Exploring Costa Rica: Miracles do happen

So yesterday, a couple of really cool things happened. I've been working with Lagom, the bird, and yesterday he was climbing on the jungle gym that Sebastian made and he was doing so many cool things while climbing, using his beak, both of his claws and then all of a sudden he was at the top of the jungle gym and flew to the grown. It was not so graceful but he still flew. It was great after the last few days of working with him and seeing this wonderful progress.

Next awesome thing is Itchy, the Olingo, she hasn't been eating anything for the past few nights. Last night, Caroline and I went in to feed her and she actually ate from us, drinking the juice of the fruit and climbed out and on me. This was a huge improvement from the nights before. Tonight I went back into the cage to feed her and she ate so much more. She was eating sweet potato and watermelon straight from my fingers. So cute. Itchy is such a sweet little girl and so shy and timid, but I think she is warming up to me.

It really makes me feel like I'm actually doing my job here. I'm helping these animals in some way and hopefully that's bettering them in the long run. It has been so worth coming here and working with these animals.

Lots of people left today and quite a few new ones arrived. Two new girls arrived in my room and they're from London. They seem very nice and I think I'll make good friends with them as well. I'm sad to see the vet team finally leave tomorrow morning. We've talked about possibly meeting up in Manuel Antonio, but who knows where they'll end up.

Tomorrow I start my second and last week at the rescue center. I'm one of the "experts" now and will start training the next group of volunteers that have arrived. It's crazy that it's already been a full week that I've been here. It's gone so fast already. As of now I have pretty much done every job and have a good understanding of most of the animals. Other than some of the monkeys, most of the animals are really sweet. I've become Sarita's dog watcher, Blacky seems to listen to me and like me a bit so she always has me watch him when she leaves. The kinkajous, Daniel and Nela, are so cute and love belly scratches. They also smell amazing, Christie described it perfectly, she says its cinnamon and burned banana bread mixed together. When you get near their cage they come up to the side and lay down and show their stomachs for scratches. Berth, the adult male howler monkey, makes this incredible noise and when you make it back, he repeats it. He'll even hold your hand for a minute. Then there's Feluco, the baby howler, he's so snuggling and then loves to play especially during active enrichment. The baby sloths are also fun, especially Jay. He makes it so hard to clean their cage. He loves to try and get you every chance he can while you're in there. Today he was dead asleep until I grabbed the food bowl and didn't realize he was there. He leans back and opens his mouth in like a yawn growl and then decides it's time to come running after me. The baby marmosets, Wall-E and Ava, love eating sweet potatoes it's fun to see them climb around getting their food. There are more animals but these are the ones I've interacted with the most and have gotten to know their personalities best.

One more week and then I'll be posted up on the beaches of Manuel Antonio.

This is Feluco