Love is a dangerous thing. Today is the first day I think I’ve ever really heard “love” used in a negative way. When I think of love, I think that I love this rainforest, I love this experience, I love these people and I love this journey we are on. As we arrived to the dock where a boat would take us down the Tarcoles River to view crocodiles and birds, a naturalist named Ray, who is the VP for LAPPA (a parrot-type bird conservation team) explained to us how humans are separated from animals because of our power and need for love. When asked if we own or have ever owned an animal, most students eagerly rose their hand. It soon dawned on us how love and companionship can become a sort of possession. This is a huge factor of why so many people own not only cats and dogs, but go through the black market in order to find the rarest animal companions such as the beloved Scarlet Macaws.
With everything in life and in this jungle, there must be a balance. Like the balance between a bird who eats the pests of a tree and in return the tree provides a safe home for the bird’s family. “Save the rainforest” is slowly becoming not only a phrase, but a way of balancing the need for love and a respect of nature. We’re learning so much!!
Here are some reasons we’ve fallen in love with the Costa Rican rainforest:
Standing in the middle of Carara park rainforest, there is never a still moment. Movement is a constant and viewing new life forms is always endless. Often branches fall that sound like pouncing panthers.
There are places that look like they stepped straight out of time. Today we passed a man riding a cart pulled by oxen.
Torrential rain downpours on the Carara station’s tin roof… so loud you cannot hear someone sitting next to you speak.
Feeling like we’re living in an episode of Planet Earth and thinking that an episode couldn’t show us anything more then we could walk out into the jungle and see for ourselves.
Helping citizens with conservation (my team, biogeography, is creating a map template for the Carara national park, birds and botany are taking well-needed species counts, and the educational team will teach young children the importance of wildlife conservation.
Falling asleep to rain on tin roofs and crickets chirping literally on the roof above my bed.
Eating fresh fruit everyday. Today our guide picked a starfruit off of a tree and handed it to us to eat right there!
Seeing 31 crocodiles in one boat ride. They were only a few feet away and mostly around 12 feet long!
Taking a shower with the TOAD that lives in our bathroom drain.
Hiking in the most beautiful setting in the world every day for hours.
Watching rare birds, like Macaws, play in the back of our rainforest “yard” and knowing what they are based off their squawk.
Being with the people who actually out their saving rainforest wildlife. Roy, the naturalist, has helped the population of Scarlet Macaws in Carara go from 220 in 1990 to 440 today. Also, we have first hand knowledge of their lifestyle patterns… such as the fact that macaws are monogamous and if one dies they never move on to another mate. (Although some of them cheat on their hubbies/ wifies!!)
Having absolutely no idea what time it is, but living life the Costa Rican way.. based off experiences not time covered.
Watching white-faced capuchin monkeys and spider monkeys play and waking up to a Howler monkey’s roar.
Attempting to shower by standing in the pouring rain.
The passion and love of nature by the Costa Ricans here (and knowledge of real dancing too!)
Dancing tango in the discothèque. (And being jealous we didn’t learn to do this as kids)
Seeing big one-foot tall mice called Guatamundes, more often then seeing deer in the Northwest.
If you walked off the porch looked into the rainforest, it TOTALLY wouldn’t look out of place if a Tyrannosaurus Rex stomped out.
Things I, and mostly we, wouldn’t mind leaving behind in Costa Rica:
Never taking our eyes off the trail when walking in case we walk into a Fur de Lance snake (one of the most deadliest snakes). There was already on our station’s porch!
Not having a clothing dryer in total humidity… our clothes will never be the same.
Aragog, a huge black hairy tarantula the size of my hand that lives in our bedroom wall and used to poke his legs out.
Constantly itching bug bites and sounding crazy when we swear at the buzzing bugs.
Not being able to brush through my hair. Dr. Bronners does weird, weird things.
Rice and beans at EVERY meal.
Spiders with big, knobby knees.
Whatever weird things DEET is doing to our skin.
But all in all, I’d take the bad things in order to have the good things anyday! This place is amazing and an incredible journey we will never forget. We are all being pushed to an almost-breaking point and we will never be the same… in a very good way.
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