Base Voice: You know you're in the jungle when....

Our new volunteers and interns have successfully completed their first week in the jungle, so we asked them (and the resident staff) to complete the sentence “You know you’re in the jungle when…”. Here’s the results!

…you start to forget what day, month and year it is and start basing your schedule on when and where you can see animals

-Sateesh, staff member

A young Howler Monkey picking up a snack right outside base

…the sounds of the howler monkeys work as a lullaby

-Ryan, 6 month intern

…the small town of Tortuguero feels like a city with bright lights

-Nicole, 2 week volunteer

…you want to go out in the pouring rain, just to look for frogs!

-Ellie, 3 month volunteer

…scratching your bites is a constant, subconscious action

-Ian, Field staff

…your room becomes a mini zoo because you have to share it with so many jungle creatures

-Sarah, 6 month intern

...you’re always looking above for falling coconuts

-Kat, 6 month intern

…you shake out your bed before you go to sleep and aren’t surprised that insects and sand pour out

-Dionthé, 6 month intern

…you feel like you've lost a limb when you go out without your binoculars

-Heather, Field Staff

…you hear howler monkeys at 5am instead of roosters

-Sophia, 6 month intern

…you get woken up by a bat flying into the outside of your mosquito net

-Courtney, 3 month volunteer

…roll-on mosquito repellent actually runs out

-Frank, Field staff

…you walk to the restroom with a head torch in the middle of the night and have to check the toilet for snakes

-Alex, 6 month intern

A Green Turtle observed returning to sea during an early morning survey on the beach

…you ask not whether you will have a shower companion but what species they will be

-Roddy, 1 month volunteer

…you go to bed happy after seeing the turtles have returned safely to sea

-David, Field Staff

Base Voice: You know you're in the jungle when....