THUNK! The sound the boat made when we hit land's edge; I looked around just taking it all in. I was greeted by a very cheery old man who was lovingly called Turi by the volunteers. He was the owner's older brother who tended to the garden, vegetation and cooking; did I forget to mention this kind man is 63 years old? He gave me a tour of the land, myself not really knowing what to expect, just followed quietly taking note of everything.
I came with the impression that this project was part of a turtle preservation effort, which it was... somewhat. In reality, it was a small self sustaining garden, whose alter ego helped with the turtle preservation movement. So as the week went on, I slowly learned that we were to be split working literally on two separate ends of the island.
With the tour, Turi showed me the ropes on the pump, kitchen routine, where I would be sleeping and just the general vicinity of the community on that end of the land; he was extremely kind to me that first meeting and just so gentlemanly about everything. Suffice it to say I was very grateful for his kindheartedness.
The property consisted of a small parch of land that was loosely enclosed with barbed wires attached to bamboo or any other pieces of wood one can jam into the ground. Passing that rustic boundary one would walk past Turi's house, a small lagoon and then the dorm room which I affectionately called, "the Hut." Passed the hut there was just about a half acre of different rows of crops being prepped to be placed in the soil for the upcoming season; behind these crops was our small and ant occupied kitchen and table. I remember that during the meals, there would be so many ants present, they'd either bite you or became extra protein in our food or water.
When I've described this garden to friends, everyone has a had an interesting time imagining the luxuries or lack thereof on site. This place by any stretch of the imagination was simple. No power, hand pumped well water, thinly made bunk beds, a PVC shower tube and the list can go on... Yet...
I've never been happier.
I remember the first night there was a joyful time, because it was my birthday, but it was also extremely isolating. When I arrived that day I was introduced to my three female roommates: Jessica and Jennifer from Germany and Carol from Canada. All three of them were great people and as the days turned to weeks, we became a very close knit family; I felt though that I connected much better with Carol, as to the reason why it could be any one's guess. That first dinner though was just fabulous! It was a very simple, organic and home grown meal that contained what would eventually become part of our staple of food: rice, beans and plantains. I've been raised on this typical harvest so I was in heaven, but I'm sure the girls grew tired of it after a while. Besides being my first meal as part of the island crew, what was memorable about that night was that the whole group offered me their extra servings of plantains as a birthday present.
I'm sure you're thinking, "what good is an extra serving of plantains?" The answer is... everything. Remember how I said we had no power? That includes no fridge, no microwave, no modern form at all of reheating or even maintaining food, so our meals were always fresh and always limited. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, we didn't have the luxury of having extra foods lying around or anything of that nature; it lead to us all cherishing our meals and being grateful for whatever was served in front of us. It definitely goes without saying, that there were some days one or more of us looked upon our dishes with odd looks of disgust or fascination, but everything was always eaten and enjoyed. If for some reason or another, one didn't finish their meals, the rest of us would swoop in like vultures to help out in the digestive team effort; when we started having to do beach patrols and gardening, we ate whatever we could just to have the energy to get through the day. But those are stories for another day.
After breaking plantains and singing a round of "Happy Birthday", we all retreated to the hut; at that point it was about 6:45pm and the night had fallen hard. I remember that first starless night there, the moon was absent, as were the stars, yet the howler monkeys were screaming in choruses. That night, the isolation hit me....
I love my adventures and I love exploration, but everywhere I've gone, I've had the opportunity to get in touch with family and friends, be it by phone, wifi or passenger pigeon; here on this island, that wasn't the case. Jessica and Jennifer left shortly after dinner to go to the other project (mentioned in future posts) to patrol the beach while Carol and I enjoyed a night in to just setup our beds, minds and expectations to our present situation.
Without any power, I set out to unpack my things, trusty headlamp being my only illuminating savior. While setting up my bed, Carol and I spoke about our lives, what we left behind, what we were expecting here and just everything in between. Within an hour, I had locked up my valuables, set up my mosquito net and dug up my ear plugs; I remember being so exhausted that night jumping from bus to bus to boat to island all in a matter of a few hours. Before I ended up passing out, I decided to write some, and just journal my thoughts down onto paper... honestly it was the only thing I could do to keep my head straight. I don't know why, but that first night was horribly difficult for me; I was utterly disconnected from the world and anything could've happened to me and no one would have ever known. Hell, the closest coordinates to that site are to a town 2.5 hours away!
Carol had arrived the previous night, so she seemed to have already adapted to the environment; as for me, I just wrote and wrote, and wrote some more, all the while trying to keep my thoughts positive. Did I make the right decision to come here? Where was I? Would anyone hear me scream if something happened?
These all seem like dumb questions now, but with the isolation and pure darkness that fell upon us that night, all my mind did was wander into a not so happy place. Yet with all those thoughts in tow, by 8:30p I was out like a light! I didn't wake up until the 6am the following morning. I had slept almost ten hours, monkeys and all without once stirring...
I woke up to a beautiful early morning on an island that I first feared, but would slowly fall in love with.
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