History of Caño Palma Biological Station
Marilyn Cole & Ozzie Teichner (Founders) 1991
By Marilyn Cole (Co-Founder)
It was 1989. My former husband and I wanted a last minute cheap vacation and found Costa Rica. San Jose was noisy, crowded and a bit intimidating even then. We were taken by bus to our hotel in Jaco. I remember seeing goats walking down the middle of the road. From there we rented a car and, risking our lives with the crazy local drivers, we travelled to some of the wonderfully diverse regions– Monteverde, Manual Antonio, Santa Elena, Quepos, Carara. This vacation gave us a taste of this beautiful country, and we were determined to return.
In 1990, we both applied as research assistants to a PhD student who was studying the sea turtles near the tiny village of Tortuguero. With our background as zookeepers, we were accepted for a two-month period and so began a journey that still continues for me. We became part of a team of mainly Americans (and one South African woman who is now a respected professor in her home country) to initiate intensive studies of the leatherback sea turtles that came to nest on the beach adjacent to Tortuguero.
At that time the village was tiny – perhaps a population of 200 or so. There was only one general store but a couple of bars, a gas
station for refuelling motorboats and the entrance to Tortuguero National Park a little downriver. Arriving by bus to the port of Limon, we hired a boat to take us up river. Our destination was the Caribbean Conservation Corporation (now known as the Sea Turtle Conservancy, STC). At that time, the weathered buildings were right beside the present airstrip, not in the village. We shared dormitory quarters on the second floor, with the showers and toilets below. In an adjacent building there was the kitchen/dining area on the first floor and the lab and more bedrooms. If we wanted to go into the village, we either walked along the beach or caught a boat ride in. Otherwise, we were on our own. These particular buildings no longer exist and the CCC has moved its operations into the village itself. Air travel is much more frequent and has opened the way for tourists to discover the area.
Just as volunteers do today on the north beach, we were out every night on the south beach, walking up and down searching for nesting
turtles. There were no organized guides and no guards, so we were extra careful about encountering poachers. Any nests that appeared to be threatened by high tide were moved into “incubators” dug in the sand and fenced in to prevent dogs from raiding the eggs. There were no regulations about dogs on the beach and many nests were either decimated by the dogs or poachers.
There were a couple of lodges on the main river – Tortuga Lodge, Mawamba, Laguna being the main ones which are still there today. But there were no lodges or accommodation of any sort on the Caño Palma or the Pentencia river. There was no village of San Francisco. The cerro was steep, muddy and a challenge to climb. Caño Palma was occupied by campesinos. I recall Johnny on the beach side, Fermin and Juan and Marcos on the other side. There were probably a few other locals, but for the most part it was a serene paradise, mostly unknown to the outside world. The locals were either loggers or fishermen.
When Marcos approached us saying that he wanted to sell his property, we were intrigued and took a boat ride with him to see the property. As we landed in the shallows, ahead he could see a thatched roof hut – Marcos’ home. One portion was divided off for a bedroom while the other side was the kitchen and eating area. Food was prepared over a wood stove, and water was retrieved from a hole dug in the ground. An outhouse at the rear served as a primitive toilet. But what caught my eye immediately was the sight of a hawk eagle sitting in a tree nearby, the capuchin monkeys moving through the canopy and the sight of a gigantic tree full of oropendola nests. It’s hard to describe the feeling of magic that overcame me at that point – that this piece of heaven could be ours.
It took some time to get through the legal aspects of purchasing land from a squatter. In Costa Rica, if a person squats on land for a certain length of time, he acquires legal title to that land. Of course, we were wary but our Costa Rican lawyer assured us that all was as it should be. Establishing a registered charity in Canada was quite a job, taking some time to acquire charitable status, and it also meant turning over ownership of the land to COTERC in 1991.
From these beginnings, Caño Palma Biological Station has evolved and grown into what it is today. There was no dock, no dormitory, no kitchen (other than Marcos’s old hut), no well, no toilets – only the wonderful forest and wildlife. With the great efforts of the Station Managers (especially Greg Mayne and Daryl Loth), the infrastructure was developed; I am very proud of the success and, in particular, all of the research projects that are being carried on, both by external researchers and the base-initiated ones. None of this would have happened without the participation and enthusiasm of many board members, staff and volunteers.
It was 1989. My former husband and I wanted a last minute cheap vacation and found Costa Rica. San Jose was noisy, crowded and a bit intimidating even then. We were taken by bus to our hotel in Jaco. I remember seeing goats walking down the middle of the road. From there we rented a car and, risking our lives with the crazy local drivers, we travelled to some of the wonderfully diverse regions– Monteverde, Manual Antonio, Santa Elena, Quepos, Carara. This vacation gave us a taste of this beautiful country, and we were determined to return.
In 1990, we both applied as research assistants to a PhD student who was studying the sea turtles near the tiny village of Tortuguero. With our background as zookeepers, we were accepted for a two-month period and so began a journey that still continues for me. We became part of a team of mainly Americans (and one South African woman who is now a respected professor in her home country) to initiate intensive studies of the leatherback sea turtles that came to nest on the beach adjacent to Tortuguero.
At that time the village was tiny – perhaps a population of 200 or so. There was only one general store but a couple of bars, a gas
station for refuelling motorboats and the entrance to Tortuguero National Park a little downriver. Arriving by bus to the port of Limon, we hired a boat to take us up river. Our destination was the Caribbean Conservation Corporation (now known as the Sea Turtle Conservancy, STC). At that time, the weathered buildings were right beside the present airstrip, not in the village. We shared dormitory quarters on the second floor, with the showers and toilets below. In an adjacent building there was the kitchen/dining area on the first floor and the lab and more bedrooms. If we wanted to go into the village, we either walked along the beach or caught a boat ride in. Otherwise, we were on our own. These particular buildings no longer exist and the CCC has moved its operations into the village itself. Air travel is much more frequent and has opened the way for tourists to discover the area.
Just as volunteers do today on the north beach, we were out every night on the south beach, walking up and down searching for nesting
turtles. There were no organized guides and no guards, so we were extra careful about encountering poachers. Any nests that appeared to be threatened by high tide were moved into “incubators” dug in the sand and fenced in to prevent dogs from raiding the eggs. There were no regulations about dogs on the beach and many nests were either decimated by the dogs or poachers.
There were a couple of lodges on the main river – Tortuga Lodge, Mawamba, Laguna being the main ones which are still there today. But there were no lodges or accommodation of any sort on the Caño Palma or the Pentencia river. There was no village of San Francisco. The cerro was steep, muddy and a challenge to climb. Caño Palma was occupied by campesinos. I recall Johnny on the beach side, Fermin and Juan and Marcos on the other side. There were probably a few other locals, but for the most part it was a serene paradise, mostly unknown to the outside world. The locals were either loggers or fishermen.
When Marcos approached us saying that he wanted to sell his property, we were intrigued and took a boat ride with him to see the property. As we landed in the shallows, ahead he could see a thatched roof hut – Marcos’ home. One portion was divided off for a bedroom while the other side was the kitchen and eating area. Food was prepared over a wood stove, and water was retrieved from a hole dug in the ground. An outhouse at the rear served as a primitive toilet. But what caught my eye immediately was the sight of a hawk eagle sitting in a tree nearby, the capuchin monkeys moving through the canopy and the sight of a gigantic tree full of oropendola nests. It’s hard to describe the feeling of magic that overcame me at that point – that this piece of heaven could be ours.
It took some time to get through the legal aspects of purchasing land from a squatter. In Costa Rica, if a person squats on land for a certain length of time, he acquires legal title to that land. Of course, we were wary but our Costa Rican lawyer assured us that all was as it should be. Establishing a registered charity in Canada was quite a job, taking some time to acquire charitable status, and it also meant turning over ownership of the land to COTERC in 1991.
From these beginnings, Caño Palma Biological Station has evolved and grown into what it is today. There was no dock, no dormitory, no kitchen (other than Marcos’s old hut), no well, no toilets – only the wonderful forest and wildlife. With the great efforts of the Station Managers (especially Greg Mayne and Daryl Loth), the infrastructure was developed; I am very proud of the success and, in particular, all of the research projects that are being carried on, both by external researchers and the base-initiated ones. None of this would have happened without the participation and enthusiasm of many board members, staff and volunteers.