Ten Weeks of Jungle Life
Amazed by the beauty of this place! That's how I would describe my first impression of when I set foot on the station dock for the first time. The view from the little Sansa airplane to Tortuguero was already astonishing and made me very excited and nervous at the same time. Where would the station be? What will it look like? When Manuel and León picked me up from the airport, I had no clue where we were going. As the boat ride continued, I was anxiously looking at every turn in the river, wondering if the station is just around this bend. And then I wondered about the next bend. It all turned out to be even more exciting and prettier than what I ever expected.
Dropping in at the peak of green-turtle nesting season wasn't quite easy. With an extremely high quantity of turtle activity, the beach had to be worked for hours and hours every day. Besides, I was used to the cool temperatures of the Netherlands, so the first few weeks certainly weren't that comfortable. Nevertheless, I came to the station with a mission: I wanted to conduct an internship that would give me insights into nature conservation and community engagement. It turned out that Caño Palma was excellent for this purpose.
I was amazed by how dedicated my co-interns and staff were - which made working and living with this group in the middle of the jungle an extremely valuable and educational period, which I'll remember for many years. Sipping coconuts with Mister Coca (or as he calls himself "Jorge") or cooking the most random jungle dishes, it all added extra value to this delightful time.
As an intern with a non-biologist background, I was amazed by how extremely beautiful and sophisticated all aspects of the ecosystems are. From the smallest creatures to the biggest trees in the area, everything had its own charm. Luckily, I brought my drone to the station, which gave me the opportunity to capture some of this beauty (as seen below). Joyfully it turned out that the footage was very useful for Caño Palma's promotional activities. Win win!
Yair, a recent intern at Caño Palma, is from the village of Castricum in the Netherlands. He's studying International Development at Van Hall Larenstein University of Applied Sciences, specializing in sustainable value chains. Yair hopes to work on conservation projects, focusing on marine and freshwater systems.
