Kinkajou Enrichment and More!

A few pics of the place I live. It's so green! 

            It’s currently about 3:30 here at the Costa Rica Animal Rescue Center. I’m making this blog post earlier in the day than I usually do because, for one thing, I have some free time right now, and also because this evening some of the volunteers are planning to go out for pizza instead of having dinner here. The food here usually isn’t bad, but it sounds really good to get something other than rice, beans and plantains!

            This blog post will probably be pretty short since there’s not a lot of news to report. Yesterday and today has consisted of more adjusting of some of the enclosures. We’ve been paying extra attention to the kinkajous’ enclosure since it definitely needs some work. Over the past two days we’ve added another layer of green mesh around two sides of the enclosure to give them better shade, as well as moved around a few ropes and branches, but the best thing we did was this morning. Erandi and I decided that they needed a better, sturdier platform both for them to rest on and to put their water dish on. The platform that was currently in there was small and just hanging by ropes, so their bowl would often spill.

            Yesterday afternoon I found a wood pallet that would work as a better platform, but it was too big and some of the wood pieces around the sides were starting to rot. So this morning I spent some time sawing off the extra wood from the pallet- it took quite a bit of sawing and my arm felt like jelly by the time it was ready! When that was done, Erandi and I found another branch and added it to the enclosure, forming a triangle of branches that the platform could sit sturdily on.  The two kinkajous were hiding in their little house for pretty much the entire time we were in there working, thankfully.

            Finally, we brought the platform in and placed it on the branches, adjusting it until it was firmly and safely sitting on the branches. We then moved the water bowl and sat it on the platform. Once we had gotten out of the enclosure, within a few minutes the male kinkajou poked his head out of the house, climbed over to the platform, and plopped right down in the middle of it. It was a pretty windy morning, and the platform must’ve definitely felt better than the house since he could feel the cool breeze a lot more. I went back to that enclosure this afternoon and checked again, and he was still spread out on the platform. It took a lot of work and sweat to build the platform and safely set it up in there, and it was so gratifying to watch him immediately come out and use it!

            A few of the newer volunteers are talking about going to La Fortuna, the area around the Arenal Volcano, on Thursday, and I may join them. I have a tour booked there for February tenth, but the tour doesn’t include zip lining, which is something that I really want to do. I’m not sure I’ll make a blog post tomorrow, so if I end up going to La Fortuna on Thursday, which I probably will, it may be a few days before you hear from me again! This post’s food for thought: “Nature holds the key to our aesthetic, intellectual, cognitive and even spiritual satisfaction.”- E.O. Wilson

More Enrichment Adventures!

Croc pics from Thursday 

Jaco with the other volunteers!

That's some very dark sand!

            After taking that day off to go into Jaco on Thursday, the past few days have consisted of working almost exclusively on enrichment here at the center. Since the enrichment team consists only of Taylor, Erandi, and me we’ve stayed pretty busy working on improving the enclosures and making new toys for the animals. We’re always open to suggestions from the other volunteers, and some of them have contributed ideas as well. The past two days we’ve mainly focused on the enclosures for the raccoons and some of the howler monkeys. The howler monkey enclosure has too much stuff in it that just makes it feel crowded and cluttered, and a lot of the plastic toys in there they don’t even use. I spent most of this morning taking some things out of there and rearranging stuff to make the space more usable.

            This afternoon we’ve done some really good work with the raccoons- they’re always interested in getting new things since they’re such smart, curious animals. There was a small hammock in one of the sloth enclosures, which I took out since they were never using it, and moved it in with the raccoons. So far they’ve loved it; they were climbing on it before I’d even finished tying it in place. They have a section of their enclosure that has dirt rather than a concrete ground, and after lunch Taylor and I worked on turning that into a kind of deeper dirt box, to encourage them to dig more. Once it’s done we’ll probably hide some food under the soil so they can find it. We’ve created a few other toys and games for them as well, and they’ve been busy with that all afternoon.

            I also spent some time this afternoon in the aviary that houses the two scarlet macaws, as well as some amazon parrots. I proposed some ideas to Erandi for enrichment for them, and I’ve spent the past few days going in there every afternoon to try some things with their food- like hiding it or tossing it up for them. Part of the reason that I asked to do this is to get more experience and become more comfortable with these species. Parrots and macaws have freaked me out for years, and I really want to work on not being scared of them.

            I’ve been here in Costa Rica for nearly a week now, but it doesn’t feel like it. In a way it seems like I’ve just arrived, but at the same time I already feel very used to the schedule and rhythm of working and living here. In a way this place reminds me of Bolivia, but it’s definitely not as “third world”- for one thing, we have wifi and drinkable tap water. But when it comes to the typical volunteer schedule, as well as the types of animals we’re working with, the two places have a lot in common. Even the weather is pretty similar- it can get pretty hot and humid here around midday, but thankfully there’s usually a bit of a breeze and it definitely cools off at night, which makes it easier to sleep considering there’s no air conditioning here.

            My work for the day is over, so I’m currently sitting at one of the common areas waiting for dinner. Typically after dinner I spend some time relaxing upstairs. The second floor of this building is more of a big balcony than anything else- it’s a big circular room that’s completely open, with some hammocks lining the edges. Right after dinner a lot of the volunteers flock straight for the showers, so I usually go up there for a while, relaxing and reading until there’s no line.

            That’s pretty much all the news I have for today! This post’s food for thought isn’t so much related to travel, but rather the feeling of contentment that I really feel here in Costa Rica: “Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not.”- Ann Brashares

Hello, Jaco!

            Yesterday I took my day off of the week and headed to the beach town of Jaco with eight other volunteers, and it turned out to be quite a day! We left the center at about eight, and didn’t end up getting back until almost ten o’clock last night. The volunteers here really are from all over the place- there were two other Americans with me on this trip, as well as one girl from Canada, a girl from Portugal, a girl from New Zealand, a girl from Sweden, a girl from England, and a girl from Netherlands. It took about an hour and a half in the shuttle to get to Jaco, which is a pretty touristy town on the western coast of the country. We made a couple of stops on the way there, first to a supermarket to pick up some supplies to have lunch on the beach. Then we stopped at a bridge that overlooks a river with a bunch of crocodiles in it to get some pictures, so we ended up arriving at the beach at about ten. The sand looked different than any other kind of sand I’d ever seen; it was super dark! After finding a shady spot and setting our stuff down, I was the first one into the water. It was perfect! The water was cool but not frigid, it was a perfect mixture of strong crashing waves and calm swells, and there wasn’t even a strong riptide like we’d heard there might be. We spent a long time jumping through the waves, riding the swells, and watching people get surf lessons.

            While I was swimming around, I started thinking about where we were- the western coast of Costa Rica. That meant that we were swimming in the Pacific Ocean. Then, after thinking about it some more, I realized that this was actually my first time being in the Pacific Ocean! I’d been in both the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean in South Africa, but this was my first time in the largest of the oceans. I’ve now been in three out of four!

            Eventually we came out of the water to have lunch, at which point we learned the downside of really dark sand- it gets VERY hot! Thankfully we put our towels down in a shady area, but the walk from the ocean to that spot quickly turned into a sprint!

            After eating lunch, getting some pictures of the gorgeous area where we were, relaxing on the beach for a while, and spending some more time in the ocean, we returned to the shuttle at about 3:30, and headed into the town of Jaco to do some shopping, sightseeing, and stopping into one of the cute little mom and pop ice cream shops for a snack. Around sunset we returned to the beach just to see the last bit of color in the sky and get a few more pictures. For dinner we headed to a restaurant that had caught our eyes earlier called The Green Room. Including our driver Johnny, there were ten of us total, but we managed to all fit in one of the biggest tables in the place. It was nearly eight o’clock by the time we hopped in the shuttle to return to the center, and due to a wreck on the highway, it was ten by the time we finally made it back, at which point we all just wanted to shower and fall into bed.

            Today has been another day of focusing on enrichment for the animals- today I’ve mainly worked with birds, raccoons, and a little with the howler monkeys. We have two adorable young raccoons that live here, and they’re very smart and active- they love any toys and games that we give them. Tomorrow Erandi asked if I could rearrange and redesign the smaller howler monkey enclosure, so I’m sure most of my day tomorrow will consist of that. By the way, sorry for the lack of pictures in the last couple of posts- the wifi here makes adding photos to blogs pretty much impossible. This post’s food for thought: “A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles.”- Tim Cahill

Day Two in Costa Rica

            Seeing as how yesterday was mostly orientation/tour/getting the hang of this place, today was my first day of real work here at the Costa Rica Animal Rescue Center. The morning was spent helping in the animal kitchen, building some new platforms for the howler monkeys’ enclosure, and feeding a few of the smaller parrots. That last job was something I’d been both excited about and dreading since I sent the email saying I wanted to volunteer here- working with parrots and macaws again. As I’ve mentioned here before, this is the family of animals that I’m the LEAST comfortable with. I love snakes, I’ve been swimming with great white sharks, I’ve held plenty of spiders and other bugs… but parrots and macaws just freak me out. Still, I did it without getting attacked or making a fool of myself, though at one point I very quickly pulled my hand out of the cage when I saw the jaws of death approaching.

            At lunch today I sat with a group of girls that I hadn’t really talked to yet. One of them, another American named Tatiana, told me that several of them were taking the day off tomorrow to go to Jaco, a city about an hour away that is known to have one of the best beaches in Costa Rica. She said they were getting one of the center’s drivers to take them and splitting the cost of the trip. We’re allowed one day off from the center per week, and they asked me if I wanted to come along. After talking to Erandi to make sure it was okay with her, I said I’d come along. So tomorrow morning nine of the volunteers are hopping in the shuttle and heading over to Jaco to spend the day hanging at the beach!

            After lunch Erandi asked if she and I could create a new team that focuses mainly on enrichment, so of course I said yes. In the afternoon meeting Erandi mentioned that she and I would be creating this team, and invited anyone who wanted to help out if they had free time. When the meeting was over, Erandi and I walked around the center, accompanied by a new volunteer who wanted to join us, a guy named Taylor from Toronto. We all looked at the different enclosures, commented on what might need work, and overall ways to improve them. The raccoon enclosure, howler monkey enclosure, and one of the aviaries could definitely use some work, and we collectively brainstormed about different ways we could use this place’s limited resources to improve them. After a while, Erandi left us to go lead a tour, and Taylor and I walked around the other enclosures, brainstorming and chatting.

            I’m now sitting in one of the volunteer common areas waiting for dinner. Depending on how much time we spend in Jaco tomorrow, I may or may not have time for a blog post. If not, I’ll make sure to post one the following day! Oh, and by the way, I probably won’t always be able to add photos to my blog posts because the wifi connection here isn’t very good- it’s taken me nearly three hours to be able to publish this! This post’s food for thought: “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” Saint Augustine

Hello Costa Rica!

One of the sloths I'll be working with 

I enjoyed some VERY fresh coconut water this afternoon. This had just fallen out of the tree!

One of the spider monkeys playing with the enrichment we made

            Greetings from the Costa Rica Animal Rescue Center! I arrived here at about 9:30 last night and pretty much fell right into bed, so I didn’t really get a good look at the place until this morning. The main thing I’ve noticed so far- this country is so green! Seriously, there’s greenery everywhere!

            After breakfast was served for the volunteers at seven this morning, we had the first of two daily volunteer meetings, led by one of the volunteer supervisors, a woman named Erandi. There are a good amount of volunteers at this place- about thirty of us in total. Like with the other places I’ve volunteered, we’re from all over the place! I’ve met volunteers from Canada, China, Finland, Portugal, Australia, Chile and more.

            When the meeting was over, the other volunteers broke up into their groups to go work, while Erandi led me and a couple of other new volunteers on a tour of the entire center. It’s a big place, and is home to quite a few different species, including three-toed sloths, turtles, howler monkeys, spider monkeys, capuchins, a marmoset, and more. She went over the details about each animal as we went, and the entire tour ended up lasting nearly two hours. She also asked the new volunteers where we were from, what we did back home, and if we had any experience like this before. When she heard about my experience at the zoo, as well as in South Africa and Bolivia, she immediately asked if I would speak to the other volunteers about all of that after lunch, and also if she could put me in charge of enrichment for the spider monkeys, both of which I of course said yes to.

            When the tour was over we got the rest of the morning to ourselves before lunch at noon. At 1:30 there was the second daily meeting of the day, in which Erandi introduced me to the other volunteers and asked me to talk about my animal experience. She then asked me to talk about the importance of enrichment for animals in captivity, especially very intelligent animals like primates. After the meeting, I spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning out a few of the sloth enclosures, then creating some enrichment for the spider monkeys. This center has limited resources, but we created some places to hide the monkeys’ food using coconuts, mesh netting, and rope. The monkeys definitely seemed interested and entertained by them!

            I’m currently sitting here in one of the volunteer common areas writing up this post. Work is done for the day, and dinner will be served in about half an hour. I’ve been here in Costa Rica for less than 24 hours, and it’s already shaping up to be an amazing trip! This post’s food for thought: “Wandering re-establishes the original harmony which once existed between man and the universe.”- Anatole France