Kyra’s Volunteer Story – October 28, 2011
Omar, Kyra and Miguel after a long day planting
La Reserva is a very refreshing place. Whether you are walking through the reserve or taking a lunch break, you are surrounded by trees and all sorts of wildlife. If you look at the ground you will see countless leafcutter ants blazing new trials through the forest each day, as well as innumerable bugs that appear to be a cross between your average American insects, crustaceans, maybe dinosaurs, and a rainbow. It is not just the environment that is refreshing, but the success of the reserve as well. Forested areas that Omar, the forest manager, planted, are generating saplings that we used to fill in the new forests we were planting. It was incredible to see that in less than twelve years these trees had grown from arbolitas standing less than a foot tall into an entire forest. It’s nice to think that one day the trees we planted will be a forest just like the one Omar planted years ago. La Reserva really is making reforestation happen.
Everyone I met while working at La Reserva was absolutely incredible. Alicia, the woman I stayed with, has a very fitting story unlike any you have ever heard before. She is one of those people who spends all of her time doing all she can to help others out, has a great sense of humor, and just really enjoys life. It has felt a bit like living with my grandma for a week, having someone who like to take care of you, but mostly is there to be your friend. As she is such a do-gooder, she tries to get you to help her out in her mission to provide free English lessons to people in Tierra Morenas, as the only English classes available are about a forty-minute bus ride away. The English lessons were honestly one of the most rewarding parts of my stay in Tierra Morenas. Half the time we ended up laughing more than teaching/learning, but that really just seems to be the way of life down here– taking life slowly and making sure to enjoy every minute of it.
Omar is another person I am so glad to have met. Everyday we must have planted at least a hundred trees. Omar would sing them a song, and we would hope that they would grow up to be strong, healthy, happy trees. (Which I’m sure most of them will since La Reserva is so successful at keeping trees alive, following the model of nature). Full of jokes and laughs, Omar is great at making work fun, and is goofy enough to keep you laughing all day.
Miguel, Roberta, Omar and Kyra with a beer on the last day
Roberta and Dan are two more people that really enrich your life. They both made me feel instantly welcome here. We shared many great conversations about things we all really valued, and their lack of judgment was really appreciated if our viewpoints happened to differ. Truly genuine people who care as much about trees as they do the people they love.
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Matt’s uVolunteer Weekly Reports
Week 1:
My arrival to Costa Rica was warm and welcoming. I was well oriented to where I was and how to get safely from San Jose to my project site. Once I started working at La Reserva I became oriented to the forests and the mission of the project. On the first day of work, I was lead by Omar, one of the workers on the reserve, around the perimeter of half of the property, helping to clear trails and repair damaged fences. We repeated this the next morning for the second half of the reserve on the other side of the mountain. Over the course of the first week we worked on a variety of tasks on the farm, like feeding and watering the chickens and tending to the permaculture gardens. Omar and I helped to build sides to the raised beds where the vegetables are grown and also transplant some vegetable starts. Also during the week Omar and I walked through both sides of the reserve collecting tree seedlings that later in the day we transplanted in the nursery. In the middle of the week we went out to one of the biological corridors that the reserve created and maintains, to replace some of the dead components of the “living fences”. In between some of the tasks we would go into the forest and collect leaf litter to be used as mulch for the permaculture gardens. On the Sunday after my first week of work, a friend of the managers of the site, Roberta and Dan, threw a fundraiser fiesta/bbq to help raise money for the reserve. It was quite successful and a lot of fun with good food, live music and boat rides on Lake Arenal.
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By Zach Chissell
My arrival to La Reserva came after being in Costa Rica for 2 months. Although I had seen a good bit of the country, the attitude and life style here is one of the few places I’d been to that embodies la PURA VIDA.
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Day 1:
Monday was my first day of work on La Reserva. I followed Omar, who works at the reserve and I currently live with, as we made a trek around the perimeter of the forest, clearing trails and repairing fences. Omar would pause to point out some of the wildlife we would encounter. Once we finished we fed the chickens and the rest of the animals. Roberta, one of the project managers showed me her permaculture garden and explained some of the techniques she uses to maintain soil health and fertility. Omar and I worked in the garden applying mulch and transplanting vegetable plugs. The mulch we collected from the forest floor as leaf litter and small sticks. At the end of the day I got to meet another new member of the farm, besides myself. One day the week before I arrived, Omar came across a baby three-toed sloth that had fallen out of a tree. His mother lay nearby dead and Omar rescued the baby and brought him to the reserve. Roberta and Dan named him Peluchi, and when I met him he was hanging outside a small tree near their home. Omar picked some hibiscus flowers and gave them to him, which he gobbled up with relish. Needless to say he was incredibly cute and quite the stinker.
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“I will Remember and Cherish the Rest of my Life”
By: Chris Long
Prologue:
It took a four and half hour flight, one night in San Jose and a four hour bus ride to Tilaran, but I finally made it! Forty-eight hours earlier, I was living in the hectic, fast-paced and insane life of New York City. Now, for the next month, I was to live in Costa Rica with a local family while working to help preserve the beauty and awe that this country’s rainforests provide. Let’s get started!
