Greetings from San Cristobal! And wow, what a week. I do not think I have ever worked so hard or been so tired or sweat so much in my life. Last weekend was wonderful, though, and made it much easier to bear going back to the station for another week of hard labor. Saturday was spent hanging out on the beach in port, having drinks at various cafes on the waterfront, and all around just trying to feel human and somewhat civilized again after a week in the jungle. Sunday, we woke up early and Ricarda and I went on a snorkeling trip around the island, which was INCREDIBLE. The first place we stopped was this amazing rock that rose up out of the ocean and around which tons of blue-footed boobies and other birds were hovering and swooping and diving. There were sea lions strewn all over the rocks near the water and there were baby sea lions swimming around and swimming alongside our boat as we pulled up. I was kind of nervous at first, as I was not sure how the adult sea lions would react to us getting in and swimming around with their babies. However, they could not have cared less--they pretty much just laid there, comatose, on the rocks, basking in the sun, while we swam around with their babies. And baby sea lions, apparently, are big fans of hide and seek, because they would swim down and hide under rocks and stuff and then shoot out and swim around us in circles, doing flips and somersaults. SOOOO cool!
Next, we went to Kikka Rock, which is this HUGE rock formation that is broken in two, with a channel of really deep water in between the rocks where there are sharks, manta rays, and sea turtles. We swam through the channel and for a while, I saw nothing and the water was so deep and dark, I was scared because I knew that if and when I saw a shark, it would be really close (because I otherwise would not be able to see it at all). But sure enough, eventually I saw what started out as a gray blur solidify into a shark! And then two! And then three! They, for their part, could not have cared less about our presence, so we watched them swim around relatively unheeded. We also saw some IMMENSE manta rays, which looked almost like some alien creature to me--they were so huge and strange looking, like aliens floating through space or something.
The part I was most excited about, however, was the sea turtle. We had emerged from the channel onto the other side of the rock and suddenly I noticed a sea turtle floating beneath me, swimming lazily along. I followed it awhile, just watching it. Finally, it swam deeper and it slowly disappeared, first into the mere shadow of a seaturtle, then a dim silhouette, then nothing at all.
Next, we went to a beach to have lunch, which was great except for the horseflies, which practically swarmed us as soon as we got close to shore. However, we walked around a bit, taking pictures and swimming a little in the ocean.
Lastly, we stopped at Isla de los Lobos for our last bit of snorkeling, where we once again got to swim with the baby sea lions. It was much shallower here, though, and I was able to see a manta ray and LOADS of puffer fish up close, which was very cool. Because it was so shallow, I was only a few feet away from the manta ray as it swam along the bottom. It was crazy to see it so close and be able to see its eyes looking up at me (though in a rather detached, disinterested way, since it kept swimming right along the bottom, not going very fast and stopping occasionally to nibble at things on the bottom).
Finally, we returned to port as the sun was setting and caught a cab back to the station with the other volunteers. Back to the bugs, the heat, the sweat, and the back-breaking labor!
Monday morning, I was feeling relatively refreshed, however, and ready for another week of work. Some new volunteers had arrived on Sunday evening--three new German girls and a girl from Portugal. And even though they were new, I very quickly became...unimpressed with them. The German girls, for their part, showed up late to work Monday morning and I could barely resist the urge to ask them if they were going to the mall or something, based on the ridiculous outfits they had on for the work we would be doing. The girl from Portugal, while a bit more appropriately attired, complained most of the week about 1) how dirt her boots were (compared to the state of my boots, hers were brand freaking new!) and 2) how many bugs there were (she is going to be here for THREE MONTHS and I honestly do not know how she will make it if she does not get used to sharing her personal space with the creatures of San Cristobal).
ANYWAY, I spent pretty much all of Monday hoeing in the educational garden (which is freaking EXHAUSTING and backbreaking) and then raking and then hoeing some more.
Tuesday, I spent my morning digging holes to plant coffee plants as part of Jatun Sacha´s ongoing reforestation project. After this, we all had to help to carry this GIANT trees to different areas that were going to be used as telephone poles for the electrical wiring for the different buildings (the Old House finally got electricity this week, though due to the fact that light is a bug MAGNET, we cannot really use them). However, this is where things got a little...uncomfortable.
I was fine carrying a giant tree across my shoulder with the other volunteers. However, what I was NOT okay with was the ton of fire ants that were apparently on the tree and decided to then crawl on me! And not only do those little bastards bite, but they will bite you again and again and again until you kill them or otherwise remove them. SO, as I felt my upper body erupting in firey burning pain, I decided I had best go take a shower as that was the only way to get them all off. I did not manage to shower and change clothes, however, before my arms, chest, neck, and back were COVERED in bites and my skin there was a red, irritated, painful mess. And unfortunately, there is not much you can do about fire ant bites except wait for it to go away. Waiting for those bites to go away that afternoon was possibly one of the most uncomfortable feelings I have ever had. Ugh...
Wednesday, though my fire ant bites had gone away mostly, my close encounters with nature continued. Now, normally, I shake out all of my clothes before I put them on. However, I forgot to shake out my pants on Wednesday morning. So, all morning, as I was helping to dig holes for the telephone poles from the day before and then install the wires on top of the poles, I kept feeling like something was crawling around in my pant leg. However, I was not sure and thought that maybe I was just imagining it.
Well, during juice break, it turned out I was not imagining it at all. I was sitting on the ground of the kitchen, playing with the station dogs, Linda and Negro, when I felt that same creeping, crawling sensation in my pants leg and this time, I was sure I was NOT imagining it! So I quickly smacked at my pants leg and grabbed the fabric where I felt something moving...and felt my fingers squish something...something BIG...
Now, I am proud to say, that after a week and a half in the jungle, sharing my bed with cockroaches and my bathroom with HUGE spiders, they do not particularly bother me anymore. And I managed to more or less calmly turn to my friend, Claire, " Um, Claire, could you get me a napkin please? I think I have a spider in my pants." Claire was good enough to hurry off and come back with a napkin, as well as her work gloves on and ready to ensnare whatever was in my pants.
Maintaining a firm hold on the part of my pants where I had the critter trapped, I slowly rolled up my pant leg and then grabbed it with the napkin. It was indeed a spider...a fairly sizeable one, though not the biggest I have seen here. "Oh, that´s nice," I said, examining it. Just another day at Jatun Sacha!
One thing that the experience definitely showed me is that the Jatun Sacha employees were not lying when they said the spiders could not hurt you. If there was ever a time for one of those spiders to bite me, it would have been when it was stuck in my pant leg, but it didn´t. Still was not a particularly comfortable experience, though.
After installing the telephone poles Wednesday morning, removing worms and caterpillars from the tomato plants in the afternoon, and then hauling watermelons up a mile long STEEP uphill trail (Pepo told us where we would be taking the watermelons, to which I replied, "Are you serious? That´s hilarious!"). It literally felt like something out of some comedy film--hauling WATERMELONS up a giant hill! Claire likened it to rehab or something and, given that we are cut off from any sort of alcohol, chocolate, Internet, or junk food during the week at the station, we do have the withdrawal symptoms (to a certain extent) to deal with, as well.
Wednesday night after dinner, however, we had the pleasure of being able to go into port a day early! Thursday, the first of May, is somewhat of a holiday in Ecuador, but it is apparently a HUGE deal in Germany and, since about half of the volunteers are from Germany, they managed to convince the employees that we needed to celebrate this holiday by having a day off of work...and the employees agreed!
Today we will celebrate the first of May at the beach and tomorrow, a bunch of the volunteers leave for a tour of the islands for the weekend, which I am super excited about. :)
Until next time, ciao!
-Alex
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment