And here comes December....

Brrr.....getting a little chilly here at night! I'm sure you Minnesotans will agree! Well I hope the past week has been good for all of you and everyone was well fed. Things here returned to normal the past couple weeks after our big Thanksgiving Sunday. Unfortunately we had to say good-bye to Sarah and Zach and are now down to 3 volunteers and 3 interns. I think we've all now gotten accustomed to the climate and daily routines and I've actually noticed a few of my fellow cohorts complain of the "cool" evenings. Yes....I'm sure you all are quite sorry for us! I don't think the weather can get any better than what it is right now. Relatively cool mornings for work......hot afternoons for a swim.....and nice cool evenings to sleep. A lot of progress is being made in both the Botanical Garden as well as the Boven & Quill Parks. A new intern, Kyle, from the States will be joining the team in a couple weeks. He will be working with Claire and Ana in the Garden. Tuesday evening we ventured out for a night hike. Every so often, Hannah and Joe will lead a hike in the evenings in search of scorpions. Yes, that is correct.....we actually drive to mountains, get out of the truck, and hike up the trails when the sun is not out. Sounds a tad bit crazy huh?! But it was a blast! Heather, Ella, Ana, Joe, Hannah and myself all set out around sundown and hiked around the Northern Hills for a couple hours. We were able to capture 4 scorpions on the hike. A scientist from Cuba is doing a research project on scorpions and have enlisted the help of STENAPA to aid him in documenting different species of scorpions. We also spent those evening hours looking for spiders as well. Good times! Other than that, business as usual. A group dive is planned this weekend so I will report back then! If the sharks don't get me before.......until next time America!