Jennie's travelpartywildlifeconservation and fun blog

Compassionate Traveling: SustainableTrip.org

2011-12-14T15:03:00.001-08:00

I ran across this website, SustainableTrip.org, quite a few months ago and was impressed with it. I get monthly email updates from them that make me want to jump out of my office chair and hop on the next plane to South America. Their photos bring back fond memories of jungle cabins and tropical adventures; of rain so hard it rendered umbrellas useless, and of heat so sweltering it rendered sleep useless. This may not sound appetizing to you, but if you've ever been to the tropics and fell in love with it like I did, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

SustainableTrip.org is a website that features destinations or businesses in Latin America and the Caribbean that are making outstanding efforts to conserve natural resources and improve livelihoods in their local community. Whether its a hacienda 9,600 feet above sea level in Ecuador, a bed and breakfast lodge smack in the middle of Amazonia, or a tourism company that leads jungle expeditions, these businesses are certified by the Rainforest Alliance and are sure to show you a good time.

Here are just a few examples that make those ferrocious travel bugs bite:

Ecoventura yachts - Galapagos Network (Ecuador)

Ecoventura's yachts take you to the Galapagos (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) in style. They offer a total of 38 rooms on 4 boats, each with luscious ammenities and breakfast included. Activities include dive boats, kayaking, snorkeling, photography, and bird-watching, as well as intimate guided visits to shore while treading lightly on the environment.

These guys are certified in sustainability, and have made many adjustments in order to pollute less and have less of an impact on the environment. They are carbon-neutral and their carbon emissions are offset by a variety of projects in other parts of the world. They have helped establish the Galapagos Marine Biodiversity Fund in partnership with the World Wildlife Fund, to support environmental education and marine conservation. They also proudly participate in the Pack for a Purpose program, where guests can bring school supplies, medical supplies, and other small items from home to donate to the local community. Guests simply drop off their donation with the staff, and Ecoventura will deliver it for them.

Selva Verde Lodge and Rainforest Preserve (Costa Rica)

Selva Verde Lodge & Rainforest Reserve is home to possibly the largest almendro tree in all of Central America. This enormous tree provides food and habitat for the endangered great green macaw. The lodge offers daily guided hikes with local nature guides in the reserve, and on the grounds of the lodge there are self-guided trails and botanical gardens for visitors to explore. The Sarapiquí River flows right through the property and offers swimming and whitewater rafting on class I-V rapids.

The lodge is located next to La Selva research station (where I myself spent a week or more when I was in Costa Rica doing research), and visitors can visit and learn about the various research happening there while taking guided tours on the property. I can tell you firsthand how many tropical frogs you will see while you're walking there, including red-eyed treefrogs (they're everywhere!) and the popular poison dart species like the tiny blue and red "blue jean" frog. There was also a resident coati (begging for bananas), sloth, and iguana on the premises. Other nearby attractions to the lodge include the Braulio Carrillo National Park, Heliconia Island, Tirimbina Rainforest Reserve, pineapple and banana plantation Tours, canopy zipline tours, and a serpentarium.

Today the center is a fully independent nonprofit organization dedicated to creating a sustainable future for the people of Sarapiquí and is focused on four main areas --environmental education, community development, conservation, and tourism -- in order to help form future environmental leaders, raise the organizational capacity of local communities, promote sustainable land use, and connect tourists to the local community.

Bodhi Surf School (Costa Rica)

Located in the beautiful town of Uvita-Bahía Ballena on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica, this surf school offers personalized surf and yoga lessons that help connect individuals with nature and increase environmental and social awareness. The surf school focuses on inner awareness through yoga and on social justice through community work, and also incorporates conservation into its business practices. Uvita-Bahía Ballena is part of Ballena Marine National Park, one of Costa Rica’s many nature reserves. This park includes several kilometers of undeveloped coastline where visitors can see some of Costa Rica’s famed wildlife.

Porta Hotel Del Lago (Guatemala)

Framed by three majestic volcanoes, and beside beautiful Lake Atitlan, this hotel puts the visitor smack in the midst of local community life. Small businesses harboring local merchannts, artisans and weavers are active in this little town, and boats come and go from the lake's harbor. The public beach and recreational area is not far away and houses the San Buenaventura butterfly garden, whose trails lead to waterfalls and historic churches.

Activities which the visitor can take part in from this hotel are numerous, and include horseback riding, canopy tours, bike-riding, river rafting, scuba diving, visits to conservation projects, volunteer activities, and lake tours. This hotel si certified sustainable from the Great Green Deals program, because it supports many local businesses and provides jobs for local community members. Its local habitat tours educate visitors on the importance of the natural wilderness of the country.

Sustainable businesses are those that are profitable while conserving natural resources and benefitting local communities. Examples of sustainable business practices include conserving water and energy, supporting community conservation projects, recycling and treating wastes, hiring staff from neighboring towns, paying them just wages and providing additional training, and, sourcing locally-produced products in restaurants and gift shops. Why not support the conservation of local habitat and wildlife while you travel, so that these beautiful people and places can stay around for future generations to enjoy.

Art and Wildlife

2011-12-01T10:28:00.000-08:00

How can you mix art with wildlife? By having an art show and giving a percentage of the sales proceeds to charity. Since I'm passionate about both art and saving wildlife, I've decided to put on an art exhibit for charity; the charity being Southwest Wildlife Foundation (since I volunteer doing fundraising events for them). The theme for the show is urban or pop-art, and I've gathered a number of artist friends whose work I greatly admire to head it up. I will also be showing some of my own pieces. A percentage of the art sales will go to Southwest Wildlife Foundation, and some of the artists have even donated their pieces 100% to the charity.

Luckily my friend Derek Dyer, head of the Utah Arts Alliance, gave me permission to show in his gallery in downtown Salt Lake City. The show will take place in February 2012, an the art will be up until March. During Salt Lake's monthly gallery stroll, happening on friday, February 17th, we will feature an urban art show, in which the artists will be at the gallery, along with food, drinks, music, live stenciling, graffiti body painting, and breakdancing.

Some of the artists who will be showing are Kelsey Beacco of Kel-Z Photography, a photographer friend with whom I always do fun and crazy themed photo shoots. She's a lively ball of energy and that energy shows up in her work.

image by Kelsey Beacco, copyright Kel-Z Photography

Lisa Ogden is a friend who captures everyday objects in a creative light. She captures a mood with every photo, and is currently photographing with a number of different vintage cameras to create photos with natural flaws that create unique effects.

image copyright Lisa Ogden

I am also quite fond of the urban style workings of the Original Hooligan Stencil artists. Reminiscent of Banksy, these stencil works get a message across in a colorful and entertaining way.

image copyright Original Hooligan Stencils

I will be showing some of my own work as well. My urban-themed pop-art is a nostalgic portrayal of my happy two years spent in London. My pieces feature objects or landscapes from the famous city.

image copyright Jennie Burns

Lena Nance is a cool cat whose first love is snowboarding and second love is graffiti art. You will see her tags on various objects throughout the gallery.

Place: Utah Arts Alliance gallery, 127 S Main Street, SLC.
Time: February 17th, 7:00 pm (art will be hung through the month of February).

non-artist images courtesy of streetartutopia.com

Meeting the Founders of Wildlife SOS India

2011-10-17T20:55:00.000-07:00

Last night I had the opportunity to meet Kartick Satyanarayan and Geeta Seshamani, the couple from India who founded Wildlife SOS some sixteen years ago. This was a rare and exciting opportunity for me, as they keep so busy with their work in India (what with 4 dancing bear sanctuaries with some 600 bears and 5 rescued elephants to boot) they don't have the chance to visit their US fundraising office very often.

I've been volunteering with Wildlife SOS since 2007, doing online marketing work and a bit of fundraising and publicity for the organization. My first wildlife charity party took place in London, with all proceeds going straight to WSOS (see my previous blog about bear parties). Kartick and Geeta and the rest of their organization have single-handedly taken on the "dancing bear" issue in India and, through a variety of means have rescued every last dancing bear from the streets. These bears, too mutilated to be released back into the wild, are housed in 4 separate rescue center facilities throughout India. The organization has provided the families who owned the dancing bears with alternative, legal livelihoods, such as sewing businesses for the women and convenience stores for the men. As the comical Kartick so fervently worded it in his presentation last night, people in India go out and drink and then want a snack, which is provided by some of these convenient stores we've set up; so we cater to drunk people - but hey, it helps the bears, so it's okay.

A member of the community provided with an alternative livelihood as a rickshaw driver, copyright, WSOS.

Wildlife SOS also believes in the power of education, and helps fund schooling for children and families in the community.

In addition to all of these accomplishments, they also do 24/7 wildlife rescue, have purchased land for habitat conservation, and have been working to successfully reduce poaching and wildlife trade. They are also working to build an elephant sanctuary, much like those for the bears. This is why it was such an honor to meet them in person.

Kartick kept us laughing all night, and with Geeta, the more softspoken of the duo, I discussed sustainable feeding projects for the bears at the sanctuaries. After hearing how many pounds of honey each bear required daily, I thought it would be a great idea to get some of the locals into bee-raising, providing a source of honey for the bears as well as a lifestyle for the family. Geeta told me she and Kartick had been thinking along these lines and also explained their plans for growing their own grain for the bears. As most of the bears' teeth have been violently pulled or broken by the former owners, the bears consist on a mushy diet of cooked grains. If the grains were grown by locals, this would save a good amount of money for the organization.

We then discussed ways to expand the UK branch of the organization, as I was there in 2008 to help get it started. So now I have some networking and some thinking to do, but I'm proud to contribute to the work of two of the most awesome people on this planet. They truly have given their hearts to the wilderness of this world, and I aspire to acheive a fraction of what they have accomplished. Thank you, Wildlife SOS.

Kartick, Geeta and I, with Nikki from the US office.

If you are interested in donating to or volunteering with Wildlife SOS, please visit their website at www.wildlifesos.org for details.

Birding in Utah

2011-09-15T20:08:00.001-07:00

While I'm here in Salt Lake City I've been trying to get in as much birding as possible. Utah is a wonderful place to go birdwatching because there is still so much open land in the state. Both deserts and mountains are accessible, as well as the Great Salt Lake and various National Parks such as Canyonlands, Great Basin, Zion, Bryce, Escalante, Capitol Reef, Moab, and Lake Powell.

Bryce Canyon 2011, copyright Jennie Burns

If you're interested in birding you will definitely want to get in touch with the Great Salt Lake Audubon Society. They host regular bird walks in Salt Lake and Utah counties, and also plan weekend birding trips to Southern Utah or the West Desert. These guys are serious and can bird for hours at a time, although you can come and go as you please. On a recent trip to Utah Lake with the Audubon Society, amid ducks, geese, displaying sage grouse, yellow-headed and red-winged blackbirds, and a raptor here and there, a heated debate over sparrow identification (specifically, whether what they were seeing was or wasn't a grasshopper sparrow) was the highlight of the trip for many of the birders.

Some of the birding hotspots visited by the Audubon Society are Farmington Bay (home of dozens of bald eagles at certain times of the year), the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Swaner, Utah Lake, and the Great Salt Lake via Antelope Island State Park (a shorebird and owl sanctuary). They also host evening owl walks at Memory Grove, Millcreek Canyon or Neff's Canyon.

If you have kids in tow, or want a guaranteed bird sighting, there's always the Tracy Aviary at Liberty Park. Tracy Aviary maintains a growing collection of approximately 400 birds representing more than 100 species, many of which are considered rare or endangered. There are daily bird shows and volunteer opportunities for those of you who want to get up-close and personal. Some of the birds that you are bound to see at the Aviary are peafowl, vultures, pelicans, cranes, condors, flamingos, hawks, ibis and night-herons. They just opened a new owl forest exhibit in which owl sightings are a guarantee. Visit their website for more information.

The Hogle Zoo hosts an amazing daily bird show during the summer. And some of their birds are pretty spectacular. Parrots perform tricks, a Stellar Sea Eagle (one of the biggest birds of prey in the world) takes a bath on command, while raptors zoom past spectators in flight displays. It is well worth the $7 zoo entrance fee.

If you're looking for some volunteer work that makes a difference, you might want to work with RINS, or Raptor Inventory Nest Survey, an all-volunteer organization that works closely with the BLM and Hawkwatch International to take survey data of raptors, their habitat and prey in the Salt Lake and surrounding areas. Volunteers are assigned quadrants and work throughout the summer identifying what raptors they see in their quads, what prey they notice, what plants are dominant, which birds are nesting and how many nests are in the area. This work is intensive and requires time dedication, along with knowledge of raptor and plant identification techniques, GPS skills, map-reading skills, and a lot of patience. The data collected by RINS volunteers is used constantly by state agencies and is the contributing factor to the state's knowledge of raptor trends as well as trends of many other species in the area that depend on raptors. I recently started working with RINS and enjoy the work immensely. Not only do I love being out in the middle of the west desert in the sunshine, but have seen more raptors and eagles than I ever had before.

Red-tailed hawk 2011, copyright Jennie Burns

And lastly, it's fun to bird in your nearby park or backyard. A simple bird feeder can provide all-day entertainment for a birder. Colorful orioles, tanagers, thrushes and woodpeckers, as well as the more obscure raptors, can be common sightings in your neighborhood park if you're a resident of Salt Lake City.

American Kestrel 2011, copyright Jennie Burns

6 Terrifying Predators Routinely Owned by Adorable Prey (from Cracked.com)

2011-06-13T19:01:00.001-07:00

I just had to repost this article, written by Tom Hohle on June 12, 2011. From Cracked.com.

Everyone loves an underdog. Even Mother Nature, with her Thunderdome sensibilities, loves a good underdog story -- or six. That's why, when creating the nastiest animals on Earth, she decided that they were each going to have an embarrassingly adorable nemesis to regularly knock them down a few pegs. Like these guys:

#6.The Adder vs. the Hedgehog

Adders have dark zigzag patterns along their backs and giant, glaring, red eyes with vertically slit pupils. They are a universal symbol for danger and evil. They are venomous, vicious and are all-around well ... snakes.

Zdeněk Fric
Yes, it has the eyes of a Sith lord.

Sharing a common territory with the adder is the European hedgehog. The hedgehog grows to a maximum length of about a foot, and though its body is covered in up to 7000 spines, they're more of the "cuddly and/or wuddly" type than the "badass armor" variety.

Pathy Miklós
He dreams of life as Bill Shatner's hairpiece.

While foraging for food, a hedgehog may occasionally come across an adder. They share the same 'hood; it was bound to happen. As expected, upon seeing the horrible serpent, the cute little hedgehog goes into lockdown, doing its level best to set up a lil' spiked fortress -- just trying to protect its face and legs.

Jürgen Howaldt
His little feet are adorable and creepy at the same time. Kind of like the Alien's little second mouth.

Once this is done, it slides open a slit in its faceplate, waddles its bare face up to the adder and bites it. Because the hedgehog's spikes are significantly longer than the adder's fangs, the adder can't reach any hedgehog's flesh to bite and/or poison it. The snake slithers away, but that's not the end of the story. The hedgehog isn't just trying to protect itself here, or cowering, or even driving the snake away: It's hunting. The snake leaves, the hedgehog follows, and bites again. This harassment continues until the adder is too tired to fight back or escape. The hedgehog then breaks the snake's neck and devours it completely, starting at the head.

Jacek Zapała
The humans in this picture were never heard from again.

Then it curls up into a little ball and drifts off to sleep, dreaming itty-bitty dreams of navigating loop-de-loops with an echidna.

#2. The "Ultimate" Pit Viper vs. the White-Headed Capuchin

Bothrops asper, more commonly called a fer-de-lance or ultimate motherfucking pit viper (we may have added one of those descriptors -- but only one), are found in Central America. They grow to an average length of six feet, but some have been measured at over eight feet. They are the most dangerous snake in Central America for a slew of reasons, including the ability to strike from any position.

Al Coritz
Drug-murders, diarrhea and this: three things you're unlikely to see in a Central America tourism ad.

Also living in Central America are white-faced Capuchin monkeys. Large males weigh in at an adorable nine pounds -- just enough weight to give solid hugs. They're most famous as the dancing organ-grinder monkeys, so you might have to picture this little guy in a tiny red vest and cap for the rest of the entry.

Michelle Reback
As if you weren't already.

This peer-reviewed paper details one attack by an ultimate pit viper on a troop of white-faced capuchins: At some point in the resulting standoff, a branch fell off of a dead tree, and onto the snake. One of the monkeys apparently remembered the beginning of 2001: A Space Odyssey, and immediately seized upon the branch. The monkey then used the wood to beat the snake, and it is simply astounding that this sentence isn't about masturbation right now.

Although we can assume it was preceded and immediately followed by masturbation.

That wasn't an isolated incident either: According to the Zoological Wildlife Foundation, white-faced capuchins routinely attack intruders with sticks, rocks and on one occasion, even a smaller squirrel monkey was hurled at an observer. It didn't even hesitate -- the monkey just plucked up and whipped a tiny version of itself at the nearest threat. That's like seeing somebody on your lawn, so you immediately start hurling your children at him until he gets back on the sidewalk.

#4. Various Deadly Bugs vs. the Grasshopper Mouse

Giant desert centipedes are amongst the largest centipedes on Earth, commonly measuring in at almost nine inches. They are found in the deserts of North America and inside your pillowcase, right now, waiting for you to come to bed. They're extremely poisonous and routinely take down larger mammals.

Bugs In The News
Imagine waking up with that little guy crawling up your chest.

The grasshopper mouse grows to about four-inches long, and has the least intimidating name in the entire Animal Kingdom, aside from the long-extinct Parisian cuddle-pig.

Tucson Citizen

But when the Segmented Wang of Poisonous Death steps to the adorable little mouse, shit goes stone cold crazy. It starts when the grasshopper mouse emits a high pitched howl -- seriously, it rage-howls before every fight -- and then initiates combat with an intricate series of cartwheels, back flips, barrel rolls and tiny bites. Unable to grab hold of the flipping, biting melee-mouse, the centipede is slowly but surely deprived of its primary weapon: Its face.

The grasshopper mouse doesn't just eat centipedes, though. This same fighting style, which we'll call Berserker Acrobatics, is used successfully against scorpions, poisonous beetles and even tarantulas.

#3.Scorpions and Tarantulas vs. the Bullfrog

Both scorpions and tarantulas are arachnids, which means that they share a common ancestor: The first sin man committed against God, which congealed into the most fearful shape in mankind's thoughts, and then scuttled away into the rocks to haunt his children for the rest of eternity.

Chris huh and Sascha Grabow
Pictured: Nightmares.

When most people think of a frog, they probably visualize a tubby, smiley little dude hopping across lily-pads on a warm summer's eve. They probably don't think of a blend between alligators, ninja and a black hole. But that is the most accurate way to describe the American bullfrog. It has no claws or teeth to speak of, but when you combine its disturbing appetite, natural stealthiness and go get 'em attitude, you get something that eats terror for breakfast.

Carl D. Howe
Pictured: The thing nightmares have nightmares about.

The bullfrog is a master of the ambush, in a manner quite similar to the alligator or crocodile. It mostly hunts from the water, using its natural camouflage and minimal profile to its advantage. Only the eyes are visible above the water line, and its impossibly slow, deliberate movements make it look more like a branch or other inanimate object than a living thing. When it eventually does get within striking distance of its prey (in this case, the tarantula) there's just a frantic blur of scrabbling mucus and flapping jaws, until only the frog remains -- with a couple twitching legs poking out from between its lips. It will then retreat back into the water to drown the tarantula before eating it.

The scorpion, especially the giant hairy one shown above, poses more of a problem. The scorpion is bigger and more oddly shaped than the tarantula, and so doesn't fit comfortably into the frog's mouth. If prey is too large to be pulled into a frog's mouth using the tongue, as the scorpion is, the bullfrog is more than happy to make house calls. It uses its tongue like a zip line, tagging the prey and then pulling/leaping forward toward it. The combined momentum helps the frog shove the scorpion into its mouth, while it uses both hands to fold the arachnid like a creepy, multi-legged shirt. Finally, here it is eating a bird.

Junior Vet.net
Still cute?

#2. The Black Mamba vs. the Secretarybird

Black mambas are highly venomous, fast moving snakes native to Africa. The combination of nervousness and high aggression makes it the most deadly snake in Africa, and possibly even the world. Even mongooses, which kill cobras for fun, rarely attack an adult black mamba because it is so difficult to kill.

Above: Not the snake to fuck with.

Enter: The secretarybird! This goofy looking bastard is about one-meter high (a good portion is legs) and weighs about eight pounds. Although it can fly, it hunts exclusively while walking on the ground. Also, it looks like it's wearing bicycle shorts, and we are completely in love with that fact.

Yoky
It's like the bird version of your office's nerdy IT guy.

A typical encounter between a secretarybird and a black mamba goes like this: The bird spots the serpent in the grass, recognizes it as a threat and takes appropriate action. By which we mean it casually strolls towards the snake, spreads its wings for balance and kicks it square in the face.

Because the black mamba always raises its head above the ground when preparing to strike, it is placed at a perfect snap-kick height for the secretarybird. If the snake's head is ever raised higher than the bird can comfortably kick, well that's no problem -- the secretarybird is one of the few animals on Earth to master the flying kick. If the damn thing doesn't have the decency to die from such an awesome and dramatic move, the bird will drop all pretense and just curb-stomp the snake to death.

Just to reiterate one more time: There is a bird in Africa that regularly and routinely jump-kicks poisonous snakes in the face.

danielguip
"Eh. It's a hobby."

#1. Dingoes vs. Kangaroos

Dingoes are the apex predator of Australia, a place where basically everything is actively trying to kill everything else. A dingo's diet consists of whatever it can catch, ranging from insects to large mammals, and as such the species has been blamed for the extinction of several other animal species, such as the Tasmanian tiger, or even the disappearance of the Tasmanian devil from mainland Australia. Unlike dogs, the dingo can rotate their heads 180 degrees in each direction, and can turn their wrist in such a fashion as to work knobs and open your goddamned doors. In summary: AHHHHHHH!

kwm00re
Addendum: AIIIIEEEE!!!

Kangaroos, on the other hand, are ridiculous looking marsupials that sometimes star in whacky caper movies with the fat kid from Stand By Me.

Screenshot from the movie Kangaroo Jack not included. Because we love you.

If chased by a pack of dingoes, the kangaroo has an odd defense: It will flee into at least chest-deep water and wait. If a dingo should follow the kangaroo into the water, the kangaroo will grab the dog's head with its arms and plunge it under the water, hit-man style, until it drowns.

But what if there's no water nearby? The kangaroo can't coolly and dispassionately execute all comers like Jean Reno, then, right?

Wrong.

Getty
Dead wrong.

On land, kangaroos again clutch the dingo about the head with their adorable little half-arms, but this time they just kick the animal in the stomach repeatedly until they're disemboweled.

But it doesn't stop at dingoes: To a kangaroo, a dog is a dog is a dead fucking dog. They'll go straight gangland on any domesticated dogs they perceive as threats as well. In 2009, an Australian man was out taking his blue heelers for a walk, when one slipped loose and chased a large gray kangaroo into a shallow creek. The kangaroo did how kangaroos do: He put that bitch in the water. When the man waded out to save his pet, the kangaroo kindly obliged him and released the canine. But life must always be paid for with life: The kangaroo slashed the man's face repeatedly, and attempted to drown him instead.

Getty
"Beware: Kangaroos will cut your goddamn face."

Eventually the kangaroo realized that the water was too shallow to drown a full-grown man, so it started disemboweling him instead. Luckily, the report says the man "escaped unharmed" ... or wait -- no, sorry. This says, "extremely harmed." Extremely harmed. There's a bunch of underlines here, too: He came away with an eight-inch cut across his abdomen, serious wounds to his head, back and chest, and a newfound respect for kangaroos.

GTFO.ro
Straight outta Compton.

Photo journey through Zambia, Africa

2011-05-25T09:47:00.000-07:00

Some of my best friends just returned from a trip to Zambia. Their first stop was at the Flatdogs Camp in South Luangwa National Park, where they stayed in a bush tent with a hippo-filled river nearby.

They also had a pool where vervet monkeys liked to hang out and steal toiletries from unsuspecting campers.

They took a sunrise game drive where they saw giraffe, impala, puku, elephants, lots of birds, lions and zebra.

They watched the sunset over the Luangwa River.

Their next stop was the Mfuwe Lodge and Bush Spa, where they enjoyed a pool and spa day fit for African queens.

After cocktails at sunset, they took a night-drive, where they were lucky enough to witness a lion kill.

Following another morning game drive, they made their way to Kapamba Bushcamp, complete with a A 7,000 litre tub for soaking, which also happened to be full of frogs. They wandered to the Kapamba River to watch hippos basking in the sun and baboons backpacking their babies.

They spent sunset at the fork of the Luangwa and Kapamba rivers.

After dark (and more cocktails) they went crocodile searching, played with a frustrated chameleon, and saw feeding lions.

Their next stop was Zigzag BnB in Livingstone, and they were soon on their way via helicopter to Victoria Falls.

They then dried off and took a sunset cruise up the Zambezi River, where they witnessed their last African sunset and bade farewell to the wonders of the amazing country of Zambia.

*************All photos courtesy of Dan Armstrong*****************

Time out for cuteness

2011-05-23T18:46:00.000-07:00

I love this hummingbird rescue video...

Charity Focus: Amazon Partnerships Foundation

2011-04-29T11:26:00.001-07:00

Amazon Partnerships Foundation is an organization close to my heart, as I've done volunteer work in Ecuador and have learned to love the Ecuadorian people and culture. Amazon Partnerships Foundation collaborates with indigenous Kichwa communities of the Ecuadorian Amazon that want to create their own projects to protect the rainforest and promote the conservation values of their culture.

Here's how it works: The Kichwa community will propose a sustainable project idea to Amazon Partnerships Foundation, who will then provide small grants to start up the project and intensive training in project management so that the community can learn to sustain their results over the long term. An example of one of these projects is the organic cacao project. In the community of Canambo, 36 people are learning how to grow organic cacao, which will increase crop yield and provide more household income. Because organic Ecuadorian cacao is typically grown on small farms with a variety of other plants, the project protects biodiversity too.

Projects can range from agro-forestry to production of traditional handicrafts to environmental education to ecological sanitation, among others.

A few of their current projects include:

-36 rainwater catchment systems installed and 160 native hardwood and fruit trees planted
-Organic cacao cultivation workshops and construction of 3 greenhouses
-Regular workshops in three communities to teach them how to implement their projects

Posing next to a rainwater catchment system that has recently been installed in Campana Cocha. Photo courtesy of David Barnes.

These projects are highly successful because the Kichwa people, the largest indigenous group in the Ecuadorian Amazon, come from a culture that values its environment. But because of the large scale environmental destruction from oil extraction, clear cutting, and mining, the Kichwa have been forced to abandon traditional, sustainable ways of living off the land. Over the years they have faced intense discrimination and have become dependent on outside assistance to survive. Many have lost sight of the enormous contribution their culture made to the survival of the rainforest. But things are finally beginning to change.

Kichwa communities want to find new ways, rooted in their traditional values, to protect their environment and celebrate their culture. The communities who partner with the organization take ownership of their projects and responsibility for the results. They submit funding proposals, design and implement project plans, and measure their own data. Amazon Partnerships Foundation coaches them in the process, but from start to finish, the projects belong to the people.

The vision of the Amazon Partnerships Foundation is to empower these communities to protect the environment, revive their culture, and create a new model for conscious, sustainable living that draws from the best of traditional and modern practices. You can learn more about the history of the foundation and the projects on their website: www.amazonpartnerships.org

Trailer: Virdi Samay (Life and Breath) from Luna Productions on Vimeo.

This video, "Life and Breath", serves as both a tool to educate indigenous communities about climate change and as an account of their concerns about the devastating changes in the world’s most important tropical rainforest. Filmed in the Ecuadorian Amazon, the documentary gives voice to Kichwa communities, whose message to their own people and the world is one of urgent action—and hope.
Check their website for odering info.

All photos courtesy of Amazon Partnerships Foundation

3rd Annual Wildlife Charity Party at W Lounge

2011-04-12T10:06:00.000-07:00

Saturday, April 23rd 2011

W Lounge
358 S West Temple
Salt Lake City, Utah

Attention party animals! Come get down for a good cause (again) at the W Lounge. Saturday, April 23rd will showcase some wild tunes for our habitat. Entertainment includes:

★ a special set featuring DJ Jesse Walker (NCM, SLC) on the decks, returning exclusively to W for our aural pleasure

★ DJ Elkfish (SLC), the perfect entity for our wildlife needs

★ DJ Leo (Argentina, Miami, SLC) will get the decks roarin', and the dance floor too!

★ DJ Eben Flow (SLC), superstar DJ to the animals, will close out the night in style

★ Go-go's gone wild

★ Wildlife Hoopligans

★ Humanlife photographers

Proceeds from the night go directly to the Southwest Wildlife Foundation, an animal rescue and rehab center located in Cedar City, Utah. They are currently working on funding for a wildlife park and educational center. You can visit their website at www.gowildlife.org, or find them on facebook.

COSTUMES ENCOURAGED, prizes for best costumes throughout the night. (I can't wait to see what you have in store...)

Remember, W is FREE before 10:30, $5 after. Look for donation boxes at the door and at the bar. Please spread the word to friends!

PHOTOS

Photos by Kristian:

Photos by Alexey:

Photos by Jennie of the Jungle

Photos by David:

World travel for the partygoer (Part 2: Germany, US, and South America)

2011-04-03T08:22:00.001-07:00

Germany is another great clubbing hotspot. Germany has a unique party style, due to the fact that East and West Germany were once separated, and Easterners were not allowed to have any sort of fun under the strict rules of a poverty-stricken country. Once the wall came down, though, the music came out. Paul van Dyk was there to attest that all around the wall, parties went for days and days after the fall, in old warehouses and torn-down buildings. And yes, they do know how to party. I was lucky enough to visit Sven Vath's club, Coccoon, in Frankfurt during a trip to my birthplace (Bad Kreuznach) in 2008. 15 euros got us in, and 8 euros got us drinks in ultra-tall plastic cups. The decor was the best I've seen in a club; classy deco wallpaper adorned the outside walls, glass art deco sculptures provided a loungey area right outside the restrooms. The inner dance area sported a large pod high above the dance floor where the DJ reigns supreme throughout the night, and numerous wall-openenings bathed in green light and leather cushions provided a space-like seating atmosphere. Dancers in colorful, non-sensical costumes did their robot-dances for us (one looked like Ms. Pac-Man with a cheese-head while another was painted red from head to foot) and provided entertainment on the dance floor.

Germany is not without its giant music festivals, and was the original harbinger of electronic music to the public during the first Love Parade in 1989, in which DJs and electronic music lovers broke out from the underground and poured forth music onto fresh ears. The Love Parade has become such a huge phenomenon now that its presence is sporadic, and due to concerns is not held every year. And there's little possibility of it continuing after last year's events in which a number of people were crushed in a crowd rush. You don't have to go far to find an alternative, however, with The Netherlands' Dance Valley Festival and trance-loving city of Utrecht (a Tiesto hotspot).

Many US cities now offer a miniature version of the Love Parade. I've attended the San Francisco Love Parade (also known as LoveFest or LoveEvolution) twice, and was going for a third time but it was canceled due to the events in Germany. The main streets of SF are closed down for a few hours while giant speaker-fied floats drive slowly toward the Civic Center, booming electronica and inviting you to dance (naked or not - it's your call) next to the float down the parade route. Floats park at the Civic Center in a square, and you can float-hop to see the DJs you like best, from Christopher Lawrence, to Andy Caldwell, to the local DJs of the Bay Area Drum n Bass scene. Through the day the shenanigans continue, and then there's a massive afterparty, a smaller but no less impressive after-afterparty, an afterparty after that, and then there's the EndUp. Breakfast anyone? San Francisco is definitely a great party destination. It has its own intimate dance community, a gang of SF-born international DJs, and style of house music not found as you move further east across the US.

The US is also the proud home of Burning Man, an annual gathering in the Black Rock desert of Nevada. Once a year, an entire city, deemed Black Rock City, develops out of thin air (and playa dust). People come in from all over the world with gear to last them a week in the harsh desert climate. This being a non-monetary city, people pack items for trade; a small package of popcorn kernels in exchange for a ride on someone's art car, or a free breakfast in exchange for an item of clothing. Anything can be traded at Black Rock, and any and all services are provided, just like in any other city. Booths are set up with signs that range from normal (i.e. "psychological services available here from a licensed psychologist") to quirky ("free kisses" or "get your palms read and a spank on the @$$"). This is a place where you can follow your heart's desires. A freedom festival with art, music, dancing, drinking, and nude bike-rides. The only thing that is not readily available is a supply of fresh water.

The art at Burning Man is perhaps the most memorable aspect. Cars adorned with giant tentacles, bug-eyes, or butterfly wings drive slowly around the playa, most with speaker systems blasting music, some with full bars and lounges. Art seems to grow out of the sandy ground, and almost everything lights up at night. This city never sleeps. A number of open-air clubs in the city center host DJs and music non-stop. Surprise guests such as Way out West or Tiesto pop their heads in, and there are no age restrictions, liquor laws, or in fact any regulations whatsoever in this city. For a week you are free to be the person you want to be, provided you don't get too cranky due to lack of sleep.

At the end of the festival they burn the Man. The Man is a giant effigy who stands in the center of the playa and watches over the festival-goers. He is burned in an amazing display of pyrotechnics, to symbolize the fleeting and temporary nature of our lives. Things come and go, temples get built and burned to the ground. Life is short, so do everything you can to enjoy it and, most important of all, be yourself.

On a 2008 trip to Portugal I stopped in at the most popular nightclub in Lisbon, Club Lux. It may have been due to the face that I was traveling with my man and my two besties from London, but that night was definitely a topper. After getting a
head start in the barrio district of Lisbon, we made our way into the giant vaginal opening (literally!) that is Club Lux. A little bit S&M, a little bit pop, and right on the beach, the club was outfitted with bright red sofas and pillows, most of which ended up being thrown across the room or used for pillow fights by a our hyperactive English-American-Brazilian group. Edgy house music provided background stimulation for our night of debauchery.

And then there's South America, an underground of hot latin lovers just waiting to be unearthed! Well, you won't suffer from a lack of them at the clubs! Visit Pacha Argentina and dance the night away with thousands of sweaty Buenos Aireans gettin' their latin grooves on. With any luck, you'll meet one that speaks spanglish. Buenos Aires boasts a non-stop party scene. Parties are thrown in clubs, warehouses, public toilets, and even in the jungle (I was kidding about the public toilet part, although London does indeed sport a club that used to be a public toilet. But alas, I digress...). Home of the original Creamfields, Buenos Aires is your Latin American party destination.

Brazil hosts multiple parties per night as well, although I didn't make it to many of them, considering the entrance fees topped 100 Brazilian Reals. In Brazil, they give you a card at the door, in which the entrance fee is entrapped, along with any drinks you buy with that card (cash is not accepted at the bar). On the way out, you are blasted in the drunken face with the exhorbitant amount of money you owe, and leave annoyed, slightly sober, and wondering if it was all worth it. However, ladies usually get in for a discount or sometimes for free if you can work your mojo in the right direction. It's your man that's going to have to pay up at the end of the night.

I did, however, visit one Campinas club a number of times; Club Kraft, which has now been shut down due to drugs, or a death, or possibly both. Since my man was booked to DJ there, I was treated as VIP and lead backstage to spend the majority of my time there, guzzling free vodka and red bull until just about anything would have sounded good to my ears. I danced behind Gui Boratto while he was doin' his DJ thang onstage, busy twiddling buttons and mixing mixers (as in electronics, not alcohol) throughout the performance. This was an honor, as he is one of my faves. I liked Kraft, with its giant bass and many colorful lights (Brazil is really into excessive amounts of lighting), but there were a lack of female bodies and an overall atmosphere of absolute mayhem. I think this is the case in many Latin American clubs.

In 2009 I was in Rio de Janeiro for Carnaval, the yearly Samba and national pride celebration that happens all over Brazil, with a center in Rio. During Carnaval, the Rio Music Conference was also in town. This is much like the Winter Music Conference in Miami, Florida, only on a smaller scale. After a day of music conventioning and guest DJs right on the beach, I attended the Pete Tong and Gui Boratto party under a canopy near the sea. A Digweed bash was happening right next door. Though this was a commercial crowd and not one I was used to, the music was great and the decor fantastic. The best part of it was coming out of the club at 6 am and running smack into a sky of flaming pink and orange. As we strolled along the beach during sunrise, kids ran down and played with crabs on the sandbar, only silhouettes in front of the blazing ball of the sun. Another memorable moment to add to the scrapbook.

Bahia, Brazil is the proud host of Universo Paralelo, or Parallel Universe, a 7-day New Year's beach party with all kinds of DJs and entertainment. As the palm trees sway and the caiparinhas flow, the DJs play on, contemplating the beauty around them and wondering why they ever celebrated the New Year anywhere else. If you head to Universo Paralelo, keep in mind that the style is very Indian or Amazonian, so bring some war paint and beads and you will fit right in. Either that or learn some yoga moves. Also, don't forget your thong - it is Brazil, after all.

World travel for the partygoer (Part 1: London)

2011-03-30T13:07:00.000-07:00

Standing on the grass in Clapham Common as the sun goes down, swaying to the heavy beats of Sasha and John Digweed, two of the greatest DJs in the world. My best friends are at my side, eyes rolled toward the twighlit heavens, along with the hundreds of colorful, face-painted individuals all riding the same musical waves of contentment and ecstasy. This is a picture of Southwest Four (SW4), a two-day festival that occurs annually in London, England. This is one of the easier festivals to attend, as it's just a hop skip and a jump on the tube to get to the Common, and there's no camping so you can amble home (or to the afterparty) after dark and come back in the morning, refreshed for a second round. If you can find the way home, that is. Getting home was quite the task for my friends and I after a full day of music, dancing, and red bull-vodkas. An hour after finally figuring out which direction to go, a two-hour colorful bus ride later filled by random conversation with a Brazilian transvestite and an unamused bus driver intent upon ignoring me, we were finally plopped down in front of my friends' house in Elephant & Castle. Much head-massaging and tearing off of fake eyelashes ensued.

The UK seems to be the number one party destination (next to the sleep-depraved island of Ibiza) due to its variety of mega-clubs and international musical gatherings, the likes of which include Southwest Four, Global Gathering, Reading Festival, Creamfields, Southport Weekender, and many, many more. Festivals like Global Gathering boast huge VIP areas with sleeping tents and refreshments, situated away from the stages to make sleeping perhaps possible.

London is a melting pot of electronic music and a wonderland of DJs. A few of my favorites, including Desyn Masiello, Joey Negro, Mark Knight, John Digweed, Sasha, and Nick Warren reside in the UK and you can see them on a monthly basis. My club of choice was Ministry of Sound, due to the proximity of it to my home (20-minute tube ride) and to the Elephant & Castle party house (just a short walk away), as well as the deep and driving music of the world's top DJs and producers such as Nick Muir, Sasha and John, Hernan Cattaneo, Mark Knight, and many more. Defected (in the House) also boasts a residency at MOS. The majority of my saturdays during my two-year London residence were spent dancing under the disco-balled ceilings or on the "no-dancing-allowed" speaker tops to the likes of the biggest DJs on the planet, all for under $20 per show! Memories of pre-bush parties (i.e. drinking large amounts of alcohol in the bushes outside of the club in order to save money on bar drinks) are numerous, as well as bussing home at 4am in bright blue heels with my illegal mace (yes, it's illegal in the UK) tucked securely in my pocket. Suffice it to say I never had to dispense it. When Ministry of Sound released its own vodka, I was on the frontlines go-go dancing in their vodka web commercial featuring Mark Knight on the decks. After filming, a private party ensued with much drinking of free MOS vodka.

Club Pacha London, home of Hed Kandi, was another fave of mine. Funky and upbeat house music from the likes of Miguel Miggs, Seamus Haji, and Fierce Angels steamed off the decks. Kidology, an up and coming house label, often visited Pacha with their smiling DJs and candy-costumed go-go girls. Much blue-wig-wearing and champagne-drinking ensued with my besties at Pacha.

A little-known hole-in-the-wall club in Shoreditch called T Bar was also among my frequently visited watering holes. Local DJs ruled the scene here, and dancers came to get down and dirty in the dimly lit cave that was the dance floor. T Bar boasted the best collection of disco-minimal-progressive-whatever music in London, and nowhere else could I lose myself in the music as much as here. "Swallowing too much bass" is a phrase that describes the scenario pretty well.

And then there's Matter. Nested in London's O2 Arena sitting contentedly upon the Thames, you can reach it by boat or tube. This is a Bedrock hotspot, going til 7 or 8 in the morning. The best sunrise I've ever experienced took place after leaving a Digweed show around 6:45 am, ambling slowly toward the tube, watching the huge orange ball of the sun rise above the lazy sailboats in the river. A great ending to a great night. London is host to endless boat parties upon the Thames. One of my first party experiences in London was on an SOS Collective (Desyn Masiello + Demi + Omid) boat party. For two hours, we danced down the Thames in style with some of my favorite DJs on the planet (yes I am a Desyn stalker), with the sun shining down on us and the cool breeze rustling our hair.

London being the clubbing capital that it is, almost anywhere you go you will find something to shake your feet to. A quick stroll down Brick Lane, Camden or Soho will keep you content long into the wee hours of the morning.

My bear parties

2011-03-14T13:14:00.000-07:00

What's better than hoppin' DJs, jumpin' beats, and a whole bunch of dancin' animals enjoying themselves? Doin' it all in the name of charity! I decided to bring my two loves together, wildlife and nightlife, in 2008 while I was living in London, because I knew I wasn't the only person who loved both. And believe me, there's nothing better than gettin' down for a good cause.

It was simple: gather some charitable DJs, ask around for a venue (my first party was in one-half of a bar, rent-free) and use social networking to invite friends, friends of friends, and anyone else interested in the cause. In 2008 I was doing some volunteer work for Wildlife SOS UK, an organization dedicated to saving wildlife used for entertainment (particularly dancing bears), as well as wildlife rescue, in India. So 100 percent of the $5 entrance fee I charged at the door was sent to them, as well as donations we asked for from other bar patrons. Though the party was small and the end amount wasn't huge, we had a lot of fun, educated some people on the cause, and did end up raising around 100 pounds for the organization.

Since then I've held the wildlife party annually, helping different organizations. I've since moved on to bigger and better venues, using a local club and earning door profits for the charity. Last year I helped a charity I did some volunteer work with in South America, Fauna de la Amazonia, who focuses on wildlife rescue in the jungles of Ecuador.

My next party is coming up April 23rd, and I will use this blog to post photos from the event. Proceeds will go to the Southwest Wildlife Foundation, with whom I'm doing fundraising event work. This time I've got entertainment, including a snake dancer, involved, as well as art featured from some of my very talented friends here in Utah. I always encourage costumes and I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone has in store.

Photo album:

our "undancing" bear mascot at the first ever Wildlife SOS bear party

Superstar DJ for the bears

Friends n bears, bears n friends

Fun times in the name of bears

Wildlife party #2 at Club W in SLC, Utah

Dancin' animals, unite!

Go-go dancers, complete with feathers and spots

Wild nights for wild lives

Chevron found GUILTY!

2011-02-15T11:00:00.000-08:00

After an 18 year struggle against the devastation brought on by Chevron in the Ecuadorian Amazon (see previous blog here), Chevron has FINALLY been found guilty, and has been ordered to pay over 8 million dollars to take responsibility and clean up their mess.

Of course, they are appealing this decision. Why they do not want to help these native people who are suffering and have been suffering for so long I will never understand. They have the means and it is their decisions that have turned the drinking water a tarry black, polluted the land and made it unfit for necessary farm animals to live on, given the village kids cancer, and poisoned the babies.

Here's what you can do to help in this case. Send an email to the CEO of Chevron by clicking here. The email is pre-filled and all you have to do is enter your name at the bottom. You can also adopt a Chevron employee to get your voice heard by clicking here.

It's a small victory for Ecuador and the native peoples of Amazonia, and perhaps to third world countries everywhere, but not if Chevron refuses to hear the ruling. Please help bring justice to these people once and for all!

Photos courtesy of RAN and The San Francisco Appeal. Read RAN's blog about punking Chevron here.

Guest Blogger: Jonny Jemming

2011-02-09T11:39:00.000-08:00

My friend Jonny represents the indigenous arctic Inupiat people of Alaska in their struggle against oil companies who want to drill on their land and disrupt their habitat and lifestyle, and has spent some time there visiting and learning their culture, as well as taking part in some of their daily rituals. I'm going to post my favorite of Jonny's blogs from his trip to the arctic in November of 2008, called "The less selfish life." You can read Jonny's blog at http://jonnyarctic.blogspot.com/.

The Less Selfish Life

So, can we unlearn selfishness? I honestly don't know, but I think that's why living here is such a challenge. Quite simply, it is very difficult to live in this Arctic region if you are selfish. We thus have a choice: change or leave.

And yet here we cling. Me, representing this Inupiat Eskimo community and my dedicated family.

I am rightfully an outsider to the people here. This is not my place, as I am constantly reminded, but for some reason, I have already won some measure of respect (Thank God). Perhaps its because I am very self-deprecating and folks know that I love my home just like they love the North Slope and its Arctic Ocean garden.

Some things about the Inupiat that everyone should know.

1) The Federal Government once proposed to detonate a series of nuclear bombs outside of an Inupiat coastal village (about 200 miles from our village) in order to test the safe use of nuclear weapons. (See "Project Chariot" on Google and you'll see what I'm referring to).

2) When the Inupiat Eskimos successfully rallied opposition to the detonations, the government abandoned the project, but went ahead and dumped nuclear waste from the Nevada nuclear test site there instead.

3) In the late 1950's, Inupiat children here were taken from schools without their parents permission and injected with nuclear materials to test their thyroid's ability to regulate heat.

But the story doesn't end with these atrocities. They go on and on and on . . . And now, their pristine Ocean is on the verge of becoming an industrial oil and gas development . . . well, over 73.4 million acres of it, but who's counting?

This place and its native Inupiat people is so deeply sad in so many, many ways, I often don't want to be here. Its not easy to handle if you're fundamentally selfish. Can I change? The Inupiat people I've met, deep down in their core, do not seem to derive from selfish origins. Sure, that's romanticized (I've only been here for 4 months), but it makes sense when you consider that the subsistence lifestyle, to which the Inupiat still cling, is about sharing (for instance, when the whales come in, they are shared with the entire community). How could you come from a place as tough as this and not know how to share?

Teddy is struggling; we are all struggling - except Forrest (who is now known as Nasuk I believe and picks up new Inupiaq words everyday).

I've only been in Barrow since the beginning of October, and I will certainly never be the same again.

Charity Focus: Southwest Wildlife Foundation

2011-01-24T10:17:00.000-08:00

Oh hi! I just spent last Saturday with a giant golden eagle named Scout, a smaller and more skittish prairie falcon, and a lovely Harris's hawk. I was meeting with the founders of the Southwest Wildlife Foundation, Martin and Susan Tyner, to discuss joining the foundation as a volunteer fundraising events coordinator. Martin is known as "The Eagle Man" and is often seen with Scout in tow, as he is a master falconer and trained to hunt with eagles. Scout is very much a wild eagle, and flies freely, but has a special and mutually beneficial bond with Martin. In Martin's own words, "I flush out rabbits from the brush and Scout dives after them from high in the air; basically he's the hunter and I'm his dog, and I'm a good dog so he keeps me."

Martin's stories can be heard as he travels around Utah and other western states showing off his birds as part of educational programs for children and adults alike. He has been through many an experience with the birds, and claims that getting injured is a daily occurence when working with animals that have a 6-foot wingspan! He has been dive-bombed at 140 miles per hour by a loving Scout, causing his shoulder to dislocate and his back to be injured. His stories have been collected in a new book titled, Healer of Angels, written by him and his wife. You can find more information about the book and how to order by following this link to the SWF website:

http://www.gowildlife.org/healerofangels.htm

You can find out more about the Southwest Wildife Foundation by visiting their website at http://www.gowildlife.org.

Martin and Susan are currently raising funds to build a Nature Park on a large bit of land donated to them by Rocky Mountain Power near Cedar City. This park will be open to visitors, will provide housing and rehabilitation space for the birds and other wildlife rescued by SWF, and will serve as an education center. If you would like to make a donation in any amount to SWF, you can visit their website for more information.

SWF offers nature excursions in the gorgeous Southern Utah terrain for photograph opportunities and to see the falcons diving freely, along with dinosaur footprints and Native American petroglyphs. By calling 435-586-4693 or 435-590-1618 you can schedule group tours with them.

It's becoming more and more difficult to practice wildlife rescue and rehab in Utah because of state and federal laws, so please consider donating to the Southwest Wildlife Foundation, one of the few rescue centers in the state, so they can continue their wonderful work with some of the most sacred and threatened animal species in Utah.

The eagle is considered by Native Americans to be a messenger of God, and it is said that each eagle feather is capable of sending up a prayer to heaven.

Holiday Giving

2010-12-22T09:56:00.000-08:00

If you prefer the gift of donation over material giving, then there are some choices for you this year. Many non-profits are upping their use of the internet to increase their presence in the donor-market. Here are some of the choices that I've riled up for you. After all, generosity is the greatest gift of all...

www.kiva.org

Kiva's mission is "to connect people, through lending, for the sake of alleviating poverty."

Kiva is using the internet to create a global communities of people connected through lending. With Kiva, individuals can make microloans to entrepreneurs across the globe and those in need.

Kiva was born of the following beliefs:
People are by nature generous, and will help others if given the opportunity to do so in a transparent, accountable way.
The poor are highly motivated and can be very successful when given an opportunity.
By connecting people we can create relationships beyond financial transactions, and build a global community expressing support and encouragement of one another.

This is a great way to help people, as, by giving, you are allowing someone in need the necessary materials and motivation to sustain themself and their family. Rather than giving a one-time donation, you lend them money to help them build a business, which is a better long-term solution to poverty and need. And in most cases, you get your money back! You can lend in teams or individually, and join others in the lending community that is Kiva.

www.onlineredkettle.org

This is a great choice for those on a budget who may or may not be able to donate themselves to a cause this year. The Salvation Army is offering a way for people to get out and ring the red bell without having to leave the comfort of their beds. Put on your slippers and sign up to carry a red kettle, online! Using teams or individually, you can send emails to friends and family, use facebook or twitter to ask for donations for the Salvation Army. It's as easy as using a few keyboard strokes to help make a difference in the lives of millions.

www.thegivingeffect.com

This website connects people who have something to donate to the causes that need donations. You sign up on the site with what you would like to donate (clothes, furniture, blankets, office supplies, food, etc), and the site matches you with a charity in your area (or out of your area) that needs what you are donating. What a great way to get rid of your clutter while helping charities during the crisis that is this recession.

Please consider donating by using the above examples or by simply reaching out to your favorite charity or your local community in need this Christmas. It's a small step to creating a better future for all of us.

The Joys of Sustainable Coffee

2010-11-11T11:08:00.000-08:00

Mmmm...nothing like a warm cup of coffee to get you going in the morning. But does your coffee come at an enormous cost? We're not just talking pocketbook here, we're talking environment.

The beginnings of coffee-growing were quaint and quite non-destructive. For over 150 years, coffee was grown under the shade of canopy trees in the rainforest. In the 1970's a new, high-output method of growing coffee was introduced, in which the shade trees and everything else around was cut and cleared so that coffee plants could be planted densely and doused with pesticides and other agrochemicals. This produced more product for the growers, but has sacrificed generations of wildlife that have suffered at the hands of habitat-loss.

Sustainable methods of coffee-growing, in which canopy trees and original forest is kept intact and coffee is planted in their midst, is actually beneficial to the environment and to wildlife. Biodiversity is maintained and therefore so is the wildlife that is contained within it. Many types of coffee grow better when shaded. Typical jungle wildlife, such as birds, ocelots, frogs, butterflies and monkeys (to name a few) can live among these coffee forests without problems.

Among many other problems with the high-output coffee growing methods of today is the critical endangerment of hundreds of species of migratory songbirds, such as orioles, warblers and thrushes. These birds migrate across the continent to the tropics to spend the winter there, but are finding less and less suitable habitat in which to land. Their numbers are declining rapidly, and growing coffee is one of the major reasons. The sustainable coffee-growing methods eradicate this problem, as sustainable, green coffee farms provide shelter for wintering songbirds.

So how can you help? Simple. Buy coffee that is not only fair trade, but certified with the seal of the Rainforest Alliance. The Rainforest Alliance sets guidelines that coffee-growers must follow to maintain sustainable coffee farms, so you can be sure that the product you are getting is organic, fairly-traded, and safe for wildlife. The Smithsonian Migratory Bird center has also set guidelines for growers, in order that they preserve migratory bird habitat by maintaining biodiversity.

It's worth the extra pennies to help save our planet.

*Statement from the Rainforest Alliance about their seal of approval*
"Rainforest Alliance Certified seal is a guarantee that coffee is grown on farms where forests are protected, rivers, soils and wildlife conserved; workers are treated with respect, paid decent wages, properly equipped and given access to education and medical care. These farms are on a path toward true sustainability. Forested coffee farms are critically important to serve as migration stopovers for birds traveling from as far away as Canada and Alaska. In areas where deforestation is rampant, these coffee farms may be the only habitat available to provide shelter and food for wary birds."

Rainforest Alliance coffee is now being sold everywhere, and has teamed up with Lavazza, McDonald's Australia and UK, many UN offices in New York, American Airlines, and many other places to provide healthy coffee for the planet.

To hear a great story about migratory bird habitat and sustainable coffee growing, visit http://www.theworld.org/2010/11/10/bird-friendly-coffee/comment-page-1/ to listen to PRI's broadcast of The World from November 10, 2010.

Volunteer projects around the world

2010-08-25T11:35:00.000-07:00

Hello again. This is probably one of my most important posts, as a lot of people request information from me on cheap volunteer projects abroad. Whether you want to volunteer for a couple of weeks or a couple of years, I'm gonna give you some information on how to do it without spending the thousands of dollars that some companies want you to pay them for setting you up with volunteer opportunities. Yes projects are expensive, but a lot of these "middle-man" companies take a profit from your contribution to the charity that you choose to volunteer with. So it's much cheaper to find these projects on your own. That's where I come in. When I'm not working my arse off to make actual money doing lab work, I'm in the jungle or the forest working with wildlife on a volunteer basis. Though my ultimate goal is to build my own wildlife sanctuary, I enjoy traveling around the world doing various volunteer projects on different kinds of wildlife.

My first volunteer experience was in Belize after I graduated with my Bachelor's degree in Biology. Not a couple of days after graduation, I took off to Central America via plane to Belize City, where I caught a "bus" (what they call buses in Central America vary, but it's never anything quite as close to the definition as you expect. This one was an old elementary school bus that was now black, had little seating, hardly any windows and no air conditioning). Five hours riding without a seat cushion later, I arrived in San Ignacio, where I pulled my five pieces of luggage (hey it was one of my first experiences living abroad, for some reason I thought I needed a variety of trendy and unnecessary clothing in the middle of the jungle) to the nearest bar/cafe and waited for my ride to the jungle. My first word of advice when going to Central or South America - don't wear long sleeves, jeans and a hat. :P

A two-hour landrover ride over something that might pass for a road later and I was smack dab in the middle of the rainforest at a research station called Las Cuevas, where I was to assist in Ocelot research for three months. Ocelots are small, reserved jungle cats, much like jaguars but 3 times smaller. I was so excited to be working with such a crazy exotic species that people didn't know much about. My work consisted of hiking twice per day, morning and night, through dense forest and up steep hills, in less than an hour, to make it to the top to take readings of the cats' positions. They had attached radio collars to some of the ocelots before i got there, and we were to study the cats' movements throughout the day and the night, some nights camping in the forest and getting up every hour to take the readings. My favorite part (what with the pitch black, eerie jungle around me, hungry jaguars, BUGS! and bratty skunks that would come by and scare the jeepers out of me). The first time I climbed one of the hills, at a super-fast pace cuz I wanted to of course impress the researcher I was working for, I thought I was gonna die at the top. It took me about 40 minutes to finally get my breath back to normal. After that I took things at a slightly slower pace. :)

Anyhow, 3 months later I had mapped out ocelot movements, had been part of a live-trapping (which we had to do to remove the radio collars at the end of the project), got to touch the ocelot and take some of its measurements (amazing!), got to feed harpy eagles (biggest bird of prey on earth), saw coatis, capybara, got chased by wild pigs that were really just howler monkeys (as told in the story in a previous blog), met so many awesome people, and got to feel proud of myself in a way I never had - for overcoming so many obstacles (physically and mentally) to finish this adventure I had set out upon. My life was forever changed after that.

My point is, just three months in the jungle changed me forever. It was one of the best experiences of my life. Each and every volunteer opportunity I've taken part in has done the same. So let me now share some of the information with you.

If you want things cheap, don't use a middle man. Take the time to find projects on your own, using the web or other people as resources. Deal directly with the charity for the best pricing. Some of the projects offer work-for-compensation and don't charge anything at all. But most do charge something, as volunteer funds are the main source of funds for keeping the project running.

If you're science-oriented, there are tons of research opportunities out there. Look up biologists at different Universities to find out what they are studying and if they need assistance in the field. In my case, a grad student from Virginia Tech University needed assistants for ocelot research, and that's how I found the opportunity. Look up research stations all over South America or elsewhere: La Selva in Costa Rica, Las Cuevas in Belize, Palo Verde, and many others.

Once you've been at one volunteer project, you'll find that you can network easily with other people there to find other opportunities. When I volunteered at Merazonia Wildlife Rehab center in Ecuador, I became friends with some people who were planning to build their own center elsewhere in Ecuador, and have networked with them so that I am now planning to move to Ecuador in the near future and help them construct this new center, for free! I'm hoping this will in turn teach me the skills to go on and build my own center.

Volunteer projects I've been a part of:

Las Cuevas Research Center via Virginia Tech University (ocelot project in Belize)

Merazonia Animal Refuge (in the jungle near Mera, Ecuador. Worked with construction of a fairly new rehab center for injured wildlife or those found as pets in the cities, to rehabilitate them and put them back in the forest)

You can also simply volunteer with charities in your own city. Here are some of the charities I've worked with:

Save the Rhino, UK (volunteered here while I was living in London, doing membership database building and helping out with events)

Wildife Aide (took the train 45 minutes on the weekends to help rehabilitate native English wildlife found injured or lost to place back in the wild. Worked with foxes, owls, ducks, geese, badgers, hedgehogs, and lots of pigeons)

TreeUtah (planting trees to restore migratory bird habitat in my hometown, Salt Lake City)

CAWS (homeless cat and dog fostering while finding them new permanent homes in Salt Lake City)

Wildlife SOS (UK and US charity focused on Indian wildlife and dancing bear rescue. I helped with online marketing and events. I fundraised by throwing charity dance parties at clubs in London and Utah. Dancing for wildlife turned out to be a big hit!)

And just to make it clear, you don't have to be at all scientifically oriented to do volunteer work. It takes all kinds! My completely-non-biologist friend just returned from Africa where he worked with wildlife rescue there. He told me about baby babboons and cheetahs he helped raise. He decided to climb Mt. Kilamanjaro while he was there.

Here are some more resources for cheap volunteer projects - for conservation, the community, and wildlife.

http://www.wwoofinternational.org/
Organic farming and other environmental activities. My friend is doing this right now in Brazil.

http://www.volunteerlatinamerica.com/
Cheap projects in South and Central America. There are some great ones here doing clinic work, work with children, indigenous peoples, and wildlife.

http://www.vfp.org/joinCost.html
$300 projects worldwide.

Photo Break!
Some of my photos from volunteer work abroad

Capturing and anaesthetizing of an ocelot in Belize

Taking bearings on radio signals from the ocelots in Belize

Taking measurements and checking health of an ocelot in Belize

Bat catching and studying in Belize.

Mayan ruins of Caracol in Belize.

Our diggs in Merazonia animal rescue center in the jungle near Mera, Ecuador. Pretty rustic.

Bed building at Merazonia (my first built anything! not to mention first time handling power tools. I was on a power tool kick!)

Doing my beloved reforestation project at Merazonia

Crude

2010-07-15T10:16:00.000-07:00

Crude

This documentary is a demonstration of selflessness of the greatest kind. Having been to the Amazon, revering it as one of the greatest spots for biodiversity in the world and the "lungs of the planet", this film hits home with me.

For 13 years, 30,000 Ecuadorians, one lawyer, one advocate, and numerous rainforest charities have been fighting a "David and Goliath" battle against one of the biggest corporations in America; Chevron/Texaco. Their funds small and their hearts big, they've taken on this case throughout numerous Ecuadorian presidents and now a new Judge in the case (hence the time it has taken to come to a final decision). Meanwhile, native Amazonian Ecuadorians continue to get sick and perish upon large oil waste sites on which they've unknowingly built their homes. They continue to drink and bathe in river water that has been contaminated by petrochemicals for centuries. All this in a once-pristine jungle landscape where some of the natives had never seen white men before the arrival of Texaco.

Tears streamed from my eyes when a woman told her story about both her and her daughter having cancer - her daughter only 18 years old. They travel 18 hours to the hospital for the treatments that they *can* afford. Though she has tried to raise chickens to earn money for these treatments, they have all died from drinking the contaminated water. Many of the tribesmembers now develop cancer at age 17 or 18, living next door to Texaco's abandoned refineries. 16 out of 20 babies born in the region develop skin rashes all over their bodies before even reaching 6 months old.

The documentary is not entirely one-sided, however. They show footage of both lawyers' arguments. If you didn't realize that every word coming from the defendant council's mouth was a lie, you might almost believe what Chevron has to say. However, independent tests on the land prove obvious contamination deep in the soil, in the rivers that run through many villages, and in the water systems which come directly from the rivers (the villagers' only source of water).

Over the years, celebrity involvement in the cause has developed. An article on the young Ecuadorian lawyer who represents these 30,000 Amazonian Ecuadorians was published in Vanity Fair magazine. And many charities, including the Rainforest Foundation UK, the founders of which are Sting and his wife, have become interested. They can use all the help they can get, of course. With Chevron rich enough to bribe government officials in a corrupt Ecuadorian system, it seems almost impossible to make headway on the case. The young lawyer was fresh out of his studies when he took on this case. He lives in a simple home, as do most Ecuadorians, practices in a one-room office with little decor, little paint, little *anything* really, and is just so humble. This compared to suited-and-tied lawyer giants in offices you can imagine are close to hotel suites. Texaco tries to blame PetroEcuador, who took over their drilling and refinery sites a number of years ago, for the environmental and health damage to the area and people, but the truth is; Texaco came in and founded the sites, built their empire by tearing down a pristine and natural environment, didn't want to spend the money to properly dispose of their petrochemical waste, and dumped gallons of oil into the jungle, which still slowly leaks into the ground and water system with no sign of stopping. Chevron: though nothing can truly compensate for the deaths of these innocent people, and for the disrupted lifestyles they are now forced to lead because of your intervention, you have the resources to at least pay them the due they are asking for in damages, and to come clean up the horrific mess you made. Just stop this useless money war and PAY YOUR DUE! It's just not worth the profit.

This case is still pending. With a new Judge now on the case, a room-full of literature must be re-read by him in order to begin presiding upon it again. Developments have taken place though having to do with media and the rights to free speech. To read about these developments, check out check Bill Moyers' blog at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-moyers/chevrons-crude-attempt-to_b_576595.html

To sign a petition telling Chevron to clean up its mess, go here:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/campaign

Whatever You Do, Don't Run

2010-06-10T21:59:00.001-07:00

I just finished a great book I just had to share. It's called Whatever You Do, Don't Run, true tales of a Botswana safari guide, by Peter Allison. In it, Peter describes his years as a safari guide, the stupid things he has done to almost be killed by the ferocious predators of Africa, and the quirky people he has met along the way. It's one of the most pleasing books I've ever read. Quick read and absolutely hilarious. If you're interested in animal anecdotes, pick it up and give it a read.

This is the first entry in the book that made me laugh out loud: the background is that his camp is experiencing a mouse plague, where literally you can throw a shoe into the corner of your tent and kill at least two mice. Peter has tried to alert the camp management (who are based in another location) about the problem, as mice are not typically found on the list of wildlife that tourists on safari would like to see. The camp management simply sends them one small, ecofriendly mousetrap in response to their problem. Peter explains, "we were almost 90 miles away, but we often felt as if we were on another planet from the people in the office. Somehow we needed to make them understand."

The story continues...
"That night we put some peanut butter in the lower tier [of the trap]. As we watched, a mouse approached and climbed the access door to the top level. he ran along inside the cage, until he hit a spring loaded hatch that dropped him to the lower level, at which point the hatch sprang back, trapping him on the lower section. Another mouse followed almost immediately. By morning the cage was so full that mice were pressed hard up against the bars of their prison. Without emptying it, we put the trap into the mailbag and returned it to the office.

"They sent it back, empty, with a note, addressed from the office cat, simply saying, 'thanks.' We decided it was to be a war of attrition, so set the trap again. The first guide to come out in the morning found the cage full again, but with the mice backed in abject terror against one side. There was a cobra whose head and first third were in the cage with them. To the snake the cage must have looked like a buffet, and it had slithered in, only to find that when it swallowed its victims they stuck in its gullet where the bars were pinching. From the lumps we deduced it had swallowed three before possible indigestion or a tail tickling its throat made it stop. Nobody wanted to pull it out, so we picked the whole thing up, stuck it in the mailbag, and sent it away again, the cobra hissing angrily. This time when the office returned it empty, it didn't have a thank-you note."

He tells of the monkeys that, in a very timely manner, which is to say whenever you were napping, would dive-bomb from the trees onto your bouncy tent, having a grand old time at your expense. On one of these occasions, being particularly cranky, he barreled from his tent running at them, but they only sat in the trees waiting for him to return to his attempted sleep before starting up again. He threw a stick at them, which they mistook for a snake. From this reaction, he got an idea. He ran inside camp and stole the stuffed cat from the camp gift shop. He threw it up at the monkeys, who mistook it for some kind of amazing new species of flying cat, and finally ran away.

He describes the dangers of falling in love with the animals that surround camp, as many of them end up eaten or dead rather quickly in the dog-eat-dog world of the African plains. Camp pets include a gennet (a weasel-like mammal with wild cat markings), a reluctant honey badger, a baby squirrel (who took up an unlikely companionship with a lonely mouse), and a bald monkey.

Run-ins with lions and elephants are a common occurrence for Peter, as well as the drowning of two camp vehicles. He attempts to get unusually close to a particular elephant herd and, as he so eloquently puts it, "like every other guide or wildlife lover who is eventually eaten or trampled, I felt that I had a bond with this herd that would make me safe with them." His love of the land is contagious, and his love of wildlife is awe-inspiring. I recommend this book for a quick, easy and fun read to anyone who loves wildlife or conservation.

Baby sloths!

2010-05-21T06:11:00.000-07:00

I'm in Brazil at the moment, for a quick beach vacation and a run in the Atlantic Forest. But I ran into this and had to share it. :) :) :)

Meet the Sloths

Meet the sloths from Amphibian Avenger on Vimeo.

It's from a sloth rescue center in Costa Rica, called Aviaros del Caribe - the world's only sloth orphanage. Baby 2 and 3 toed sloths, whose mother's have either been run over or zapped by power lines are brought to the sanctuary and looked after by legendary sloth whisperer Judy Arroyo. For more sloth photos and videos follow this blog: pinktreefrog.typepad.com/ or twitter twitter.com/amphib_avenger. For more on the sanctuary go to slothrescue.org/.

Rainforest FUN!

2010-05-06T19:22:00.000-07:00

Ha ha ha, I just found the video that was the sole reason I became interested in the rainforest. Well, it was the first mention of the rainforest that I'd ever heard. I was in 4th grade, when the whole "rainforest" thing was fairly new, and it didn't have nearly the attention it does now. My teacher, Mrs. Allen (this was 1989!) played us this video in class (I was 10!). Yeah, it's f#%king cheese, but hey, it led me to where I am today (I was wearing neon!). I just remember watching it and loving the greenness of it, the cool animals and plants, and yes, even the beats. Lol!

Here you go, a treat for you...

And another fun treat...check out this crazy mating dance of the birds of paradise. What? Who doesn't like a giant glowing fish-frog face hoppin' around in front of them every now and then?

And lastly (but not leastly), here is something pretty amazing (if you haven't heard of it yet) - the lyrebird (liar bird). This one is in the Adelaide zoo, but they come from the jungle, and even in the jungle, are able to imitate sounds of loggers chopping down the forest to a tee (which is sad, really, when you think about it)! This one also imitates human voices, the kookoobura (bird that sounds an awfully lot like a monkey), parrots, and other songbirds that it has heard. Crazy shite.

Dark Green Religion - discovery of the sacred in nature

2010-05-02T20:47:00.000-07:00

Dark Green Religion. I first heard the term on National Public Radio. Bron Taylor, Professor of Religion and Nature at the University of Florida, has just written a book with this title. I was excited to finally have put a name to my way of thinking. Let me explain...

It has been known for some time that the Earth, in its ideal atmosphere for human existence, may be unique in our galaxy, and that nature as we know it may be a peculiarly rare thing in the infinite universe in which we exist. So then, shouldn't nature itself be considered sacred and miraculous? Whereas many christians believe that the sacred only exists above and beyond this earth and above and beyond what we know, followers of "dark green religion" consider that the sacred lies here on Earth, able to be touched, experienced, loved and protected. And this is the very sentiment that I have always felt. According to Bron, Nature religion is most commonly used as an umbrella term to mean religious perceptions and practices that are characterized by a reverence for nature and that consider its destruction a desecrating act. This seems to be a progressive way of thinking that could, in time, replace traditional religion, as there is a dire need for this way of thinking AT THIS MOMENT, considering that our resources will not last forever and we are starting to realize that action needs to be taken to protect what we have.

Humans, animals, and all life has shared the same struggle for existence, and therefore everything here on this Earth is interconnected. We all share a common ancestor, common beginnings, and common ties to each and every species on this planet. In this way, even evolution is spiritual. These beliefs have led me into the life I live, and I hope that the "greening" of religion continues - for the sake of all life here on Earth.

Costa Rica

2010-03-27T08:15:00.000-07:00

Bien venido a Costa Rica! Pura Vida!

This was my first experience with la selva (the jungle). When I was 20 years old, in college, I got a chance to take a month-long Tropical Ecology class right in the jungles of Costa Rica. This was through the Organization for Tropical Studies (http://www.ots.duke.edu/) and Duke University.

So I decided to leave a bit early for Costa Rica and spend a week or so on my own checking things out. My first destination - Manuel Antonio. I would recommend Manuel Antonio to anyone looking for a great (and cheap) beach vacation destination. It's on the Pacific coast, and has its own National Park full of capuchin monkeys. You can take your pick of hotels, as there are pricey nice ones and small cheaper ones. I stayed at Hotel Velabar, a small hotel, 25 or so bucks a night, a short walk to the beach, and with a built-in restaurant where they make the best honey pancakes I've ever tasted. The stray cats and hoppity frogs will keep you company as you enjoy a meal in the evenings under the banana-leafed restaurant hut. I fell asleep every night swinging on the hammock listening to the hum of the rainforest. And once a sloth even came down to the ground right next to me! So close I could see the moss growing on its back and could have picked it up and put it round my neck (apparently they don't mind that sort of thing). :P I also spent my time teasing toads that sat outside the room, making them puff up and act angry, though I know they love to be tickled.

In Manuel Antonio park, you can follow trails through virgin forest right down to the most paradisical beaches (I just made that word up). So bring a swimsuit with you. The white-faced capuchins get a little angry if you try to touch their trees, so don't be fooled by their cute little faces. You might also see the endangered squirrel monkey, the two and three toed sloths, common raccons, white-nosed coati, iguanas and tree squirrels.

There are so many other things to do in this area of Costa Rica. On the beach I parasailed for the first time (only 50 bucks!), went on a dolphin-watching boat ride, and went canopy zip-lining (zip-lining over the tops of the forest trees, and then repelling down onto the floor). The zip-lining tour was 80 bucks and including a walk to a waterfall, lunch, coffee, and yummy fresh pineapple (one of the best things about Costa Rica are the fresh pineapple and bananas). You can also sea-kayak, fish, horseback ride, river-raft (I did that, too!) and many other things. The nearest town to Manuel Antonio is Quepos, and you can just hop on a bus for the 15-minute ride to Quepos when you feel like having dinner at a nice restaurant or buying souvenirs.

After a week in Manuel Antonio, I met the other students at the San Jose airport where we took off for our first destination - Volcan Poas. A short hike up a rocky slope leaves you with a view of this awesome volcano, one of the world's largest active craters (see the pic below). We stopped at a restaurant on the way back down and had the world's largest active pile of platanos (plantains [fried bananas]), my favorite Costa Rican dish. After the volcano we visited a snake institute where some of the world's most important anti-venom is made. This is because Costa Rica harbors many of the most deadly snakes. But it's nice to know there are brave scientists out there catching them and making anti-venom for the rest of us poor sods.

Then it was off to the Las Cruces research station, where we visited a coffee plantation and did a project on insect diversity. Walking through primary forest, I had my first experience with the feeling of "home" I get when I'm in the jungle. The feeling that I need to protect this beautiful, mysterious habitat called the rainforest, along with all its inhabitants. Big job for a little person like me. We put up a bird net and caught some of the local birds to look at and let go. So many of them! Then we took a trip to the local club where I was taught a tipsy lesson on spanish dancing.

After Las Cruces, it was off to Cerro de la Muerte. A cloudforest. Costa Rica has many of them - highland rainforest where the mist hangs over the mountains, and you're right up shivering in it. We slept on mattresses on the floor under at least 10 blankets. But it's beautiful forest, and the wildlife up there is different, as it has had to adapt to living in the cold. We took a walk through a bog (where we stomped around barefoot and had a slime fight) and through some of the most beautiful rainforest I've seen. The trail shortly turned into a river and we quickly made our way through the mud back to the cozy fires of our lodgings. A couple words of advice about the highland cloudforest; put your camera in a ziplock bag (for waterproofing), wear a rain poncho, and (in an Arnold Schwarzenegger voice) "the umbrella does nuuuthing".

Then it was off to another research station, Palo Verde, which is lowland forest. Lots of birds like herons and cranes hang out here. Beautiful, but less green than the highland forest. The thing I remember most about this place was the lightning bugs that came out at night (along with the blasted mosquitos). When you looked up into the sky, the lightning bugs blended in with all the stars and you couldn't even tell the difference between the two. We went on a frog-watching night tour, and saw some other things as well. Here's how you find animals at night using the eye-shine technique. You hold your flashlight shoulder-length, point it straight out at a 90 degree angle facing forward (in front of you), and let the light reflect off the animals' eyes. Red eye-shine reflection is usually a sign of a mammal staring back at you, while white is frogs or insects. Green is either slime-monster or moths or spiders. After returning to our beds, my roommate and I put toads in our room to catch all the insects that were flying around. While in Palo Verde we took a horseback ride to a waterfall where we spent the day swimming, and then did a little bit of rock-climbing, where I managed to get up on the cliff and proceeded to get stuck there, balling my eyes out after I had looked down and didn't want to move another inch. Eventually someone came up after me and helped me back down. Hey I'm not proud. ;)

We all hopped in the Vengabus (the allocated cheesy nickname for the bus that took us everywhere) and visited the beach, where it started raining and we all had to jump back on the newly-upholstered seating despite the "no-wet bodies and no de-shirted people allowed on the bus" rule. We took off toward our last destination, La Selva, the biggest research station in Costa Rica. There the coatis come right up to you begging for bananas. We saw peccaries, macaws, tucans, agoutis, iguanas, bats, tarantulas and more. Things seemed to gravitate toward me at La Selva, like during a lecture about reproduction when the bat spooge from the two bats doin' the nasty on the ceiling aimed right for me. And again when we caught a bat in the bat-net one evening, and the professor let it go and it decided to land right on my arm. And when we had stayed up late partying and had to get up at 5 in the morning to hear a really boring lecture about something or other, and a giant umbrella leaf from the tree above me aimed its big pointy stem right for my forehead as it fell toward the ground. La Selva was great, though. I did a project about butterflies, and spent many of my days in light gaps, fields, and pieces of forest catching them. We also visited the red-eyed tree frog habitat - where there were hundreds of them hangin out and doin what they do. We went river rafting in class 3+ rapids, which was one of the funnest things I did there, as you're in a river surrounded by the most beautiful forest imaginable.

The last place we visited was a little town called Arenal. Named after the active volcano in its center. We drove past the volcano at night and saw the lava dripping down the sides. They don't let you drive too close in case of an eruption. We swam in the volcanic pools and splashed around under its waterfalls. We had our last meal in a restaurant where I said goodbye to extra-sweet ice cream, "con leche" drinks, beans & rice prepared in different ways to make you not think you're still eating beans & rice, and fried bananas. This was definitely one of the trips of a lifetime for me. An experience that changed my life. I recommend it to anyone interested in getting a first-hand look at the tropics or just wanting a nice beach vacation. Costa Rica is cheaper than Hawaii and still has endemic species and untouched forest.

How your food affects the rainforest

2010-03-18T16:49:00.000-07:00

Have you ever stopped to think about how the food you're eating may be affecting the rainforest? In fact, many foods such as bananas, soy, beef, palmitos (hearts of palm), and even breakfast cereals can have a negative affect on the tropics. I'm writing this in response to an email I received this morning from Rainforest Action Network (RAN), who is campaigning against General Mills cereals. I wanted people to not only be aware of the fact that General Mills is aiding in the destruction of the tropics, but also to simply be more food-conscious in their everyday lives.

Environmental organizations have warned that by eating foods that use palm oil as an ingredient, Western consumers are directly fueling the destruction of orangutan habitat and sensitive ecosystems. Today almost half of Malaysia's cultivated land consists of oil palm, and the country has become the world's largest producer and exporter of palm oil, though Indonesia is quickly gaining ground.

Palm oil is the most productive oil seed in the world, and is used as a source of biofuel, among other things. Traditionally environmentalists have been supportive of biofuels for their lower rates of pollution, but the problem lies in the nature of how the crop is produced. In recent years, vast areas of natural forest have been cleared across tropical Asia for oil palm plantations. This conversion has reduced biodiversity, increased vulnerability to catastrophic fires, and affected local communities dependent on services and products provided by forest ecosystems. The production of palm oil is harmful to the environment in many ways, generating vast amounts of waste that is thought to harm aquatic ecosystems, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions, and leaving land that is useless and devoid of vegetation.

For these reasons, the scientific community is deeply concerned by a proposal by the Indonesian government to turn vast areas of Borneo's remote and biodiverse rainforests into oil-palm plantations. The proposed expanse of monoculture threatens to obliterate the region's legendary biodiversity (the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) says some 361 species of animals have been discovered on the island in the past decade) while displacing native tribespeople. There is hope in the fact that palm oil can be produced in a more sustainable and environmentally friendly way. Part of RAN's campaign is to get companies who insist on using palm oil to at least agree to use only this sustainably-harvested product.

More than 45 American companies, including Whole Foods and Seventh Generation, have committed to using only environmentally and socially responsible palm oil. General Mills has not yet made that commitment. Millions of acres of tropical rainforest on the breathtaking islands of Indonesia are being clearcut and burned to make way for palm oil plantations. These monoculture palm oil plantations force local communities off their land, release vast amounts of carbon into the atmosphere and destroy the precious habitat of endangered species, like orangutans and Sumatran tigers.

Not only is palm oil a problem. Soy has become one of the major sources of destruction of the Amazon. "After cattle ranching, soybeans are the main driver of Amazon destruction," said Roberto Smeraldi of Friends of the Earth Brazil. And let's not even talk about beef farms, the number one source of the destruction of rainforests since so long back. Palmito farms have taken over large areas of Amazonia, along with unsustainable crops of coffee and bananas. We can't all be perfect, but we can do our part to support companies that use sustainable methods to harvest these products. We can also donate to charities like RAN to help them campaign for environmentally friendly methods of production. To donate to RAN in their campaign against General Mills (and for their campaigns in general), you can visit https://secure.ga3.org/03/ran_donate_now_save_rainforests/nqp3nTt1ariRR.

A great blog on everything Malaysia can be found at www.environe.blogspot.com, and the website I used for much of the information and photos (with special permission) in today's blog is http://news.mongabay.com/2006/0425-oil_palm.html.

The Wings of the Butterfly

2010-03-14T12:05:00.000-07:00

A Tale of the Amazon Rainforest

One of my friends so kindly let me know that her children are following this blog, so here is an entry for them. This tale is from the Tukuna (or Tucuna, or Tikuna) tribe of South America. It is recorded in Curt Nimuendajú’s The Tukuna. Nimuendajú spent altogether nearly a year with the Tukuna in the early 1940s, and most of what we know about the tribe comes from his excellent study. Here it is...

On the banks of the Amazon River, in a clearing in the forest, there once lived a girl named Chimidyue. She dwelt with her family and relatives in a big pavilion-house called a maloca.
While the boys of the maloca fished and hunted with the men, Chimidyue and the other girls helped the women with household chores or in the farm plots nearby. Like the other girls, Chimidyue never stepped far into the forest. She knew how full it was of fierce animals and harmful spirits, and how easy it was to get lost in.
Still, she would listen wide-eyed when the elders told stories about that other world. And sometimes she would go just a little way in, gazing among the giant trees and wondering what she might find farther on.

One day as Chimidyue was making a basket, she looked up and saw a big morpho butterfly hovering right before her. Sunlight danced on its shimmering blue wings.

“You are the most magical creature in the world,” Chimidyue said dreamily. “I wish I could be like you.” The butterfly dipped as if in answer, then flew toward the edge of the clearing.
Chimidyue set down her basket and started after it, imitating its lazy flight. Among the trees she followed, swooping and circling and flapping her arms. She played like this for a long time, until the butterfly passed between some vines and disappeared. Suddenly Chimidyue realized she had gone too far into the forest. There was no path, and the leaves of the tall trees made a canopy that hid the sun. She could not tell which way she had come. “Mother! Father! Anyone!” she shouted. But no one came. “Oh no,” she said softly. “How will I find my way back?”

Chimidyue wandered anxiously about, hoping to find a path. After a while she heard a tap-tap-tapping. “Someone must be working in the forest,” she said hopefully, and she followed the sound. But when she got close, she saw it was just a woodpecker. Chimidyue sadly shook her head. “If only you were human,” she said, “you could show me the way home.” “Why would I have to be human?” asked the woodpecker indignantly. “I could show you just as I am!” Startled but glad to hear it talk, Chimidyue said eagerly, “Oh, would you?” “Can’t you see I’m busy?” said the woodpecker. “You humans are so conceited, you think everyone else is here to serve you. But in the forest, a woodpecker is just as important as a human.” And it flew off. “I didn’t mean anything bad,” said Chimidyue to herself. “I just want to go home.”
More uneasy than ever, Chimidyue walked farther. All at once she came upon a maloca, and sitting within it was a woman weaving a hammock.

“Oh, grandmother!” cried Chimidyue joyfully, addressing the woman with the term proper for an elder. “I’m so glad to find someone here. I was afraid I would die in the forest!”
But just as she stepped into the maloca, the roof began to flap, and the maloca and the woman together rose into the air. Then Chimidyue saw it was really a tinamou bird that had taken a magical form. It flew to a branch above. “Don’t you ‘grandmother’ me!” screeched the bird. “How many of my people have your relatives hunted and killed? How many have you cooked and eaten? Don’t you dare ask for my help.” And it too flew away.

“The animals here all seem to hate me,” said Chimidyue sorrowfully. “But I can’t help being a human!”
Chimidyue wandered on, feeling more and more hopeless, and hungry now as well. Suddenly, a sorva fruit dropped to the ground. She picked it up and ate it greedily. Then another dropped nearby. Chimidyue looked up and saw why. A band of spider monkeys was feeding in the forest canopy high above, and now and then a fruit would slip from their hands.

“I’ll just follow the monkeys,” Chimidyue told herself. “Then at least I won’t starve.” And for the rest of that day she walked along beneath them, eating any fruit they dropped. But her fears grew fresh as daylight faded and night came to the forest.

In the deepening darkness, Chimidyue saw the monkeys start to climb down, and she hid herself to watch. To her amazement, as the monkeys reached the ground, each one changed to the form of a human. Chimidyue could not help but gasp, and within a moment the monkey people had surrounded her. “Why, it’s Chimidyue!” said a monkey man with a friendly voice. “What are you doing here?” Chimidyue stammered, “I followed a butterfly into the forest, and I can’t find my way home.” “You poor girl!” said a monkey woman. “Don’t worry. We’ll bring you there tomorrow.”
“Oh, thank you!” cried Chimidyue. “But where will I stay tonight?” “Why don’t you come with us to the festival?” asked the monkey man. “We’ve been invited by the Lord of Monkeys.”
They soon arrived at a big maloca. When the Monkey Lord saw Chimidyue, he demanded, “Human, why have you come uninvited?” “We found her and brought her along,” the monkey woman told him. The Monkey Lord grunted and said nothing more. But he eyed the girl in a way that made her shiver.

Many more monkey people had arrived, all in human form. Some wore animal costumes of bark cloth with wooden masks. Others had designs painted on their faces with black genipa dye. Everyone drank from gourds full of manioc beer.
Then some of the monkey people rose to begin the dance. With the Monkey Lord at their head, they marched in torchlight around the inside of the maloca, beating drums and shaking rattle sticks. Others sang softly or played bone flutes. Chimidyue watched it all in wonder. She told her friend the monkey woman, “This is just like the festivals of my own people!”

Late that night, when all had retired to their hammocks, Chimidyue was kept awake by the snoring of the Monkey Lord. After a while, something about it caught her ear. “That’s strange,” she told herself. “It sounds almost like words.” The girl listened carefully and heard, “I will devour Chimidyue. I will devour Chimidyue.” “Grandfather!” she cried in terror. “What? Who’s that?” said the Monkey Lord, starting from his sleep. “It’s Chimidyue,” said the girl. “You said in your sleep you would devour me!” “How could I say that?” he demanded. “Monkeys don’t eat people. No, that was just foolish talk of this mouth of mine. Pay no attention!” He took a long swig of manioc beer and went back to sleep.
Soon the girl heard again, “I will devour Chimidyue. I will devour Chimidyue.” But this time the snores were more like growls. Chimidyue looked over at the Monkey Lord’s hammock. To her horror, she saw not a human form but a powerful animal with black spots.

The Lord of Monkeys was not a monkey at all. He was a jaguar!

Chimidyue’s heart beat wildly. As quietly as she could, she slipped from her hammock and grabbed a torch. Then she ran headlong through the night.
When Chimidyue stopped at last to rest, daylight had begun to filter through the forest canopy. She sat down among the root buttresses of a kapok tree and began to cry. “I hate this forest!” she said fiercely. “Nothing here makes any sense!” “Are you sure?” asked a tiny voice. Quickly wiping her eyes, Chimidyue looked up. On a branch of the kapok was a morpho butterfly, the largest she had ever seen. It waved at her with brilliant blue wings.

“Oh, grandmother,” said Chimidyue, “nothing here is what it seems. Everything changes into something else!” “Dear Chimidyue,” said the butterfly gently, “that is the way of the forest. Among your own people, things change slowly and are mostly what they seem. But your human world is a tiny one. All around it lies a much larger world, and you can’t expect it to behave the same.” “But if I can’t understand the forest,” cried Chimidyue, “how will I ever get home?” “I will lead you there myself,” said the butterfly. “Oh, grandmother, will you?” said Chimidyue. “Certainly,” said the butterfly. “Just follow me.”

It wasn’t long till they came to the banks of the Amazon. Then Chimidyue saw with astonishment that the boat landing of her people was on the other side.
“I crossed the river without knowing it!” she cried. “But that’s impossible!”
“Impossible?” said the butterfly. “I mean,” said Chimidyue carefully, “I don’t understand how it happened. But now, how will I get back across?” “That’s simple,” said the morpho. “I’ll change you to a butterfly.” And it began to chant over and over,

Wings of blue, drinks the dew.
Wings of blue, drinks the dew.
Wings of blue, drinks the dew.

Chimidyue felt herself grow smaller, while her arms grew wide and thin. Soon she was fluttering and hovering beside the other. “I’m a butterfly!” she cried.
They started across the wide water, their wings glistening in the sun. “I feel so light and graceful,” said Chimidyue. “I wish this would never end.”
Before long they reached the landing, where a path to the maloca led into the forest. The instant Chimidyue touched the ground, she was changed back to human form. “I will leave you here,” said the butterfly. “Farewell, Chimidyue.” “Oh, grandmother,” cried the girl, “take me with you. I want to be a butterfly forever!”
“That would not be right,” said the butterfly. “You belong with your people, who love you and care for you. But never mind, Chimidyue. Now that you have been one of us, you will always have something of the forest within you.” The girl waved as the butterfly flew off. “Good-bye, grandmother!”

Then Chimidyue turned home, with a heart that had wings of a butterfly.

About the Story

The Tukuna (pronounced “TOO-koo-na”) live on the upper Amazon River and its tributaries, in adjoining sections of Brazil, Colombia, and Peru. Like the people of most Amazonian tribes, the Tukuna have suffered terribly from the encroachment of modern South Americans. Still, they have survived better than most, because of their geographic isolation, their respect for their own traditions, and their peaceable nature. Their number in the mid-1970s was figured at about 16,000, making them one of the largest remaining tribes in South America.

Much in Tukuna culture is common among South American tribes. The tale of Chimidyue itself is one of a genre of forest odyssey tales found in many parts of Amazonia—a genre that has been called the most sophisticated literary development of the Amazon tribes. The Tukuna version is unique in having a female protagonist.

Following are notes on unfamiliar and unusual elements of the story.

Maloca (“mul-O-ka”). A large communal house typical of Amazon tribes. In general, the Tukuna do not live in villages, but a group of relatives will share a maloca. The inside is fairly open, without dividing walls. The maloca might be 50 ft. wide, 100 ft. long, and 40 ft. high, or even larger. Since festivals are held inside, it must be big enough for several hundred people and their baggage.

In the past, the maloca of the Tukuna was approximately oval, with a solid outside wall to keep out insect pests. But now that the Tukuna have mosquito nets, they omit the walls entirely, and the maloca is likely to be rectangular. The kitchen is located in a separate building.

Morpho (“MOR-fo”). A large tropical butterfly with lustrous blue wings. It is often seen flying along forest trails, and according to Amazonian explorer Richard Evans Schultes, it “never fails to thrill the onlooker with wonder and admiration that such grace of movement could be found in such an asperous environment.” Though some Amazonians associate the morpho with evil sorcerers and black magic, not all share this view. The Yukunas of Colombia, for instance, honor the morpho with a special costumed dance.

Grandmother, grandfather. Terms of respect for elders.

Tinamou (“TIN-a-moo”). A South and Central American game bird resembling a partridge. Larger tinamou can reach a length of about 18 inches.

Sorva (“SOR-va”). The fruit of a rubber tree called sorveira (species Couma utilis). The terms are Portuguese, without English equivalents.

Genipa (“JEN-ip-a”). A green fruit similar to an apple. Its colorless juice turns black as it dries and so is used as a skin dye.

Kapok (“KAY-pok”). This is one of the trees believed by Amazonians to possess a soul. It is not surprising to find a magical creature like the morpho associated with it. Like some other trees growing in flood plains, the kapok’s root system forms buttresses above ground.

I got this story and information from Aaron Shepard's website: http://www.aaronshep.com/stories/030.html.

Journey through the jungle

2010-03-10T05:59:00.000-08:00

I want to take you on a trip through the jungle. If you are curious, journey with me...

...you start off following a trail (otherwise you'd have to hack your own trail through the jungle with a machete. Well, that would take all day and you would probably run into a bushmaster or fer-da-lance [two of the most deadliest snakes in the world] and get bit and die). The first thing you notice is how quiet it is; quiet with respect to the sounds of the city. There are no cars here. Absolute solitude, except for the thousands of animals living their lives in the depths of the jungle, waiting patiently for you to pass before continuing there daily routines. It is not quiet with respect to birds. Flocks of parrots fly overhead, spitting curses at you through the treetops. They seem to play with you as you follow the sound of their squawking, stopping only long enough in each tree for you to get just a glimpse of their bright red feathers before flying ahead to the next tree. Tropical songbirds sing for you and there are so many songs that its hard to distinguish all of them.

There are insects you've never seen or even hoped to see crawling on the trail ahead. Giant grasshoppers as big as your foot rustle in the low-lying shrubbery beside you. You evade a giant millipede curled up on the trail. Gross, but kind of cool. You look up and admire the extreme greenness of the foliage surrounding you. There are so many treetops that you can barely see the sun, desperately trying to find a way to shine through. You notice a short tree to your right. What is that on the tree? A small animal? You pull the top of the tree toward you, slowly. You come eye-to-eye with a tiny mouse opossum. If you can think of the cutest animal in the world, then you can imagine the mouse opossum. Its eyes are surrounded with a mask of black, like a raccoon's. Inquisitive, it stares in wonderment at you as you slowly reach up your hand to touch it. It looks nice, so you figure, what the hey? It just sits there and lets you stroke its fur. Who knew that a mouse opossum would let you pet it? Who knew that you would EVER be petting a mouse opossum in the middle of the jungle? Ha! Well, you figure you won't wear out your welcome, and let the treetop back up slowly. You chirp "bye" to the cute little thing and hope that it is having as good a day as you are as you continue down the trail.

But now a strange noise has caught your attention. What the h--?!! You look around you, searching all sides for a sight of this animal, whatever it is, that's producing the most horrible and scary sound you've ever heard. A loud howling, squealing, snorting sound surrounds you, and, figuring it's a pack of wild pigs, you run for the nearest tree (after a short search for one that doesn't have giant thorns sticking out of its trunk) and climb up. This is the way to avoid a pack of hungry, man-eating pigs. Okay, they're not man-eating, but you dont want to get between an angry mama pig and her baby. The noise stops, and after sitting for 15 extra minutes in the tree (just to be sure), you climb down. Shaking the ants off of you, too nervous to notice that they are three times the size of regular ants, you walk the trail cautiously. You never see the culprits, but intermittently throughout your walk you hear the noise again and end up hopping up into a tree about every 20 minutes before your journey is done. Later at the camp you find out that the horrifying noise was just a pack of howler monkeys, and definitely NOT man-eating pigs. You feel really stupid, but glad to know you weren't in danger of anything more than having sticks and random pieces of rainforest junk thrown at you. Howler monkeys have also been known to try and pee on you.

Back to the trail. Tracks that look like cat tracks appear in front of you. Cute. Then you see the jaguar tracks. Shit. Werent the man-eating pigs bad enough? Pleeeeze! You follow the giant kitty tracks, wondering if they are fresh but hoping they were made a looooong time ago. You remember that book you read about the guy who studied jaguars, and take little consolation in the fact that jaguars usually only STALK humans, not eat them. Typical kitty games. You decide not to let it bother you and hurry on your way. Its funny the amount of wildlife you don't see, considering how diverse the animals of the tropics are. They have learned to stay well-hidden, to blend in with their environment. Evolution at its best. You know that millions of eyes are actually on you as you make your way to your destination; agoutis, coatis, ocelots, sloths, opposums, peccaries, etc. etc. etc.

Then your destination! Youve hit it! The trees clear, and the sun shines fully upon you. You admire the glittering green Pacific in front of you. You admire how the trees grow across the beach and right down to the water. Forest, then ocean. No space in between. Its the most beautiful water you have ever seen. Palms surround the glistening pool just like in the most beautiful of postcard pictures you've seen. Its a tropical paradise come to life. The thought of sharks is only momentary as you strip down and jump in. You realize at that moment, looking up at the treetops and all the little squirrel monkeys staring down at you, that here, you are home. This is where you were meant to be. You will save this beauty, this diverse ecosystem of species, most of which we haven't even discovered yet. Ignorance has caused the destruction of the rainforests, and it is your job to educate against that destruction.

In 1990, only 1/10th of the original amount of rainforest on the planet was left after the years of destruction. The number one cause of destruction is beef farms. Farmers clear the forests so that cattle can munch on an un-diverse mixture of grasses. Other crops such as bananas, coffee, and recently soybeans are harmful as well. Squatters who have no where else to live burn areas of forest and build huts for their families. Loggers cut down thousands of trees per day. With each tree that is felled, each animal that loses a home, a piece of my heart, too, is lost. How can we let this happen to our beautiful planet? This is why I do what I do.

Getting started

2010-03-07T11:59:00.000-08:00

GETTING THERE

First thing's first, getting the best deals to your destination. You'll want to sign up for travel updates at sites like www.travelzoo.com, www.shermanstravel.com, and www.octopustravel.com. These sites send email updates with weekly or monthly deals that I've often taken advantage of.

As far as searching for flights goes, the cheapest flights I've found have been using www.kayak.com for general travelling. Specific airlines for South and Central America (check these before checking general search sites) are TAM airlines, GOL, BROL, and TACA airlines. In the lowland tropics, the USA winter (Dec-Apr) is the dry season (when it's very hot) and the USA summer (May-Nov) is the wet season. It may be cheaper to visit the tropics during the wet season, as there is more rain and humidity, and less tourists. When I went to Costa Rica in June, I had the whole of Manuel Antonio (one of the greatest vacation spots on the Pacific side) to myself.

WHAT TO BRING
If you are visiting the tropics for the first time, here is an important list of essentials:

SUNBLOCK, SUNBLOCK, and more SUNBLOCK,
as you're close to the equator and the
sun burns very hotly (is that a word? :P)

Wellies!
Bring rainboots. These are the
best thing to walk through the jungle in.
They not only look really cool, especially
with some cute shorty shorts, but protect
you from snake bites (yes, the most deadly
of snakes live in the tropics, but don't let
that scare you off. In my years of experience
in the jungle, I haven't had any trouble) and
from the muddy wet ground or small streams
or ponds you may run into while exploring.
They are lighter than hiking boots but work
just as well. The only problem with them is
they do get rather hot. Wear light socks.
Well worth it in the end, though.

Headlamp.
The jungle, being covered by a massive
canopy of tall beautiful trees, gets
rather dark at night. Pitch black, in
fact. So you will definitely need a light
in case you get stuck in the dark or fancy
a bit of night-meandering. This is when
the jaguars are active, after all. Lol,
kidding, but the caimen are, if you
happen to find yourself around bodies
of water. In any case, a headlamp is
useful because it lights your way while
still allowing you the use of both your
hands, which comes in HANDy (get it?) if
it's slippery or steep.

Water.
Essential for life. In the least, bring
an empty bottle that you can gather all
your sweat up in and drink that.

Hankie.
Great to tie your hair back (yes it's HOT
out there) or wipe your face, swat bugs,
tie wounds, or collect various kinds of
feces from exotic rainforest animals that
you're facscinated with.

Two words: Bug. Spray.
Yes, very necessary. Not only are the mosquitoes,
blackflies, sandflies, and sweat bees extremely
annoying, they can carry diseases such as dengue
fever, yellow fever, malaria, and more. And you
don't wanna get those things, trust me.

Duct tape.
This is my personal one, as it's not a necessity,
but did come in handy for me when I got TICK BOMBED
in Belize. SO not cool. I was innocently walking
through the jungle, thinking on the GOOD OF THE
SPECIES when I walked through a tick-egg-sac, which
proceeded to explode all over my leg (luckily I
was wearing long pants). Now there were over a
hundred teeny tiny ticks in the egg sac, and my
leg was quickly covered. I needed to get them off
before they crawled under my pants and dug in for
a feast. My supervisor (for a research project we
were working on) just happened to be carrying a roll
of duct tape, and tore off a large piece and began
pulling off the ticks with it (apparently the only
real way you can get them off your clothes, as you
can't just flick them off cuz they are sticky bastards).
So take this advice as you will, but I'm sure glad we had
the duct tape.

Camera.
For all the wildlife you'll spot! The only time I
didn't bring my camera into the forest is (of course)
the time I spotted a cute little mouse oppossum in a
tree and it let me bend the tree down and pet it. So
just goes to show...*shrug*
Also great for snapping quick shots of the offending
monkeys who throw sticks and pee at you so you can
report them later.