I did in fact draw up a bucket list for our journey, to keep reminding myself of everything I want to experience. To my own surprise we have already ticked off most of the items on the list: do a long-distance walk , see flamingos , take surfing lessons , properly learn Spanish , watch a volcano erupt … and right at the top of the list is also: volunteering. And now, in Costa Rica, the time is ripe for exactly that, for two weeks!
For our volunteering we chose the Cloudbridge Nature Reserve in one of Costa Rica’s cloud forests. Cloud forest? That is effectively a rainforest, only at a higher altitude. We are at about 1700 m here and the nature reserve extends up to 2600 m.
The Cloudbridge project was launched in 2002 to reforest almost 300 hectares of land that, through cattle farming and agriculture, had barely any original vegetation left - and therefore no wildlife either. Until 2012 the focus of the work lay in replanting the area. Since the vegetation is now growing and thriving, the work here concentrates on maintaining the nature reserve and on research and education.
There are non-profit projects looking for volunteers by the shipload. So you are more spoiled for choice about which project to contribute to than at risk of finding nothing. On closer inspection, though, many projects come with one snag or another: cumbersome application procedures, long minimum stays, high participation fees (yes, you pay to work for free!), to name only a few. Which is why it was probably simply luck that the first project we came across in Costa Rica was Cloudbridge!
We quickly filled in the form and within less than 24 hours we had a reply saying our help would be warmly welcome. Five days later we were on the doorstep.
Although that “on the doorstep” was more a case of travelling through Central America for advanced learners. Luckily we were handed an idiot-proof set of instructions for the journey. Because it went like this:
- From the airport in San Jose take the bus into the city centre.
- From bus station A in the city centre take a taxi to bus station B outside the city centre.
- From there take the bus to San Isidro del General.
- From bus station A in San Isidro, which does not look like a bus station, take a taxi to bus station B in San Isidro.
- From there take the bus to San Gerardo de Rivas. Since there is no information desk, here are four tips for finding the right bus: […]
- and so on.
Once we had made it to the Cloudbridge Nature Reserve, we first went on an initial walk along the beautifully laid out paths through the cloud forest.
Besides us there are eight other volunteers here at the moment. Most of them are students or doctoral candidates working on research projects as part of their studies, which means they are on site for several months.
During our time here we are helping a researcher from the Netherlands who has torn his meniscus and can therefore no longer crawl through the undergrowth. Our job consists of measuring trees in various test areas to check how the planted trees are developing compared with those growing back on their own. In short: whether the reforestation brings any benefit.
In between, other tasks crop up as well. One morning, for instance, we had to carry planks that will be used to build new accommodation. And next week we will be looking after the visitor centre at the park entrance and coaxing donations out of visitors.
The lovely thing about the task is that while working we walk the entire nature reserve, since the test areas are scattered across the whole site. At times that also means walking uphill for an hour just to reach our workplace!
And the best part is that we keep being surprised by the animals living here, such as this family of spider monkeys. Sadly there are more mosquitoes and other flying creatures about here as well than interesting animals.
Our working day begins at 7 in the morning and ends at 1 pm at the latest - although honestly we are usually finished by around 11 (German efficiency). Plenty of time, then, for… free time!
On Sunday, for instance, we went for a Costa Rican brunch with the other volunteers and afterwards for a walk in the beautiful gardens of Jardines Secretos.
Incredible - one week of our volunteering is over already! And next week will be a short one, for me at least, because I will ‘sacrifice’ two working days to climb Costa Rica’s highest mountain with some of the volunteers - the Cerro Chirripó, which conveniently lies right on the doorstep (but still requires about 8 hours of climbing). Jan prefers to spare himself the effort. I will probably only be able to appreciate his decision during the climb.