The past week in Barra Honda was so much more than I possibly could have asked for. I never thought I could get so attached to a place in only five days, but the experience was just that incredible. To spare your eyes too much reading at once, I’ve broken this narrative into three [slightly] shorter pieces. The exciting part is the pictures here.
Like I mentioned last week, those of us teaching in Liberia had the week off because of the census. Projects Abroad was kind enough to give us the opportunity to go work for the week on their conservation project in Barra Honda National Park (map here). After a very bumpy two-hour car ride to the middle of nowhere, we arrived at the park in time for a delicious lunch prepared by Meicel, the camp cook, before meeting the other staff: Rich- project director and hilariously sarcastic Englishman; Oscar- former park guide, now PA employee, jungleman, and straight-up beast; Moncho- completely unintelligible PA staff member, super talkative, likes to dance; Eduardo- 21-year-old brilliant biologist, soft spoken but with a great sense of humor. We also quickly got to know the small group of volunteers: Stefan- naturalist extraordinaire, German, musician; Steph- 29-year-old Bostonian, super helpful, awesome work ethic; Isabel, Amy, Sebastian, Luca, and Zach- other PA volunteers. There were five of us there for the week (myself, Poppy, Sarah, Ivan, and Josephine) bringing the week’s volunteer total up to twelve.
When we first saw the volunteers, they were red-faced, sweat-soaked, and completely covered in dirt. My first thought was “This is gonna be fuuuun!!” quickly followed by “I may or may not die!!” I decided then and there than I’d make up for my lack of physical ability by having an awesome attitude about whatever work I was about to plunge into. Turned out that that was an awesome idea…for the whole week! My first afternoon work session started with hauling rocks in the rain. Sounds like fun, right? I thought so. Luckily, the “rain” was more just a drizzle that mingled with the dripping sweat to cool us down a bit. I was working with Poppy, Stefan, and Oscar to move zillion pound rocks and build a retaining wall near the campground. Since I’m a still –ehem- lacking in the strength department, I moved what I could and shouted encouragements as the guys pushed the wheelbarrows up hills and over roots and through gravel. Apparently, having someone screaming “Go! You can do it!! Go! Gooooo!!” behind you is actually more helpful than I realized. At the end of the day, I was caught up in the mud/sweat/rain soaked department and just skipped straight to hosing off so I’d be clean enough to shower.
For those of you who have never had the opportunity to be free to be covered in dirt for an extended period of time, it’s quite lovely. I recommend you try it. It’s “hard-earned” because you had to do something to get that dirty and your companions are right beside you, equally disgusting and everybody’s just really happy. Sounds strange if you don’t know what I mean, but I promise, it’s great. It makes the bugs easier to deal with too. Less spazzing and swatting and more brushing and ignoring.
Also awesome is not having internet access/responsibilities. I spent hours the night before I left taking care of all my computer-limited responsibilities and was able to enjoy the week being completely inaccessible. While it might not be a sustainable state for me, I looooved not having to worry about answering emails, sending anybody anything, or otherwise being responsible to the outside world. I’m also surviving quite nicely without a cell phone. Freeing…just like being covered in dirt in the wilderness.
Our first evening, we made the short trek out to a lookout point where we could see the sunset. The mist from the rains had settled into the valleys making it look like a yellow cloud forest. All we could hear was the crickets and the frogs. Not a hint of car noise or cityscapes anywhere to be seen or heard. After dinner we went to Manuel’s Bar. It takes some guts to build a bar/hotel/pool a million miles from anywhere (and only a ¼ mile from our ranger station), but Manuel’s the guy to do it. Since it’s the only thing anywhere close by, a lot of volunteer nights are spent on his cozy little patio. The least cozy creature was the cockroach the size of my palm (not exaggerating). Bugs, frogs, and everything else seem to be a little bigger in Costa Rica. We spent the night dancing Salsa and Merengue before making the pitch-black walk back through the jungle to our housing.
Stream of consciousness from my Day One journal: Mosquito nets. Giant bugs. A million miles from anywhere. Sunsets. No internet. No noise besides nature. Cold showers from a pipe in the wall. Crickets. 6 people to a room. Bunk beds. No responsibilities. Frogs. Bird calls. So much contentment. Everyone living from a suitcase/backpack. Can I just stay forever?