So, here I am in Costa Rica! First impressions, my goodness this place is beautiful! Second impression my god it’s hot!
Camp life is basic, but, thank goodness there’s running water and showers.
My bunk consists of a foam mattress on a bunk bed in a bamboo cabin with walls made from green mesh, it’s not cosy but keeps most of the bugs at bay, sadly not the damp.
Surveys
So, let’s summarise, each day there is a survey schedule: starting at 5:00 am (sometimes earlier) and the end survey starting at 10:30 p.m.
Best not sign up for an early and a late.
Surveys takes place every day of the week but on the weekends only turtle surveys are conducted.
Since my arrival in Costa Rica the survey method for several of the study groups has been changed, for example with the turtle survey, this went through two lots of changes.
What does this entail? Well, excavations are completed to the local turtle populations nest to see the rough number of hatched, unhatched and predated? This can be gruesome finding rotten eggs and maggots isn’t pretty. Although the beautiful sun rise at the beach makes up for that I’m my opinion.
Excavations have been merged with the standard turtle survey which consists of patrols along Carate and Leona beach, a round trip of about 5km all before breakfast! The morning turtle surveys were conducted in groups of two or more each scanning for signs of new nests, predated nests, and hatchling tracks. When something new was found, the leader of the survey records what is found. In the case of a new nest – the location of the eggs would be identified with a stick, searching for soft sand consistency, once found, a number marker would be placed within a hole and the nest covered with a bamboo cage it is then be marked with a number, GPS taken and distance from the vegetation measured.
Night turtle surveys took place on only Carate beach. Groups patrolled at night for turtles laying, using red light and then recording the location of the turtle nest sites.
Bat survey: this is a lot like those done in the UK, a selected area is patrolled, and the sounds of the bats are recorded and identified. My walking pace was abnormally quick so staying slow for the detector proved difficult, so I adopted a waddle known as the bat waddle.
Reptile survey: entails trekking through the jungle at night or in the day with head torches scanning high and low for amphibians and reptiles. Throughout my 3 months – this was by far one of my favourite surveys; you’d never be sure of what you’d find. I’ve seen various species of snake, lizard and numerous amphibians my favourite of which being either the Green and Black poison dart frog or the Smokey jungle frog.
Mammal survey: mammal surveys were one of my favourite surveys a chosen trail would be hiked, and you would have proceeded to scan for signs of mammals be that tracks scratch marks or scat, it was always satisfying finding a nice fresh print, on my last survey on the river Rio Carate, I found prints of two individual norther tamanduas and a woolly opossum. Camp firsts if I remember correctly!
Bird survey: bird surveys relied on acoustics to identify the number of birds in specific locations, we studied certain species and had recordings of each call and used these recordings to learn the sounds, setting out prior to dawn and resting in certain locations and taking note of the species identified and number.
Primate survey: involved walking out into the jungle on almost all the trails and taking behavioural data recordings of identified groups or individuals, be that resting, feeding, fighting or traveling.
AIM’s: With another volunteer I set up a relaxed fun survey looking at the invertebrate life found in the jungle we found all sorts of amazing things and took numerous pictures of them. When not on one of these surveys a tarantula burrow was discovered, and I proceeded to entice it to come out and attack a stick using the stick to mimic an insect’s behaviour.
What else have I been doing? I’ve been building, I’ll probably be doing this sometime, I’ve been building a gazebo. Apparently, this summer it will be filled with school children – a place to relax and a spot for presentations. So far, we have the bamboo for the base cut, 3 out of 4 holes dug and a great idea in our heads.
Highlights for me.
I was writing this post and I heard a rustle and I look up to see a huge green iguana less than 3 meters from me, it stopped still, and I got the most amazing photos, so being the nice guy, I am I told everyone else on camp what I’d seen not believing me people were slow to come out but once they did everyone dived for their cameras. Soon after our resident all-rounder Roger, was seeing how close he could get. Of course, the iguana ran off…. Straight into the camp kitchen. After some time, we finally got the iguana out and out the camp.
Crocs! I spent most of my free time at the weekend on excursions such as kayaking around mangroves, one of the best experiences of my life, getting up at 4 in the morning was worth it, setting off in gulf at first light to sit in the calm waters as the sun rose before my eyes. You’ve never seen such beautiful sunrises as I did in Costa Rica. After watching the sunrise for some time, we headed into the mangroves. On my first-time trip, I was lucky enough to see several baby American crocodiles.
Corcovado National Park: living on the Osa peninsula there was no doubt in my mind I was going to visit the national park one of the best decisions I ever made, no without spoiling it for everyone who goes if you want to see a Tapir you will undoubtedly see one in the park and get closer than you ever thought possible. I spent two days in the park and on the morning of the second day before leaving the ranger station I was greeted by the slow walk of a Tapir and its calf. Whist in the park I also got treated to 2 northern tamandua anteaters and ocelot tracks on the beach. To top it all off the first night I got one of the nicest sunsets I’ve seen in my life!
Chocolate farm: there was a chocolate farm in the nearby town of Puerto Jimenez, which held tours of their grounds and there farming process. It was lovely to see a farm that kept a balance between the jungle and agriculture, they went on to show us all sorts of trees, what properties they had and why they were important. I wish I’d remembered their names looking back now. We then proceeded to their manufacturing area, where they demonstrated all the processes involved in making pure untainted chocolate, my goodness its rich stuff but I couldn’t stop eating it!
Poo: from my previous blogs I’m sure that my readers know how much I’m willing to get my hands dirty and explore and take risks. That’s exactly what I did, when I found some scat on a trail I got some gloves on and dissected that scat! After dissection several bone fragments and teeth were identified, which enabled us to surmise that the scats belonged to a Puma and an Ocelot, presumably the individuals we had caught on our camera traps.
So here I am sitting in the rain as my final week in Costa Rica nears its end. I’ve had highs I’ve had lows but without a doubt but, I can undeniably say I’ve had an amazing time, embracing the Costa Rican motto “Pura Vida”, meaning “pure life.”
Could I describe the best part of my time here? No. Could I describe my worst? Probably! Jokes aside though, am I going to recommend going to Costa Rica? Yes, from a Scientific standpoint it’s the most biodiverse place I’ve ever been – full of life in every corner. No matter where you go you will find something wild and amazing.
Would I go here for sun sea and sand? I wouldn’t personally, but there is no shortage of sea and sand, the sun more often in the dry season!
Costa Rica is a place for adventure, scientific discovery and opening your mind to the world.
Through my 3 months conducting surveys for the Frontier organisation, I have learned so much about myself and the natural world.
Zoological Adventures featuring Tom Everley 
Sounds amazing Tom! Well done for taking the initiative to go to Costa Rica on a program where you were able to see so much beauty and wildlife while doing worthwhile projects. You certainly appreciated it and as a result had a very broadening adventure.
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