I have been at the animal rescue center for almost two weeks now and its been a lot of fun. I leave Saturday night to come back home. The animals are so amazing except it is a bit sad to see how small the cages are. There are so many different animals; marmosets, tamarins, parrots, macaws, sloths, monkeys, kinkajous, peacocks and even a goat. They are in the process of moving to a new center so I have helped them with that quite a bit. Cleaning the poo and rotten food from the cages is definitely not the beat task but babysitting the goat and baby marmosets makes up for it. A volcano nearby recently launched some ash in the air so we have had a little bit of ash sprinkle down as well as thunderstorms daily for the past week (not related to the volcano). I have met some cool people on this trip and it'll be sad to go leave but it will also be good to be home.
I just got back from the turtle hatchery today and I miss it already. The project was an awesome experience, most of the volunteer work was at night so the majority of the day was spent reading and enjoying the nice scenery. Every other night I'd either be on patrol or I would be at the hatchery watching to make sure no animals or people tried taking the eggs. On patrol I would go out with a leader and walk 30 minutes down the beach and look for tracks or turtles nesting, then walk back. I would go back and forth a few times for 4 hours, either from 8pm-12am or from 12-4am. The patrols were tiring but well worth it due to the spectacular turtles I saw. The species of turtles I saw were Leatherbacks, known for their leathery back and ability to dive deeper than sperm whales in search for food. They can be up to 6 feet long and 3 feet wide and it's crazy to see them up close and personal. It's also super cool to see how many leaders are so dedicated to and passionate about sea turtles. I was super fortunate to have seen the babies hatch, 3 females lay eggs and an additional 5 females roaming the beaches looking for nesting spots. Seeing 8 turtles in 2 weeks is rare, especially since some leaders have been there for months and have only seen a couple. I also saw a super cute/creepy sloth last night!
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AuthorMy name is Shawn and I am currently taking a year off before attending college. I am sharing my travels and adventures on this site for all to see! CategoriesArchives |