which has more treats lined up for us. First of all, another bird first for me. Not one but two noisy pairs in quick succession of a rather cool-looking wren. It's got a slightly awkward chunky look with a big red-coloured head. It has a white mask of skin around its eye. It's quite a unique looking bird in all honestly, and what is the name that the imaginative chap that discovered it called it? The Song Wren. Honestly, it really deserves something a bit more exciting. One of them gladly perches out in the open (they are usually extremely secretive and skulk in the the thick undergrowth) with something dangling from his beak – I presume displaying for his partner. Admittedly, they are also making some crazy sounds, which is probably why they got their name, but still....

The last thing on what has been a very long but highly enjoyable walk is the latest entry in my snake vs. collection. Boa vs lizard. In all honestly its not much of a vs as the lizard pretty much breathes its last as we arrive. Very interesting though. Check out the video.

After our trekking this morning, I have little to do in the afternoon, but I am pleased to say that GVI are officially offering me a paid position should I want it. It's not hugely well paid but accomodation, food and certain transport arrangements are included (sadly, not flights though). Things are a little tight financially, but I can't let that stand in my way of actually getting a cool job for the first time in my life. I'm quite stoked to be honest.

DAY 129

19^th May 2010

I'm looking after things on camp this morning which is a good time to catch up on some work.

I have the afternoon off though, but choose to do an impromptu walk with Andres and intern Ben. My luck is holding up and we spend the first 20 minutes or so discussing snakes, in particular the Fer-de-lance. Andres is telling us about the difficulties of seeing snakes from the trail here due to the thickness of the coastal vegetation. Fate must be smiling on us along with Irony, as mere minutes after this conversation, I notice movement at my feet and look down to see a Fer-de-lance slithering past my foot (maybe a couple of inches away) off the trail edge. I am behind Andres and Ben and have no idea where it came from or why they didn't see it. I guess at that moment the point about why we wear wellies and why you must always be paying attention to where you are walking, is made exceptionally clear. I keep my head and as it doesn't attack me instantly, simply back away slowly whilst calling to the others. It curls up at the side of the track and Andres occupies its attention with his snake stick whilst Ben and I get some photos. It's not really aggressive in the slightest, though it is a small one at maybe a metre in length, though it certainly does look mean. Excitement levels are high after this encounter and we also manage to find a small Boa and a cool Laughing Falcon when we continue. Andres also shows us how to catch small Anole lizards in order to identify them by examining their dewlap (a coloured flap of skin under the throat which they use for display). It's easier said than done and I don't have any success today. Unbelievably, on the way back to base and quite close to where the forest ends, another Fer-de-lance slithers past my foot this time maybe a foot away. Again Andres and Ben are in front of me and don't see it. Thankfully, again its a small one and thanks to Andres' skills we can circumvent it and take some more pics before it slithers away. Again, it is not particularly aggressive. Andres makes the very good point that the main reason venomous snakes don't want to bite you is that it takes some 30 odd days to make a full dose of venom. If it wastes it, wasting you (a target too big for it to eat) then that's another 30 days without a meal. It makes sense. This apparently, is also why non-venomous snakes will bite more often if handling or threatened. They have no venom to use up so hence are unafraid to bite as much as possible if they have to.

DAY 130

20^th May 2010

Its day off today and most of the volunteers are off to Tortuguero but its my turn to stay on base. I head out for a walk in the forest with Marcus, from Northern Ireland who is remaining on base today. It's a good walk despite some rain and we see a new bird for the area, the rather handsome Orange-billed Sparrow.

The two-week volunteers are leaving today. It barely seems like any time at all to spend in a place like this and its a shame to see them go. One of them, Nick from the US, is going to follow my blog and left me a book about zombies to read, so here's a shout out to him.

I'm also on night-walk tonight. It's a really good night with great visibility. The trouble is that we keep missing the turtles and finding their tracks. We are also surprised to see Jag-tracks that are so fresh they must have been made before we started our walk at 8:00 – maybe even during the afternoon! There are also some hatchling tracks from a nest that we have marked. We will be able to excavate the nest now to determine the success rate of that nest, but not tonight. Finally, we get lucky and find a Leatherback. Sadly, she has already started laying eggs so we can't count them. I do get my first shot at tagging a turtle though, which is pretty straight forward.

DAY 131

21^st May 2010

Lie-in in the morning and start reading World War Z that Nick left me. Its really good actually. Its written in the style of a collection of interviews with people from all over the world that survived the zombie apocalypse, so familiar to anyone that has seen a George A. Romero film. But for such a subject matter the book is actually extremely well researched and written and feels very realistic. It's played completely straight without a trace of Zombieland style humour at all. Recommended.

I join Andres for a walk along the waterlogged boundary trail this afternoon. We don't have much luck with finding snakes which is our primary mission but its a good walk despite volunteer Alex repeatedly getting stuck in the mud! We eventually find some eyelash vipers which keeps everyone happy.

DAY 132

22^nd May 2010

Nice walk this morning with some nice hummingbirds, wrens and trogons to be seen. Quiet afternoon doing a small beach clean and forest walk. Notable sightings are the biggest Eyelash Viper I've ever seen coiled in the dangling Heliconia flowers over the trail and extensive crocodiles tracks in the sand around the river mouth. Its funny how the Eyelash Vipers actually look almost cute when they are smaller, maybe the combination of eyebrows and big eyes, and then when they get bigger they just look really mean.

I lead a night walk up the north trail tonight but nothing out of the ordinary tonight unfortunately.

DAY 133

23^rd May 2010

Nest check this morning. It's quite interesting with a sighting of a whopping 143 Pelicans flying north along the surface of the ocean (Jag walk who are out today and ahead of us made the count), and a recently predated Hawksbill turtle. The tracks tell the story of this unfortunate turtle that came up to nest, presumably successfully before making its way back down towards the ocean, where it was caught by the jaguar and dragged back up the beach where it was dispatched. It's sad to see a critically endangered species killed like this, but jags unfortunately don't take this into account when looking for their dinner. On the positive side, hopefully it managed to lay its eggs before meeting its end and on a strangely symbolic note, there are hatchling tracks from a nest maybe only a few metres down the beach from the 'murder' site. So we have the death of one turtle and the beginning of many new turtle lives all happening in the same night on the same stretch of beach. Kind of cool when you think about it.

I'm tired today. It's getting to one of those times when the weariness catches up with you. But I feel good in myself. I'm in better shape than I've been for many years. I've lost weight – I don't know how much but my shorts and trousers are starting to hang off me and I'm down another two belt notches.

Sarah and I go for a forest night walk in the rain tonight. Surprisingly, this seems to bring the arachnids out in their droves and we see a big black Tarantula, a giant whip-scorpion at least 2 or 3 times the size of any others I've seen, and a moderately sized scorpion.

DAY 134

24^th May 2010

My weariness is not helped today by doing the 9 mile Nest check walk again today with Rich. I do enjoy the walk though, a lot of people are not fond of them, but I think they are a great opportunity to see wildlife if you can be bothered to look. Today we see two Red Brocket Deer, one of which poses incredibly well for us and does not seem bothered by our presence in the slightest. I also see a few hummingbirds, though they are not the most active today, and a flock of White-crowned Parrots.

A lot of the current 5 week volunteers have made a trip to Panama today for their long weekend. Seems a bit too much trouble to me to go all the way there for a couple of days and then back. Why not do it at the end of your stay with GVI? I hope they all come back.

I get a bit of rest in the afternoon and then I'm out on a turtle walk tonight with Tim from Oxford. It turns out to be a really nice night with great visibility, which is always good for the spirits and Tim and I end up chatting for much of the time. Sadly, there are no turtles to be seen tonight and I pretty much reach my physical limit, having walked something like 16 miles today and 9 yesterday. I'm not complaining in the slightest though.

DAY 135

25^th May 2010

There were some poached nests this morning, which is annoying as it must have happened sometime between 1:00 and 5:00 as I was out on the beach during the night and the nest check from 5:00 onwards. Two of the nests poached were marked by us so that's some more data lost. It is disheartening, to say the least.

Some lucky lucky people got the surprise of their lives today. The Mammal Transect team were heading up the beach to reach Mile 15 when they saw the monstrous form of a Leatherback on the beach ahead. Alive and well, she had simply decided to nest close to dawn and as a result given the team a great opportunity to get some awesome pictures of her disguising her nest and heading back into the sea. Andres was on nest check following behind some half a mile or so on the beach and sprinted all the way to just about manage to see her disappear into the surf. I was laid in bed recovering from my nocturnal exertions and heard the radio interchange to let people know. Sadly, even if I was in a fit state to go see it – it was too far away from base. I will borrow some pics to post though as they are too good to miss. (In case anyone is wondering, and I can't remember if I would have said this earlier in my blog, we are not allowed to take pictures on the beach at night during turtle walks).

A new member of staff arrived yesterday, though I didn't get chance to speak much to her. She is called Marta (roll that 'r'!!) and is from Barcelona. Her area of interest and expertise is in Marine Biology.

We get given a huge fresh fish by one of the guys who works the neighbouring coconut farm. It's a massive yellow-fin Jack and those of us left on base set about gutting and de-scaling it and interns Ben and Siobhan cook up some fried marinated fish pieces with sweet potato mash and a great chilli, garlic and ginger sauce. It tastes divine.

DAY 136

26^th May 2010

Nest check with Marta and Tucker this morning. We are showing her the ropes in our daily ritual of walking up the beach checking the nests and making sure all measurements from any new nests the night before are accurate. We see a few hummingbirds and another deer, as well as a bunch of White-throated Capuchin monkeys eating fruits in the trees on the edge of the beach. My body really is taking a pounding this week and all my muscles are aching by the end of this walk.

We get given another fish today!! This time the rest of the volunteers have gone to Tortuguero for their long weekend so its just the staff. Luckily, the fish isn't as big, but we still get some lovely big fish steaks that taste amazing!

DAY 137

27^th May 2010

Day in Tortuguero today trying not to spend money that I don't have. An interesting sighting whilst waiting for the boat is that of a large blue land crab scuttling along with a dead baby caiman dangling from its claws. Gruesome!

DAY 138

28^th May 2010

I'm out on nest check again this morning and my body still hasn't recovered from the last one. I have the Jag Walk coming up this week and I'm worried that I won't be up to it..

Nest Check is OK though. I get to chat with Molly, who is now also coming back next phase, which is great. We also see a few birds, including a new type of Flycatcher. The most interesting find though is a hatching nest of Iguanas which come bursting up out of the sand from their concealed nest chamber. Unfortunately, a crab has got in their and is trying to grab one of the little lizards. Now, I know I'm supposed to be an impartial biologist, but I can't just sit there and watch. I grab the crab by his white claw and hoist him out of the hole and throw him to one side, where he scuttles away unharmed, to find some food without its own guardian angel. The lizards aren't particularly grateful and scurry off into the vegetation on the beach edge without so much as a thank you.

When I get back all sweaty and tired, I voice my concerns about my current fitness to Rich, who, with Sarah, kindly decides to go easy on me this coming week and takes me off the Jag Walk. I still want to do the next one though.

DAY 140

29^th May 2010

Lazy morning today waiting for volunteers to arrive back on base. They are late and we don't know why.

Still no sign by the time the afternoon comes around and Sarah and I take out intern Ruth and new staff member Marta to excavate some hatched turtle nests. We do this to determine the success rate of the nests. We can see how many hatched and how many didn't make it, how many were lost to fungus infestations and so on. There is also the chance that there may still be some hatchlings still left inside. Basically we have to excavate two days after we see any hatchling tracks on the beach and when a nest reaches a certain point after the due date of it (each species has a pretty accurate date from the date of nesting). It should be really interesting and it will be the culmination of the whole turtle process that we go through.

The first nest is a hour or so away from base along the hot beach. I chat to Marta along the way, who I am getting on well with. She is helping me with my Spanish, though being from Northern Spain she speaks with that lisping accent that is absent from Latin America, soI have a little trouble with that. We chat in Spanish to the best of my ability for a little while. Its the sort of thing I really need to do more of and hopefully this will be a regular thing.

We have already marked up the nests that due to hatch imminently and they have been reported as hatched by the nest check team. There is a small depression in the sand where the little hatchlings have emerged, and this is where we dig. I am excavating the first one and I eagerly start digging away. The first thing I encounter is a dead hatchling oozing with maggots. Yuk! Excitingly, next is a live hatchling. It is absolutely exquisite, a miniature replica Leatherback and about 1/100^th of the size of an adult. I name him (I have no idea what sex it is) Larry and we wash him off with some seawater and place him on the sand away from his dead brethren. If he starts making his way down the beach we will keep an eye on him and let him go. If not we will rebury him as he is not ready to go yet.

In the meantime, I have started removing eggshells and unhatched eggs from the nest chamber. There is a lot to remove and several more smelly, maggot infested corpses make this slightly unpleasant, although there is another live hatchling in there, this one obviously not ready to go quite yet. After all the eggs have been excavated we categorise them and count them, noting hatched eggs and the stages of any unhatched eggs. We do this by cracking open unhatched eggs and examining the contents. These can range from horrible spongy fungus to almost fully formed embryos. These full embryos are not far off the little fellow on the sand next to me and it is quite sad to see them get so close to life and not being able to make that final step. Then its all back into the nest chamber and cover it over again. The live ones are buried in shallow sand nearby so hopefully predators don't get them and maybe they'll have enough energy to get to the sea when they are ready.

The next nest is very similar and we pull out only one live hatchling this time. Whilst we finish off counting all the eggs, she starts to pull herself down towards the sea (I names her Loretta). It is incredible to see the little creature pulling itself over the sand, battling across a deep human footprint and a tire tread from the MINAE ranger's quadbike, in it's quest to reach the mysterious ocean. Of course, I can't resist adding this to my growing collection of wildlife film footage and actually end up kneeling in the surf to get the view of the turtle cresting the final bank and battling into the surf. It is washed back a couple of times, but eventually is swept out into the waves, where all we can see before she disappears is a small black speck bobbing in the water. It's a magical moment and a memory I will treasure for a long time.

The volunteers have finally returned when we arrive back at base covered in sand but happy. I find out that I am going to have to take Shelbi to San Jose tomorrow as she has an infected foot and needs to go to hospital. Well it has been a while since I've experienced the delights of good ol' SJ so I guess that's OK. I'll get to use the internet at least.

New updates. Still not quite up to date though. Been really busy...

 

DAY 102

21^st April 2010

The volunteers are all off at first light today to go and do their rafting trip. I do hope they have a good time. I have certainly been 'bigging it up' enough!

It's a nice quiet day on base and I do a little bit of work that Stephan wants doing, a bit of birding and some reading. The former Country co-ordinator, Dave, was a Terry Pratchett fan and our library has more than its fair share of Discworld novels so I am going through a phase of them at the moment. I have to say that it is good to have some quiet time around base.

DAY 103

22^nd April 2010

I do nest check this morning with Stephen. Always good to get an 8 mile stroll down the beach before breakfast. It gives me a good opportunity to talk to Stephen about everything that has happened this phase and to make some constructive suggestions. We also see some nice hummingbirds and a fresh dead Green Turtle from the previous night. Despite us checking on the way up and back again, the Jaguar doesn't appear to be around this morning.

When we return its off to Tortuguero to stock up on supplies and to use the internet for the first time since I got back to Costa Rica. Unfortunately, though I do get to speak to my sister and nephew, I get cut off by a power cut whilst speaking to my mum. Typical!

We get some chicken and wine and treat ourselves to a nice meal tonight. I think we all need a bit of a treat. We also watch Ice Age 3 on Stephen computer. A good bit of light entertainment.

DAY 104

23^rd April 2010

There are a lot of serious discussions today about our projects. On a lighter note, Rich takes me out to do some boat training, which is something I've wanted to do for a while. It's quite simple to get the basics and to drive out on the open water and we practice some U-turns and basic manoeuvres. It's a great feeling and will be another string in my bow. I also receive some further training in the use of a machete. Some good stuff to put on my CV there.

The volunteers return from their rafting trip today. One more volunteer has decided not to return. We're kind of getting used to it by now. Thankfully, everyone else seems to be in a better frame of mind now and the overall feeling is positive and I enjoy hearing about their adventures in the Rio Pacquare and looking at their pictures.

It's my turn at the Turtle night walk tonight. One of the quiet Canadian brothers is the volunteer and Arturo is our patrol leader. We manage to work a Green Turtle, get eaten alive by sandflies (little biting b*st*rds that get in your ears and under your clothes) and Arturo (he's from Chile but was educated in the UK and US and speaks perfect English and Spanish) and I end up talking at great length about comics and films, you know Star Wars, Batman, Marvel, all the good stuff. It certainly makes the time fly by (except maybe for our volunteer who we constantly apologise to for boring to death with our geek talk)

DAY 105

24^th April 2010

My 2^nd night walk in a row tonight and its a good one. I'm with Jackie, one of my favourite volunteers purely because she's so cheery and always brightens up any situation. I get to have a good chat with her about the ways things have been and it's good to hear that despite all of the negative stuff, she is having a great time. Our patrol leader is Santi from Spain and we get to have a good chat with him too and find out about past work he's done with turtles and swap some Spanish and English words. Best of all we get to work 4 turtles! Well we do the full nest marking and egg counting for two Green turtles. I actually get to count the eggs of one of them which is my first time, as we have to give the volunteers priority. It's pretty cool to be laid face down behind a turtle with your hand underneath feeling the eggs drop down and roll across your hand. We count them with a 'maria' click-counter and she manages to lay about 80 eggs. Hard to think of any sort of experience that compares to this! We also see two huge Leatherbacks that unfortunately have both already finished laying their eggs and are in the process of disguising the nests. It means that we can't count the eggs and don't need to mark the nest, but that we can tag and measure the carapace length of them (between 1.5 and 1.7m) – which isn't easy. Their front flippers must be getting on for a metre long and pack quite a punch if happen to be in the way of a backwards scoop of sand. We get to watch one of them return to the sea and I comment to the others that we are witnessing a process that has remained largely unchanged for millions of years – we're pretty much watching a prehistoric reptile performing an ancient ritual. As I say this, the vastness of this statement hits me and I fall quiet watching the immense reptile slide silently down the beach to be swallowed up by the waves. I feel quite profoundly moved by it all. Truly, a moment to remember.

DAY 106

25^th April 2010

Very exhausted this morning. Two night walks in a row kind of does that to you.

I take out some volunteers for a short walk in the afternoon down to the estuary. It actually turns out to be a pretty good walk with some colourful and noisy birds, a couple of new species of lizard (including the weird and wonderful looking Casque-headed Lizard) and a small freshwater turtle in Kingfisher Creek down at the estuary. All the volunteers with me have a good time and again the positive mood is continuing.

DAY 107

26^th April 2010

Kind of lost track of what happened this day...

DAY 108

27^th April 2010

It's my first Bird Survey as leader without another staff member present. We are going down Cano California, which is the longest and most productive canal that we survey. It's a lovely clear but cool morning and the canal surface is like a mirror. Perfect conditions for canoing. Straight away we are treated to the duck-like Sungrebe (with a bright red beak to indicate they are in breeding season), the huge Ringed Kingfisher and numerous herons. The canal is pretty wide although few boats use it thankfully, and its very scenic. We are also treated to non-survey species in the form of some calling Toucans, flocks of noisy Parrots wheeling overhead and some Spider Monkeys chattering away from the riverside trees. We are also witness to the unusual sight of some swallows mobbing a heron which we presume has got too close to their nest. The size difference is considerable and its a bit like watching the biplanes harassing King Kong, except this Kong can't lay a hand on them. Eventually, it gets fed up and goes to look for another place to fish.

The highlight comes about halfway along when I just happen to look behind me and see a large dark bird fly across the canal. I can't be sure but I stop and pilot the canoe back towards where it landed. I'm thinking it may be the rarest of all the herons here, the almost-mythical Agami Heron (you may remember my first sighting last phase of a young one. They are rarely seen as it frequents rivers and creeks only in dense forest and little is known about them, particularly here in Tortuguero). We stop by the dense riverside trees and can see something moving but cannot get a clear view. After waiting a few minutes I reluctantly have to continue onwards – only for it to fly out again back across the canal behind us. This time I get a better look and I'm sure it's an Agami. Off we go back across the canal and I bring the canoe up to a mudbank under the overhanging branches, and Elliot our most adventurous volunteer hops out to see if he can find it. I can see him creeping up the bank and looking around an open area under the trees. He beckons excitedly and I can't resist also hoping out. There's a small creek just over the bank and sure enough, fishing about there is a young Agami Heron. The disproportionally long beak is the give-away because unfortunately the young bird is mostly brown (the adult is truly spectacular. Google it!). I make sure the canoe is secure and then get everyone else out of the canoe to have a look. It's a bit muddy but everyone is eager to see it and the heron is quite obliging so everyone gets a look. It perhaps isn't as spectacular as an adult, but everyone is quite excited simply due to the rarity value of it. It's great to see everyone smiling and enjoying themselves. This is rapidly shaping up to be one the best days I've had for sometime. It doesn't stop there as we also see some courting Tiger-herons (two males standing next to one another giving these deep throaty growls with their heads held high, whilst the female looks on, presumably to choose between them. It's neck and neck as we leave with no decision having been made), an Amazon Kingfisher and a Sungrebe actually carrying two young chicks on her back. What a great day!

DAY 109

28^th April 2010

Lost track of this day too..

DAY 110

29^th April 2010

Day off today. All of the volunteers get to go to Tortuguero. I get up to a few chores around base and go for a short walk with Andres, looking for snakes without much success.I have a night walk but we only see a couple of turtles returning to sea.

DAY 111

30^th April 2010

Sleep in and then walk in the afternoon. We head north along the jungle trail and almost straight away we run into a cool snake. I am in the lead and all of a sudden there is a commotion behind me and I turn to find a large brown snake with a yellow belly sat in the middle of trail facing away from me and looking straight at Siobhan, our Irish volunteer. Luckily, nobody freaks out too much and I reassure everyone that it's not venomous. It slowly makes it way off into the forest and I manage to get a few pictures of it. Andres, who is leading another group that we have just split off from, arrives after I radio him hurriedly, just a tad too late to be able to catch or make a positive ID on it. Thankfully, my photos are adequate to identify it back at base (Brown Forest Racer, not the most exciting name). This sets the tone and I manage to find the first sloth of the phase relaxing up in a tree and we also find a rather cool Boa Constrictor crossing the trail in front of us. Everyone is obviously pretty happy with this and Siobhan delights in telling everyone back at base about how she was almost eaten by a snake!

First internet access for three weeks!
Here's Granada and the return to Jalova base camp in Tortuguero. It's going too smoothly but I'm stll having fun!

 GRANADA

DAY 84

3^rd March 2010

We are off to Granada today via Managua. It's a pretty uneventful trip in the coach and we arrive at Granada just before nightfall and check into a pleasant looking but small hostel with murals of Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix and Bob Marley on the walls (and of course Che Guevara). Then we have a quick guided tour of the town centre where we are located. The hub is a large plaza filled with trees and benches with the cathedral as the main focal point along one side. The architecture in general is described as 'colonial' which basically means it looks like Spain. It's very nice and gives the city a very different feel to anywhere else that we have been in Central America yet. We have lunch along a cobbled pedestrianised street lined with cafes and restaurants with outside tables, again another very European feature. Our food is delicious and though more expensive than Esterli, is still pretty cheap and excellent value.

DAY 85

4^th March

We only have one full day in Granada so we have to make the most of it. I go for breakfast with Charissa and Charlotte quite early. We are recommended a place called Kathy's Waffle House which we duly search out. The streets are still quiet and in the daylight you can fully appreciate the style of architecture here and there is a great mix of colours along each street. Kathy's is a lovely corner restaurant with a covered porch that gives nice out onto the quiet streets. We are also treated to the sight of some nice Crimson-fronted Parakeets that land on a nearby antenna mast and seem quite at home in the city. Breakfast is superb – I can't resist the Gallo Pinto with bacon, scrambled eggs and a big thick slice of real toasted bread! Amazing!

Charissa and Charlotte are going to hire bikes and ride around today which sound like fun but I'm watching the pennies and decide to go for a walk down along the lake shore and explore (Granada is on the shore of Lake Nicaragua which I think is the largest in Central America?). We stop off at the cathedral passing the wretched beggars gathered in the entrances and sit for a while. It's quite a plain cathedral in all fairness and looks quite modern. There's no real interior decoration other than bright pastel paintwork. It's well maintained though and you can climb the belltower – although I never get around to that. The girls find it quite peaceful here and so do I up to a point, and then I get the same feeling that I get in every church – uncomfortable, kind of like I'm gatecrashing someone else's party? I don't know why. It's not anyone is actually judging me or requiring me to repent or anything, I just feel like I don't belong there. Anyway, I'm not going to debate religion here and moving swiftly on I head back to the hostel to change into shoes and get some gear together for my walk. I return to find out that whilst I was gone Jeremy found one of the staff rooting through my bag. Nothing is taken and we kick up a bit of fuss, but there is nothing we can really do. She comes up with some sort of story that there was another guy trying to take my bag and she caught him and was checking to see if anything was missing blah, blah.... Luckily we have locked all our valuables in a locker using a padlock that Charissa has bought. After all that fuss has died down I leave the others and head off down to the lake shore. It's a straight down a long road past a picturesque church and a hotel with a bunch of horse-drawn taxi-carriages which I would urge any ethical person to actively avoid using because of course, as there as are no animal welfare laws here, the poor beasts are pretty much skin and bones.

The lake is huge and a long pier juts out into it. A small boat playing loud reggae music is docked at the end of it. Clouds of Swallows throng around the shore skimming the surface of the water. There aren't many people around and the reason for this becomes abundantly clear. To the south as I follow the road that runs along the lake shore is a park area. It is thronging with people – there are quite literally thousands. It's some kind of 'party in the park' type thing and every square inch of shade is packed full of Nico families having picnics. Moving between them must be every hawker in Granada selling everything from food to sunglasses to inflatables. I briefly consider buying an inflatable blue dinosaur but decide against it for practical reasons. Would have been funny to turn up back at the hostel with it though. There are lots of people swimming in the lake which I'm not sure is a good idea given the general foul smell of the water here. I walk through the crowds for what must be at least 40 minutes without seeing another white face. I get a few looks and comments but generally people aren't bothered by this gringo wandering through their party. After this bustle I follow the road as it turns inland slightly through some lovely dry woods towards a supposedly picturesque spot called Puerto Asese. The dry woods prove to be fantastic for birding and I get to finally see multiple guardabarrancos (Turquoise-browed Motmot), the Nico national bird, the ever-spectacular White-throated Magpie-Jays, my first White-necked Puffbirds (Kind of like kingfishers that live in woods and hunt on lizards and small mammals) and more. Puerto Asese is nice. There's a marina and a couple of expensive waterside restaurants (by Nico standards of course). I wander around birding for a while and taking in the relaxed vibes. There's an impressive view towards the volcanoes to the south and the various islets in the lake that you can get tours around. It's a nice spot and the only downside is that I have managed to get a bit sunburnt. Should have bought my sun-block so that I could reapply. Well worth the 5km walk. Although now I have to do it back again! The woods are still great (in fact it is the return trip where I see the Puffbirds!) and the park is still crowded although there many people that are looking worse for wear and staggering around. I also see a large group of policia frisking a drug-dealer (all dressed in black with shades – how obvious can you get?) non too gently.

It's been a really great day and we top it off by having some really nice local style food in the restaurant next to the hostel.

DAY 86

5^th March 2010

Travelling back to San Jose.

It's another long-trip with some crappy film about a Chimp Secret Agent and lots of waiting about at the border crossing.

We meet up with Helen and Leonie at Gaudy's in San Jose. Helen is working in the Osa Peninsula now with another similar organisation called Frontier and is loving it. Leonie is travelling around a bit and waited around to see us before she heads over to the Pacific for some lounging on a beach. It's great to see them and catch up. Then unfortunately comes the inevitable parting of the ways with Jeremy and Lydia who are staying elsewhere and leaving early – Lydia for her placement also in the Osa (far south of Costa Rica) and Jeremy is off to climb the highest peak in Costa Rica, Chirripo. I've come to regard both of them very highly and I wish them both very well and hope to stay in touch with them. I think they both have bright futures ahead of them.

RETURN TO TORTUGUERO
 

I'm a bit behind with this but these are the last entries of my first phase in Costa Rica. I'm currently on a Spanish School course in the north of Nicaragua before returning to Tortuguero next week. More to come on Nicaragua next.

DAY 51

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.