Journal by Justin Mounts

Hello everyone,

Today is the 43rd day of the LONGITUDE expedition. It’s hard to believe we’ve been gone for a month and a half and that Christmas is 12 days away. We are continuing through Costa Rica, on our way to Panama and the Wallenius Wilhelmsen ship that will take us to our second continent and our eighth country. This morning, we met Michael Cranford, a local artist and rain forest conservationist for breakfast and a hike at his house. Michael has purchased and helped preserve approximately 200 acres of primary and secondary rain forest. During the hike, Mike pointed out many of the animals that are regularly found in the rain forest. We were lucky enough to see both toucans and scarlet macaws. These birds are not only beautiful because of their multi-colored plumage, but also because they are so graceful when they fly. The toucans were perched near the top of a papaya tree where they could easily access the fruit for food, and the scarlet macaws were incredible to watch, as they would swoop across the sky effortlessly. Surrounding the house, Mike has added feeding perches for monkeys. They are simple platforms mounted to the trees where he leaves bunches of bananas gathered from trees in his lawn. It is not uncommon, he said, for monkeys to come right up next to the house to eat the bananas both in the morning and in the evening. Unfortunately, we did not see any monkeys today, and Mike swears we are his first visitors to have that happen.

The Peninsula de Osa contains the second largest area of biodiversity, second only to the Amazon Rain Forest. The majority of the peninsula is contained in the Corcovado National Park. Through Mike, we were invited to a meeting for the International Campaign of the Conservation of the Osa Peninsula. The International Campaign for the Conservation of the Osa is a multi-institutional effort to raise funds for biodiversity conservation in the Osa Peninsula, in Costa Rica. Organizations participating in the campaign include the CR-USA Foundation (CR-USA), the Ministry of the Environment of the Government of Costa Rica (MINEA), Conservation International (CI), and The Nature Conservancy (TNC), together with local partners. The Campaign seeks to raise $31.5 million to consolidate protected areas, create biological corridors, and work with communities, local organizations and private landowners on the conservation of forests and wildlife on private lands. We joined approximately 50 local land and business owners to discuss the problems facing conservation efforts in Costa Rica. During this two-hour meeting, we met with Alvaro Ugalde, the Director of the Osa Conservation Area. He informed us that the greatest threats to the region are illegal forest cutting for the purpose of wood production and illegal hunting of large game animals, such as the puma. It was a very interesting meeting that allowed us to participate in a forum discussion on how the citizens of Costa Rica can band together to ensure that this unique natural habitat can be preserved and enjoyed for generations to come. Alvaro, we came to find out, is the man singularly responsible for the creation of Corcovado National Park.

After the meeting concluded, we were introduced to “Crazy” Mike Boston, an Irishman who was born in Trinidad/Tobago. Mike is a renowned biologist and conservationist, and he is famous for taking groups on nighttime tours to find crocodiles in the lowland waters. Mike invited us to join him for a night hunt. Everyone went to their vehicles to grab headlamps and flashlights to follow Mike into the swamp. It was incredible! Within ten minutes, we had seen over a dozen crocodiles ranging from 3 feet in length to 8 feet in length. At one point, we were even feeding the crocodiles from the shore. The largest one was no more than 3 feet away from us at the edge of the water. Mike taught us that the best way to spot a crocodile in the dark is to shine a beam of light right along the top of a body of water. If you are patient, you will see the reflection of the crocodile’s eyes glowing in the distance. After spending about an hour spotting crocodiles, raccoons, and other things that go bump in the night, we returned to Mike’s house to prepare for tomorrow’s drive. It’s our last border crossing in Central America—to Panama, and you know what that means…up at 4:45 and on the road at 6:00.

I hope you are all well.

Justin
Justin@drivearoundtheworld.com

Logbook for December 13th
Start: Puerto Jiminez, Costa Rica
Finish: Sombra de la Lapa, Costa Rica
N: 8* 33.060'
W: 83* 23.442'
Mileage: 8
Notes: Team toured primary and secondary rain forest. Attended meeting with
the International Campaign for the Conservation of the Osa.

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four certified pre-owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking here. 100% of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.