We caught the 5am bus to Puerto Límon, even though it wasn’t necessary (or advised) to get the bus until 9am. -I could have had an extra three or four hours in bed! It was Simon’s idea, or so I am told. The bus driver dropped us off at a village called Matina and we took a taxi to our next pick-up point. It was a boathouse/dock. The only boat around belonged to the owner, and the boathouse itself didn’t open until about 8.30am. -We arrived just after 7am. Out of sheer boredom, we started to play the Yes/No game and I managed to melt my pen by getting DEET on it. Faye and her partner came to pick us up at about 10.30. They were expecting us on the 9.00 bus, and luckily, the owner of the boathouse got in touch with them, otherwise we’d have been waiting until 12.00.
However, arriving early gave us time to settle in and learn the ropes. -for example, the necessity of rinsing off our feet in the bowls of water provided before going into any room. -To prevent sand flies. I was sharing with Helen and Kate again, and as usual, they fought for the right to the top bunk. This time, it was won by Helen. After leaving our rucksacks in our room, we went on to the beach where (just like in La Leona) Kate ran straight to the sea, fully clothed. Although the waves were quite high, I only got my shorts wet until Mark, Kate and Katy grabbed me, Simon handed my glasses to Helen, and I was carried forcefully out to sea and dumped!
At lunchtime, there was the luxury of a cooked meal, which involved no Trangias or washing up, or eating from awkward mess tins.
This afternoon, we split ourselves into two groups. I was put with Mark, Cheryl, Jennie, Liz and Geoff and our first duty was beach cleaning. This involved walking a certain distance along the beach, lifting logs and debris to the back of the beach to make room for the turtles to get all the way up the beach. Also, we needed to pick up as much rubbish as possible. Mel and Rebecca told us that turtles would swallow anything. I am a bit unsure about those two. They are both very nice, and older than they look. -23, instead of the 19 I thought they were). They both have Geography degrees and come from North Britain, so I assume they met at Uni. They have been travelling for four and a half months and have another 6 weeks left, but only got to Pacuare 2 days ago. -On Saturday. Yet, they seem to know everything that goes on at the reserve as though they’ve been here for 2 years.
Tonight, our group are the first to go out on patrol. -We are giving Selina another day’s rest with her foot. We are going out at 8pm and have to meet outside the dining room.
Day 24 Pacuare Tuesday 30th July 2002
We went at 8pm as planned, with Belinda as our guide for the evening. I think she’s worked here nearly as long as the Pacuare reserve has been open -15 years. It was extremely dark on the beach as there was no moon and we weren’t allowed to use torches on the beach in case it scared the turtles away. We didn’t see any turtles, only some tracks which led up the beach and back. -The turtle had not lain any eggs there.
It was actually far more frightening than I expected walking along the beach. We could only faintly see the outline of the person in front for most of the time, and at some points, where the sea had eroded the beach right up to the forest, we walked on ‘beach cliffs’ which were liable to collapse at even the slightest weight at their edge. Mark fell down loads of them. It doesn’t hurt, it’s just terrifying not expecting it, and not knowing how far I’d fall. There were also logs (of the sort we’d moved) to step over, but they were near impossible to see, especially if they were pale because they didn’t stand out against the sand.
However, the fear was made less by several things. Firstly, I had a very philosophical conversation with Mark, all about the future, and religion, and holding his hand made me feel much safer, especially if he was walking behind me. Secondly, the beauty of everything. There is no electricity here, and we have to use candles or torches in our rooms. We were on the Atlantic coast, with almost nothing to the east of us until Europe or Africa. The stars were so bright, and there seemed to be thousands more than above British skies. I was looking for familiar constellations such as the Plough, but then I remembered that they would be half way across the world. There were also particles in the sand that sparkled as we walked. -Phosphoresce. The harder we put down our feet, the brighter it shone before it died away. It was almost as though there were as many stars at our feet as above our heads.
We got back at about 11.30pm and I went straight to bed.
I woke up this morning, ready for breakfast at 9am. It was cooked, and there were rice and black beans on the table for the third meal out of three. -This time, they were mixed together, so I couldn’t get away from the beans. Aaarrrggghhhhhh. They’ve been following me around all day! It was raining a bit but dried up quickly so we could do our various tasks.
Today, we swapped round, so the group I was with, complete with Mel and Rebecca again, were sandbagging. That’s what everybody else was doing yesterday. The point is to build a sandbag wall to keep the sea away from the buildings in case of bad storms. -We were told that a storm last summer washed away the Hatchery. Sandbagging was hard work, and at first there were only 7 of us, as Jane had had to bind up Mark’s feet with plasters and Mircopore tape. -She was really cross with him because he’d been walking round for days wearing boots and no socks and didn’t have his toes seen to earlier. -They were rubbed raw. She made him wash a pair of socks and his boots, to get all the sand out before he joined us sandbagging. We did quite well, but I don’t think we filled as many bags as the other group did. I also got quite frustrated because Cheryl and Jennie were ordering me about today as though they’ve been filling sandbags they’re entire lives. -Telling me what to do as if I have no initiative of my own. I’m supposed to be leader today as well.
It happened again later on. I was supposed to be asking Belinda about the possibility of a short trip down the canal to see the wildlife and I was told so many times to do it by Simon as if I was too thick to remember. -It would have helped if Belinda was around, but she was nowhere to be found. I asked Mel who said that she had gone on the boat that was taking the American tourists back to the boathouse and would be back later. I reported that back, and they were all really short with me about it. I went back to reading Jane’s copy of “The Beach” and talking to Mark.
At the meeting tonight, I was told that I should be doing things be myself without waiting for everybody else to tell me. I spoke up about that, telling them that they hadn’t given me much of a chance, and I was just told to try harder tomorrow.
Belinda told me that because Faye-and-partner had gone away for a couple of days, there was only one boat driver, so she’d have to check with his schedule and tell me tomorrow morning.
We went out again tonight. This time, Selina’s group came too. They went at 8.30, and we went at 9.30, getting back at 12.50pm. I almost fell asleep sitting on a log while we were having a break. Mark actually did go to sleep. I had to shake him to wake him up when we went. Again, we didn’t see any turtles, but on the way back, we saw lots of tracks left by hatchlings. I don’t think the other group saw them; so presumably, they came out of the nest between both groups going back. Belinda got really excited and dug at the nest to make sure that there weren’t any trapped in there and there were none. She marked the nest, saying that they’d excavate it in a couple of weeks to see how many eggs there were.
I got in, and came straight to bed again because I don’t want to disturb Helen and Kate. -They probably got in about an hour ago and they’re both fast asleep. -The biggest earthquake on earth wouldn’t wake those two.
-Speaking of which, there was an earthquake today, and because I was pushing Mark on the hammock (and therefore I was moving), I didn’t feel it!!! How awful! The others were on the veranda just sitting down and they all felt it. -It’s not too bad though, because Cheryl and Jennie slept through it. -Still, it’s a bit disappointing.
Today was also the day that Mark was made Muppet of the Day because he (we) broke the hammock. I don’t know how I got away with it because we were both sitting on it, but (ha ha) my name didn’t go in the journal!!
Day 25 Pacuare Wednesday 31st July 2002
Today, breakfast was cereal!!! Cornflakes. The first time we’ve eaten cereal with milk since leaving Britain. So great. Also here, we get the choice of juice, tea or coffee at breakfast, although the coffee is a bit too strong. Afterwards, deciding to be a bit stronger as leader and do things before people think I’ve forgotten, I went to the other table and asked Belinda what the options were for the rest of the day. She said that once we have done our thing in the morning, we could take another trail if it was safe to do so, and that we could take to boat trip that afternoon. She also suggested that we could cut up and fry some breadfruit, which is supposed to taste a bit like chips. Thought that sounded cool, so I took all that information to the meeting and they decided that I was a better leader than they thought.
Today, we were back to beach cleaning which is very hard work when it comes to moving logs as big as two people. Luckily (or un luckily as the case may be), I had started picking up rubbish 2 days ago, and now everybody expects me to collect all the rubbish on the beach. -Liz and I filled 2 bin liners and countless pots that we found on the beach. The sad thing is, that most of the rubbish doesn’t even come from this side of the Atlantic, but will be washed for thousands of miles from Europe’s beaches, especially from the tourists. -The number of small plastic toys we found was incredible. Also, the sheer volume of shoes was unbelievable. We probably picked up 4 (all unmatching) trainers and about 5 plastic flip-flops. -That was so minging! We had to carry them all back to the reserve with us and we didn’t have enough bags or hands so we were continually dropping stuff. Mark was the funniest as he was carrying lots of containers and bits of plastic would invariably drop out. As the poor person walking next to him, I was the one who had to pick them up and try and balance them back in his arms.
We went out on the canal after lunch (more rice and beans) and we saw two crocodiles. Well, saying that, I only saw one, because the first (and biggest) slid under the water really quickly as I was looking into the trees. We did see some birds though and the other croc stayed still for ages until the boat driver nudged the boat really close to the shore. Then it dived off its log. We were only out for about 45 minutes and were back by about 3 o’clock, leaving the rest of the afternoon for ourselves.
I decided to wash some clothes, so donned my sarong (having left a pair of trousers up Chirripó) so that I could wash my remaining trousers and my shorts. I couldn’t get the stains out of the trousers and all my t-shirts still smell awful, but it’s the damp smell, even more than the sweat, which will just not go. I used the bucket from outside my door (the one for rinsing sand off feet) to wash the clothes in. Mark came over with all his clothes and decided that that was a good idea, so got his bucket. Then Liz came along and borrowed my bucket. Mark kept throwing water at me which was not very helpful, and squeezed out his dirty socks into my water. -Was very cross!!!
I decided that tomorrow morning, I’ll walk down to the Lagoon. Some people went today, but they all got back from patrol an hour earlier than me, and the rain put me off a bit when I woke up, so I left Helen and Kate to go, and went back to sleep. Apparently, they saw monkeys who threw things at them on the way back. Mark said he’d go because he didn’t go this morning either, so did Jennie, Cheryl and Geoff.
I had a fun evening tonight. Jennie was going to come and cut up breadfruit but decided that she couldn’t be bothered, so in the end, it was just Kate, Helen, Mark, Liz and I. We went up to the Big House where Belinda showed us how it worked. -Peel, cut, drop into salt water, dab them dry, fry, salt. It was amazing how many ‘chips’ we could get out of a fruit that was about the size of half a watermelon. Kate decided to cut a ‘K’ to fry, and Mark discovered that no matter how hard he and Kate tried, they couldn’t cut a satisfactory ‘M’, so I became Chief Carver, cutting out a ‘J’, an ‘M’, a ‘L’ and an ‘H’. -One for each of us! Helen fried them and we ate our letters there while they were still hot. When we took the rest down to dinner, and put a bowl on each table. -Funny how everyone that couldn’t be arsed to come was still willing to have a handful on their plate! They tasted weird, like chips but a tiny bit sweeter, and also denser, heavier.
My de-brief was more positive tonight. I was praised for my organisation, and for finding out all the necessary information from Belinda. Everybody said that I seemed much more confident today than yesterday. I said that I found it difficult, and felt a lot better about my de-brief than I did yesterday.
I decided not to go out on patrol tonight because I was too tired. I decided to go for a rest and to write in my diary. Helen and Kate were already in bed, having a sleep before they went out. Helen left for 8.30, and Kate at 9.30. I went to sleep at 8, then after Kate went. I woke up at 10 and went to the loo. Then I grabbed my torch and went to see if anybody was up. Mark and Geoff had stayed, as had Selina, to give her foot another rest. Nobody was around. The dining room and veranda were deserted and pitch-black. -The candles had been blown out and not a soul was in sight, so I went back to bed, back to sleep and didn’t wake up till 6.30am.
Day 26 Pacuare Thursday 1st August 2002
I was up and ready by 7 to walk down to the lagoon. I sat out on the veranda, wishing that the rain would stop and waited. Geoff came out of the lads’ room and we left at about 7.05am. Nobody else was stirring. There was no noise anywhere. He said that Mark had been up to the loo while he was getting ready, but went back to sleep. -Mark sleeps like the dead, or so I’ve been told. Cheryl and Jennie seemed to be sleeping still.
So, Geoff and I set off by ourselves. We had a nice chat about Geography -him being a Geog teacher, and me being a Geog student, it seemed a natural conversation topic. Sadly, we saw no wildlife besides the butterflies on the trail and some birds around the lagoon. Thee were no monkeys, and not even a tree frog in sight. It was too wet and miserable, even for frogs?!
When we got back, it was just after 8am and there was still not a soul awake. I got my diary from my room. Helen and Kate slept like babies! I sat on the veranda with it and waited for breakfast. Before long, Liz came out of her room and said that she’d been awake at 7.20 but we’d already gone. -We did tell everybody 7am.
Breakfast was pancakes!!! They were the American style Scotch pancakes, tasting basically the same, but being 4 times bigger. I ate mine with honey, but Helen and Kate, copying Belinda’s taste, ate theirs with honey and cream cheese. -Together, on one pancake, one on top of the other!!! I was so glad to be on the other table, because I may well have been sick at the sight! Also, there was (typically) fruit. -Pineapple and melon. -We can’t get away from the stuff!
We asked Belinda about bus times and she suggested the 7am bus tomorrow morning for going down to Puerto Limón and said that she’d have the boat ready for 6am and a taxi to pick us up from the boat house. Breakfast, she said, would be left out for us so that we can eat cereal before we leave.
Because the rain was so heavy, we abandoned our chores for this morning, instead, using the time to pack (or read in my case. -I have to finish “The Beach” so that Mark can have it all to himself because we are trying to share it at the moment!). Besides, I can’t really pack when most of my clothes are still soaking on the line. I had to put on damp trousers this morning.
After lunch, the other group went to do beach cleaning, while our group did lots of little odd jobs. -There was no sandbagging because there were no more bags after yesterday. So, we cleaned and iodised rubber gloves and plastic bags (although I’m not sure what they were used for), treated pliers with some solution (for the rust?) and painted numbers in black paint for the posts on the beach. -Just little things, with left us with quite a free afternoon. I took that opportunity to finish “The Beach” and then packed everything that was not clothes. -i.e, toiletries, and got sand out of everything.
Again, tonight, I decided to stay back. I thought I’d bring in my clothes and leave them to dry in our room. Tonight, Liz has stayed, and Mark again. -He never gets enough sleep, no matter how long he sleeps for! He broke his torch a few days ago, so I had to walk him to his room and wait while he got through 6 or 7 useless Costa Rican matches before he could light the candle, then I had to light the candles in my room so that he could get to the loo using my torch!!! At about 10 o’clock, Liz came and called outside my door to say that she was going to bed, leaving me to pack. Mark came by again to drop off my torch and give me a quick kiss goodnight before finishing his packing in his own room. I packed everything that could be packed, leaving out my damp shorts to wear tomorrow. -They’ll dry quickly if I wear them, no matter how unpleasant it is at first to put on damp clothes.
Oh, we also decided on our Rest and Relaxation options. We’ll go to a town south of Puerto Limón which was recommended to us, and do some scuba diving, tomorrow afternoon if possible. Spend a night there, go back to Puerto Limón and spend Saturday there, looking round, and on Sunday, go back to San José for our white water rafting, and spend Monday doing final souvenir hunting! Sounds quite good to me, except maybe the rafting, which I don’t really feel like doing.
