Larissa, the York University international internship coordinator, has asked us all to describe our placement in one word. I would have to say that the word for Cano Palma is alive. This is the most biodiverse place I have ever been to - the abundance of plants and animals here is astonishing. A previous intern from York described her experience here as 'nature shock' rather than 'culture shock' and I couldn't agree more. I've seen so many species of animals and plants here that it's hard to keep track of them. I'm slowly learning their names (both in latin and in English/Spanish) thanks to a record book we keep of all incidental sightings on base. Just as I write this a male yellow headed gecko is hunting on the shelf behind the computer, next to him is a cockroach twice his size. Earlier this evening someone found a yellow eyelash viper in a tree (not too far from my room) and we found a green eyelash viper on the boat dock a few days ago as well. Yesterday our compound was invaded by army ants that scoured the cabins and pathways looking for food. There's always something moving in the corner of my eye, and if I can't see it, I'll hear it instead. The amount of activity here makes it seems as if Cano Palma is a living organism itself.
Since our patrol leader training, Kirstin and I have begun to lead beach walks on our own with groups of 3-6 people. Last week a rather large group of people from Ohio arrived and we've been really busy ever since. Two nights ago I walked 7 miles in the pouring rain on a very dark beach when we came across a huge mother Leatherback. At that moment, I forgot my aching feet and soaking wet clothes and sprung into action. I snuck up behind her to check if she had laid her eggs yet, and found that she was just starting to dig the egg chamber with her back feet. She dug about a metre down and then began to lay her eggs, which I counted with a gloved hand. I had to lay down behind her and it was somewhat intimidating to be putting my body at the mercy of a 600kg reptile, but she was a good first turtle for me to work and stayed very still. After she laid her eggs, we checked her tags and measured her carapace, which was 1.5m long and 1.12m wide. We got to watch her return to the sea in the light of the moon, which had just come out over the ocean. I couldn't take any pictures because the light disturbs the turtles but the picture below is a pretty accurate image of what I did. It was awesome.
Some other pictures from this week:
Kirstin with the tagging kit and triangulation tape
Juancho, the fatty caiman who lives under the dock
Geoffroy's Spider Monkey
I went to Tortuguero for the greatest ice cream sundae. I've been craving this ever since, it was like opening Pandora's box.
Machinery leftover from when Tortuguero was a logging town
The beach at Tortuguero
Taking a water taxi back to Cano Palma
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