With help from the Rainforest Alliance, a brave young Costa Rican tree frog is traveling around the world to make new friends and find out what humans are doing to help save her home. This is the fifth in a series of five weekly dispatches about her experiences.
White sand. Clear Jamaican waters. Sunshine to die for. If ever there was a job for me, this is it: I’m snuggled into a crisp white towel defending the sliced fruit on Dohra’s glass against flies. They’re slim pickings, which suits me fine, more time to tan the eyelids. I can just make out the boat where Bertrand and the kids are preparing to go snorkeling.
“It’s a conspiracy,” Dohra mutters, laughing behind her large aviator shades. She waves lazily at the horizon and turns onto her stomach. Crazy to think we almost didn’t make it here. Dohra has been sour on the mega resorts since childhood, when her grandfather told her how the sediment from resort construction had run off into the water and driven the fish away, forcing his family to move farther down the coast. Even after her father opened a successful shop – offering T-shirts, Cuban cigars, and tourist dictionaries for navigating the local patois – their community had an unspoken agreement not to spend their money anywhere near those places.
“Dear,” Bertrand reminded her before booking the trip after a long debate, “you’ve lived in London for 30 years; I think things may have changed a little.” They certainly have. Our rooms here in Montego Bay are fully solar powered, energy and water conservation measures are employed across the resort, and recycling signs are everywhere. And Dohra’s reunion with her old schoolmate Jonathan, manager of the resort’s adventure tours, brings confirmation that, increasingly, money and jobs are going to locals, too. “I just still can’t believe it,” she says, as Jonathan stops by with another fruity drink. “This place has perfect scores for environmental conservation, cultural respect, and community involvement.”
“Yes, it is good,” Jonathan says with a smile. “Fortunately, someone higher up realized our business actually depends on this land and these waters. The environment isn’t some far-off thing, Dohra. Truly, it’s as close as the air we breathe.”
And, I think with a quick flick of the tongue, as delicious as the flies we eat.
Content on this page is provided by the Rainforest Alliance, supporter of the Vital Signs platform.
More from the Frog Diaries series:
- Brooklyn girl follows the frog.
- Backyard naturalist follows the frog.
- Brazilian chef follows the frog.
- Aussie farmer follows the frog.
