"Go and Dig Those Holes"

To start off our weekend, we volunteered at Echo, which is a parrot conservation group here on Bonaire. We helped dig holes for a reforestation project to build habitat for the endangered yellow-shouldered Amazon parrot (lora). A variety of native tree species that the lora use will be planted in these holes in the next few months. We dug about 250 holes in about 4 hours with a ton of sweat and cacti fights occurred during this time. Many of us stepped on or accidentally brushed up against the cacti since it was spread throughout the area we were working in (no matter how careful we were). It was a lot of hard work but so worth the effort and satisfaction of doing something for the local environment. We didn't see any of the native parrots but saw some parrots that are from Venezuela, which are domesticated. Besides the fun of digging, we started the day off with blowing out a tire and axle on the truck that took us to the site of the reforestation project. We had just pulled into the drop off area when we hit something that caused a loud noise. So, the Echo people had to call STINAPA, the organization that manages the terrestrial and marine areas on Bonaire, to come pick us up after we completed our work for the day. The day was a lot of fun by ending the day with swimming and hanging around town.

Snack Break!