2020-03-01_Wanderlust

wanderlust.co.uk March 2020 169

DISCOVER

Ilovetoworkoutdoors.

I grew up in the countryside, in Guápiles, so

being outdoors all the time is important to me.

I wasn’t sure I’d be a guide until I started training

and found that I liked to be in contact with the

environment and that it would be my future

o ice! After 25 years, it’s still my o ice!

Birds are like human beings.

I can identify about 700 birds by sight and call.

Their calls are interesting, because they’re quite

complex. It’s like knowing 700 languages, but it’s

notlikeIknowallofthem–it’saboutidentifying

behaviour,too.Knowingthedistance,elevation

orlocationalsohelpsmetoidentifythem.

It’simportanttostartsmall.

Childrenarelearningmoreandmorehowto

dothings,butwhoistakingthemoutandgiving

themstructuredinformation?That’swhy

Ivolunteertoeducatestudentsonseaturtle

projects.It’snotjustaboutlearningwhat’swhat;

it’saboutwhatturtlesdoorwhytheylikeithere.

Wildlifeisaboutlinkinglittledetails.

IfyougotoAfrica,yourgoalisto‡indtheBigFive,

butinthetropicsyouhavethe‘thousandlittles’:

everythingfromleafcutterantsandpoisondart

frogs,tobirdsfollowingarmyants.Whythey

followisjustamatteroflinkingthelittledetails.

Corcovadoisintense.Thisnationalpark

isoneofthemostintenselybiodiverseplacesin

theworld,withlotsofwildlife,butnotsomany

people.Thereareplacesyoucanjustwalkby

and‡indtento 100 scarletmacaws‡lyingabove.

.WhenIwas

training,mostofthenaturalistswerebiologists

workinginthe‡ield.Inaway,theyadoptedme,

makingsurethatthelittlekidlearnedbest.They

said,“Whateveryoulearnisnotenough.Just

keeplearning.”It’soneofthemostimportant

thingsyou’ll‡indinnature;it’sanopenlibrary.

Thingscangobumpinthenight.

Onetimewewereinthemiddleofnowherein

therainforestandthismansaid,“Icouldn’tsleep

lastnight–thepowergeneratorwasonallnight!”

Itoldhimtherewerenogenerators,andhe

insisted:“AreyousayingI’mlying?”Butthesame

day,afterdinner,Iaskedtoseehisroom.When

Igotthere,Isawstonepondsrightbehindthe

room.Andtherewasaveryloudsound.Using

mytorchIwentaroundandfoundahugebunch

oftoads.Hedidn’tknowwhethertocryorlaugh.

Hesaid,“Johnny,pleasedon’ttellanyone.”But

thewholegroupwasrightbehindme,laughing!

Changeisjustroundthecorner.

Convincingpeopletodosomethingcanbethe

biggestchallenge,especiallywhenyouhave

di—erentbackgrounds.Butit’snotimpossible.

Recently,thegovernmentsharedanewplanfor

2050 – thebigdecarbonisationoftheeconomy.

Itisachallenge,but99%ofourpoweris

generatedbyrenewablesources,andbecoming

amongtheworld’s‡irstcarbon-neutralcountries

isoneofthebestincentiveswe’vehad.

THEKNOWLEDGE

Growing upintheCosta

Rican countryside

inspired Exodus Travels

guide Johnny Villalobos.

But as our 2019 award-

winner for conservation,

he explains why he always

knew the outdoors

would be his offi ce...

Lessons from

the road

with Johny Vilaobo

Naturehasnoboundaries.

Icanidentifyabout

700 birdsbysightand

call–it’slikeknowing

700 languages

The

WoAwrld Guideards WorldGuideAwards.com

Bird’s eye view...

In Corcovado National

Park you can see

hundreds of scarlet

macaws lying above

AWL