Pura Vida, Costa Rica!

I will definitely miss the cute sloths that live here

One of my favorite places in the center- the hammocks upstairs

I will definitely miss this spot

My final Costa Rican sunset...

            Well, I’m checked into my flights home. My bags are mostly packed up. My airport transfer from the center to the airport is set up. I have less than 24 hours left here in Costa Rica. I’ve heard that the San Jose Airport security often takes a really long time, so they require passengers to be there THREE hours before their flights, so I have to leave here stupidly early tomorrow. I think I made this trip just about the perfect length- I’ve loved all of my time here, but I think I’m ready to come home. Don’t get me wrong, there are lots of things about this place that I’ll miss, but there are just some comforts of home that I’m looking forward to getting back.

            Like the majority of my work here, the past few days have been focused on enrichment. As I’ve been walking around the center for the past few days, I’ve been noticing the changes that have been made in the month that I’ve been here. The smaller howler monkey enclosure looks so much more natural and less crowded since I’ve taken all the colorful plastic out and rearranged the ropes and platforms. The raccoon enclosure has also changed a lot- they love the hammock I added, and also like digging in the new soil box that we made in the corner of the enclosure. The two kinkajous are definitely using their new platform and house that we added a few weeks ago. Petunia the coati really likes the weaved palm leaves that we’ve added around the sides of her enclosure, and also likes digging around in the foraging tubes that I added in the ground. I can’t help but feel a little bit of pride when I look at these things; I feel like I might’ve made a bit of difference in the month that I’ve been here.

            If people asked me to describe this country in one word, that word would be green. As I’ve mentioned before, Costa Rica is 27 percent forest and, even though the entire country is only the size of West Virginia, it contains five percent of the world’s biodiversity, in both flora and fauna. But it’s not just the greenery that I love about Costa Rica, and that I’ll miss. There are so many things that I can put on that list. I’ll miss the taste of water from a coconut that’s just fallen out of the tree, or the taste of the freshest pineapple I’ve ever had. I’ll miss the sounds of all the wildlife around me- with one exception that I’ll get to in a moment. I’ll miss the wonderful climbing trees, and I’ll miss risking my life climbing up them to set up new animal enclosures. I love Costa Rican sunsets, and hearing the phrase “pura vida” at least ten times a day. I’ll miss relaxing on a hammock after a day of work, feeling the cool breeze gently rock me back and forth. I’ll miss the kitchen employees here calling out “listo!” at seven, noon, and six to tell us the meal is ready, and the following scramble of volunteers to get in line. I might even just slightly miss fellow volunteers Michael and Andrew using Spongebob quotes to make fun of the fact that I’m from Texas.

            On the other hand, I won’t miss the lack of air conditioning- I honestly don’t think I’ve been in an air conditioned room since I’ve left the states. I won’t miss the roosters calling right outside at five am- told you I was getting to that exception! I won’t miss the millions of mosquitos that have been feasting on my arms and legs over the past month, and everything that comes with living around them like constantly scratching, always having scabs up and down my arms and legs, always applying and smelling like bug spray (even though it hardly seems to make a difference), and sleeping under a mosquito net- that one I definitely won’t miss! I won’t miss the terrible wifi connection that can sometimes make publishing a blog post take two hours. And I won’t miss the inability to flush toilet paper- that’s right, you can’t do that here. I didn’t realize how incredibly convenient that was until that convenience was taken away.

            So here I am now typing up this post, sitting on this hammock, feeling the breeze against my face, smelling the plantain chips that are being fried up for dinner, listening to the other volunteers laughing downstairs, and watching the final Costa Rican sunset of this trip. Like the beginning, the end of these trips always brings so many emotions. I still haven’t gotten used to this “end of trip feeling”, and maybe I never will. Again, I know this won’t be the only traveling I’ll be doing in 2018, but it was certainly a good start. Pura vida, Costa Rica. Thanks for the memories. This post’s food for thought: “Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow.”-Anita Desai