Top 10s...

TOP 10 FAVOURITE MOMENTS
1. White water rafting – both times
2. Slackjaw zombie fest with Molly, Kyle and Sarah
3. The dares, especially the one involving mummy bird spitting into baby bird’s mouth – it was so funny!
4. When Kyle (Rice ‘n’ Beanz) and I (Dr Tang) became rappers
5. Freeing the turtle which had been tied up by poachers, with Molly. Rachel and Deanna
6. The embarrassing banking crisis with Danya
7. Sarah having to hold Kyle’s feet to stop him falling into the hole when we excavated the leather back nest
8. Arno’s birthday pinata and him breaking stuff
9. Seeing the leatherback turtle make it to the sea
10. The Helen Kellar turtles coming up to us and the one who almost nested on me


TOP 10 FAVOURITE ANIMALS I'VE SEEN
1. Leatherback hatchling
2. Green turtles
3. Hawksbill turtles
4. Keel-billed toucans
5. Capuchin monkeys
6. Spider monkeys
7. Red-eyed tree frogs
8. Howler monkeys
9. Eyelash pit vipers
10. Tiger herons


TOP 10 THINGS I LOVED AND WILL MISS
1. The people I met and the friendships I forged
2. Having turtles lay eggs into my hand
3. Canal bird surveys and spotting the birds
4. Seeing all the cool animals on Incidentals walks in the forest (mammals, birds, snakes, lizards, turtles, frogs, spiders and insects)
5. Knowing I'm doing something of international importance that helps animals and the environment
6. The chilled out feeling of not having deadlines, targets or stress – Pura Vida! Being cut off from all the usual shite of the real world
7. Taking amazing photos
8. Playing cards and other games in the evenings (Skippy!!)
9. Hearing some of the bird calls I’d spent so long learning
10. Chilling in the hammocks


TOP 10 THINGS I HATED AND WON'T MISS
1. The pain of getting stung in the eye (and ear and neck) by the wasp
2. Mosquitoes biting you in the forest, sand flies biting you on the beach, and ants biting you in camp; the constant itching of these bites
3. Getting sand in your eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and under your clothes, in your underwear, around your neck… basically everywhere
4. Insects flying into your face when you’re using candles in the evenings
5. Annoying people being annoying
6. Unimaginative meals like porridge; spag bol; rice and beans
7. Getting hair out of the showers or having to touch the burnables buckets full of shitty toilet paper when on camp duty
8. Washing using a bucket of cold, sandy water
9. Being hot and sweaty all the time
10. Having bats, toads, wasps, cockoraches, spiders, scorpions, and insects in the dorms, toilets, and kitchen

Some things you may have hated, but didn't even make my list: having no space to yourself; living out of a bag; having dangerous animals all around you; having to wear long sleeves, trousers and wellies even in 30'C heat in the forest; sleeping in 28'C (you get used to it... now, if it's 25'C or less, i get into my sleeping bag, and if it's 23'C or less, i wear long sleeves and trousers in the sleeping bag - and it's not just me who does that!); having to walk 5 to 10 miles a day nearly every day; being totally cut off from people in the outside world; not being able to wash your clothes properly, or stop your clothes / yourself from smelling; getting turtle gooey egg-laying lubricant coming out of the turtle and onto yout wrists and arms when counting eggs (we have latex gloves but they don't cover your wrists); only being able to use electrical appliances for an hour a day - usually just to charge stuff; having to cook for and clean up after 30 people when it's your turn to do camp duty.... the list goes on, but none of this stuff really bothers me. it makes you realise what is really important in life.

For other related things that normal people may find annoying, see my Gross list