Jungle People

Hola Kids,

Pretty sure little Joysie left off as we made our way into Puerto Viejo/Cocles for our three-week volunteer opportunity with the Jaguar Rescue. A few facebook posts later and you know our lives our filled with the babysitting of sloths and monkeys, the cleaning of sloth, monkey and mice enclosures along with a freakin' ton of raking. I've not raked so much since my Dad forced yardwork on me at the green age of 9.

However, for those non-facebookers I'll give you the lowdown on week one in the jungle with our new jungle-dwelling friends.

We arrived last Sunday to a torrential downpour, but the travel day from the Bocas Del Toro archepeligo to our cabin in Punta Cocles was certainly one of the easiest. On a boat from the Isla Bastimentos at 8 am and inside our cabin by 2 pm. Not bad considering we took two boats, one shuttle, one taxi, one walk across a border,one bus straight to the main drag of Puerto Viejo, another taxi to the jungle road and one 1/2 mile walk UP into the forest to said cabin. OK, I've mentioned a couple towns. Puerto Viejo is the main town about 3km north of the resuce center and Cocles the town from where our jungle road leads into the forest. That's right! We're about an hour walk from the nearest ATM. Pretty cool.

So, just how jungly is the jungle cabin. It runs completely off the grid in all senses. We have rain water for washing dishes, the crapper and the shower. We have solar power for lights and outlets. Our refrigerator is that nifty invention called the cooler and each night is an entemologist's fantasy. BUT, we do have a couple neighbors. The first we've not met, though we're greeted each time we pass by three of the biggest dogs that certainly want to rip out the juglars of all nomads as we. The second, Jose and his wife, Grace, are the best neighbors ever. Upon arrival Jose, speaking only Spanish, showed us around the place, lent us two bicycles and helped us back down the hill and to the grocery store for provisions. Jose has been awesome. He's showed us where to look for the Toucans, sloths, monkeys, watusa's, Lorakeets, etc., as he owns a couple hundred acres of the forest surrounding our cabin. Plus, he speaks no English and speaks Spanish to us as if we're native. Great practice.

Last Monday, a day after Joy and I settled into the cabin, we picked up our buddies from Norway, Bjornar & Hege, in Puerto Viejo. They were grateful for the use of our second bedroom in the cabin, and we escorted them to the grocery store for the provisions of which would be the staple of our 6 nights together in the jungle - easy cooking food, ice, beer & rum. More on this later.

That night the downpour continued, BUT since this little jungle casa is off the grid on rainwater, we were psyched because our two water tanks overfloweth. PLUS, as we would learn in subsequent nights, the rain keeps the amount of flying insects to a minimum. We hadn't seen those guys in a couple days, so we naturally stayed up way too late. Shoot, Joy and I have to be OUT of the cabin and hiking by 7:15 to make it to the center by 8 am.

Our first day consisted of taking a tour of the center. Pretty easy, and Joel (pronouced Joe-El), our new boss, told us to come on back 3/2 for our first day. Joy and I ate some food at a local Soda that afternoon and hopped back up to the cabin to relax watching the tocuans. Bjornar & Hege soon followed with vegetable stew fixins.

It was this night, after the rains, that the insect activity picked up several notches. The evening started off harmless enough watching millions of fireflys light up the forest just off our deck. (The cabin is perched on a hill on stilts and has a priceless view of old growth jungle with sweeping views of a small valley). The shadows of the hundred plus-foot trees were blinking with thousands of fireflys. However, it was when one of those fireflys made its way onto our deck that we realized jungle insects are WAY BIGGER than those back home. This little fella was about two inches long with not only the typical firefly glowing rearend, but two glowing "eyes" on the back of his wings that made him look like a limosine exiting a dark tunnel. Gotta be a way for him to make his predators think he's a bit bigger, though this was no firefly in a jar from my childhood.

For the next several nights it was an insect parade - mountain cockroaches (they fly and are the size of a frizbee), a giant black beetle that we call the cow-bug of the forest (they fly, but slowly, albeit always for the head and they HISS), praying mantis (fly), giant grasshoppers (fly), green leaf-shaped grasshopper (fly), surfboard bug (flys and has a stripe down his back that looks make him look like he's carrying a surfboard), spiders, BIGGEST BLACK ANT I'VE EVER SEEN, etc., etc.

Now, you might see why our nighly provisions always included a bit of beer and a bit of rum. With a buzz, it's just a bit easier to take the onslaught of insects to the face, neck, crotch, legs and feet. ALSO, we've learned that mosquito netting TUCKED INTO the bed is a neccesity. That lesson is learned quickly after one of those suckers snuggles up with ya.

Now, Joy and I would endure as many insect-laden nights the world needs to dish out for the opportunity of volunteering at the rescue center. By the end of our first week we've each worn baby monkeys like clothing as they are walked out to the forest for their daily playtime sessions, we've each had the chance to babysit the injured sloths as they climb around on their display for the visitors, we've each had the chance to learn more in one week than a lifetime about venomous snakes of central america, lizards, spiders, caman, hawks and owls. Plus, all the people at the center are just as passionate. And, it's not all monkey-sitting. Each morning we rake about a hectare of the rainforest because the place is also like a garden, and the owner & herpatolgist (reptile scientist), Sandro, is almost obessive about leaves on his grounds. Most volunteers, save for my first day when I was lulled into a sense of security with 6 hours in the monkey house, spend the mornings raking leaves from the floor of the forest. It's like rolling a giant rock up the hill, but it make our afternoons for animal watching, feeding and enclosure cleaning that much more rewarding.

A couple days ago Bjornar & Hege have continued their travels and we keep track of them via Facebook in the midst of civilization with their hot showers, their bug-free beds, their refrigerators and Joysie & I will spend the next two weeks living like jungle people with our jungle buddies. We treasure our first week in Costa Rica, and we were happy to share the somewhat startling introduction to rainforest living with our new, fast friends. More to share soon.

Love,
US