We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.

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friday 3/26

Another day I was looking forward to. We knew we would be working on the reforestation project today. Reforestation is basically: "the restocking of existing forests and woodlands which have been depleted."
We hoped on the motor boat and drove to a secluded location....a secluded, marshy location. There were extra ankle length boots waiting for us, thankfully. The mud we'd be walking in would cover our ankles.

I put on plenty of sunblock....except for my back!! And face! Normally I am very anal about covering my face...this time I simply forgot, but my back got the brunt of it. Erick and Neil carried the heavy trays of plants out from the motor boat. There were three other locals there that did not speak english but were very grateful to have us there. Our job simply included us walking around and....well...planting. In 5 years time, the trees that we planted will be enormous, lush and green....

Sadly, it got hot rather quickly. We did that project maybe two hours before we took a quiet break under a shady tree. Erick had brought sandwiches, pineapples and papaya, along with gallons and gallons of water! All of us were tired, sweaty, and hungry.

We sat under the shady tree for a while, getting bit up by god knows what. (some weird silver bug bit me, right through my clothes!) The locals taught us some phrases in spanish, we taught them some phrases in english. Then, it was time to go. They were VERY grateful for our help!

Upon returning to the camp, we had a loooong break. And by break time, it was nap time, lunch time, reading my book time, and swimming! It was a nice leasurely day!

After the turtle night patrol, we came back and there was a little party going on. Many locals. It was Neils and I's last night, so on a volunteers last night they have a cookout! Once again, Evelyn was there with her fabulous food and I was there to eat it! A man named Juan was there, who was nick named "the president" he is apparently the president of the turtle project, I think, if I understood correctly.

Anyway, Juan had a guitar and was playing songs as we sat out on the beach, mearly feet away from the waves. When he wasnt playing his guitar, Neil had supplied us with his i-pod and what else could be on but Bob Marley! I had some coke and rum, although not much, it was so strong!

Finally, around one am, I began to poop out and it was beddy bye for me!!

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Photos

cute dog
another cute dog roaming around the camp

he was very friendly
he followed me around

dog
made me miss my two little pups

Reforestation
Reforestation project.

trees!
Once again, Neil working....and me...well, not

heavy
those trays full of trees were heavy! let the guys carry them

Neil and Erick
enjoying a beer on boat ride back to our camp

Neil
drinking water, trying to cool off. It was so HOT

Shen and I
"enjoying" a beer back to the camp....we both are not crazy about beer, but we drank it anyway!

another Iguana
this one did not "hang around" like the other one

Iggy part 2
he ran off into the water shortly after I took this

Neil and Shen
sweaty from all the hard work of planting trees!

locals
I like this pic, those locals were nice. We'd teach them a few words in english and they'd teach us some words in spanish

hammock area
these cute table and chairs were right by "my" hammock

me planting
or "pretending" like Im working.... lol. In five years time, those trees should be huge

my backyard
I am never leaving here

Neil and I
I wish I had NOT worn that shirt....my back got so burned

hammock
on hammock after a shower

dorkitis
I actually liked this project....planting trees and enriching the environment....all while sacrificing ourselves to the heat! It feels good helping the environment

trekking
trekking through the long grass

break time
this was our snack once we took a break from planting