Our final full day in Mexico! - Trip Day 15

I got up at 7. I just couldn't stay in bed any longer. But everyone else seemed to still be sleeping so I very quietly left the room to get myself breakfast. Watermelon, scrambled egg and they graced me with my favourite of French toast. My morning was filled by a couple hours at the beach before our last dive at 11. We had to wait for a storm to pass but once it had, we ventured out for the very last time. We ended it all with a barracuda and some turtles.

Our final lunch was a ham and cheese sandwich and chips. Some people after lunch volunteered to do some turtle blood testing. This would've included trying to catch the turtles in the first place and they are very strong. I passed on that one. Instead I went for a snorkel around the bay and saw a ton of turtles. Great way to end the trip.

I showered for the final time in Mexico and we finished the evening with an ecology quiz with dinner. This trip has been amazing. I am so glad I experienced this.
Toodles for now.

Trip Day 5

Up at 5 for another session of birds. This one was at a place they called KM27 so we had to take a truck ride. Mexico: the place where health and safety seemed to be out the window and I find myself sitting in the back of a pickup truck.

This session of birds was more successful than the last. We had 2 hummingbirds, a pygmy kingfisher and a yellow breasted tanager. There was a 5th bird in the mist net but managed to untangle itself just before we got to it. All I got was that it was red. I released the tanager back into the sky unharmed of course. For part of the Operation Wallacea research we needed to take measurements of the birds wings, beak and body.

 

 

On the way back from the bird surveys the truck had metal railings around the bed so we were able to stand up. Although you do have to watch out for any branches hanging low!

 

 

Lunch today was rice, beans and plantain and our second lecture. This time about reptiles and amphibians. I found out that slow worms have legs! Small ones but still legs. I never knew that.

 

4 o'clock was a trip down the road to transect 4 to measure some trees and to do a touch pole experiment. A touch pole experiment means you put a pole vertically every 2 metres in a 20 mete square plot and see how many points of a plant touches it. Trying to walk through a very dense forest with a pole and  cobwebs everywhere was a mission alone. After that we went on a 1km walk to try to find peccaries again. We were unsuccessful but did find a tarantula nest. I know the best thing to find ever! Luckily no tarantulas came out of it no matter how much Natalia tried to make them.

 

Dinner arrived later than expected tonight but when it did arrive, the swarm of people that ran towards the kitchen was crazy! It was like no one had eaten all week. Pasta and veg with iced tea.

 

 

We had an evening lecture on neotropical mammals with Kathy - the expert on spider monkeys. She was making a joke about how they hug each other just to get favours. A nice torrential downpour, which they haven't had in weeks so they were loving it and off to bed.

 

Toodles for now.



I am back!

I have just returned from a 2 week trip to Orlando, Florida for the second time in the last 8 months. There was a time where we never went on any holidays growing up but now with my own job and money, I am able to expand my horizons just a little bit and do what I love to do most. Travel.

Like I said. I have just got back from Florida and I am here now to tell you about how I got there. I hope you are ready. It's riveting.

The first day of my trip was obviously a travel day so nothing too exciting. Coming from the Isle of Wight, England it is a little bit of a trek all with the ferry at 1am, an hour and a half in a taxi to Gatwick Airport, a long wait in departures (although that did include a full English breakfast at the residing Wetherspoon), a nearly 9 hour flight to Orlando and then finally picking up our rental car and heading to our hotel. It was long but totally worth it.

Our car was a Toyota Yaris IA. Now I don't know too much about cars but back home when you say Yaris we all picture a car an older person would have. A granny car as I call it. Not knowing that there are more than just the one type if Yaris. It was actually a nice car (See image below).

                                                    

We were all exhausted by the long day so our only thought was..... BUFFET! The best place for buffet in my opinion is Golden Corral (not sponsored). It is literally 15 dollars for all you can eat salad, steak, shrimp, chicken, pizza etc and not forgetting the desserts! They've got everything. I came out of there full, tired and ready for bed. 

Oh and a hotel room for myself was nice. First time ever I didn't have to share any of it! 2 beds worth of pillows were piled up on the one bed. It was so comfortable! Still woke up the next morning way too early though. Stupid time zones!

 

February 14th 2016

It's Valentine's Day today and I have no Valentine, no chocolate, no romantic dinner, but I do have work! From 11am until 10pm. Fun times.

It wasn't so bad though. The time went quite quick and the evening wasn't as busy as I thought it might be considering it was Valentine's Day. I must've finished about 9.15.

I went home, showered and just got into bed really. Watched some youtube vlogs and played mahjong. When I have to be at work all day long it doesn't really leave enough time for anything else.

February 12th 2016

Travelling home today from my mini vacay. 2 trains, a boat, another train and a walk up a hill with my suitcase. It took about 3 hours in total to get home, everything worked to the correct time. It was a simple journey.

I got home and first thing I did was have a shower. Not because I smelt but because there is something about being in your own home, showering in your own shower and eating your own food. After my shower I felt so much better. So comfy in my woolly pyjamas. But I dare not to get too cosy because in 2 hours I had work. If I got too comfy I would fall asleep and then never want to go to work. Instead I started watching The Good Dinosaur. I had heard it was good and it looked cute so thought I'd check it out.

Work was boring, not very busy but surprisingly the time went pretty quickly. I had work from 5 until close. I managed to get out by 9.30. 

I got home, put on my pyjamas again which I secretly had placed on one of our radiators so I just new it would be toasty and warm for me. Got in bed and relaxed with a not so relaxing episode of Grey's Anatomy which has just come back off it's midseason break.

February 10th 2016

Today is a lazy day. Had a shower and got dressed and ready. Watched the latest Chicago Med and Chicago Fire episodes. Drew a picture of a tree. Don't know why it just happened.

I ate a no mayo chicken sandwich. It's yoghurt and creme fraiche instead of the mayo. Less fat or something apparently. It's healthier.

Went out about 4.30 to go to some bar because the people where I'm staying are insane and start drinking early and also it's a Wednesday. I don't get the hype.

I had 2 drinks where everyone else seemed to have like 2 bottles. I didn't know anyone either so they were having conversations about things, people of which I had no clue so I just sat there. We ate chicken wings and eventually left at about 11.30.

The others decided to go out to some club. I had no desire whatsoever so I am now in my friends bed while they're out partying.

That was it for today.

January 3rd 2016

A pretty uneventful day for me today, not a lot going on. I had work from 11 until finish; I believe I finished about 9.15. Not too shabby. It was a pretty quiet day; lunchtime was dead so was forced to have my break at 2pm which I hate, having my break too early makes the rest of the day drag a little too much but we do get an hour though.

I remember having a turkey roast dinner as it was a Sunday, with roast spuds, carrots -about 5 pieces, I'm not a fan but I have to get my veggies in me somehow- and a big Yorkshire pudding. Although I couldn't manage the whole thing.

Had a chat about the karaoke night up the bar along the road, about nearly falling asleep at work and about getting me a new drink because I had just ran out, with a member of our bar staff. And went home without too much of an OCD struggle for the day.

Once I got home I ate 3 mini sausage rolls, a brownie and 2 custard creams in the space of 5 minutes, watched the end of an episode of Castle where a Chinese woman killed a Chinese man named Henry so that she wouldn't end up alone but she just ended up in prison instead and a quick snippet of the Royal Variety Performance, a repeat from what was on at Christmas, then to bed and probably watching some tv and not going to sleep until at least 1am.