Cocos Island Volunteer – William Henriques – Looking back… and forward
Goodbye to Cocos Island…for now. No, I’m not on Cocos Island anymore; I’m in that other world now, that world outside of the island. I long to go back, I yearn to return to the Wafer Bay Station. I miss the routine, miss the bleary-eyed walk up to the Big House under the overloaded coconut […]
Reflections From Cocos Island Director, Geiner Golfin
Cocos Island, Pacific Ocean – Here we do not hear cars, it is not necessary to go to the store, a restaurant or a mall, I do not have to carry cash and I live in total harmony with Cocos Island. I first arrived in October, the worst season for making the crossing, but even […]
Cocos Island: Fishing Law for Dummies #8436
Tonight’s sunset – Day Seven Without Rain Seven straight absolutely gorgeous days here on Cocos Island. Seven days without a drop of rain; “It’s not normal,” says Manuel. The small stream that runs onto the beach has dried up, and the water is so low in River Genio that it barely spills over the top […]
Ranger Profile: Filander Avila Calderon – What’s Cooking?
Position: Guardaparque – Kitchen Coordinator Age: 42 Years Numbers of years as Guardaparque at PNIC (Parque Nacional Isla del Coco): 11 years Off-Island Residence: Grecia, Alajuela Province, Costa Rica I’ve already spoken several times to the supreme quality of the food here at the island – in particular, the coffee and morning pinto. But to […]
How “Stuff” Gets to Cocos Island
Snapshot: My first morning at Cocos Island. Woke up at 5:00 am aboard the Undersea Hunter and something was different; the motor had stopped, and there was an unusual amount of activity – thumps, bumps, and voices. Climbed up the companionway from the crew’s quarters where I was stowed and looked curiously out the window […]
Ranger Profile: Roberto Cubero – Tourist Watch
Position: Park Guard – Chief of the Sustainable Tourism Program Age: 30 yrs Number of years as Park Guarde at PNIC (Parque Nacional Isla del Coco): 1 Year Permanent Residence: Santa Ana, Costa Rica For the past several weeks, Roberto and I have been dueling it out on the chessboard after dinner. Well, “dueling” might […]
Snapshot of a Day’s Work at Wafer Bay Station
A Day in the Life of Wafer Bay Station Vinicio is the station’s office man, processing administrative paperwork and anything else that comes his way: inventory, daily patrol reports, and the various permissions required by the dive boats. Filander prepares the perfect meal. Beatrice and Daniella are painting the inside of the lower bodega. […]
Going Deep at Cocos Island… Really Deep
A Bigeye Scad noses the submarine I watched this morning’s Channel Seven news with mild interest, more to practice my Spanish than anything else. The rain and resultant flooding continue across Costa Rica, the Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez is sick, and there was a big cocaine bust somewhere on the continent. Really, I […]
Sore feet, inspiration and hope at the pinnacle of Cocos Island
It’s the tail-end of yet another Sunday, and I’m sitting in my room contemplating the cool air flowing through the industrial-grade screen of my single window, the smell of clean laundry, my sore feet, and today’s hike to the island’s summit, Cerro Yglesias. The troop at the summit My companions for the day were Pablo, […]
Cocos Island: Shark Finning News Report
Thursday night, I was watching the evening news in the salon after dinner with Steven and Roberto when the following report came on (Warning: the video is in Spanish, and has some fairly graphic images of shark finning): To Watch Video Click Here The gist of it (for all you non-Spanish speaking blog readers) […]
