Hello everyone, We last left you with our mountain experience. Our last week at Karongwe was spent doing visibility drives as well as regular game drives. The visibility drives are a part of prey count and it is used to help judge how well you can see the game from the road. Based on the information we gather, the park management put together a formula to derive how many prey animals there are in the reserve. It all sounds quite tedious but it was fun to get out of the truck and run into the bush with the tape measure. The way this works is one volunteer holds the tape while the other heads into the bush until they are not visible from the truck and a staff member accompanies you with a rifle in case something were to happen.
Most of the time it was uneventful but on our last day Anton and Ken went running into the bush and literally "ran" into a rhino. It was great to see this rhino so calm. After they crept back to the truck Anton took Kelly on foot to get a better look. After this rhino decided to head north so we all got back to the truck and followed him in hopes of a better view. We had to continue our work so we headed off to finish the survey and returned on he way home to seek another audience with "Lucky the rhino."
This was our last week spent on the reserve, we decided to leave a week early as we felt that we had more than enough of dorm life and wanted to see more of this part of South Africa. We rented a car and plan to drive the Blyde river canyon including its waterfall tour. The first set of pictures included a few of the views on this drive; new pictures have been added for this email update. It was so beautiful and we were so happy to be free, we definitely made the right choice. After this scenic drive we spent two nights in Nelspruit. There we visited the Lowveld National Botanical Garden which we enjoyed very much. It was winter so there were not a lot of flowers in bloom at the time. We have decided we are quite passionate about trees and there are so many here to admire.
One of my favorites is the Jackalberry tree, this thing defies nature in the way it grows. Its branches can grow in a curve like a snake or the “Y” of a sling shot; or the branches might spiral out from the trunk in all directions. Other favorites here so fare are the Marula, Knob Thorn and the Baobab. We found the Baobab to end all Baobabs and later found out from a South African familiar with this tree it is estimated to be over 4000 years old!!! There is another Baobab tree near Tzaneen, South Africa that contains a bar and is thought to be much older (we will have to go see this tree next time).
We enjoyed a few days drive in Kruger National Park where we were almost attacked by an elephant. This massive animal was only feet from our tiny car (a VW Chico) when it turned and lunged at the car. Needless to say we were both a bit shaken and put the VW peddle to the meddle to make our escape. Our drive through Kruger (which is the oldest national park in SA and is the size of Israel) gave us an appreciation for the intimate experiences we were able to enjoy with the wild life at Karongwe.
As our time in eastern South Africa ended we drove west to Johannesburg to set off on our next adventure Zambia. Zambia…….. Oh my goodness I do not know how more things could go wrong in one trip. The travel company that we had booked everything through messed up all of our plans. A) Our lodging B) our safari and C) our rafting. Needless to say we spent our first few days scrambling around trying to fix all the problems. By day three we had obtained new lodging, booked our rafting and a different safari. I am just glad we made it through because both of us were ready to bail on Zambia at any time and quite honestly the place is still very low on our list of countries to revisit.
Once we settled in and began enjoying the beauty of Victoria Falls we started to relax. The falls are absolutely breath taking; the sheer volume of water and expanse is amazing. The spray is so strong it is like being rained on when you are walking on the opposite escarpment to the falls. We took two separate walks around the falls, one was the dry version and another day we geared up for the soaking wet tour. We enjoyed a nice sunset cruise on the Zambezi just above the fall break. We did the infamous Zambezi white water rafting, it was fun but the trek in and out of the canyon was grueling. Unfortunately we were there during the high water season so we were only able to do 12 of the 23 rapids.
The greatest highlight of our trip up north was our safari into Botswana. This was a day trip that took us across the Zambezi river right at the meeting place of four countries; Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia. Once we crossed the river into Botswana, we started our tour of Chobe National Park with a river cruise on the Chobe River. This was the first park we went to that did not have fences and the wild animals truly roam free. We watched elephants cross the river from Botswana to Namibia. We also enjoyed the best birding so far.
This is another note of mention how much Don and I realized we are quite the “twitchers.” We were so fascinated with the bird life we had to purchase a most comprehensive southern Africa bird book which includes over 950 species. I could go into quite the diatribe about my theory about the birds of Africa vs. the birds of the Americas, but alas I will spare you all. Back to the safari; I really appreciated the different perspective we had seeing the wild life from the water. It was fun to see the game come down to take a drink, elephant’s splash and play. We were even so lucky as to see 4 giraffe come down to the water to drink, such a wonderful and funny sight.
In the end if all our plans had not gone wrong I don’t think we would have been as lucky as we were to experience what we did in Botswana. So even though the best laid plans may go astray it all works out for the best in the end. Not to be out done by others through all of our mishaps of Zambia, we messed up our departure day and we went to the airport one day early. Thankfully for a small fee and our mutual need to leave all went well and we headed to Cape Town on the 29th of June instead of the 30th as our extensive itinerary states.
As with our theme of the past few weeks one might be cautious to follow that itinerary as we are planning some other major changes as I write this email. Since we are back in civilization with electricity and internet access we’ve add a few new pictures for your enjoyment. Until our next update, we wish you all the best. Big hugs and Kisses to Emily, Hayden, William and Olivia!!!!! Kelly and Don
Monday, July 2, 2007
Thursday, June 21, 2007
South Africa Email 2
Week three brings new experiences and animals as we head off to the mountain camp to do research on small mammals. Kelly and I decide that 5 people and supplies in the back of the pickup truck (Bucky as it is called here) is a little much to for the drive so we rent a car for the trip. Also, we plan a diversion and sightseeing on the return trip. Our car arrives and we meet the remaining group along the way in the closest town – Houedspruit. We find a lovely café and spend a little time on the internet catching up on everything before meeting everyone else to follow the truck up to the cottage.
Our travel to the mountain takes an hour or so from Houedspruit and we travel some 2000 meters up on the local escarpment.
The local mountains are known as the Drakensberg’s. The Drakensberg’s hold one of the greatest river canyon’s in the world - Blyde River Canyon. Blyde is largest green canyon in the world (meaning it has vegetation up to the summit) and the 3rd largest canyon behind the Grand Canyon in the US and the Fish River Canyon in Namibia. The drive is beautiful as we slowly get a bird’s eye view of the flat top peaks that we have enjoyed every day since arriving at Karongwe. The escarpment face that we see from base camp is the northern boundary of Blyde River Canyon. As we make our way up the canyon we see cows and farmers along with logging trucks even a small saw mill.
Once we reach a small saddle between two of the main ridges we find the small but beautiful cottage which will be our base for the next 4 days. We unpack and immediately head to the garden to admire the view and take pictures. This place has a view to the south of Blyde Canyon and the Lowveld to the north (base camp). We take pictures of the views and the local flowers among which are 12 foot high poinsettia trees. I never knew they grew to such heights.
Soon after unpacking we load the truck with small mammal traps and are off to set them. We use the traps to seed three spots on the mountain that have been determined in conjunction with facility at South Africa University. GVI works with several renowned scientists to determine the best research protocols and locations on the mountain from which to gather data. We actually travel from the cottage into a part of the canyon that was formerly a military base - Mariepskop.
Because Mariepskop was restricted as a military base, the local ecosystem holds unique plant and animal life and some of the only remaining virgin forest in this part of South Africa. Because Mariepskop was off limits it was partially saved from farming and the non-indigenous eucalyptus and pine that cover most of the remainder of the mountain. With a few hour of work we set our traps and return to the cottage for dinner and a quite night in the heavens.
Over the next three days we record the contents of the small mammal traps each day. We log size (length, weight, etc), species, and gender contained in the 80 traps on the mountain. After our daily routine we help establish new trap lines by taking GPS readings and marking the locations with danger tape. Future expeditions will use the new trap lines to continue the study in other parts of the mountain. The weather was not as friendly to us as the prior group as we have uncustomary cloudy and rainy days for the remainder of the mountain trip. No problem, we curl up with a good book in the cabin and stoke the fire.
That’s all for this installment. Next we will finish up our work at Karongwe and rent a car to explore Blyde River Canyon area and Kruger Park. Pictures can be found here. Some of them are a little ahead of the text here but we figure better to upload while we have the ability. For those following at home our schedule is posted again here. Hope all is well and your lives are a blessed as ours. Love to all.
Don & Kelly's Great Adventure – 2007 Africa - Travel Plans
May 3 – Fly from Houston to Myrtle Beach, SC for Olivia’s birthday. Will be staying with Kelly’s brother Greg.
May 10 – Fly from Myrtle Beach to London for short layover on the way to South Africa.
May 14 – Fly from London to South Africa; Stay one night in Johannesburg.
May 16 – Travel via bus to the game preserve / park. Will spend 5 weeks in the park tracking animals and habitat.
Jun 20 – Return to Johannesburg via bus; overnight in Johannesburg.
Jun 21 – Fly to Livingstone to see Victoria Falls; raft Zambezi River; and 4 day safari.
Jun 30 – Fly from Livingstone to Cape Town for shark dive and sightseeing over 5 days.
Jul 6 – Travel north to time share in the wine country for a week of R&R.
Jul 13 – Return to Cape Town; fly to Johannesburg then on to London.
Jul 14 – Visit with friends in England for two weeks.
Jul 30 – Return to Houston on Jul 31th – (Maybe)!
The local mountains are known as the Drakensberg’s. The Drakensberg’s hold one of the greatest river canyon’s in the world - Blyde River Canyon. Blyde is largest green canyon in the world (meaning it has vegetation up to the summit) and the 3rd largest canyon behind the Grand Canyon in the US and the Fish River Canyon in Namibia. The drive is beautiful as we slowly get a bird’s eye view of the flat top peaks that we have enjoyed every day since arriving at Karongwe. The escarpment face that we see from base camp is the northern boundary of Blyde River Canyon. As we make our way up the canyon we see cows and farmers along with logging trucks even a small saw mill.
Once we reach a small saddle between two of the main ridges we find the small but beautiful cottage which will be our base for the next 4 days. We unpack and immediately head to the garden to admire the view and take pictures. This place has a view to the south of Blyde Canyon and the Lowveld to the north (base camp). We take pictures of the views and the local flowers among which are 12 foot high poinsettia trees. I never knew they grew to such heights.
Soon after unpacking we load the truck with small mammal traps and are off to set them. We use the traps to seed three spots on the mountain that have been determined in conjunction with facility at South Africa University. GVI works with several renowned scientists to determine the best research protocols and locations on the mountain from which to gather data. We actually travel from the cottage into a part of the canyon that was formerly a military base - Mariepskop.
Because Mariepskop was restricted as a military base, the local ecosystem holds unique plant and animal life and some of the only remaining virgin forest in this part of South Africa. Because Mariepskop was off limits it was partially saved from farming and the non-indigenous eucalyptus and pine that cover most of the remainder of the mountain. With a few hour of work we set our traps and return to the cottage for dinner and a quite night in the heavens.
Over the next three days we record the contents of the small mammal traps each day. We log size (length, weight, etc), species, and gender contained in the 80 traps on the mountain. After our daily routine we help establish new trap lines by taking GPS readings and marking the locations with danger tape. Future expeditions will use the new trap lines to continue the study in other parts of the mountain. The weather was not as friendly to us as the prior group as we have uncustomary cloudy and rainy days for the remainder of the mountain trip. No problem, we curl up with a good book in the cabin and stoke the fire.
That’s all for this installment. Next we will finish up our work at Karongwe and rent a car to explore Blyde River Canyon area and Kruger Park. Pictures can be found here. Some of them are a little ahead of the text here but we figure better to upload while we have the ability. For those following at home our schedule is posted again here. Hope all is well and your lives are a blessed as ours. Love to all.
Don & Kelly's Great Adventure – 2007 Africa - Travel Plans
May 3 – Fly from Houston to Myrtle Beach, SC for Olivia’s birthday. Will be staying with Kelly’s brother Greg.
May 10 – Fly from Myrtle Beach to London for short layover on the way to South Africa.
May 14 – Fly from London to South Africa; Stay one night in Johannesburg.
May 16 – Travel via bus to the game preserve / park. Will spend 5 weeks in the park tracking animals and habitat.
Jun 20 – Return to Johannesburg via bus; overnight in Johannesburg.
Jun 21 – Fly to Livingstone to see Victoria Falls; raft Zambezi River; and 4 day safari.
Jun 30 – Fly from Livingstone to Cape Town for shark dive and sightseeing over 5 days.
Jul 6 – Travel north to time share in the wine country for a week of R&R.
Jul 13 – Return to Cape Town; fly to Johannesburg then on to London.
Jul 14 – Visit with friends in England for two weeks.
Jul 30 – Return to Houston on Jul 31th – (Maybe)!
Saturday, June 9, 2007
South Africa Email 1
We arrived in Johannesburg on schedule and spent the night in a local Southern Sun Hotel. It was very nice for an airport hotel. That same day we arranged for a car to take us to the local mall and sporting goods outfitter to locate and purchase sleeping bags. We were successful and headed back to the hotel for a little R&R, dinner and then we were off to bed.
We had a wonderful buffet breakfast at the hotel before heading back to the airport to meet our expedition mates and the long drive to the Karongwe reserve.
The ride was advertised as a 5 hour drive but actually was more than 8. We were greeted by the staff and other volunteers from the prior 5 week expedition and had a cold beer around the camp fire before finishing up last minute paper work and heading off to bed about 10:30. No one slept more than a few hours and all were tired at the 6:30 wakeup call for our first day in camp. The first week in camp was filled with daily training on the local wildlife and our role in conservation for the Karongwe Wildlife Game Reserve.
Karongwe is an 8,000 hectare private reserve formed by landowners who banded together to restore a part of South Africa to its original “wild” state. Over the course of the past decade or so, the reserve has grown to a managed state of beauty. The major focus the research here is to monitor the large predators on the reserve (Cheetah, Lions, & Leopard) so that a natural balance is maintained. The GVI staff perform two research drives each day, one beginning at 5:30 am and the other at 3:00 pm. On our first pm drive we saw: Giraffe, Impala, Wart Hog, The Cheetah Boy’s (more on these guys later), Nayla, Vervet Monkey, Elephant, Bushbuck, Waterbuck, Kudu, Black Back Jackal, and a Scrub Hair.
Each drive is invariably focused on locating and monitoring the large predators. One or more of the species is fitted with radio telemetry (either an implant or a collar) that allow the staff to locate and gather data on their daily lives. GVI tracks their location in the park, daily kills, full rating (how much they’ve had to eat), and general health. Our first day we tracked down The Cheetah Boy’s – Shungu and Koba. We located them via Shungu’s T-Lem implant (radio becon) to within 20 meters of one of the roads in the park. Kelly actually spotted them lying under a tree in the bush. We then walked in on them and spent more than 45 minutes observing and following them from about 3 to 4 meters.
On our way back to base camp we encountered a small herd of elephants. We stopped and watched them graze till they decided it was time for us to leave. After watching for about 30 minutes a large female appeared from the bush to our right. She was soon joined by an equally large and bothered female from the left. The two came together and formed a barrier to protect their two young elephants and shoulder to shoulder they did a mock charge on the truck. That’s when we cranked it up and retreated for safer ground. There is nothing like 5 tons of living raging gray mass to motivate a quick exit.
We returned to base camp for dinner and sharing with staff and other volunteers. What a thrilling first day. We continued our daily training for the first week focused on the inevitable “exam.” This is a much dreaded affair mostly because we don’t know what to expect. We have been crammed so full of details and facts on the animals of South Africa and Karongwe that we are not sure what to study in preparation. Alas, all our time is up and the exam is presented. We are all happy it is over and eventually are informed that we all passed. Hurray, time to celebrate and get on with daily life of animal study and game drives in Karongwe.
The second week in the Bushveld (meaning savannah) brings daily am and pm research dives collecting data for the long term study already in place. We are but a small part of the larger picture that weaves together the 25+ people operating from base camp. Highlight sightings this week include a group of hippos including a very small baby that just wouldn’t move out of the road. The mother hippo had to come back out of the water to coax the little guy/gal into the lake. Also on one the way back to base on a night drive we saw two huge porcupines; these guys were more than 2 ½ foot tall and we have some large porcupine needles to prove how dangerous they can be.
Then there was the Pangolin; this is one of the rarest of African animals. It is a cross between a reptile (because it is covered in huge outer scales) and a mammal (pointed noise and short stubby feet. We stumbled onto the sighting after triangulating the lions near dusk. The whole pride had this thing cornered and were playing with it trying to open it up for an easy dinner. No such luck. This thing wraps itself in a very tight ball that even lionesses cannot penetrate. After the lions tired of the “game” we hung around to be sure it was OK. Some of the staff eventually got out of the truck and picked this thing up. It weighed more than 40 pounds and withstood attempts from two grown men in opening it up. Eventually we retreated and it slowly walked away. Even the staff was astounded at rare sighting of this mythical animal.
Another morning we were on elephant observation and located a large portion of the mating heard. We sat with them for over an hour and observed the babies playing and doing what Kelly calls “trunk skills.” They would try to pickup rocks and larger logs until successful. One juvenile made its way to the truck and eventually put its trunk near the driver window to give Anton (staff) a sniff. It then moved down the truck to smell the other people in the back. You could hear it sniff and see inside its mouth. It eventually touched one of the staff sitting on that side of the truck. Then moved away and returned to eating with the rest of the heard.
The one down side of it all is the dorm life. Both of us are accustomed to life to ourselves and find it difficult to cope with spending every minute of every day with at least 20 other people. The nights are especially difficult as we share a room of bunk beds with the rumblings, coughs, and snores of 12 other volunteers. To counter this closter-phobic feeling we took refuge at one of the 5 lodges located at Karongwe. At Edeni River Loge we enjoyed endless hot showers, electricity, and civilized dining for the first time in two weeks. This could be heaven! We will get something of a break from base camp as we travel to the Mountain camp next week with our small group of 5 volunteers. More to come soon.
The ride was advertised as a 5 hour drive but actually was more than 8. We were greeted by the staff and other volunteers from the prior 5 week expedition and had a cold beer around the camp fire before finishing up last minute paper work and heading off to bed about 10:30. No one slept more than a few hours and all were tired at the 6:30 wakeup call for our first day in camp. The first week in camp was filled with daily training on the local wildlife and our role in conservation for the Karongwe Wildlife Game Reserve.
Karongwe is an 8,000 hectare private reserve formed by landowners who banded together to restore a part of South Africa to its original “wild” state. Over the course of the past decade or so, the reserve has grown to a managed state of beauty. The major focus the research here is to monitor the large predators on the reserve (Cheetah, Lions, & Leopard) so that a natural balance is maintained. The GVI staff perform two research drives each day, one beginning at 5:30 am and the other at 3:00 pm. On our first pm drive we saw: Giraffe, Impala, Wart Hog, The Cheetah Boy’s (more on these guys later), Nayla, Vervet Monkey, Elephant, Bushbuck, Waterbuck, Kudu, Black Back Jackal, and a Scrub Hair.
Each drive is invariably focused on locating and monitoring the large predators. One or more of the species is fitted with radio telemetry (either an implant or a collar) that allow the staff to locate and gather data on their daily lives. GVI tracks their location in the park, daily kills, full rating (how much they’ve had to eat), and general health. Our first day we tracked down The Cheetah Boy’s – Shungu and Koba. We located them via Shungu’s T-Lem implant (radio becon) to within 20 meters of one of the roads in the park. Kelly actually spotted them lying under a tree in the bush. We then walked in on them and spent more than 45 minutes observing and following them from about 3 to 4 meters.
On our way back to base camp we encountered a small herd of elephants. We stopped and watched them graze till they decided it was time for us to leave. After watching for about 30 minutes a large female appeared from the bush to our right. She was soon joined by an equally large and bothered female from the left. The two came together and formed a barrier to protect their two young elephants and shoulder to shoulder they did a mock charge on the truck. That’s when we cranked it up and retreated for safer ground. There is nothing like 5 tons of living raging gray mass to motivate a quick exit.
We returned to base camp for dinner and sharing with staff and other volunteers. What a thrilling first day. We continued our daily training for the first week focused on the inevitable “exam.” This is a much dreaded affair mostly because we don’t know what to expect. We have been crammed so full of details and facts on the animals of South Africa and Karongwe that we are not sure what to study in preparation. Alas, all our time is up and the exam is presented. We are all happy it is over and eventually are informed that we all passed. Hurray, time to celebrate and get on with daily life of animal study and game drives in Karongwe.
The second week in the Bushveld (meaning savannah) brings daily am and pm research dives collecting data for the long term study already in place. We are but a small part of the larger picture that weaves together the 25+ people operating from base camp. Highlight sightings this week include a group of hippos including a very small baby that just wouldn’t move out of the road. The mother hippo had to come back out of the water to coax the little guy/gal into the lake. Also on one the way back to base on a night drive we saw two huge porcupines; these guys were more than 2 ½ foot tall and we have some large porcupine needles to prove how dangerous they can be.
Then there was the Pangolin; this is one of the rarest of African animals. It is a cross between a reptile (because it is covered in huge outer scales) and a mammal (pointed noise and short stubby feet. We stumbled onto the sighting after triangulating the lions near dusk. The whole pride had this thing cornered and were playing with it trying to open it up for an easy dinner. No such luck. This thing wraps itself in a very tight ball that even lionesses cannot penetrate. After the lions tired of the “game” we hung around to be sure it was OK. Some of the staff eventually got out of the truck and picked this thing up. It weighed more than 40 pounds and withstood attempts from two grown men in opening it up. Eventually we retreated and it slowly walked away. Even the staff was astounded at rare sighting of this mythical animal.
Another morning we were on elephant observation and located a large portion of the mating heard. We sat with them for over an hour and observed the babies playing and doing what Kelly calls “trunk skills.” They would try to pickup rocks and larger logs until successful. One juvenile made its way to the truck and eventually put its trunk near the driver window to give Anton (staff) a sniff. It then moved down the truck to smell the other people in the back. You could hear it sniff and see inside its mouth. It eventually touched one of the staff sitting on that side of the truck. Then moved away and returned to eating with the rest of the heard.
The one down side of it all is the dorm life. Both of us are accustomed to life to ourselves and find it difficult to cope with spending every minute of every day with at least 20 other people. The nights are especially difficult as we share a room of bunk beds with the rumblings, coughs, and snores of 12 other volunteers. To counter this closter-phobic feeling we took refuge at one of the 5 lodges located at Karongwe. At Edeni River Loge we enjoyed endless hot showers, electricity, and civilized dining for the first time in two weeks. This could be heaven! We will get something of a break from base camp as we travel to the Mountain camp next week with our small group of 5 volunteers. More to come soon.
Saturday, December 2, 2006
Costa Rica 4
Hello everyone, I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving. I had camp duty that day so I made us a traditional as possible in Caño Palma Thanksgiving meal.
Well quite a bit has happened since I last wrote. I have been on several jag cam walks, this is where we check the cameras we have put up and move some to different locations.
Well.. on my walk last week we saw a JAG!!!!! This is huge! There has only been one other jag sighting in the history of us walking this beach and ours was much better. We were walking south to mile 14 1/2 to check the camera there and James spots a jag just laying on the beach facing south. So we all dive into a turtle body pit (they create this when they are making a nest, it can be a big hole on the beach) and watch him. He is just looking the other way and flicking his tail. Then he casually looks over his shoulder and spots us, so he gets up and turns to face us. He just stands there looking at us for about 2 minutes solid and then turns south and walks away and back into the jungle. We are so jazzed at this point we jump around doing the I saw a jag dance. :-)
So after we calm down we go back to work looking for the camera. We are traipsing around in the jungle searching for the camera, then back out onto the beach and low a behold he comes back out onto the beach again!!!! Unfortunately he spotted us straight away and went back into the jungle. WOW not once but twice that day we got to see a jag!!! Well I have to say that was quite a rush.
This is our last long weekend away from Caño Palma so we went to Turrialba which is located in the central valley. For those of you at home pull out your Costa Rican map and you shall see where I am. 7 of us chose to come here and we arrived yesterday. Today we had the most amazing adventure, we went white water rafting!!! There were 5 class four rapids and 12 class 3. This trip was about 4 hours on the river in the most amazing setting. I was on the front left side of the raft so all the water and rapids were quite up front and personal. I will send you all pictures.
This was such a fun trip I can only liken it to riding up front on a roller caster as for the rush you get hitting these huge rapids. I think this is by far the best adventure, I highly recommend it. It did not hurt that it has been raining every day for a couple of weeks so the river was high and the rapids extra big. It rained pretty much our whole trip but for the first time we all did not mind getting rained on while out on the water.
We had fun joking about doing a bird survey while battling the rapids. As we went along we all discussed the birds we saw along the way. Quite pathetic I know. :-) I only have two more weeks in this beautiful place, I must say I have really grown to love Costa Rica very much. I will definitely return some day. I hope you all are well and gearing up for the Christmas Holiday. I will be back in the states before you know it. Big hugs and kisses to Emily, Hayden, William, and Olivia. Pictures are here
Well.. on my walk last week we saw a JAG!!!!! This is huge! There has only been one other jag sighting in the history of us walking this beach and ours was much better. We were walking south to mile 14 1/2 to check the camera there and James spots a jag just laying on the beach facing south. So we all dive into a turtle body pit (they create this when they are making a nest, it can be a big hole on the beach) and watch him. He is just looking the other way and flicking his tail. Then he casually looks over his shoulder and spots us, so he gets up and turns to face us. He just stands there looking at us for about 2 minutes solid and then turns south and walks away and back into the jungle. We are so jazzed at this point we jump around doing the I saw a jag dance. :-)
So after we calm down we go back to work looking for the camera. We are traipsing around in the jungle searching for the camera, then back out onto the beach and low a behold he comes back out onto the beach again!!!! Unfortunately he spotted us straight away and went back into the jungle. WOW not once but twice that day we got to see a jag!!! Well I have to say that was quite a rush.
This is our last long weekend away from Caño Palma so we went to Turrialba which is located in the central valley. For those of you at home pull out your Costa Rican map and you shall see where I am. 7 of us chose to come here and we arrived yesterday. Today we had the most amazing adventure, we went white water rafting!!! There were 5 class four rapids and 12 class 3. This trip was about 4 hours on the river in the most amazing setting. I was on the front left side of the raft so all the water and rapids were quite up front and personal. I will send you all pictures.
This was such a fun trip I can only liken it to riding up front on a roller caster as for the rush you get hitting these huge rapids. I think this is by far the best adventure, I highly recommend it. It did not hurt that it has been raining every day for a couple of weeks so the river was high and the rapids extra big. It rained pretty much our whole trip but for the first time we all did not mind getting rained on while out on the water.
We had fun joking about doing a bird survey while battling the rapids. As we went along we all discussed the birds we saw along the way. Quite pathetic I know. :-) I only have two more weeks in this beautiful place, I must say I have really grown to love Costa Rica very much. I will definitely return some day. I hope you all are well and gearing up for the Christmas Holiday. I will be back in the states before you know it. Big hugs and kisses to Emily, Hayden, William, and Olivia. Pictures are here
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Costa Rica 3
Hello everyone, I hope this finds you all doing well.
It is my first full week in Costa Rica. It has been a long week of training, and for those who know me a long week of early mornings. It is fabulous though I must admit. The first morning in the jungle I was awoken by the howler monkeys about 4:30, yes they really do howl quite like a dog (Good thing you did not buy me an alarm clock Jacq) I think they know when new people have arrived because they have not sounded off as much since that first morning.
It is quite beautiful here and I must say one of my favorite features is the canal the camp is on. It was about a 45 minute boat ride down rivers an canals to get to the base. It is so beautiful the way the thick lush jungle just goes straight up from the rivers edge. We have been out on the water several times as it is the only way to and from the camp. I enjoy the beauty each time, day or night. Most of this past week has been spent in class training for the different surveys we do: Turtle morning census, turtle night survey, canal bird survey, Rafia trail bird survey and the infamous Jaguar walk.
After 4 days in class I was in the last group to go out for a turtle walk. I did the morning census which is a six mile walk on the beach starting at 6:30 we look for tracks and nests from the night before. It was great because a green and a Hawks-bill had come up right near each other and their paths crossed and ran adjacent to each other. Hello everyone it has been quite some time since I last wrote and a lot has happened. Turtle nesting season has ended I did my last morning census on 10-30.
I really miss these morning walks and the night ones even more. What we do now that nesting is over, is excavations. As I talked about before when we work the turtle we triangulate the nest, this is so 70 days later we can go back and excavate it to see how many turtles have hatched. I did my first excavation the other day and out off 121 eggs 114 hatched. The other eggs did not due to mites, ants and grubs. Don is here visiting getting a taste of expedition life and he went on an excavation yesterday that was successful as well.
The reason I say successful is some nests are poached and some are a real mess full of only partially developed turtles or worse yet developed but dead turtles. I have been working on the different bird surveys over the past couple weeks. My favorite bird surveys are the ones out on the canals where we canoe for hours. Some of these canals are quite narrow and have the most gorgeous trees towering above. We saw some caimen and otters on Caño Chiquero the other day, it is a nice treat to see the other wild life.
I have done 2 Jag walks since I last wrote. It is an exciting time in our Jag research, we received 6 cameras last week. We have been doing jag cam walks to figure out the best place to put these cameras in hope of catching a jaguar going onto the beach or leaving. The last jag walks I have been on 12 of the 15 miles we had tracks all over the beach. That is a lot of activity. We have a mom and two grown cubs and two other adults that we can determine from the tracks we find.
On my walk two weeks ago we came across a turtle nest that was being raided by Kuwaiti's so we shooed them away and were able to save over 80 baby turtles. It was so great to dig out the turtles and take them down the beach to the high tide line and let them free and watch them got towards the ocean. Then not 10 meters down the beach we came across another nest where all the babies were teaming at the top just ready to burst out of the nest. We had to help these guys as well because they would have fried on the hot sand before they got to the ocean.
It was such a great high, it is so cool to see all those babies just streaming to the ocean. This was a great walk and I tell you all this nature is really starting to grow on me. Don was able to do a jag cam walk on Friday when I did my Jag walk so around mile 16 we caught up with his group. I am really glad he got to do this as it is one of the most exciting things we have going on right now. We have not spent all our time in Tortugero, Don came to visit over my long weekend break.
We went to Tamorindo on the Pacific coast. This is my favorite town so far in Costa Rica. It is quaint yet developed, it has nice shops and restaurants, so I was able to enjoy some good food. We went SCUBA diving and saw some white tip reef sharks, spotted eagle rays, sea snakes (very deadly) moray eels and of course lots of fish. Our hotel was beautiful and away from town but a quick walk 100 meters down the path and we were in town. I am telling you the little things in life like a hot shower are just priceless. :-)
Last is my snake story. I did my first night jungle walk, we were all busy looking up into the canopy looking for eye reflections. Well 2 people stepped right over a ferdelance and the third person was looking down and announced ferdelance as she stepped over it! This is a very deadly snake and this one was big enough to kill a human. We all were fine but it was a bit exciting. Off for now hope all is well with everyone! Big hugs and kisses for Emily, Hayden, William and Olivia!!!! Pictures are here
It is quite beautiful here and I must say one of my favorite features is the canal the camp is on. It was about a 45 minute boat ride down rivers an canals to get to the base. It is so beautiful the way the thick lush jungle just goes straight up from the rivers edge. We have been out on the water several times as it is the only way to and from the camp. I enjoy the beauty each time, day or night. Most of this past week has been spent in class training for the different surveys we do: Turtle morning census, turtle night survey, canal bird survey, Rafia trail bird survey and the infamous Jaguar walk.
After 4 days in class I was in the last group to go out for a turtle walk. I did the morning census which is a six mile walk on the beach starting at 6:30 we look for tracks and nests from the night before. It was great because a green and a Hawks-bill had come up right near each other and their paths crossed and ran adjacent to each other. Hello everyone it has been quite some time since I last wrote and a lot has happened. Turtle nesting season has ended I did my last morning census on 10-30.
I really miss these morning walks and the night ones even more. What we do now that nesting is over, is excavations. As I talked about before when we work the turtle we triangulate the nest, this is so 70 days later we can go back and excavate it to see how many turtles have hatched. I did my first excavation the other day and out off 121 eggs 114 hatched. The other eggs did not due to mites, ants and grubs. Don is here visiting getting a taste of expedition life and he went on an excavation yesterday that was successful as well.
The reason I say successful is some nests are poached and some are a real mess full of only partially developed turtles or worse yet developed but dead turtles. I have been working on the different bird surveys over the past couple weeks. My favorite bird surveys are the ones out on the canals where we canoe for hours. Some of these canals are quite narrow and have the most gorgeous trees towering above. We saw some caimen and otters on Caño Chiquero the other day, it is a nice treat to see the other wild life.
I have done 2 Jag walks since I last wrote. It is an exciting time in our Jag research, we received 6 cameras last week. We have been doing jag cam walks to figure out the best place to put these cameras in hope of catching a jaguar going onto the beach or leaving. The last jag walks I have been on 12 of the 15 miles we had tracks all over the beach. That is a lot of activity. We have a mom and two grown cubs and two other adults that we can determine from the tracks we find.
On my walk two weeks ago we came across a turtle nest that was being raided by Kuwaiti's so we shooed them away and were able to save over 80 baby turtles. It was so great to dig out the turtles and take them down the beach to the high tide line and let them free and watch them got towards the ocean. Then not 10 meters down the beach we came across another nest where all the babies were teaming at the top just ready to burst out of the nest. We had to help these guys as well because they would have fried on the hot sand before they got to the ocean.
It was such a great high, it is so cool to see all those babies just streaming to the ocean. This was a great walk and I tell you all this nature is really starting to grow on me. Don was able to do a jag cam walk on Friday when I did my Jag walk so around mile 16 we caught up with his group. I am really glad he got to do this as it is one of the most exciting things we have going on right now. We have not spent all our time in Tortugero, Don came to visit over my long weekend break.
We went to Tamorindo on the Pacific coast. This is my favorite town so far in Costa Rica. It is quaint yet developed, it has nice shops and restaurants, so I was able to enjoy some good food. We went SCUBA diving and saw some white tip reef sharks, spotted eagle rays, sea snakes (very deadly) moray eels and of course lots of fish. Our hotel was beautiful and away from town but a quick walk 100 meters down the path and we were in town. I am telling you the little things in life like a hot shower are just priceless. :-)
Last is my snake story. I did my first night jungle walk, we were all busy looking up into the canopy looking for eye reflections. Well 2 people stepped right over a ferdelance and the third person was looking down and announced ferdelance as she stepped over it! This is a very deadly snake and this one was big enough to kill a human. We all were fine but it was a bit exciting. Off for now hope all is well with everyone! Big hugs and kisses for Emily, Hayden, William and Olivia!!!! Pictures are here
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Costa Rica 2
Hello everyone it has been two weeks since I was able to last write and A LOT has happened.
First I failed to mention anything about birds last time and there are over 800 species in Costa Rica so as you can imagine we see quite a variety. Some of the survey work I am doing involves birds. So I want to mention my favorite bird song is the Motazuma Oropendola, this is a very colorful bird and its call always brings a smile to my face. Favorite bird sighted is the Chestnut-Mandible Toucan, absolutely gorgeous bird. Rarest bird sighted the Scarlet Rumped Tanenger.
There I have done my part for the birds.
I did camp duty for the first time last week, and I tell you it is a lot of work cooking breakfast, lunch and dinner for 20 plus people. I say plus because there seems to always be some extras, be it visitors for other programs or workers doing things around camp. To top it off your day starts at 4:00 am because breakfast is served at 4:30. Yes people I am up before the sun every day of the week but Sunday. No hell has not frozen over yet.
The next big thing I did was the infamous Jaguar walk. This is a 15 mile walk on a beach near Tortugero, it is not the beach we work turtles. It is located in the national park and there are Jags eating turtles and we walk the beach to document new kills, check for jag tracks and count turtle tracks. This day starts at 3:30 ant we are on the beach walking at 4:30. We start off so early because it is best to get as much walking in before the heat of the day comes. So I got to see the sunrise and it was absolutely spectacular!!!
I also saw my first nesting turtle and two others that were returning to the sea after nesting. I was able to get one with the sunrise in the background. Very cool. I did fairly well but between 10:00 and 11:00 it was so hot. We use umbrellas to help block the sun and while it helps when it is just baking hot there is no relief. We stopped at mile 12 at 11:00 and sat in the shade and ate lunch. We rested for about a half hour and then got going again. I tell you it is amazing what a little rest does, we got really lucky because a nice Strong breeze started and clouds rolled in. So thankfully it was no longer sweltering. We finished at 2:30, I tell you it was so nice to see mile marker 18.
I look forward to my next Jag walk I want to see how much I have improved. I did two night walks this past week and on the second one we got lucky. We were able to work two turtles!!! I have been on three of these night walks and this was the first night that I saw anything. The night team consists of four people and this duty is rotated among the whole group. Working a turtle means we count her eggs as she is laying them, measuring her carapace(shell) triangulating her nest and tagging her. It is such a neat experience and they really are such beautiful animals.
I was defiantly very jazzed that night, I did not even feel that tired considering we did not get back to camp till 3:00 am. When we do night walks we do get to sleep in. I am writing this e mail to you from Puerta Viejo. It is on the Caribbean cost right near Panama. So yesterday when we headed down hear we were just 18 miles south of Nicaragua and now I am just 20 miles north of Panama. For those of you who have a Costa Rica map laying about just get it out and you will see.
We came down halfway to Limon by boat, it was a fabulous ride, it is a great way to travel. We saw at least 20 different kids of birds, crocodiles, cows, an otter, it was quite fun. We went the rest of the way by bus. I am not built for bus rides on these bumpy roads. I have definitely decided flying or boat are only two good ways to get around Costa Rica. Well now that I have put you all to sleep with my message, I will say good-bye for now. Big hugs and kisses to Emily, Hayden, William and Olivia!!!!! Love Kelly Pictures are here
I did camp duty for the first time last week, and I tell you it is a lot of work cooking breakfast, lunch and dinner for 20 plus people. I say plus because there seems to always be some extras, be it visitors for other programs or workers doing things around camp. To top it off your day starts at 4:00 am because breakfast is served at 4:30. Yes people I am up before the sun every day of the week but Sunday. No hell has not frozen over yet.
The next big thing I did was the infamous Jaguar walk. This is a 15 mile walk on a beach near Tortugero, it is not the beach we work turtles. It is located in the national park and there are Jags eating turtles and we walk the beach to document new kills, check for jag tracks and count turtle tracks. This day starts at 3:30 ant we are on the beach walking at 4:30. We start off so early because it is best to get as much walking in before the heat of the day comes. So I got to see the sunrise and it was absolutely spectacular!!!
I also saw my first nesting turtle and two others that were returning to the sea after nesting. I was able to get one with the sunrise in the background. Very cool. I did fairly well but between 10:00 and 11:00 it was so hot. We use umbrellas to help block the sun and while it helps when it is just baking hot there is no relief. We stopped at mile 12 at 11:00 and sat in the shade and ate lunch. We rested for about a half hour and then got going again. I tell you it is amazing what a little rest does, we got really lucky because a nice Strong breeze started and clouds rolled in. So thankfully it was no longer sweltering. We finished at 2:30, I tell you it was so nice to see mile marker 18.
I look forward to my next Jag walk I want to see how much I have improved. I did two night walks this past week and on the second one we got lucky. We were able to work two turtles!!! I have been on three of these night walks and this was the first night that I saw anything. The night team consists of four people and this duty is rotated among the whole group. Working a turtle means we count her eggs as she is laying them, measuring her carapace(shell) triangulating her nest and tagging her. It is such a neat experience and they really are such beautiful animals.
I was defiantly very jazzed that night, I did not even feel that tired considering we did not get back to camp till 3:00 am. When we do night walks we do get to sleep in. I am writing this e mail to you from Puerta Viejo. It is on the Caribbean cost right near Panama. So yesterday when we headed down hear we were just 18 miles south of Nicaragua and now I am just 20 miles north of Panama. For those of you who have a Costa Rica map laying about just get it out and you will see.
We came down halfway to Limon by boat, it was a fabulous ride, it is a great way to travel. We saw at least 20 different kids of birds, crocodiles, cows, an otter, it was quite fun. We went the rest of the way by bus. I am not built for bus rides on these bumpy roads. I have definitely decided flying or boat are only two good ways to get around Costa Rica. Well now that I have put you all to sleep with my message, I will say good-bye for now. Big hugs and kisses to Emily, Hayden, William and Olivia!!!!! Love Kelly Pictures are here
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Costa Rica 1
Hello everyone I hope this finds you all doing well.
It is my first full week in Costa Rica. It has been a long week of training, and for those who know me a long week of early mornings. It is fabulous though I must admit. The first morning in the jungle I was awoken by the howler monkeys about 4:30, yes they really do howl quite like a dog (Good thing you did not buy me an alarm clock Jacq) I think they know when new people have arrived because they have not sounded off as much since that first morning.
It is quite beautiful here and I must say one of my favorite features is the canal the camp is on. It was about a 45 minute boat ride down rivers an canals to get to the base. It is so beautiful the way the thick lush jungle just goes straight up from the rivers edge. We have been out on the water several times as it is the only way to and from the camp. I enjoy the beauty each time, day or night. Most of this past week has been spent in class training for the different surveys we do: Turtle morning census, turtle night survey, canal bird survey, Rafia trail bird survey and the infamous Jaguar walk.
After 4 days in class I was in the last group to go out for a turtle walk. I did the morning census which is a six mile walk on the beach starting at 6:30 we look for tracks and nests from the night before. It was great because a green and a Hawks-bill had come up right near each other and their paths crossed and ran adjacent to each other. This was particularly interesting because it made it so you could see the distinct differences between their tracks.
Then I got to do the night survey that same day, yes another 6 miles on the beach from 10:00pm to 1:30am. It is so interesting to do the night walk because you do not use any lights because that would bother the females. I tell you it was so surreal. The sound of the waves, the moon and stars, I have to say this was my very favorite moment by far. We did not see any females come up to nest but the peace and tranquility of the walk was indescribable. I will look forward to the night walk each and every time.
Well I must be off as there are other people in the group who want to e mail their friends and family. Before I go though I need to tell you all that I also got to see hatch-lings (2) leave their nest and make their way down the beach to the ocean. This is a very rare treat. Take care and i will e mail next weekend Love Kelly Big higs and kisses to Emily, Hayden William And Livi Pictures are here
It is quite beautiful here and I must say one of my favorite features is the canal the camp is on. It was about a 45 minute boat ride down rivers an canals to get to the base. It is so beautiful the way the thick lush jungle just goes straight up from the rivers edge. We have been out on the water several times as it is the only way to and from the camp. I enjoy the beauty each time, day or night. Most of this past week has been spent in class training for the different surveys we do: Turtle morning census, turtle night survey, canal bird survey, Rafia trail bird survey and the infamous Jaguar walk.
After 4 days in class I was in the last group to go out for a turtle walk. I did the morning census which is a six mile walk on the beach starting at 6:30 we look for tracks and nests from the night before. It was great because a green and a Hawks-bill had come up right near each other and their paths crossed and ran adjacent to each other. This was particularly interesting because it made it so you could see the distinct differences between their tracks.
Then I got to do the night survey that same day, yes another 6 miles on the beach from 10:00pm to 1:30am. It is so interesting to do the night walk because you do not use any lights because that would bother the females. I tell you it was so surreal. The sound of the waves, the moon and stars, I have to say this was my very favorite moment by far. We did not see any females come up to nest but the peace and tranquility of the walk was indescribable. I will look forward to the night walk each and every time.
Well I must be off as there are other people in the group who want to e mail their friends and family. Before I go though I need to tell you all that I also got to see hatch-lings (2) leave their nest and make their way down the beach to the ocean. This is a very rare treat. Take care and i will e mail next weekend Love Kelly Big higs and kisses to Emily, Hayden William And Livi Pictures are here
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