Sanctuary

A Wandering Volunteer.

2010-08-21T16:04:00.000-07:00

Hiya Kim, Irene, Donna & everybody else!

I have just realised that I have been VERY bad, and not sent an email/picture on my 2 weeks in Costa Rica. So here it is.

The trip was wonderful, and went far too quickly. The only thing that seemed to take forever was the day I left (the time difference for my flight meant that I left Australia on Friday morning and landed in Los Angeles on Friday morning too) and the plane flight. The trip from LA to Costa Rica was a lot shorter, but I was still very happy when we landed...

The weather in Costa Rica was warm and tropical - a nice change from Australia's winter. I was travelling with 15 other people (1 other from Australia, 3 from Denmark, & the rest from Canada & America), and everybody got along really well.

I think that doing the volunteer work on the turtle conservation project first was what made us get to know each other so quickly. The week at Matapalo on the conservation project was fun, but a lot of hard work. Not as much educational stuff as we expected.

We were divided into two groups and our main tasks were building the hatchery for the turtle eggs from the nests to get moved into, the night-time beach patrols, maintenance work and beach clean-ups. It was made interesting by the rain - it always poured at about 2 pm in the afternoon and we carried on with our work regardless. We got used to being wet very quickly!

Our days were long: we were up at 5.30am to start the morning activities at 6am, and depending which night patrol or hatchery watch duty you got assigned on you could be heading out at midnight for a 3 hour shift if you were on patrol (that's how long it took to walk the entire length of the beach and back) or a two hour shift for keeping animals/humans out of the hatchery. What was ironic was that I was never on the patrols that found the turtles and the nests, and never on watch duty when they bought the eggs in! I'd love to go back some time & see how it changes.

The tourist stuff at San Jose, Monteverde & Arenal-La Fortuna was fun as well - national parks & rainforests, horse-riding, waterfalls, zip-lining, & a cave tour. Everybody had a bit of a crash course in Spanish, and the rainforest seemed to keep getting better wherever we went. I'll attach a document with a picture board - I was actually impressed by my camera for a change!

So now I'm back at uni - 5th week of the semester I think, and getting busy as usual. A lot different from Costa Rica!

I hope everything is going well at Kumbartcho - will there still be room for me when I get back in summer? :p

Lisa

PS: Thank-you Donna for the backpack - it was a perfect size.

PPS: Does anyone remember a Shae who was a volunteer a couple of years ago? He's now a teacher.

A Little Stroll

2010-08-13T17:51:00.000-07:00

Today a went for a stroll around the grounds and to my delight not only was the birdlife abundant but so were the romantics who took the opportunity to utilize our wonderful facilities here at Kumbartcho.

As I was stomping around I came upon a young couple who had set up what appeared to be the most romantic of picnics at butterfly heaven (a wonderful project started by one of our volunteers composed of plants that attract butterflies positioned to get the best views of the dam and abundant wildlife) They had set themselves up beautifully using the platform and table and chairs it was a delight to see our facilities used.

I can only apologize to the couple if I spoilt the moment, the last thing they would have wanted was a chat with me, but the got one anyway and were very gracious about it I hope to see more of the same in the future and I will try to be quieter and less intrusive.
Yeah right LOL’

Web Site Is Go

2010-07-24T13:28:00.000-07:00

After lots and lots of thought and waving between ideas and what to put on and not to put on the Kumbartcho web site it is finally up and running!

www.kumbartcho.org.au.

Kumbartcho is a flora and fauna reserve in the Northern suburbs of Brisbane. It is run by an enthusiastic group of people. Both paid and volunteer.

There is a plants Nursery that sells tube stock of native plants $1.00 -3.50 pricing levels.

Pop in and see the crew!

15 Bunya Pine Court. Eatons Hill. Queensland, Australia.