The perfect job for the perfect time

There was a point in my life where I had a determined plan of going into either the Peace Corps or law school and from there having the ease of being able to pick the right job for me.

Although neither of those things happened, I didn't expect to find myself with the job that I just naturally came across- truly just reinforcing the idea to me that everything happens for a reason.

After working a summer with Rustic Pathways, I immediately felt drawn to work for the company full time. I think it was a combination of the Costa Rica team, the job description, and the variety in the position, that attracted me. This past fall, I found out I would be the newest addition to the full-time staffers that call Rustic Pathways their lifestyle, because that is what it is.

I work for a company that organizes student travel, community service, and education programs. And so naturally, travel, community service, and education become apart of my life (as if it wasn't before). I spend January-April visiting schools, talking to families, and explaining what we do to guidance counselors. Already I have lived in a company paid apartment in NYC and have traveled the past few weeks through the Southeast. May-August I am preparing and overseeing summer programs in Costa Rica, specifically Volcano and Rainforest Service Base program that requires me to live at a large property near the Arenal volcano that is equipped with a fresh water pool, soccer field, ponds, an amazingly sweet cleaning lady and restaurant-catered meals, while I get to give back to the local elementary schools and communities. From September-December I share a house with one of my Costa Rican co-workers and two other people in San Jose, working at our Costa Rican office- making life filled with weekend beach trips and salsa dancing. This makes my job perfect. Perfect for me, perfect for the stage in my life that I am at.

Being in a new role every three months is something that I appreciate so I don't get bored of my job. Traveling and living internationally for my job is something that I appreciate, because is always something I have loved doing. And, working for an international travel company, opens up my opportunities of travel and exposes my to co-workers who are even more well-traveled than I am!

It is hard remember I am in the U.S. after spending most of the past 3 years with no more than a month in North Carolina. So, as I am horrible at reaching out to my friends and family out of habit due to not having the ability, I will make sure to keep updates on here, so that everyone can stay up to date with what I am doing.

Toucan Research

I have only briefly explained what is I have been doing over the past couple months with the toucan research. So I think it is important to understand that there are multiple on-going projects to fully cover the thesis that the PhD student is doing. The concept is that toucans that live in forested fragments will disperse more seeds creating a more bio-diverse and successful forested area in their territory. So, the study argues that farm lands will benefit from leaving small fragments of forest on the property.

So, I have helped with the seed trials- understanding how seed consumption affects the toucans digestion/dispersal.

The main amount of my time has been spent tracking the toucans- understanding where the toucans spend their time, how far they travel, etc. This is done by capturing the toucans in different areas via canopy nets and placing transmitters on their backs. Then, we can follow the birds using telemetry equipment.

Toucans roost on branches at night, but Aracaris sleep in cavities. So, I did a lot of work checking all the known cavities one night a week to make sure the respective bird was in their hole for the night, and I also spent a good amount of time trying to find the cavities of the forest Aracaris, where it was more difficult to figure out where they sleep. Pretty much it involves tracking at night, walking in the direction of the strongest signal and trying to pinpoint the one tree in the forest that has the highest signal. This is helpful because we can see where the birds sleep in relation to their 'territory' that we find them spending most of their time.

We have seed traps- to collect regurgitated seeds to see if they turn into viable plans.

And, we did error trial studies- to understand how accurate the equipment and people are at find the birds and gathering the tracking information.

In general, my days are 6am to 6pm, broken into 4 3hour shifts. One shift a day I have off for a 3 hour rest. Some days, if I'm doing cavity night, I have more time off during the day and instead work until 8 or 9pm. One night, I came across a decently large, venomous snake in the middle of the trail. And with fer-de-lances being known for their aggressiveness, I just decided to turn back, cutting my night short. But, of course, that wasn't the terrifying experience of the night, it was seeing the LARGEST cockroach I have EVER seen in my life. It was definitely half the size of my hand, long-ways, and with my luck, I had to walk RIGHT past it. The work in general involves a LOT of walking- I'm talking about days where I may walk 20km, but it is all done outdoors so I enjoy it…plus I have had the opportunity to hold toucans and aracaris!

Between Love and Research

As I previously mentioned, I was able to spend a week at a Toucan rescue center that has come to harbor other animals as well. When I track toucans in the wild, it typically involves lots of walking and not a lot of opportunity to see the toucans. They are either blocked because of tree cover or once we DO see them, we try to keep a distance so that we don’t scare them, causing them to move unwillingly, skewing our tracking data. So, working with captive toucans was a great chance to get close to them, interact with them, and even watch their behaviour. 

The idea of the rescue ranch is to create active breeding programs for the species of toucans in Costa Rica, so most of the toucans are paired up. A pair of Emerald Toucanets are successful breeding partners and have had a few nests in the past. Toucans, Araçaris, and Toucanets all live in cavities, holes in trees, so each enclosure is provided with a stump and a dug out hole for nesting. I was excited to be able to conduct the seed trials on the Emerald Toucanets, because that is a species I haven’t seen in the wild, nor is it a species that we use for tracking in the regular research.

We included them in the seed trial to test a theory that the small the bird, the quicker the seeds will pass through their system. And, Toucanets are the smallest of the Toucan family. So, I entered the pair’s enclosure with various berries in hand to run the trial.

The trial is done by giving each bird a ‘cherry’, a ‘berry’, and then a ficus fruit. A stop watch is started after the ‘cherry’ is swallowed and then it is a waiting game. You watch and record the bird behaviour, if it is regurgitating the seeds, if it is defecating the seeds and once you have at least 2 seeds from the ‘cherry’, the seed from the ‘berry’ and there is no more ficus seeds in the poop, the trial is done. 

The female toucanet which is more familiar with people ate all of the berries from my hand almost immediately. So, I turned to give the male the berries as well and realized he was going to be a lot more difficult. I would hold out a fruit so it was obvious to him, put it in a location easy for him to get, and then would go stand by the female to make sure she wouldn’t swoop in and take the fruit before him, because then my trial would be messed up. After 20 minutes of picking up dropped fruit and task-fully re-placing them, the male had only eaten half a cherry and the berry. Too much time had passed to give me accurate results, so I scrapped his trial, no longer paying him any attention. But, as I sat there watching the female and occasionally glancing at the male, I got to see their true interaction.

The female would stay near me, seeing me as her free meal ticket. The male would fly to her, and she would fly away just before he would land next to her. So, he would follow, and she would move again. It was like she was always a step in front of him, and quite literally wanted nothing to do with him. He would occasionally pick at a piece of papaya in their fruit bowl and eat it. And then, as if to apologize for whatever he did to make her irritated with him, he took her a piece of fruit. He would make a low clicking sound, and she would greedily take the piece of fruit and swallow it. As soon as it was down, he would fly away, giving her space. Then a few minutes later, he would do it again. I chuckled to myself at the similarity of the behaviour between them and humans. An hour and 15 minutes in to the trial, I was almost done. I was just waiting for the female to regurgitate the berry seed and have a ‘clean’ defecation. When all of the sudden I saw the male regurgitate his berry...whole. not just the seed. The whole berry. That in itself is interesting, but I realized what he was about to do a second too late. Just as I thought, he flew straight to the female. And, I jumped up. If she were to eat that berry, my hour and 15 minutes would be wasted. My data no longer accurate. I walk to them quickly in attempts to scare the male away with his offering, but it just sped up the process. The female jumped for the berry and swallowed before I had moved 2 steps forward. It was 5.30pm and starting to get dark, so that was it. Nothing else I could do but try again the next day. I just couldn’t believe that the male threw up a berry just to feed the female, and obviously not caring, ate it. After I had been waiting over an hour. It isn’t so much even the waiting because at one point I sat in an enclosure with a pair of toucans for 5hours 38 minutes and 17seconds waiting for them to regurgitate a trial involving 5 ‘berry’ seeds (at the end of that amount of time I was still waiting for 4 seeds out of a total of 10 so we gave up). The thing that got me was the effort I had gone through to have the male eat the berries only for him to give it up in the name of love. All the frustration aside, I must say it was absolutely adorable and quite funny to watch how they were together and to get a sense that they were probably very good parents.

That Time I Got Attacked by a Bird

So, the summer of working with Rustic Pathways has come to an end and I have had an opportunity lined up to be a Research Assistant on a PhD study involving toucans. Back in May, I came out to Turrialba, the town where I will be doing most of the research, to do a few days of work and learn all about tracking toucans and araçaris. So, when I returned from my visa run to Mexico, I expected to start tracking again. However, I got an amazing opportunity to travel out to ‘The Toucan Rescue Ranch’ to do seed trials with another volunteer on captive toucans. That is basically a technical way of saying I got to feed caged birds wild berries and wait for them to either vomit them or crap them out. The upside to the experience was being in such a great place- literally filled with all sorts of animals and beautiful birds. The downside (other than the obvious of staring at bird poop) was having to deal with the group of 5 araçaris, particularly the blue banded one. Araçaris are in the toucan family, have large bills, and make loud, sharp noises. Because they live in groups and are all in an enclosure together, each bird has a different colour band around their legs so that we can tell them apart. The blue band Araçari just didn’t like me. I would step into the large enclosure and immediately it started flying past me as close to my face as possible without actually hitting me. A few times it even flew by and bit onto my wrist as it passed. Soon enough, I was terrified of the bird. I would look down, normally at some poop, and when I stood back up, I would find the bird right next to my face. ‘Uncomfortable’ isn’t accurate enough. The other volunteer it would more or less leave in peace. Maybe it was my red sweatshirt, maybe my bracelets, but the unavoidable point is that the bird would deliberately attack me to the point that I would shriek when the blue band Araçari was near me. A couple of the toucans would nibble on my finger every once and awhile, but only after I would offer it forward as a token of my appreciation for their cooperation. In general, we were able to collect a lot of data about the toucans and their diet in the wild. I got to see baby sloths, hold a baby silky anteater, and see a lot of cool birds up close. I even named a toucan Suzie May, and no, I do not know if it is a female, but it LOOKS like a Suzie May. I had toucans play with my rubber boots, parrots bite my sweatshirt, and a toucan even tried to steal fruit from me. A spider monkey held my hand, I fed baby toucans, got to pet two-toed sloths. But, only the blue band Araçari was able to make me cry.

Melanie vs Mexico

When traveling to Costa Rica, I didn’t need to have a visa, because 90-day tourist visas are the typical entry stamp given. What that means is in order to be in Costa Rica for an extended amount of time, I have to leave the country before my 90-days are up for at least 72hours in order to be re-issued a new 90-day tourist visa upon re-entering the country. So, after my near three months were spent working for the summer with Rustic Pathways, I decided to make my visa run to Mexico.

Now, I will be honest. I had no particularly large desire to go to Mexico. I felt like I should eventually go, as someone who has dedicated a lot of time to studying Spanish and learning about different cultures, because Mexico is so often referenced in [Spanish] classes. I figured if I had to spend a couple hundred dollars at least to leave the country and travel around, I might as well go to see my friends, who had just finished working their summers in Mexico and Honduras. So, I bought my round-trip flight. I was only in Mexico for 5 days and spent a large majority of that time in Tulum, which is in the Yucatan Peninsula.

My first afternoon was pretty normal; I travelled from Cancun via bus to Tulum so I could meet up with my friend Caroline. I mastered the whole ‘packing light’ concept that people rave about so it was easy enough for me to get around with just the duffle bag carry-on. I met up with Caroline and spent a significant amount of time walking around in the dark back streets while trying to find a hostel for me to stay in. Now, I say this, but it wasn’t dangerous, nor did I really mind because we had a lot to catch up on. But, quite literally an hour after I got to town, we found the recommended hostel (and trust me, Tulum is too small to end up walking around for an hour in the same 4 square blocks). The hostel was only around $12 a night. Score. So after dinner, I went to sleep early for my full day at the beach the next day.

Tuesday was a very great day. I spent my first day since May on the beach. I couldn’t believe it- 3 months in Costa Rica and I hadn’t even been able to properly tan. So, I sure got it in by sitting for 8 hours on and off under the sun. The weather was good, it was fairly quiet. It was exactly what I was looking for on my ‘vacation’.

Now, Wednesday is when things started to get weird. I set off to a cove to snorkel with sea turtles with Caroline while we waited for our other friend, Olly, to get into town that evening. I was so excited about the sea turtles. I had been thinking about it for days and had no idea what to expect. Within 15minutes of us getting to the beach, we realized there was a bit of chaos unfolding. A girl was coming out of the water hysterically crying, I was thinking jelly fish sting? But, then I saw it as I looked a bit further up the beach. Someone was visibly getting CPR.There was a crowd starting to form around the group of lifeguards, and it was obvious this recently started. Caroline and I stood at a distance watching for at least 10 minutes while CPR was being given, other officials were getting into action, and finally someone came with an oxygen tank from a nearby dive shop and hooked it up to him. Both of us being first aid trained, knew that although he may be breathing, after such a significant amount of time receiving CPR, it would be very near impossible for him to make any type of recovery. We don’t know anything about what happened, his relation to the girl (because it was apparent she in some way knew him), or even where he was from, though he was a bigger, white guy. At about 15 minutes of us watching, the ambulance arrived and he left on a stretcher with an oxygen mask. Within minutes, the beach was back to normal, but it was hard to jump into the water after potentially seeing a drowning victim. So, we sat on the beach. Eventually, we rented the snorkel gear and went out into the water, and I immediately freaked out as soon as I saw my first sea turtle. I say ‘first’ because I saw many, as they fed on the sea grass. I was able to get so close and take lots of photos, up until my waterproof camera that I had used in the water before decided to longer be waterproof. Feeling drained from the day’s highs and lows, I returned to rest before Olly got into town. When we met up later that evening at the apartment Caroline was staying at, things felt a bit more normal. And, during a catch up session with Olly, I decided to help myself to a glass of water. It wasn’t until I tasted the slight saltiness that I realized what I had done. In Costa Rica, I had been accustomed to drinking the tap water, which is something that is very safe to do with the exception of a few costal towns and isolated areas. But, I wasn’t in Costa Rica, I was in Mexico. And, the scene from the Sex and the City movie literally flashed through my head. For those that aren’t familiar, it is when Charlotte accidentally drinks some water in the shower while in Mexico and almost immediately after had diarrhea resulting in her crapping her pants. Great. Now I’m in for it, I thought. I literally broke the one cardinal rule of Mexico. The day had been a series of unfortunate events. Which fortunately for me, did not end with embarrassing, explosive bowel movements.

Thursday started normal and I got to swim in a ceynote which is a really cool thing. My mom can probably explain it better than I can, because she was the one who told me about them (I cannot express enough that I literally knew nothing about where I was going in Mexico, or really even Mexico itself until I landed- I called a friend on my way to the airport before leaving Costa Rica to ask for the exchange rate of dollars to the local currency which I found out was pesos). Basically, it is a freshwater pool which often has numerous underwater caves that are scuba dived, which sounds super cool- but I am not padi certified, major fail, so I just swam around- enjoyable none the less. In the evening, after the most amazing BBQ ever at another local hostel, the three of us made our way to Playa del Carmen- which is more or less the halfway point between Cancun and Tulum. My flight was leaving the next morning, so I decided to opt for only taking the bus for 1 hour, also I wanted to scout the area because I had a potential job opportunity in the town. I bought my 8.05am bus ticket for the next morning, since I had such an early flight. And then, we hit the town. Playa del Carmen has a main street that is sort of like Hollywood Blvd on crack. You almost think you are in California with the massive amounts of tourists, variety of restaurants, bars, souvenir shops. Almost. Besides the guys hustling to sell you drugs and the obscene amounts of tequila for sell. Skip the rest of the night, which didn’t involve drugs nor tequila, and you have me the next morning being accused of being drunk and trying to get on the 10am bus with an 8am ticket, because I thought it was 8am. Silly me, I had Caroline set her alarm for 9.45am...when my flight was leaving at 10.50am from a city an hour away. Do the math, and you already know I definitely missed that flight, with out any hesitation. I learned my lesson though, because my re-route stuck me in Mexico City for 8 hours, which would have been a great opportunity to get out and see the city, if I hadn’t been so...well, hung over. Instead, I slept on and off like a bum in the airport, only for my 9.30pm flight to be delayed until 12am, increasing my layover in Mexico City. I was so happy to leave the country, honestly. I arrived into San Jose at around 2ish in the morning, crashed at a friends apartment, got up at 7am to head to the beach on the Pacific side of Costa Rica for the weekend, and I was so happy to be back. Although, I had some winning points in Mexico, it definitely kicked my ass. I think I would like to go back, and spend more time traveling, but maybe in a few years.

Fears and Foolishness

So, today I made my way out to Turrialba, the town where I will be doing the research after the summer. It is about an hour drive from San Jose but two hours by bus. (And, as far as my first busing experience in Costa Rica, it isn´t as entertaining as it was in Ecuador- but that can be a good thing) I got up this morning and left myself plenty of time to catch the hourly ¨express¨ bus for 10am. I got to the station, bought my ticket for less than 3 dollars, and unloaded all of my luggage infront of me while I sat at the station to wait the 45mins until we could get on the bus. I felt accomplished, confident even, as I hadn´t traveled to Turrialba alone yet despite the couple times I had been there. I was thinking about what I would unpack and leave in Turrialba to use at the end of the summer, in hopes of leaving my dufflebag at the apartment and allowing me to travel ´lighter´. And,I was even trying to decide if I was hungry or not, when it happened.

Now, let me first of all say, everyone has their fears. My mom, for example, is terrified of snakes. And, when I say terrified, I mean we were recently on a biking trip and she thought she saw a snake and....nevermind I´ll let her tell you the story. Anyways, everyone has at least one fear that might not even be logicial but for some unexplained reason, it is what it is. Mine, many of you know, is cockroaches. That´s right, cockroaches. I can hold random snakes, even sleep in the same room as taranchulas, but cockroaches- I don´t play around. At one point in my life, I tolerated them very well, but as ´friends´have teased me by pretending to and sometimes actually throwing cockroaches on me/down my shirt my fear has become very real. I think it is the combination of pure ugliness and their unorganized getaway/attack strategy. If you stomp on the ground really hard to get a snake away- 96% of the time, it will leave you alone, it isn´t going to waste venom or energy in attacking something that it can´t eat or isn´t threatening it. Spiders normally just chill in a corner, hole, under lose linoleum tiles whatever. Cockroaches, they just charge at you, whether they are scared and trying to get away or actually attacking, or flying or whatever. There is no way to predict where they are going to go. So, basically I think you get the point that me and cockroaches are not friends.

So, I´m sitting in my seat, waiting for the bus, thinking about stuff, minding my own business and I see this large cockroach running across the floor. I´m obviously not too surprised, I am in Costa Rica after all and just play it cool. It ran to some womans foot where I thought it would stay for awhile. But, ofcourse- because I was saying in my head repeatedly ´dont come here, stay over there´it makes a dead attack straight for me. Running as fast as its gross, little legs could carry it, STRAIGHT at me. Like it knew. So, I remained calm for as long as I could but when it was finally about a foot away, I couldn´t take it anymore, I got up-jumped over my bag sideways, and ran for the edge of the platform. I literally abandoned ship and left my bags behind, passport and all, because my life was at stake. Now, the Costa Ricans around me who had seen what made me react with a squeal and a leap were chuckling. And, those who hadn´t seen looked at me like I was some crazy tourist. I think they were waiting for me to react again because for like a good 45 seconds everyone just stared at me with pitty eyes, while I was busy staring at my bag where the cockroach was now hiding. I realized that people were staring at me and my hands were at my face as if to protect a flying attack and that is when I slowly started to become embarrassed. I understand I over reacted, but only a little. I wasn´t going to squish it because that is even worse than a cockroach charging at me *barf*. The guy sitting behind me, finally made the move towards my bag and moved it, and as I saw it there, I assumed he was going to squish it which resulted in another squeal and a very dramatic turn of my head, to protect my innocent eyes from the carnage that could push me over the edge. I glanced back just in time to see him kick the cockroach clear across the bus station. Now, extremely embarrassed, I returned to my seat and thanked him. Luckily, just about everyone who witnessed my scene was soon boarding the 9.30am indirect bus to Turrialba.

The incident gave me a good laugh when I thought about it a couple hours later, but no worries, I have fully recovered. I just don´t know if those 10 Costa Ricans will ever think of tourists the same again.

It's that time of the year

Well, a pattern is starting to develop- with the start of every summer, is the start of an adventure- so here I am again writing a blog in an airport terminal since I have a ridiculous amount of time to pass.

Obviously, last summer my blogging attempt failed. I blame not having a computer with me- and I'm sticking to that story. As most know, at the end of last summer, I returned to my apartment in the UK. Due to numerous reasons, I decided to move on to Calgary, Canada where I had an amazing 7 months working with my dad, living downtown, and braving the stupid cold weather. Why anyone would choose to live in a place where you are faced with -40C weather is beyond me. But, Calgary is actually a cute little city between the mountains and plains, so I enjoyed snowboarding and getting out to the mountains so easily.

Anyways.

I decided to work with Rustic Pathways again this summer and while a lot of the people I worked with last summer have decided to work in other countries this year, I decided to return to Costa Rica. In addition to working 3 months with Rustic, I will be doing several weeks of Toucan research as a research assistant after the summer in a town called Turrialba and then sort of winging it until I move on to my next venture- and already I have a couple different options to pursue. So, although staff training doesn't start until the first week of June, I wanted to get down early to settle into the place I'll be staying at after the summer and to get around Costa Rica a bit.

Yet again, I have way over packed- another pattern that is proving impossible to fix. Especially since I absolutely feel like I will need everything I packed…well I might not have needed to pack my pink nail polish..but I love the shade and let's be honest- that isn't going to break the weight limit. I have spent my almost 5 hours in the Houston airport hauling around a bookbag that is stuffed with my sleeping bag, pillow, and brownies for staff members, AND I also have a decent size duffle bag that is filled with all the clothes I couldn't fit into my actual backpack. Again, I need everything I have because I am here at least until December and need clothes for field work, the beach, and general stuff for the summer/days off. But, I can't help but be envious of those who are traveling with one simple bag. The true talent will come when I have to master traveling with my backpack, bookbag, and duffle bag around Costa Rica- but I have a pretty good idea of all the things I will leave in Turrialba that I can do without for the summer.

I propose a toast. Here's to not having anything stolen (like my sleeping bag in Ecuador), not losing anything (like my camera- also in Ecuador) [which could actually be argued that it was in fact stolen with my sleeping bag since it happened within an hour of each other, the day of the attempted coup-d'etat ], traveling without plans (did I mention that I don't have a hostel reserved for when I land), and to a great summer.
And to everyone reading my blog, thanks for following my travels.
Oh, and: happy birthday/anniversary/graduation/congratulations on your engagement(wedding)/congratulations on your baby- you know, just incase I miss it- but remember it isn't because I forgot, it's because I already said to you in this blog.

Sanderos Rusticos

For those of you who don´t know, my first encounter with Rustic Pathways was in the summer of 2003 when I went on a Language Immersion program for two weeks in Costa Rica. I stayed with a host family, went whitewater rafting, and met other high school students from around the United States. My mom has always reminded me of Rustic Pathways and how I could potentially work on staff with them, so when I checked the website in April and saw that they were still hiring, I couldn´t resist the temptation.
So, here I am.
Staff training was one week long at the base house of the Volcano and Rainforest Project, which involved over 25 summer staff members, and over 10 full time staff members. We are warned that our schedules outlining what programs we are doing through the summer is bound to change constantly, but at this point I am suppose to be spending 6 weeks as a guide on the Volcano and Rainforest program and two weeks doing Summer Camp Leadership program. The Volcano program has the highest capacity for students, as we have two beautiful base houses on beautiful property near Arenal Volcano. The property has a football field, ponds of ducks, a stream, and a lovely pool that is filled with the stream´s water. So, its no doubt that we can handle 34 students. The program runs a week long and is based on community service projects at local schools. Over the course of the summer, we will build a bodega or a storage room, bathrooms, lay two different ceramic tile floors, paint a mural, and repaint the inside and outside of a school, and paint the fence and basketball court of another school- in total we work with 6 different schools. When the kids are resting from community service, we will be taking them to local hot springs, zip lining, horseback riding, kayaking, white water rafting, and playing football…. I know, I know, how stressful will it be to have to do all of that EVERY week…stupid hot springs. Catered meals, lounging by the pool, and having dance parties…this is the life. I have this week off and have just been traveling around a bit, meeting up with some friends, but I am excited to get the summer started and meet the group of kids on Tuesday afternoon.

And its time for another adventure

As most of you know, I returned to the U.S. the week of Christmas with the determined plan to move to the UK after receiving a working visa through my Canadian citizenship. I really had no idea what I was going to do, professionally, where I was going to live and looked into many different options before deciding to at least settle in London for a bit. With two years for the visa, I do plan on spending as much of that time in the UK. I have spent the past three months there and have enjoyed it very much- I will upload some blogs about my time in London…eventually. For now, I really just wanted to upload a quick blog before I set off to Costa Rica- I know, I know- I just keep bouncing around at the moment.

I will officially be in Costa Rica from May 29 until August 10 working for an organization called Rustic Pathways. It was difficult for me to make the decision to leave the UK for the few months, as I had just started to really get settled in having recently moved into a flat, etc. But, I am really excited about spending my summer kicking about Central America. Rustic Pathways is an organization that provides community service opportunities, cultural and language immersion, and conservation initiatives for high school students. And interestingly enough, I participated in a language immersion program of theirs after my first year of high school. As with Ecuador, I really only am slightly aware of what I’m getting into and have no specific knowledge at the moment for where I will be and what contact will be like from the base house I will be staying at. But, as I go through training over the next week, I will get a better idea and will hopefully get the opportunity to post a bit more information about what projects I’ll be leading, where, and when.

So, until then- I appreciate the curiosity and well wishes about my work in Costa Rica. I’m all packed up and ready for my 6am flight in less than 5 hrs. I just can’t believe I’m actually taking more clothes with me to Costa Rica for three months then I did for 6 months in Ecuador. But honestly, who is to say that I wont need all 14 pairs of my shorts, 4 pairs of pants, and 15 shirts. I must say the collection of items I’m taking with me slightly impresses me because half of my friends from Ecuador will technically be traveling with me as I take: Sam’s pair of jean shorts I inherited, two of Edwin’s field shirts, a copy of Steve’s reggaeton CD on my iPod, a rope anklet identical to Olly’s, and a pair of hiking socks I ACCIDENTALY stole from the clothes line in Ecuador. Well, I suppose I only have myself to blame for such a massive bag, I didn’t have the time or dedication to cut back on my packing list but at least I’ll have clothes for almost every occasion :-)

Bargain Shopping

As the rest of my time in the jungle rapped up so much quicker than expected, I was left trying to organize souvenir/Christmas present shopping before returning. I made a couple trips to Otavalo, to grace the market with my presence…and money. I mainly shopped aimlessly decided that I could assign presents once I got back as long as I had enough to give me some flexibility. To be honest, quite a bit of shopping as for myself as well. I couldn’t resist- its naturally in my genes as a female.

Anyways, I indulged in sweaters, scarves, jewelry, an alpaca wool blanket, and basic t-shirts. The key to getting all those items is intense bargaining. Naturally, they try to take advantage of any tourist who may not know the going price a nice pullover with the pattern of alpacas grazing across the belly. And, even after leaving Otavalo, I continued on in the much smaller version of the same market in Quito just to be entirely sure I shouldn’t waste any more money. Just as I was heading through one of the last aisles convinced I didn’t need anything else, I saw something that caught my eye. A permanent stand that sold something entirely unique to the rest of the market including the master market of Otavalo. I carefully asked how much my interest would cost me- and after hearing $5 and repeating it to make sure I had heard right, I decided I couldn’t pass up such a great bargain.

So just like that, I decided to get my nose pierced.

No, I’m being serious grandma and grandpa.

Anyways, my fearlessness as overpowered by such a reasonable price. But, as I sat down in my seat to see a kid who couldn’t be over 15 years old prepping my selected piercing- I was immediately nervous. WHO JUST DECIDES TO GET THEIR NOSE PIERCED IN A MARKET IN ECUADOR BECAUSE IT’S $5?! Well….me obviously. But, that’s not the point. I think the part where I actually considered death might be an outcome of the piercing was when I saw the boy using SANDPAPER to sharpen the dull stud into something significant enough to be used as a piercer. A little spray of some funny stuff on my nose to numb it, a little dot of a pen for accuracy requiring a reluctant approval to continue, and I closed my eyes just in time to see him force through the once dull clear rhinestone stud into my nose. I couldn’t have done it without the hand of Jenn, one of the GVI staff, which was near broken when the piercing was done, and the mocking encouragement of Olly, another staff member. I honestly didn’t feel anything besides a slight pressure, so with that, I convinced Jenn of the true bargain at hand that needed to be taken advantage of. So with a few positive and encouraging words and persistent insisting and bribing of paying for her piercing- I essentially forced Jenn to get her nose pierced- who ended up loving it as well- so our bargain shopping really paid off!

Public Transportation: A Journey on Jumandy

One of the easiest ways to get around Ecuador has been by bus. Each city has at least one bus station and several bus offices over the town. There are many rewarding factors to taking the bus: price, convenience of snack, and the never-ending kung fu movies.
Buses cost about an hour for every hour you take them. From Quito to Tena, a beautiful drive crossing the Andes, is $6 for the approximate 6hours you are on the bus. Another bus from Tena to Agua Santa is $5 for the 5 hour trip and then you are only a short walk to base camp. The bus offers a large selection of high class seats. With no air-conditioning and sometimes functional windows, most seats recline back but normally to your disadvantage as the seat in front of you is practically in your lap. Aisle or window seat can always be a difficult decision. Aisle, you risk having a person who was unable to get a seat standing next to you for hours, at times practically sitting in your lap. Window, on the chance it rains, despite the window being closed, water will drip down from who-knows-where to splash on you with the turns of the bus. Luckily, I have mastered sleeping through the journeys despite the little bumps along the way, including the big bumps along the road.
Every bus station offers a variety of meals at the street side vendors that provide a small plastic stool for a nice sit down option. There are also snacks from fruit to ices in the stations. (I have even made short trips to the bus station just to eat some of the late night beef on a stick they grill and serve with mayonnaise.) But in case you decide to pass on all the food, there are vendors who board the buses for a couple minutes at a time throughout the journey who will yell everything they are selling at least three times before you realize they are speaking Spanish. One of my favourite vendors is the guy who is selling 10 oranges for a dollar. I’m always impressed by the speed he yells but more impressed by the buyer- what the hell are you going to do with 10 oranges that you spontaneously buy on a bus.
Almost every bus contains an old tv that has been put into the bus (threatening to fall from the ceiling at any time), in addition to the red fake velvet and virgin statues in honour of one of the travelling Saints. Ecuador might be one of the few places where people love Steven Segul films. And if it isn’t a Segul film that has been dubbed over in Spanish, its a Jet Lee kung fu movie- so you get to spend however many hours learning how to kick ass with only a plank of wood. When there is no movie, there is music- which has included a Michael Jackson CD on repeat for 5hrs, clearly trying to impress a bus full of gringos, a Spanish comedy radio station that wasn’t funny by any means, and a Spanish meringue CD that continuously skipped.
I have appreciated the buses and their helpfulness though. The buses do better off-roading than my 4x4 Jeep Grand Cherokee and cross bridges I wouldn’t dare jump on. The guy who collects peoples tickets/money has often told me when my destination town was getting close or has helped with the loading/unloading of my bag- and in one instance even pleased me by taking over driving for a bus driver that insisted on driving way too fast for the curves on the road. I am still amused that a guy gets paid not to just collect the tickets from people, but to hang out the door as the bus is speeding along, yelling the destination at pedestrians repeating the town name at least 10 times in 5 seconds. But in all honesty, travelling via bus has been one of the easiest things to figure out in Ecuador. And, if anyone ever wants to travel from Tena to Agua Santa, I know a guy who has offered to chauffer me anytime- now that’s networking!

My Birfffday

A year ago, I never would have guessed I’d be spending my birthday while living in Ecuador. In the past year, I have gone through relationship trouble, confusion about my ‘next step’, the rewards of graduating from university, bettering friendships, development of leadership, appreciated moments for what they offer, loved, laughed, cried, and all that other stuff- but as I said good-bye to 21 and hello to 22 over the weekend, I knew in my heart it all is a part of life, made me better, and I wouldn’t trade my year because I am happy, in Ecuador, and enjoying it. So, a quick thanks to the family and friends who were there to support me through my struggles and encourage me in my achievements.
Now that I’m through the mushy stuff...I’ll tell you how to celebrate a 22nd birthday in the jungle. This phase with enough staff members, we’ve been able to pick from a couple weekends to have one weekend off in Tena with another staff member. I originally picked week 3 of 10 because I knew in week 7 and 8 I’d be close enough to leaving I should power it out, especially with a weekend in Tena at week 5. When I realized week 3 weekend contained my birthday, Caroline, my roomie, picked that as her weekend off too. We left basecamp on the last bus to Tena that passes by at 2.30 generally. $5.00 and 5 hours later, we were arriving in Tena. We walked into the hostel GVI always uses when we pass through and got a room for 2 nights ($8 each per night) with no problems. With ambitious plans of partying the night away, after an hour of internet, some chicken, and a pina colada each, we retired to the room to watch 500 Days of Sumer at 9pm. Saturday morning I woke-up and read the birthday cards my parents and brother had sent me a head of time, went to breakfast, dropped of laundry, and sat in front of internet again for another couple hours. With a chicken lunch and avocado milkshake (which are surprisingly un-avacado-tasting) and grocery shopping done, my afternoon contained more internet time. Dinner was at Pizza Hilton, where we enjoyed more meat and after dinner drinks consisted of a 1.25L bottle of Coke and a new bottle of rum. Caroline and I went back to the hostel to start drinking and eat some slices of chocolate cake she had bought for me. At the bar we met one of the rafting guides from my ‘Thanks for Survivor’ experience who was happy to see me still alive and well. We got hustled into going to the local club where we showed up all the other gringos with our meringue moves. After dancing the night away, we returned to the hotel room where I proceeded to make a fool of myself on a skype video call to England to talk to Edwin, but not before I planted my face in my remaining cake and chugging rum straight from the bottle. I normally wouldn’t admit to such acts, but the pictures are already on Facebook. Sunday consisted of recovery via sleeping before getting on the 3.30pm bus back to the reserve. All in all it was a simple and fun weekend with the main factors of chicken, alcohol, and internet- all of which you can’t get in the jungle easily...

Hector's Island Vacation

As a volunteer last phase, I got to take a field trip out to Hector’s Island- stopping in Coca on the way there and back for pastries, chicken, internet, and other grocery shopping. This phase on staff, 3 staff members went, leaving Jenn, Jas, and myself to take care of base camp- and boy did we live it up. Let me start by saying, meat is very hard to come by. With no electricity and the lack of land, time, and ability to raise chickens- we are limited to the option of a local plate of seco de pollo- a chicken dish with rice at the market on Saturday mornings. However, when you no longer have to cook for 30 people and vegetarians: the statement ‘when there is a will, there is a way’ takes on a new meaning. Thursday morning I briefly woke up at 5am as I heard the volunteers making their way to the road to catch the morning bus to Coca. I woke up again at 8.30 which was a lovely sleep-in from the traditional 6:30am morning. Having a breakfast of scrambled eggs and fruit, I was absolutely thrilled to not eat porridge. I got ready to teach TEFL down at Puerto Rico for the Thursday lesson. Still on base camp were a couple of graduates from the Yachana technical high school doing internships. So, they helped with teaching the lesson and more importantly buying a chicken from the small shop.
It was really neat actually. We looked at a couple different hens outside before deciding to look at one. The store owner said she was going to call Tyson. I was expecting some teenage nephew or farm worker to appear, but instead it was a slim german shepard. She picked up a pebble, threw it at the hen, and told the dog to catch it. Tyson took off like a rocket, tail wagging, and with a playful bark, the dog had caught the hen within minutes despite its attempted escape up the hill side. Listening to the command to drop it, the Ecuadorian students took the chicken form the dog and we paid our $15. To skip the details of killing and gutting the chicken, it ended on our plates for a delicious dinner of seco de pollo and produced a delicious chicken noodle soup the next day. Some afternoon swimming on Friday complimented the pancake breakfast well- this is life in the jungle. Saturday morning at the market consisted of eating chicken, buying chicken tuna, and enjoying a scenic bus ride back on the bird watching top of the tourist lodge’s vehicle as oppose to the traditional canoe we take. For lunch, we had fried chicken, dinner was tune, and Sunday we enjoyed chicken soup again. We made a couple of jokes as we put lentils on to boil Sunday afternoon because the volunteers would be back for dinner which meant we were back to eating beans. We did accomplish a lot of dirty work consisting of attacking termites every day, repairing broken boardwalks, and hauling gas tanks around for cooking- but why dwell on the bad when there was so much good food.

This is my son

There have been tons of fun and rewarding experiences out in the rainforest. But one of the great things we do to build community relations is teach English as a foreign language (TEFL) in a few small communities all within a couple hours walk. We teach in Puerto Rico on Tuesday and Thursday, the closest community which also has a shop selling a few types of sweets, chips, and sodas. We teach in Puerto Salazar on Saturdays, playing a bunch of games with the kids which normally includes a few random kicks and slaps from the kids as they make the others laugh. Then, there is our newest community- Rio Bueno. Since that school had never had English before, we decided as a staff that one member should go to it for the first several weeks to keep some consistency.
Rio Bueno is the furthest of the three communities and the only one that we go to on the north side of the reserve. At 7am the TEFL group waits on the road that goes through the reserve which is just a rock, one lane road. We catch the daily morning bus that goes to Tena for 25cents each. The bus passes anytime from 6.50-7.45am. We get off the bus 10minutes later as it turns to go to Agua Santa, a community on the west side of the reserve. We could stay on the bus, because it turns around and drives back on the same road but it saves time as we walk the next 15 minutes to the school. The school is located along a narrow path in the forest. The small building contains one classroom, one teacher and 11 students about 8 years old. There is a small field behind the school with two make shift football goals. The students at this school are particularly well behaved and keen to learn English making it a rewarding experience. A majority of the hour lesson is taught in Spanish with a lot of repetition and simple games to entertain the kids. I just finished the 3rd class and they have learned Hello. My name is...This is... How are you? I am happy, sad, tired, good and numbers 1-10. You find innocent amusement while teaching at the mispronunciation of the students when the students say sex instead of six, for example. But my favourite has been practicing introductions. Mason’s name has a pronunciation similar to my-son. So, I have now successfully introduced Mason as my son to the class numerous times, but of course they don’t see the joke in it.

Destination: Agua Santa

In the jungle, meals consist of lots of veggies that we order in every Friday, rice or pasta, and a type of bean: red, white, chickpea, lentil, occasionally black-eyed peas. Once a week we get eggs, soya, tuna, and bread with a rubbery cheese (that I swear is made from powdered milk, but doesn’t taste that bad semi-melted on toasted bread). Milk is made from powder. Water is room temperature and either chlorinated or filtered. Lighting is a candle on a rock. Snacks are brought in with volunteers from Quito or Tena or some chips and chocolate can be bought from a small shop on the first floor of a house 20 mins away. Then there’s Agua Santa.
The local community is located 15mins up stream by canoe or can be accessed via the road that cuts through the reserve. And, on a Saturday, its the place to be.
Every week we ask for a canoe from Yachana to pick us up at port at 7.30am. Every week it is at least 20mins late. Which double serves as a form of entertainment and quick money as we take bets and buy in to the pot of what time the canoe will arrive, the winning time being when the canoe rope is grabbed by someone on the port.
Typically when we go to Agua Santa, I make a fashionable effort to impress people. Wellies (that is short for wellingtons, also known as RAINBOOTS to all the non-Brits) are very helpful as the beach access to the market can be muddy or require you to step in some river. Shorts are worn to avoid overheating. A t-shirt of any sort is worn- preferably with some large tacky American brand on it to reassure everyone that you are in fact a foreigner in case they couldn’t already tell. A backpack for all the crap I buy. And lastly, a lifejacket which is mandatory, that I strap to my backpack when on land.
There are a few permanent shops at the market and the rest are regular vendors- generally between 7-10 stands. You can buy soaps, batteries, shot gun shells, willies, underwear, bracelets, paper and pen, and shirts. The permanent shops sell bread, cheese, eggs, soda, pasta, veggies, sugar, coffee, beer, chips, and candy. Additionally, there is a lady who sells seco de pollo, a delicious dish with rice, yucca, and a sort of chicken stew for $2.00, and a local bar that is surprisingly busy at 8am (and stays busy as often times on Saturday nights you can hear the loud pumping of music from the insane parties Agua Santa must be having).
It is nice to get to the market and have a presence in the community. Tour groups from the nearby Ecolodge occasionally stop through as well. At the market it is nice to see the guides from the lodge and briefly catch up with them or to buy ridiculously stupid/useless items. I have witnessed the mass buying of little boys underwear for big boys to wear around camp, bracelets decorated with pictures of the Virgin Mary and Jesus, and t-shirts to be cut into Steveis (no sleeves, with large arm holes originally sported in the jungle by the one and only Steve Guidos). Regardless of the random things accumulated on a Saturday, the cold coke and chicken are appreciated. [The optional Saturday night warm Pilsner beer and box Peach flavoured wine are bought at Agua Santa as well, to the enthusiasm of the volunteers].

North by Northwest: The Ecuador Version

To be back at base camp as staff is something I was really excited about. Nervous too. I had just spend the past 10 weeks learning the trails, projects, and lending a helping hand. I knew I was capable, but when it comes to leading 5 other people through the rainforest who have never been it before- you can’t help but feel pressure. Because, the truth is I didn’t know where we were going either.
Ok, well that’s not entirely true. Compass in my left hand and GPS in my right, I knew we were going 400meters further north. But, I had no idea how well we were going to get there. And again, not because I wasn’t capable, but because I had never done this route and the terrain could contain anything from massive tree fall making it difficult to pass, to steep ravines requiring careful footing.
GVI has several different research projects that the volunteers help collect data for including mammals, birds, butterflies, and amphibians/reptiles. I was presented with the amazing opportunity of writing the project proposal for the butterfly project- meaning I would be fine tuning the research and details of how to conduct the project and collect data on road impacts on the reserve’s butterfly species. The project was too be conducted along 4, 400meter transects running north of the road, evenly spread out. Each transect would contain 5 trap sites- 0m, 100m, 200m, 300m, 400m from the road. Each site would contain a ground butterfly trap and an aerial butterfly trap. But, in order to do the research, we first had to get the traps up.
The compass was pointing us in a Northward direction. The GPS was telling me how far we still had left to go until reaching the computer plotted points. 10 traps, 5 rolls of string, 2 rocks, and one machete- that is how real science starts. The slight change in the project to look at road disturbance specifically on the butterflies meant we wouldn’t be using pre-cut and used trails. So we macheted (minimally) our way to each point to put up the traps. The thrill of finding the location to place the traps was only replaced by successfully throwing rocks over 20meters high branches and hoisting up the aerial traps without snags.
I would end up leading a lot of surveys in the jungle- but for such a unique start to go well- left me really excited for the next.

Otavalo

Basecamp was left clean and packed up as we all left on Thursday morning. The ten week session came to an end, giving the staff a couple weeks of break before returning out for another ten week session. Thursday morning we loaded up and headed to Tena for the night. Being one of the last nights we were all together as a group, and the first night we have been out of the jungle in 5 weeks, we all made solid attempts to have a good time. We headed to Quito the next morning, a 6 hour, winding, bus ride. Once in Quito, I checked into the best $5.60 hostel you can find in Quito, Ecuador, Central del Mundo. Sharing a room with Sam and Iggy, we organized our few days together that we had in Quito. We grabbed the 2hr bus to Otavalo on Sunday and made our way to our host family´s house.
We met our host mom, dad, and their three kids- a 2yr old girl, 6 yr old boy, and a 9 yr old boy. The house is an easy 25min walk from the town center, in a residential area of Otavalo. It is a two story house, with each of us getting our own room. Our host mom cooks every meal for us, but if we want to eat out, we just need to let her know not to expect us. We each have one on one Spanish classes starting at 8.30am until 12.30pm Monday to Friday. Other than that, we have the freedom to do what we want and come back to the house when we want. Our Spanish classes usually consist of an hour or two of conversation or work, depending on what you want to improve, and then we will all take little field trips to different areas around Otavalo. We have been through the clothing market, the food market, to a giant cross on the hill side, a local textile maker, a local artist´s gallery/home, and seen demonstration on creating and using local instruments.
We were each given a map containing some local highlights, which ofcourse was mainly restaurants. In addition to eating meals from my host mom everyday, I also eat at a local pie store. They have fresh blackberry, strawberry, apple, lemon meringue, orange meringue, and chocolate pie everyday…and take my word for it- they are sooo absolutely amazing. A warm slice will cost you $1.40, which is beyond worth it. A little bit of satisfaction comes from the pie lady saying ¨See you tomorrow¨ in Spanish everyday when we leave, because its true, we will be going back the next day. There are also a few different hamburger places that we have enjoyed. Iggy has been set on having a hamburger everyday, so definitely enjoy those as well. Little snacks of green mango, toasted corn nuts, or French fries with sausage are also occasionally picked up. Sam has made the goal (unintentionally ofcourse) of buying a musical instrument every other day. Thanks to Iggy and Sam, I have been in more music stores in the past week than the past 4 years. And between the two of them, they could open up a music store and sell all their instruments. 4 harmonicas, 2 flutes, 2 clay hand flute things, a keyboard that you blow into via a tube to make noise, a small guitar, a local ukulele type thing, and two music books- the best thing owned though isn´t a musical instrument. It is the rare find of an album that contains tributes to Michael Jackson, all done on wooden flutes local to the Andes region- one of the most amazingly, amusing things I have heard.
Otavalo is a smallish town located in the Andes mountains. It is in a valley, and doesn´t seem too cold. The days can get pretty hot, especially since the sun is so powerful, but the nights definitely are easier with a sweater and pants. There is a strong presence of the indigenous tribe, Quechua , who are spotted wearing traditional clothing around town. Depending on the morning, sometimes snow covers the nearby volcanoes (there are two- both dormant) and sometimes it’s a little drizzly, but other then that the weather is very dry. It actually reminds me of Alberta, except the surround mountains are nowhere near as rigid and intimidating as the Rockies- but that’s not to say it isn´t still beautiful. Also, Otavalo, like the rest of the area, doesn´t go through season due to such a close proximity to the Equator, so it is weird to think the weather stays like this year round. The town center is grid-like and is based around the Plaza de Ponchos, which is where you can find the Saturday market, daily in a much smaller version, and the Parque de Bolivar.

ohhh Staff

Being a longterm intern (6 months) with GVI includes quite a lot. The overall program means that I spend 10 weeks at basecamp in the jungle as a volunteer, helping conduct research projects and teaching English in local communities. Then I spend 2 weeks living in Otavalo with a host family, taking a total of 40hrs of one on one Spanish classes. I then have a little bit of time off, almost a week, before going to my work placement for the remaining ten weeks. GVI has set up different work placement opportunities with local partnership organizations. One option is going to Hector´s Island, who is a well known Ecuadorian guide who has setup a refuge island for monkeys known as Sumak Allpa. Another option is to work at the Yachana Technical High School on the same reserve where basecamp is, but is located about 20mins up river near the ecolodge. The final option for work placement that GVI offers its interns is a position as a member of staff with GVI.
Interns meet weekly with a staff mentor in order to reflect on self progress and professional development. As interns, despite being volunteers for ten weeks like everyone else, we are expected to help around basecamp more, volunteer to go on extra surveys, and take a leadership initiative in helping other volunteers, particularly new ones, acclimate to basecamp life. So through taking these initiatives, staff give feedback on areas of excellence that interns have but also areas for improvement. My staff mentor has been Jenn, a fellow Canadian, who has an amazing knowledge on birds, but particularly birds of prey. I have enjoyed meeting with her a lot, and I have really gained a lot from our meetings and reflections. She has encouraged me and has helped me finding ways of taking more initiative on basecamp.
I have really enjoyed conducting the variety of surveys, interacting with members of staff and volunteers, and the general life of living at basecamp. GVI looks at each intern´s best opportunity in placement, to make a compatible workplacement. So, I was very happy when I got my work placement with GVI as a member of staff. The other two longterm interns, Iggy and Sam, will be going to Hector´s Island and helping with community programs and monkey research over the next ten weeks, which is an amazing opportunity. I will be returning to the jungle in the next couple weeks, with a new group of volunteers but in a new position. I will share a room in the staff cabin with another member of staff, Caroline. I will lead the volunteers out on surveys, hopefully without getting lost, I will take on new responsibilites with helping basecamp on food orders and taking care of other basic needs, and I will be a source of information about local tropical habitat and species. So, needless to say, I am loving my time in Otavalo right now, but I am ready to be back in the jungle again!

A weekend at Yasuni

Every five weeks, we take a field trip/vacation from basecamp. The first five weeks we went to Hector´s Island, which is an island owned by an Ecuadorian guide, who has started a monkey reserve and set-up a small school for the kids in the area. The second five weeks we went to Yasuni National Park with Hector as our guide. I loved Hector´s Island and I think it is a great place, relaxing, beautiful, and a great monkey reserve- but I figured I would write my blog on Yasuni, since it is internationally well known as the most biodiverse hotspot on the planet. The amount of plants found in a hectare of the park, totals more than the plant population of the United States.
Packing for Yasuni takes a whole day, as it is important that we remember everything we need. It is a team effort, as lots of kitchen gear, food, and general living things need to be packed in addition to everyone´s personal items. Two staff members and 12 volunteers equaled to 2 crates filled with everything from dishsoap to candles, four big containers of water, and two massive pots. We had the option of sleeping in a tent or a jungle hammock, but everyone opted for a jungle hammock, and I can´t blame them because it is such a unique experience.
We are in the dry season of the rainforest, which is very obvious when it doesn´t rain for a whole week. Ofcourse we had been anticipating rain for a few days, because a week and half without rain is very dry. So, such is life, it would open up raining the night before we leave. And when I say it was a massive storm, Im not exaggerating in any way because I have been through some big storms, hurricanes, typhoons, etc. The thunder and lightening started about 20 minutes before the actual rain. The lightening was so bright, it let up the whole basecamp for a solid second, and allowing clear vision for at least 20 meters on a dark, electricity free, night. A group of us sat in the commedor hammocks, after all, without TV, so many things become entertainment. Once it started raining, it rained so hard on and off, but mostly on all the way up until 4.00am, which was awesome luck, as we had to be up and at the road waiting for the bus by 4.45 which means we needed to start moving gear by 4.15am, since it would take a couple trips. Also to our good fortune, the bus arrived at 5.15. Being a bus that regularly runs to the route from a local town to Coca every morning, the time of arrival by our basecamp could be anywhere from 5.15 to 6.45. Shortly after getting all loaded on the bus, it started to rain again- which was bad news to anyone who didn´t have a waterproof bag or cover, as all of our 14 large backpacks were strapped to the roof of the bus.
Once we arrived in Coca, we had a few hours and a few dollars from GVI for breakfast and lunch. This is the first time we have been with electricity, hot varieties of meat, and basic civilization in 4 weeks. So, naturally, we spend our time between internet and endless amounts of chicken. By 1pm, we meet at the boat terminal and load all of our stuff on to Hector´s motorized canoe as we head off on the 2.5/3 hr boat ride to Yasuni. We pass his island along the way, and briefly point it out to the volunteers who weren´t here for the first five weeks, but we can´t stop because we are only an hr into the boat ride. Upon near arrival at our basesite at Yasuni, due to the minimal rain the region has been getting, there is a desert-look-alike bank we need to walk across, while Hector tries to go around a back way to the dock with his canoe, and all of our stuff. After walking 10 minutes across the beached bank of an island in the river, we get to a deeper channel with a width of about 15 meters, that we need to cross to be at the base of the stairs for our campsite. Carrying our day backpacks, containing money, electronics, and passports, we start to walk through the water, which was too bad because it was only up to our knees. But, ofcourse, it was only getting deeper. There was only a section of about 1.5 meters where we couldn´t walk, which was just enough for each of us to attempt to place our bags in the area above our head and swim, failing under its weight, and dunking in, soaking all of our items, some more important than others. As we scrambled out of the water, one by one, we found nice spots of sun to dry our items, while we waited to see if Hector could find a way through with the canoe. Our stuff arrived drier than us, and we set-up camp, unpacking cooking items, and finding good spots to tie our hammocks. We spent the next couple days taking trips to local community centers, that show how local tribes live in Yasuni and learning a bit about their culture and way of survival. We took group hikes, which consisted of attempts to climb a tree in an indigenous way. We also went to parrot claylicks, where parrots fly everyday to lick clay (I bet you couldn´t have figured that part out…) with minerals to counteract the poisonous enzymes that they ingest from seeds. On a hike off from the claylicks, we saw tracks for multiple types of mammals, wooly monkeys, and hog-nosed viper. We truly enjoyed our time at Yasuni as relaxing break away from daily surveys before returning to Coca on Sunday morning for a few hours along our way back to basecamp.

BTEC Program

Included in my internship, I have been working on a certification program called BTEC. It is based out of the UK but is internationally recognized. There are different types of BTEC and different levels that one can earn. But, it is basically a practical assessment of skills that are learned. Out at basecamp, two different BTECs are offered. You can work towards a leading biological surveys and/or a leadership certification. My program offers me a leading biological surveys certification, which I spend additional time working on each week. The group of volunteers doing the biological BTEC get weekly assignments that force us to learn general safety, environmental safety, information about local partnership organizations, how to lead surveys, and information about the surrounding environments. All assignments were encouraged to be researched in our library that contains multiple scientific books, and allowed the use of basecamp´s actual outlines and staff as sources of reference.
The first week we each had to create Environmental Assessment Plans, with using the basecamp´s real EAPs as guidelines, to show safety procedures and steps in the result of different potential threats. For example, I did an EAP on a snake bite, which included the step by step procedure of what to do in the event that someone is bitten by a snake. We also needed to do a risk assessment, listing 15 potential hazards, their likelihood, and what to do to avoid them or how to handle them, such as dehydration, bug bites, and slipping on trails. The second week´s assignment included a description of what a target species is and an indicator species. We also had to pick what area we wanted to specify when doing our research, amphibians and reptiles, butterflies, or birds. From that selection, we had to list ten families of that area and describe their habitat, life cycle, identifying characteristics, and other important information. The third week we handed in a rough draft of an essay that is to identify characteristics of the three types of habitat we find on the reserve, including riparian, secondary, and primary forests. The fourth week we turned in our final essay of approximately 5 pages. And the fifth week, our assignment was to describe potential environmental impacts of surveys on the species we are studying, and a description of each of GVI´s partnerships with local organizations and communities and how its locally beneficial.
Meanwhile, being a certification based on practical demonstration, we were also all preparing to conduct a survey in our area that we focused on for the assignments. The location of basecamp provides access to tons of different species in each of the three areas of focus. However, I noticed that almost immediately that I would struggle with learning about amphibians the most. Their scientific names and difficulty to identify, made them an area that I knew I would have to force myself to become more familiar with. So, I picked my area of study to be amphibians and reptiles. I went on extra surveys for amphibian and reptiles and became familiar with the project proposal that GVI has created in order to receive permission from the reserve and the government in order to conduct the survey. When leading a survey, although a staff member is still supervising, you are in charge of preparing everything needed. Every survey always needs to take a medical kit (already packaged and filled in the staff cabin) and an operating radio. Additionally, I needed to prepare equipment for my specific survey. I led a visual encounter amphibian and reptile survey, so I needed to pack small plastic bags to catch the frogs, a scale, a caliber for measurements, a clipboard and data sheet for the data collected, a weathermachine, a container to bring back any unidentified species, and plates which contain photos and a description of the species to help with identification, all in dry bag to be carried by someone. I needed to write the names of everyone going on the survey, location, and a time of return on the whiteboard in the commodore so everyone was aware we weren´t on basecamp. Also, I had to give a safety talk and briefing of what, how, and why we are doing our survey. Finally, I needed to be the main overseer of the survey, making sure we were keeping on time and doing things correctly. Volunteers working on their BTEC get a practice survey first, where they will get constructive feedback on how to improve and any information that might have been left out. In order to pass the actual BTEC survey, only a few minor mistakes or bits of information can be missed, but feedback is still provided after the survey, and you are encouraged to lead more surveys with staff supervision in the future.