Since our last entry we have been stationed in the middle of the jungle (only accessible by boat) on our turtle volunteering adventure. 10 days have flown by and tomorrow we return to civilisation.

We have had a brilliant time. Seeing mummy turtles laying in the middle of the night and then seeing the little baby hatchlings wiggling their way to the sea at dawn was an awesome spectacle.

It hasn't all been plain sailing - we had to quickly get used to living with nature and avoiding the various biters and stingers the jungle has to offer. Our dorms are guarded by 15cm spiders and the jungle walks seem to regularly yield the most venemous beasties Costa Rica has to offer. We have escaped unscathed but the rest of the group have been grateful for a Doc on base. Only one scorpion sting to report and the victim was so cool about it Rhian had to ask him a few times to stop brushing his teeth while she administered first aid!

Highlights (as well as the turtles) have included kayaking up the local canals, night time Caiman spotting, watching the night sky shower with shooting stars during our night patrols and feeding the resident Caiman our dinner leftovers - Rhian tried a new technique of feeding her over deep water to find just how high a hungry Caiman will jump for a chicken bone (for the record - over 3ft and took it off the plate). After only 30 seconds Rhian was able to breathe again! Rummikub has also been a big hit amongst the Canadians/Americans/Dutch as it's international reach continues...

A couple more jungle walks and Rhian still hasn't had to face a snake up close and personal but she seems surprisingly ok with it. Her main concern is that we dont come across any poachers on the beach in the dead of night (we didn't)!

Our thoughts are with Team Perkin at the moment in preparation for their new arrival! We named our first mummy turtle Liz and hope that it is as quick (but perhaps not as sandy) for her :)

Off now for some R and R on the Carribeean Coast for 10 days,