The endangered Scarlet Macaw.
ARTICLE ARCHIVES
For the past five weeks, I have been working in one of the most biodiverse areas in the world, the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica. Living in the remote secondary rainforest has its own set of perks and drawbacks. The wildlife is incredible, and the daily surveys conducted are my favorite way to start the day. Instead of hearing a rooster crow, I am awoken to the sound of Howler Monkeys outside my tent. The endangered Scarlet Macaws fly over head every hour, and forage for fruit in our trees on camp. Sometimes I just stop and marvel at how normal it feels to be making coffee and look out at a troop of white-faced capuchin monkeys swinging from the branches.
During the first few weeks, everything about the jungle and jungle living is a novelty. Creating creative vegetarian dishes for lunch and dinner, showering with a scorpion on the wall, and trekking through the new survey trails are all fresh and exciting. Don’t get me wrong; these facets of living in the rainforest still make me smile. However, I am starting to daydream about clean clothes, almond milk lattes, and a big old grass-fed burger. It’s crazy how easily we take our state of living for granted at times. In NYC, if I’m craving guacamole for dinner I just have to walk down the block to the nearest deli and buy some avocados (or if I’m extremely lazy then the pre made guacamole). In Carate if I want guacamole, I have to send a message to our staff in town, have them purchase avocados, package them, send them on the colectivo, wait by the side of the road, and hope that the colectivo is running that day. As you might have already guessed, I don’t get to eat guacamole or avocados very often.
On base camp, it’s a normal discussion to compare your developing tropical ulcers, blisters, or amount of mosquito bites on your leg. Yesterday, we were told by a local friend of ours that there is a spider during the rainy season that can pee on your skin and form awful blister breakouts…we are not looking forward to that.
It’s also a reoccurring joke between most of us on camp about how sweaty we are at all times of the day. When I first arrived at camp I was self conscious and annoyed at how much I was sweating. It’s not even that hot, it is just extremely humid, so beads of sweat will form regardless of how hot you feel. However, your body does adjust to some degree, and I find that I even start to feel cold (I use that term lightly).
Currently I am sitting under a palm tree, sweating profusely, drinking a coconut, and happy as can be. As our wildlife research continues over the next few months, I’ll have more content to update onto VidBee, but for the moment my days are filled with 3:30am wake up calls, mosquito bites, and survey trails collecting data.
Sometimes our best projects are the ones that require the less glorious of daily tasks.