This week my duties/activities have reduced as some people have left and new people have come so they need to experience all the different things.

I had got to know the English people who were here and they were a lot of fun so it was sad to see them go. Some of the girls are here for 3 months and 6 months on internships and they all seem to be able to speak more than one language fluently.

I am trying to learn some Spanish here & there but only at a basic level.

Some new people have arrived- a Spanish group and an English couple. Today 5 of us went to a nearby restaurant Citrus – which was very nice and helped to get to know the new couple better.

On this last week if I continue to have some free time in the morning I intend to walk down to the beach each day with my cup of tea and binoculars and do some bird and wildlife spotting. I did it this morning and saw lots of birds and a lizard

So generally I get up around 7-7.30 and often have to visit the butterfly garden to do various duties there.

Other duties during the day can be checking the hatchery to see if any nests are hatching or whether there are ants about and to clean up any leaves etc.

Also we have raked up leaves in the garden which is hot work!

We go on bat or monkey walks, or collect and change the SD cards from the cameras in the jungle nearby to check what has passed by.

Also we have Macaws walk and river monitoring.

Then we have jobs to do if baby turtles hatch – clearing out the nest and we have to weigh and measure them and change the sand.

Then of course the turtle walks in the evenings. I have chosen to do every other night now as every night is pretty full on. On my last walk on Thursday there were no turtles, but we released some babies into the sea.

Accommodation here at the reserve is basic but adequate.

My room just has a bed, chair, fan, small shelf and some hooks

It does smell a bit of wee, but I think that’s because it’s over the toilet block (I hope that’s the reason anyway) the fan blows the smell round a bit but it’s generally too hot not to have it on

It is too hot to spend time in there during the day and the internet doesn’t reach there – but it’s clean and comfortable. We don’t have glass in the windows in our room, just netting as we won’t ever need to shut the windows due to it being cold!

I have to go up 3 lots of steps to get to it which is keeping me fit!

We have hot water for the showers but at the end of your shower it’s best to turn to cold otherwise your body will naturally try to cool you down and you will sweat!

Sometimes I like to sit in a hammock and read for a bit.

This is the main room where we eat and generally all hang out. It is the only place that has internet so it’s where I write my blog. We could do with a few sofas in here really but only hard tables & chairs.

We have access to the kitchen – nice meals are cooked for us during the week at lunchtimes and we have to fend for ourselves the rest of the time.

Quiet time is from 9pm so most people go to bed around then unless they are on a turtle walk.

If we have a day off at the weekend we try to share taxis into the nearest town to do activities etc.

So I am getting used to life here but struggle with the humidity and the insect bites! It’s impossible to do anything with my hair, and you just sweat constantly! On the plus side your skin is always moisturised😀

Sometimes it has rained each afternoon but we have had a couple of days when it hasn’t. The rain cools things down but the bugs come out!

Yesterdays joke

Why do Turtles like to go shopping?

Answer… they like to shell out!

Todays joke……..How do turtles communicate?

Answer tomorrow …

And an extra little joke