WHAT SOME OF OUR MEMBERS, VISITORS AND FRIENDS HAVE TO SAY

"It was amazing what could be seen from the dormitory porch or from the hammocks on the dock. A variety of birds flew overheard or perched nearby such as toucans, kiskadees and white-collared manakins, which could also be heard cracking their wings in mating rituals. Spectacled caiman loitered near the dock and the sun glinted off the golden-silk spiders and their yellow-tinged webs. Iguanas basked in trees in and around the docks and numerous small lizards could be spotted if you looked carefully on branches and tree trunks. Butterflies and hummingbirds visited flowering plants and we even saw an olive-backed euphonia nesting in one of the orchids in the orchid garden. The powder puff tree in front of the kitchen with its feathery pink blossoms and a trunk layered with bromeliads was a magnet for animals of all kinds. Wildlife could even be found inside - long-nosed bats sleeping in the bodega, a mouse opossum nibbling on a banana in the kitchen and an immature rufescent tiger-heron, a rare bird which had been fished out of the canal and unfortunately only lived a week or so in spite of happily gobbling up the fish it was offered. Howler monkeys could be heard every morning (an interesting alarm clock) and evening and occasionally seen moving along the treetops as they munched leaves."
-Toronto Zoo Volunteers, March 2007