• Day 143: Tuesday May 22nd

13:45 I helped out my host dad (William) on his land today, firstly picking coffee plants (where I met another volunteer with his host dad) and then planting coffee later on.

The View From Outside My Room - Nicoya Peninsula In The Distance (D.Philpot)

Perla - Host Family Dog (D.Philpot)

Host Family Chickens (D.Philpot)

Red Host Family Garden Plant (D.Philpot)

Green Host Family Garden Plant (D.Philpot)

Host Dad + Volunteer + Coffee Land (D.Philpot)

Coffee To Be Transplanted (D.Philpot)

It was interesting work and I learnt everything you need to know for planting coffee in the tropics which was really interesting as I have since being here been converted into a coffee drinker myself.  For example, how to position the coffee plants, how to care for them when planting and afterwards and also about an ingenious use of a simple stick.  A stick was selected and stripped of small branches and leaves.  The length of the stick was a measure of the distance between your rows of coffee and a mark that was added to the stick was the distance between individual plants. We stopped for a break where we ate some mango, banana, biscuit and water - at which point we realised we had also been bitten and there were a couple of ticks around.

After more hard manual work digging holes, transporting the crops uphill, adding fertiliser and making sure the plants were correctly positioned at the right height so no roots were exposed I was told that 3 years of maintenance was needed to ensure a good yield of coffee. This made me appreciate the coffee we have in the Western world and I felt proud to be contributing to a small part of their livelihoods as farmers - it is of course difficult for them to make an adequate living. We then returned for lunch and to wash, at which point I was told a story about a guy the volunteer had met in an animal sanctuary near Limon. They were both allocated White-Faced Capuchin monkeys to look after, who have a tenancy to grab at necklaces etc. when held, and they had a room where they could let them run freely which happened to have a rescued duck or goose that sat in a pond.  Anyway, whilst trying to snap a cute photo one monkey snatched an iPhone off the other volunteer and threw it directly into the ducks pond of all places - I think this is a brilliant story!!!

San Luis School Wall (D.Philpot)

View Beyond The Local Store - Pulperia (D.Philpot)

School Nature Paintings (D.Philpot)

Valley View (D.Philpot)

I visited the small local shop (a "Pulperia") where I met a sweet dog and waited for ML to pick me up in order to visit the Sepentario again (snake zoo basically). However I thought it wouldn't be so enjoyable as it is quite small (although great) and the cooks are not fond of snakes so instead we went to the Ranario (frog zoo) and the joined "butterfly garden." The frog place was extremely interesting, I got to see my favourite Glass Frogs and the young son turned out to be an expert frog spotter. The Jardin de Mariposas was poor as it was just a path that led outside and there were no butterflies to be seen, however a mini insect exhibit back indoors made up for it. 

Prepare yourself for about 50 photos from this Frog Zoo place!

The Cooks Boy & A Frog (D.Philpot)

Reception (D.Philpot)

Pair Of Frogs (D.Philpot)

First Glass Frog (D.Philpot)

Another Apparent Glass Frog (D.Philpot)

One Comfy Snake (D.Philpot)

Dart Frog (D.Philpot)

Peek-a-boo Dart Frog (D.Philpot)

Chicken-Eating Frog? (D.Philpot)

Joined Frogs (D.Philpot)

Another Snake (D.Philpot)

Weird-Eye Frog (D.Philpot)

Red-Eye Tree Frog (D.Philpot)

An Almost Postcard Shot (D.Philpot)

Weird Orange Plant (D.Philpot)

Corn Or Rattlesnake Plant (D.Philpot)

Pretty Orange Flowers (D.Philpot)

Pretty Pink Flowers (D.Philpot)

Beautiful Quetzal Art (D.Philpot)

Giant Green Butterfly (D.Philpot)

Extended Brown Butterfly (D.Philpot)

Unbelievable Foil Butterfly (D.Philpot)

Silk Green Butterfly (D.Philpot)

The Perfect Blue Morpho (D.Philpot)

An Even Bigger Atlas Moth (D.Philpot)

Metalic Green Weevils (D.Philpot)

It Came From Outer Space (D.Philpot)

Metallic Beetles (D.Philpot)

Colossal Beetle (D.Philpot)

Christ! Fierce Giant Beetle (D.Philpot)

Fierce Beetles Little Brother (D.Philpot)

Chunky Beetle (D.Philpot)

Armoured Beetle (D.Philpot)

Just A Leaf (D.Philpot)

A Small Stick Insect (D.Philpot)

This Can Fly! (D.Philpot)

Strange Wings (D.Philpot)

Alien Bug (D.Philpot)

Winged Alien Bug! (D.Philpot)

What Is The Disk For? (D.Philpot)

Cockroach Underside (D.Philpot)

Don't Fancy A Bite From Him Either (D.Philpot)

Scorpion (D.Philpot)

Scorpion Of Scorpions (D.Philpot)

A Giant Rainforest Millipede (D.Philpot)

Very Leggy Millipede (D.Philpot)

Blue Foil Butterfly (D.Philpot)

Another Dazzling Butterfly (D.Philpot)

Last Few Flowers (D.Philpot)

Before we headed home ML gave us a tour around the town (Santa Elena) where we had a snack in a café followed by dinner back at the L's (with apple bread pudding).  DL informed me that my red skin on my hands around both my thumbs (matching/mirroring the other when put together like in prayer) could very likely be a toxic chemical burn that an insect left on me, which surprised me but there was no alternative explanation as I had not been out in the sun or don't remember touching anything especially with the topsides of my thumb area of my hands.  I did a little reading before I slept tonight, and I have noted here in my journal about a significant 'story' though I cannot recall for the life of me what this is referring to unless it again refers to the volunteer/iPhone/monkey story that I still chuckle about today.

Misty Clifftop Drive Home (D.Philpot)

Ghostly Trees (D.Philpot)

Chemical Burns (D.Philpot)