Today we visit a rehabilitation center for wild animals here in Costa Rica. We were able to look at all of the different animals that they have in captivity. We were even allowed to help aid in the process of feeding the animals by simply cutting up fruits for them to enjoy, and making simulation toys so that they can use their brains. Here is a list of all of the animals that we got to see while at the rehabilitation center:
Macaw
Spider monkey
Toucan
Parott
Parakeets
Rainbow mackaw green and red
Red Pacific green Caribbean
Mix of the green and red macaw
Wild boar
Caoti
White faced monkey
Snapping turtle
Caimen
Boat billed heron
Iguana
Lizard
Some of the things that we learned while we were on the tour is in the white-faced monkeys there is one alpha male and 19 females in a pack of 20. However this is the opposite for the spider monkeys, as there is a female that is alpha within the pack. There are also six different species of toucan. And they enjoy eating bananas, mangoes, and seeds. In order to help with the stimulating toys and feeding the animals, we were placed in charge of cutting fruit and tying grass knots to certain toys to help stimulate their minds.
After the rehabilitation center, we boarded our buses and headed toward a technical school here in Costa Rica. This school is dedicated to agriculture and developing young students. They're at the facility they have 160 chickens and a few herd of cattle. Not only this they also do the production of beans and other plant varieties on site. All of the food that is produced on the farm is either consumed by the animals or the people. We were able to consume some of their product today. We were fed a chicken rice vegetable mixture, along with some refried beans, and a salad. They also do calving on site which is something that is very fun and cool to see. Because they do calving they also have cattle that need to be milked. Each day the farm receives 1,120 kg of milk. Which is the equivalent of approximately 17 kg per cow per day. When breeding the cattle on site they often use artificial insemination for protection of their cows. Traditionally each year they have approximately 80 calves born. Most of the month that is produced on site is sold to a larger company. This company then advertises their products whether that is cheese, ice cream, milk, or butter. Within their milk there's approximately 182,000 somatic cells, which is a good number to be at. For those of us who may not know somatic cells are biological cells that grow within multicellular species, aka people. This farm does not sink the gestation periods of the cows on site. They start with artificial insemination in all of their cows. By the time the vet comes back to the farm, if the cattle have not yet conceived, they will then be given a shot to synchronize their gestation. To allow for the ease of the farmer to have timely births. We were also walk through the process on how to properly prepare clean, and milk a cowt today. We started by getting friendly with the cow, cleaning off the tets of the cow, sanitizing the tets of the cow, milking the cow, and then finally coding with a gentle protectant. We were also able to see how they can detect for different diseases within the milk of the cattle.
It is clear that all mammals produce waste. The waste that is deposited from the cattle is pushed into a large storage container. The storage continues then pumped through pipes that is specialized to divide the waste into solid and liquid. The liquid waste goes into a pool that is later spread onto crop fields as a fertilizer. The solid waste is then used to make a compost. They take the solid waste and place it into rows in a dark room. The dark room then allows for worms to eat at the solid waste to help speed up the natural composition process. Worms are especially sensitive to sunlight, which is why the piles are in a dark room. When the compost is finalized it is then set out insult outside of the farm and either potting soils, fertilizer, or another means of necessary compost.
The worms need about a 70% humidity inside of the piles of waste. If under the proper conditions, worms can produce about one ton of organic matter a day. Once most of the decomposition has occurred, worms will be caught inside of a trap and moved to a new pile. Once the pile has no worms in it, it will then be dried to about a 25% humidity before being shipped. Another thing is that they also feed the worms. Worms have to be given through about two times a week or they will die.
Our next stop at the technical school was into the forested area. We started with a gentle snack break of watermelon and pineapple before we started our hike. While on our hike we were able to see their greenhouses, learn a little bit of history about the school, and even try a new food. We were able to try basil out of the greenhouse, learn that women were not allowed in the institution for about 10 years after it's establishment, and we even got to tried mimbras. Mimbras are like a small pepper like structure, they are green on the outside, but the inside is very sour. We were then able to hike through the woods on a trail that's in development. The trail is user friendly to individuals in a wheelchair and who are blind. Well in the forest we were able to make peace with the environment and remember that each of us has a purpose on this planet and it is up to us to determine how we plan to use the time that we are given. We then went deeper into the woods and learned about their national tree, got to see wild vanilla plants, which are actually orchids, and talk about the crystal frog. The crystal frog is a frog that when is under light is essentially see-through due to its light coloration. As we continued our hike through the woods, we ended up back at the facility. The facility had chickens, guinea, goats, a pig, cattle, and a bunny to share with us. We concluded our tour within gentle thank you and an hasta la vista as we boarded our buses to our next hotel.
Along the way to the next hotel, we were able to see sugar cane plants being produced on the sides of the road. We were able to even learn about the Arenal volcano. We are staying at the base of the volcano in a hotel for a couple of nights. But the volcano had its last big eruption in 1968 where it took out approximately two cities. Not only this ashes from the volcano stretched for many many kilometers. They were able to see ashes all the way up in the northern parts of Nicaragua. While this volcano is still active, it's moving toward dormancy. This means that the volcano erupts less often and less violently than what it used to in the past. It is cool to be able to see the different landscapes that they have here in Costa Rica and how they play a major role in the cultural diversity of the Costa Ricans and the Americans not only this it is cool to see some of the technologies that they are implementing into agriculture. I like to be able to see the differences within our cultures and within the different practices that we use in our agricultural productions.
I think one of the biggest tylers from the day was that I was able to enjoy yet another thing of cookies from Sergio.
P.S. I also have a funny video of me milking the cow on site.
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