Redneck Muddin

What we watched happen over and over again.

Last year we attended the 4x4 rally in Coyote, and from last years experience I would not have gone again. However, I was convinced that this year was going to be better (mainly because we were not going to get there too early again), so once again I found myself tromping through a giant mud field. All in all I think it was a good $4 spend this year, I was actually able to see the people drive their cars into the mud pits.

The Costa de Oro crew met up with the San Miguel girls and we had a awesome time bonding with them. We were able to navigate our way through a ton of mud to watch some 4x4. After about an hour or so of watching people getting stuck we decided to venture off to the food venue to see what they had to offer for lunch. Luckily, we were able to find a spicket to rinse our feet off in because otherwise I think my sandals would have actually broken from the mud caked on instead of just almost unwearable anymore.

Eating with the San Miguel girls

We all grabbed some cokes from the bar and then went to the other side of the bar to take a look at the lunch menu. Unfortunately for Steph, the menu was not very vegetarian friendly, our options for lunch were such staples as arroz con pollo, carne asada, and a few other dishes. There was one that sounded like it might be vegetarian, we checked with one of the girls working and she said it was okay it only had a little meat. Steph settled for the arroz con leche, when we saw them dump a ton of whiskey into the giant tub of arroz con leche we knew we were all going to be trying it. Lauren, Teresa, and I settled on the pollo frito even though they decided to up the price by 500 colones right in front of us.

Luckily for us, we were able to all squeeze into a car from San Miguel and were able to get a ride up to the rally, which left us with a little more time to hang around check out some more muddin' (as Steph told us they call it in the South) and bond more with the San Miguel girls. While we were sitting in the dining area they were beginning to set up for a giant party they were going to be having that night with music and a DJ. Unfortunately the rally brings in so many people from out of town that we had to get home and prepare for patrol since we were expecting an above average amount of people on the beach.

Really good fried chicken

Since my last post, we have also received a new research assistant all the way from New Jersey. His name is Ryan and a total surfer boy, who brought along his brand new Al Merick. Like Lauren, he too has a degree in Marine Biology and decided that he wanted to come down to Costa Rica and work with turtles, I think the surf and that he has already been to Costa Rica twice helped to persuade his decision.

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

The Never Ending Lunch Adventure

The other day Steph and I decided that the tide was perfect to walk to Tenga's for lunch. We have to cross the estuary at low tide to get to Tanga's which is over near Punta Coyota. Well, after walking the 2 KM to the estuary we cross and find out that he will not cook any food without seafood in it and that he will not make anything vegetarian for Steph. We kindly say thank you and decided to head up the road to see if the next restaurant is open, it wasn't.

Part of the river we crossed, figured it was safe since a local was doing it too

We took a pause here to look at the time and decide if we walk back to Costa de Oro via the beach or if we keep walking up to Coyote (4 KM more). We decided to just keep walking to Coyote since we had walked so far already. After walking through a couple rivers, oh yeah it had rained the whole night before, we finally made it through to Coyote about 2 PM (we started started this journey at 11:30). We finally got food at my favorite restaurant in Coyote, Loma Clara; Steph was able to get a vegetarian pasta and I had rice with shrimp. I was starving so this is probably the best meal that I have had in Costa Rica ever, though I know in actuality that Thanksgiving last year still wins.

My arroz con camarones

After our trip for lunch wrapping up at about 4 now, we went by the super to pick up some ice cream for the walk home, we still had another 5 KM left to go. We stopped by the office to use the bathroom and booked it home making it back just as the sun was setting! Good thing we got back just then because the bug spray on my legs was for sure gone and I am pretty sure what I put on my arms had been warn off from all the sweat. Oh well made for a fun adventure, needless to say we were a little tired the next day after so much walking and a patrol.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Been Without

So I have been without constant good internet since I got here. Kolbi decided to change their rates as far as internet went, so I believe everyone is still trying to figure out what they are doing as far as internet goes. Which means I've been posting less, and writing less too. However, I want to keep everyone up to date as far as what I've been doing, and I think it helps keep me sane on rainy days.

Luisa and Katherina enjoying the beach one morning

Of course, I decided last night that today I was going to wake up early and get my laundry done. It hasn't been starting to rain until about 3 or 4 in the afternoon, great plan right? Ha, no. I did my laundry and then about an hour later I just see clouds coming in, remember by me saying I'm doing my laundry early means I'm doing it at like 6 AM so it will dry in the morning heat. So I have some laundry hanging in my room trying to dry as well as out on the deck, basically just trying to keep it from getting completely soaked.

Look familiar Victor? Trying to find the Beinvenidos Costa de Oro sign to put up!

On the 23rd, I got Stephanie (or Steph), she will be my research assistant until the end of October. She is from Georgia and just graduated University with a degree in psychology, she took the internship as a way to determine if she wanted to go into cultural environmentalism or if she wants to work more closely with animals, unfortunately we haven't encountered a turtle since shes been here so this may not be helping too much.

We also have two Costa Rican girls (Rebeca and Mylaine) visiting with us from University for the week. It has been fun having them around the house and learning about what it is like to be a University student in Costa Rica. They are going to school two times a week, and while Mylaine of them has a house in San Jose, she would rather take the 6 am bus from Limon than live in San Jose.

Also this week, we have Steph who is a research assistant from San Miguel. She is here to help with patrols while we have a full house and get my Steph trained. San Miguel Steph is from Belgium, the French part, and speaks about five languages. She studied molecular biology in university and decided to take some time off before diving into a career.

Rainy day morning activity, make a hatchery chart!

Like I said we haven't been getting many turtles the past couple nights, which have made patrolling a little harder. I'm also running out of stuff to do with rice, beans, lentils, and pasta. I guess I'm only so creative as a chef, good thing I wasn't thinking of that as a career. Today it has rained pretty much all day, needless to say that I am missing the unlimited data card Victor had scored last year (just thinking about all the criminal minds I could have watched by now!). Stepping into the coordinator position has been weird to get used to. While to my sisters at home I'm Miss Bossy Older Sister, I don't like to boss people around because I don't want to come off as nasty (I mean I can be bossy to my sisters because no matter what they still love me).

 

Posted with Blogsy

Hello Cyberspace Followers

My dad informed me that I am not posting frequently enough, though I'm trying to post as often as I can!!

First rainbow of the season!!

Somethings that people might be wondering about.

Yes the water in the shower is still cold and we don't have any water pressure. Luckily though, Don Victor turned of my running toilet though so that next time the power goes out we won't loose all the water with in the first couple hours. Oh yes, the other night Hilary and I woke up for patrol with no power on. We were able to get ready for patrol but when we got back all the water was gone.

The first thing my parents said to me when they saw me today was, "boy you are tan!" That is because the hatchery still isn't finished and though I try to wear sunscreen (I really do! I don't want to be a wrinkly old raisin when I grow up!) I'm still crisping up under the nice Costa Rican sun, tough life I know. Sorry, but I'm really not sorry.

Baby bird in a nest, all you can see in the nest is the butt

Bug bites. There is definitely a combination of things going on here. I got smart about putting on bug spray when I'm working in the sand (sand fleas and no-seeums) PLUS coconut oil really helps!! I have been wearing that every night before patrol plus shoes and my bites seem to be severally less than last year. And, when I am bitten, the swelling is going down so much quicker than last year. I'm trying not to gouge out my bites, I still have scars that haven't disappeared from last year.

Courtney, people ask where you are all the time. Our neighbors from across the street (the ones from San Jose) are here right now and were asking about you while I was "taking a break" from carrying buckets of sand up to the hatchery. There is also a new male dog on the beach he's yellow like the Tres Hermanas, but has some white markings on his face. I was instructed that I am not to be friends with the dogs, I cannot feed them or pet them and when they come to the house I need to shoo them away. This is hard so I yell nice things to them (learned that from Hilary) and throw some sand. I have to tell volunteers that I really like dogs and I have two very adorable ones at home, which then leads to my slide show of Kai and Max and I turn into the crazy American dog lady, which is the look I'm going for anyways.

Muni picking up trash!!!

My Spanish is getting better, or so I think until a native speaker comes up to me and starts rambling off. I'm able to talk to the people around town for the most part. They know to use simple Spanish and talk to me like a child. Except Don Victor, he continues to use weird words that can't even be found in the Spanish to English dictionary we have at the house.

Municipali came by the other day to collect trash, AND THEY DIDN'T MAKE A MESS!! I was hear probably like a good month and a half before we saw them for the first time last year. I thought Don Victor was pulling my leg when he said they were coming.

I have egg plant in my refrigerator, two of them to be exact. I don't even eat eggplant in the states, so I am taking suggestions on how to cook this delicious (I'm sure) vegetable before it goes bad. I thought it was something random to have received for food as well.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Lots of Hatchery and First Patrol

Yesterday afternoon I got into Costa de Oro at about 12 ish. I had an amazing lunch up in the office and then we came down to the beach. I had a meeting with Lotti and Maddie to talk about different goals, rules, and volunteers that are coming and going. Basically a catch up meeting.

So weird being at Laguna Mar without Drew there!

When I got to Costa de Oro I was greeted by Hilary!!! Hilary is from Vancouver (just like Maddie) and was in San Miguel las year. Maddie had talked to Hilary about going to San Miguel as the coordinator for just the first month or two of the project before Hilary goes back to Canada for school. However, there was a last minute switcheroo and Hilary has been in Costa de Oro as the coordinator and trying to get the hatchery up before I got here.

Not going to lie a little bummed yet a little excited that the hatchery wasn't finished. I'm excited because I get to help with it this year. Right now we are trying to sift through all the sand and then we are adding more to it trying to raise it out of the ground to help keep the nests dry when it rains. I'm a little bummed because I can't put nests in the hatchery yet. Its been hard everyone around town has been working and our volunteers have been coming and going, getting sick and injured. So it has been a rough start and Hilary's goal was to have it finished when I got here.

The Kings are staying just down the street from me. Katrina, Cailyn, and Zane came by to say hi yesterday before dinner and said they were going up to Laguna Mar later and asked if I would like to join them. I said probably but wasn't completely sure of time but they expressed an interest in patrolling with us so I knew getting back wouldn't be an issue. Unfortunately, earlier in the day I had been at Don Victors house earlier saying hi and trying to round up some help for the hatchery (but everyone was at work) and the Kings had come by to see if I wanted to go to Tangas down on Playa Coyote for lunch. I did get to up to Laguna Mar for a coke though and got to meet the new owners (Cici and John) as well as see Alvaro and Pablo.

We got back to the house for patrol, it was Basty and me for the night plus some tourists who showed up at the house and the Kings were supposed to meet up with us, but they fell asleep when they got home.

It was nice to be on patrol again, there were no people on the beach (though we could see one light in San Miguel). I had only one turtle track and it was right in front of our house, a little bummed I didn't get to see an actual turtle last night. This is when I realized how sad I was that the hatchery wasn't finished yet. So bright and early I was up at 6 am to get to work. Hilary and I were in there sifting sand until about 8 and we took a little break, I ate some food and unpacked some of my stuff. We went back in and did about and another hour work of work before we decided that it was time to take a break, plus the Kings just came by with a bag of goodies for me.

Hilary and I have two volunteers in the house, Basty (short for Bastian) and Dana. They are both from Germany and had the same host family in San Jose where they stayed a few weeks and attended a language school before coming here. We also have Hannah (also German), who has been having a tough couple days being sick and spent the night up in the office just incase she needs to go to the Clinic in Jicaral.

It's an odd feeling being back. Almost like I never left but at the same time a lot seems different. I know it won't take long to get back into the swing of things.

Can't wait to get this hatchery finished though!!!

 

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

24 hours later

I feel like i often write posts that are titled like this.

I've made it to the PRETOMA office!!! But seriously it was a 24 hour journey. My flight left LAX at 10:15 on Monday night and arrived in Coyote just a little before 10 last night.

The bus journey was an experience. It started off that my taxi drive took me to the wrong bus station, and I think totally ripped me off with how much it cost. So, I had to take another taxi to the right station and I found my bus but waited for 3 hours before we boarded and left. It was seriously the longest three hours ever!! I had been warned that the bus is hot and humid and usually chickens running around, so needless to say I was really confused when it was a charter bus with TVs and AC. It was dark and when I realized we weren't taking the ferry I was concerned that I might only be going to Bejuco, even though I heard other people going to Coyote. I just freak out easily in vehicles I guess, I even have a hard time following the GPS systems in the states because I don't believe them.

This is Luna

I'm in the office now. Have seen Lotti, eaten some food, waiting for Maddie so we can go over the goals for this year before I head into Costa de Oro.

Mom, I know you are always saying no more dogs but the PRETOMA office dog is really cute and she has bat ears. I might steal her.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Greetings from the airport!

This is the beginning of my attempt to blog a little more than last year and provide as much information about what I'm doing in Costa Rica and and what there is to do in Costa Rica. Guess I'll be revisiting the trip with Courtney a little bit. In my attempt to blog more this year I am also going to include turtle facts and maybe other interesting things about other animals around Costa Rica.

All set to go with Mr. Bear

I'm also using a new blog app this year called BLOGSY. It has quite a few stars in the App Store so hopefully it's a tad friendlier than blogger in safari on ipad. Another addition to the blog was adding my Instagram feed. Found to the right (probably on this blog post). This is another attempt to try and include more picures into my posts.

Not very clear but says 50.0

My flight path goes from LAX to Florida. Florida to San Jose. Then I will take a taxi to the bus station and a 6 hour bus ride to San Franscico de Coyote, where I will stay in the office for the night and Lotti will drive me into Costa de Oro on Wednesday. I was stressing out today about the weight of my packed luggage, which is the reason why I have a slackline in my backpack. Now the weight of my luggage was really hard to judge, at one point I was holding Max in one arm and my bag in the other to see if I had reached the 25 lb mark yet. Well, after about an hour of stressing mom went next door and was able to borrow a scale. Leaving the house my bag was at about 47 lbs, which I figured would give me a little bit of wiggle room in case the scales were different... I'm not intirely sure if they were different or something in my bag expanded, but, my bag was at 50 Lbs exactly when checking my bag. There was a big sigh of relief when nothing was said about it.

Mom and Miya are heading up to Camarillo for the week and dropped me off at the airport. So my last meal in California was In n Out, I'm sure tomrorow I will have some horrendous breakfast in the airport in Florida and then some Americanized lunch when I land in San Jose before my journey to Costa de Oro begins.

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Returning to Costa de Oro

I have decided to return to Costa de Oro, this time as the project coordinator.  I am super excited to get back on the beach and start working with the turtles again.

Last year I had the privilege of working with Courtney and Victor.  And, while they are both on to new adventures I am excited to meet the new group of research assistants and volunteers I will be working with.  As well as seeing some old friends at neighboring beaches, I'm excited to see the community as well! 

I have been doing some research as to new blog apps for my iPad to bring you more pictures and better blog posts.  Also, I've been reflecting on last years trip and thinking about what I would else I would bring to Costa Rica the first time around.  

Can't wait to share with everyone my next round in Costa Rica starting middle of August!!! 

Playing with horses

Sorry for not having another sunset picture last night. We were doing exhumations and the bugs were starting to come out. Only 8 more days here, and I haven't seen a nesting turtle in about a week and a half, maybe longer. It's not summer here and the days are dry and we haven't had a good rain in probably a week, which makes it hard for turtles to nest since the sand on the beach is so soft. Our hatchery is back up and running with babies starting to hatch every night. We have about half our hatchery left to go, which seems like a lot but when Victor came back from his visa run half the hatchery had hatched in the week he was gone.

The other day we went out horse back riding. It was a great way to learn about the area around us. We rode through streams, pastures, saw two troops of monkeys and found a few of the guanacaste trees that this area is named for. All the volunteers said that they had ridden before but not a lot. While we were riding one of the girls told me her father is a horse whisperer, she was actually probably the best at riding when we first started and it all made sense.

Next up will be some hiking to waterfalls up behind Javilla. Courtney and I are in the midst of planning our after trip. We are planning on hitting up Tamarindo, Arenal, and Monte Verde and spending about a day or two in each place. It's official I have a flight out of Costa Rica, I will be heading home on the 12th!

Red Handed

On Saturday we went and painted at a local school. They had a wall that needed to be painted and Ingrid asked us on Friday if we would like to go and help them. We were to paint the inside of the surrounding wall. This is more of a fence that surrounds the school, About a month before I got here Courtney, Victor, Matt and our volunteers went and scrapped the wall of the blue paint that was there prior. Well, a couple months later they had us come back to finish the job that was started. We painted the inside of the wall this rusty red color; we have no clue why just the inside of the wall. But with the aid of Victor, Mickle (volunteer from San Diego), Ingrid, and Iona (our Romanian volunteer) we were able to get the whole thing done in just a few hours.

We started off with just one roller and a bunch of paint brushes, and Ingrid and I walked down to the hardware store to grab another roller and some paint trays. Boy was that the best decision of the day, I think we could have been there all week had we not. At one point one of the rollers broke, so I ran back over to buy another roller since we still had another wall to go. Those few times of painting Dad's offices came in handy though, since I have perfected my technique for painting quickly and efficiently.

When we were finishing, Courtney joined us. She had been on a horse tour with the group from San Miguel in the morning and was going to come help when she was done. After cleaning up and washing our very dirty hands we decided we were all starving. Day 2 of Loma Clara! This time I got the Fajitas de Pollo con Tortillas and they even had pineapple-mango smoothies that we all grabbed.

After eating and settling the bill we walked back over towards Coyote and decided to go by Super Rey's to grab ice cream. I also grabbed a Café Brit Iced Coffee, good thing I don't live closer to a super I might develop an addiction to these. And then we headed down 100 meters towards the office to get a ride home.

Another fun successful day in Coyote, well, any day I get ice cream in Coyote is a successful day to me...