After a taxi ride of about half an hour, in the back of a very old estate car (no inner door panels, seat belts, pieces born carpet to bung up the gaps at the bottom of the doors against dust...) with 5 children and their mother also in the back, along dirt roads, I was droppednoff at the entrance with my 2 backpacks at about midday. You have to wait until the taxi is full before they leave (6 passengers min), which can be a while!
Sophie, a volunteer from Germany spotted the taxi and came to meet me. I'm currently sharing the dormitory block (4 beds, shower room and dressing/clothes storage area, with outdoor covered patio with table and chairs) with her and Kate, from Gloucestershire, both very nice and in their 20's. So I dumped my stuff and went to meet Rafael, a Bolivian biology student who is currently in charge of the centre, having previously been a volunteer for some months. The manager, Jose Antonio is currently on holiday in Spain for the next couple of weeks.
Rafa's girlfriend Camila makes up the final member of the current group but this will change as all 3 girls are due to leave at the week end, with a male volunteer arriving on Sunday. So I have to learn the routines fast! Making some lunch was of greatest initial interest, a joint effort of vegetables and then local fruits.
Monday was meant to be a rest day for me, but I joined Sophie on a nest check visit, taking the bikes for the short distance up the road. We had to use the stick camera, on a telescopic pole to view inside the dead palm tree where the macaws were nesting - it was exciting to see the 2 eggs there in the nest. At the second nest we checked the parent birds, Blue and Yellow macaws, were watching us warily from a nearby tree and vocalising their annoyance! Again eggs which we noted in the book , no predation losses so far.
The bikes, I might mention are fairly ancient, have no brakes at all, and are rusted at every point except the parts that have to move to use them. So no chance of changing saddle height for example! But they do get us places, and fortunately it's fairly flat here in the Beni department wetlands, so I just have to remember to slow down in time to stop.
Back to base to finish settling in, unpacking, shower (welcome cold water!) And change before another concoction for dinner. Lots of introduction manuals to read through re safety, snakes, emergency contacts etc to finish the day.
Tuesday those of us with enough Spanish were invited to Trinidad to celebrate the International Wetlands day, at the dept of Botany at the University, which meant getting a taxi at 7am. So quick breakfast of porridge and fruit, then off to wait for a taxi to pass by.... In fact a police pick up offered us a
Lift, so we travelled into town in the back, not a service I have from the police before! I spotted a 4m anaconda crossing the road, a dark greeny colour, and also a pair of smaller macaws, probably severe macaws flew across our path.
We walked the final bit into town stopping for an empanada (pasty) en route as Kate and Camila hadn't had breakfast. Then it was 3 mototaxis to the hotel to meet up with Rafa, as he had business in town so was staying there. And again out to the University - a fun way to travel and appreciate the cool breeze, also only 30p or so a trip.
The display boards about the wetlands were very informative and brought back to mind quite a bit of vocabulary I had forgotten, also some good boards about our project and birds which also consolidated my information about their life in the wild a bit. The presentations didn't add much, and as the only refreshments were coca cola and fanta orange ( no water even) I was glad we had some water with us.
Back by taxi again to the centre, where I helped Kate with the afternoon feeding of the 6 captive Blue throated macaws, which originally came from Cornwall, Paradise Centre, where they were captive bred! Beautiful birds, hopefully worth my time and effort.
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