In three days Deb and I will be returning to Minnesota. I can honestly say it will be great to be with our family once again. We truly miss seeing Kara, Pete, Cassidy, Lucas, Erik, and Alyssa. If there is a downside for us being in Costa Rica the past two winters, it is being away from them. And our family is growing! Alyssa and Erik are expecting their first child in October! We can’t wait to welcome the newest member of our family. As most of you know, we will be returning to Costa Rica on November 1st for another six months in Paradise. We love our life. If I’m dreaming, don’t wake me!
When we were preparing to return to Costa Rica last November we wanted to give something back to the country and it’s people. We felt so welcomed by the Costa Rican people and enjoyed their culture so much that we wanted to give more than just a verbal thank you. We had been to the Toucan Rescue Ranch (TRR) numerous times during our first winter here, and had actually met with a woman named Carol before we left about possibly volunteering at TRR when we came back. This was going to be our way of giving back to even up the score, so to speak. Or so we thought!
We sat and talked with a wonderful woman named Maria from the TRR to arrange a work schedule and find out what some of our duties would be. For about two months we worked every Tuesday and Wednesday. We collected so many food trays every morning that we had to use a wheelbarrow to cart them all back to the kitchen to be cleaned and refilled with fresh food. Then we would use those same wheelbarrows to take the food trays back and feed a myriad of animals. We swept and washed floors of different animal enclosures. We cut up papaya, melons, carrots, green beans, and then filled the food trays. We walked a lot. We sweated a lot. Sometimes we needed a bandage or two! At times it is physical, hard work. And we loved being there.
Never in our wildest dreams did Deb or I think we would get so much more out of this experience then we would give. After all, we were doing this to give back to Costa Rica some of what we had gotten last winter! But we got back so much more than we gave. The people we met and worked with, the animals, the atmosphere, the totality of the experience has been wonderful. Repayment of what we have taken away from this would be impossible. The more we gave, the more we got. We will just cherish our time there, the animals, and the wonderful friends we made, and say thank you.
Deb and I still find it somewhat hard to believe that we actually worked in enclosures with so many different animals, cleaning the floors and feeding those animals. Here is a short list of some of the animals that we actually went into the enclosures with. 1.Toucans 2.Owls(6 different species) 3.Hawks 4.Scarlet Macaws 5.Amazon Parrots 6.Kinkajous 7.Tropical Songbirds 8.Caracara 9.Silver and Golden Pheasants.
In addition to those, we also fed these animals, but did not enter their enclosures. 1.Spider Monkeys 2.River Otter 3.Weasel 4.Grison 5.Possum.
And the human animals we encountered! We worked with volunteers and staff from all over the world. We not only worked together, but we all shared our life stories and became almost like a family there. We have met with many of them after work and on our days off to socialize and share meals. And laugh. We cannot believe how many people travel to countries far from their homes to volunteer at animal refuges and shelters like the TRR. It does our hearts and souls good to realize that so many people of different ages around the world are aware of what is happening to the environment and how it is impacting animals, including humans.
In the two months we volunteered, we met people from Costa Rica of course, and volunteers from the United States. Here are the countries from which other volunteers and permanent staff traveled from to work at the TRR at the same time as Deb and I. (Alphabetically).
1.Brazil 2.Columbia 3.Denmark 4.England 5.France 6.Germany 7.Hungary 8.Italy 9.Mexico 10.Sardinia 11.Spain 12.Switzerland 13.Turkey
I know I would forget to include the names of some of the people we got to know there, so I won’t make a list of those that I do remember. That would not be fair. I will try to identify all of the people in the photos I am about to post however.
Here are some of our family from the Toucan Rescue Ranch.
Tim, Deb, Bobbie, Andy, Maddie
Deb, Lucia, Denise, Tim, Maria, Peter, Daniel.
Burak from Turkey, Sarah from France, Deb, Billy from the US, Angel from Switzerland, Tim. Sarah was our “boss”, and a wonderful young lady.
Elena, Deb, Maria, Yvette, Zara, Josy in front row. Andy, Peter, Tim and Raquel.
Andy, Tim, Deb, Peter, Anna, Denise.
Deb, Josy, Tim. Josy on one of her last days.
Deb, Andy, Tim, Peter and Josy. This was taken after dinner on the way to the airport where Josy was catching a flight to return to her home in Germany.
The Old Man and The Scarlet Macaws!
Sloths, Sloths, Sloths!!
Spectacled Owls, our favorite owls.
Caracara. A beautiful raptor.
And of course, a Toucan.
To all of our friends at the TRR, thank you so much for the time we shared and the memories we will carry with us forever. We will be back in November.
To our family and friends back home, thanks for reading our blog and the comments you have made. Love you all. See you soon.
Pura Vida.
Deb & Tim.
Deb & Tim's Adventure 