janellekaz

[janellekaz]

Riding with our wildlife behavioral enrichment consultant, who just so happens to be a dear friend of mine. This was her second time on the back of a motorcycle, the first time was with me at least 13 years ago. We borrowed a helmet and made an impromptu seat. I used the two Possibilities Pouches and their awesome Pronghorn straps to configure saddlebags, which works surprisingly well. So good to have my vertebrate field zoology, animal behavior, and not-so-clandestine chemistry partner for a ride into the Chicamocha canyon in Colombia. Thanks for your help enriching the lives of rescued wildlife at @cabildoverde You’re one of my favorite critters. @catsnotkids . #chicamocha #colombia #indianmotorcycle #scoutsixty #giantloopmoto #rolandsandsdesign (at Cabañas Campestres Cañón del Chicamocha) https://www.instagram.com/p/CKEXThDBOgv/?igshid=137navto6ha7b

#chicamocha #colombia #indianmotorcycle #scoutsixty #giantloopmoto #rolandsandsdesign

[janellekaz]

If you reached out to me via my website with an interest in volunteering at Cabildo Verde, please check your junk mail folder if you didn’t hear back from me (sorry about that! Trying to figure out why that’s happening). You should have received a pdf with more info about the volunteer program, as well as a link to the registration form. This is a great opportunity to help rescued wildlife in Colombia— animals in rehabilitation and also those in the sanctuary. @cabildoverde is doing a wonderful job helping wildlife in Santander and they need assistance. They have two private bungalows near the jaguar, ocelot, and puma enclosure. Each bungalow can sleep 1-2 people. Thank you all so much for your interest and willingness to lend a hand for wildlife. @cabildoverde #volunteerabroad #wildlifevolunteer #wildliferehabilitation #wildlifeveterinarian #wildliferescue #wildlifeenrichment #wildlifesanctuary https://www.instagram.com/p/CKCLKTZBnHO/?igshid=y3vdjkic7lqa

#volunteerabroad #wildlifevolunteer #wildliferehabilitation #wildlifeveterinarian #wildliferescue #wildlifeenrichment #wildlifesanctuary

[janellekaz]

The veterinarian at @cabildoverde asked us to create a daytime play area for these little neonate Cebus monkeys. They’ve were orphaned at a very young age, their mothers murdered by poachers in order to steal the babies from the forest. They are illegally traded still clinging to stuffed animals, often sold to people who feel pity for them. Thankfully, these were confiscated by police and will be rehabilitated and released with other monkeys. The task was to make an area safe for baby monkeys to play in, where they could climb and develop muscles and physical coordination, and not be too afraid to fall. #wildliferescue #illegalwildlifetrade #monkeysarenotpets #colombia #wildlifevolunteer #cabildoverde #cebushangrila https://www.instagram.com/p/CKB1ZaLhKiC/?igshid=qx7gs5dtw5ca

#wildliferescue #illegalwildlifetrade #monkeysarenotpets #colombia #wildlifevolunteer #cabildoverde #cebushangrila

[janellekaz]

The earth is not just our environment, the earth is our mother. As our planet hurls around the sun into another year, the need for an ecological revolution, in conjunction with this technological one, grows with urgent momentum. Can we start holding the largest, most profitable corporations accountable for their environmental destruction yet? Or are we just going to keep ascribing responsibility to consumers, telling them to vote with their sparse dollars? If corporations have human rights, shouldn’t the rivers, the ocean, and the mountains be granted personhood too? #motherearth #environmentalresponsibility #corporations #personhood #earthmedicine #conservation Photo by @sebaschamorroph @indianmotorcycle @rolandsandsdesign https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ_c7iIhqG0/?igshid=nmojgomllz4c

#motherearth #environmentalresponsibility #corporations #personhood #earthmedicine #conservation

[janellekaz]

Wildlife enrichment at Cabildo Verde with a young male ocelot. Funny how cat behavior is so similar across feline species... it’s really only a matter of scale. Wild cats, like this ocelot, are often victims of the illegal wildlife trade, especially when they’re tiny kittens. Kittens grow, however; they are predators and have wild needs. Ocelots are very hard to successfully release back into the wild, as they often make their way back to humans, causing conflict with humans, livestock and pets. That was the case with this male. He was released and made his way back to someone’s farm, who then wanted to kill him in retaliation for losing chickens, and to prevent losing anything more. Therefore, Cabildo Verde is now his sanctuary, and lively enrichment will be needed to keep him content. See my website if you’re interested in creating wildlife enrichment for this ocelot and other rescued wildlife. @cabildoverde Thanks to @catsnotkids for the Behavioral Enrichment training for our volunteer program. #cabildoverde #ocelot #wildlifeenrichment #wildliferescue #sanctuary #colombia #santander #feline #wildlifevolunteer #wearealltrulywild (at Cabildo Verde Sabana de Torres) https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ6nFVGBdpL/?igshid=adgghmndz2i1

#cabildoverde #ocelot #wildlifeenrichment #wildliferescue #sanctuary #colombia #santander #feline #wildlifevolunteer #wearealltrulywild

[janellekaz]

Along the way, I meet people who are working to conserve and improve little pockets of the planet, helping the earth how they can, where they are. I imagine these locations like little islands of hope. Maybe some will grow and eventually connect, creating wildlife friendly habitats and corridors. Maybe some will simply cultivate crops in a regenerative way, making the soil healthier each year, rather than depleting it. I have always shared the projects and the journey, but I want to share more about the places I stay, when those places are a point of hope for the planet, wildlife, and humanity. Such is this little ecohostel, La Tangara Hostel near Jardin. The owner is a biologist and has taken all the steps to make sure her little guesthouse on the hill is eco-friendly. I think maybe her daughter will ride big motorcycles in the future... @latangarahostel @indianmotorcycle @rolandsandsdesign @giantloopmoto #ecohostel #colombia #wildlifefriendly #islandsofhope #wheretostay https://www.instagram.com/p/CInj08bh5Sm/?igshid=q8jisg5a4wiv

#ecohostel #colombia #wildlifefriendly #islandsofhope #wheretostay

[janellekaz]

Nature, you crazier than a snake's armpit. Incredible photos from @gourmetbiologist Biodiversity is truly our planet's greatest treasure... And it's greatest survival mechanism. We need it more than anything. #biodiversity #biology #wearenature #yousocrazy https://www.instagram.com/p/CIV0I-5ha8-/?igshid=4vooc1jd6weh

#biodiversity #biology #wearenature #yousocrazy

[janellekaz]

Life on the road has its own ups and downs, just like any way of life does. Commonality exists when we look to what there is to be grateful for, seeking out all that is going well, all there is to appreciate, all there is to be curious about, and just how much of a privilege it is to even be alive. Everything is in a state of liquidity, changing all the time, and life is really too short to waste it only noticing the things that don’t really matter with thoughts that are not based in love. Impermanence. #wearestardust https://www.instagram.com/p/CITLZOIhwLq/?igshid=nwgk7y9n52c1

#wearestardust

[janellekaz]

NAME THIS FROG One of the treasures of discovering a new species is that you get to name it. Well, in this case, that could be you. I’ve heard of organizations auctioning off new species, such as the new dracula orchid species Leonardo DiCaprio named after his mother, but this is the first time I’ve heard of one being left up to chance... in the form of a raffle. Each $1 gets you a shot at naming this new species of frog, found in the cloud forests of western Colombia. This tiny amphibian, the length of a paper clip, depends on horizontal rain for survival in the cloud forest habitat. Females lay eggs in bromeliads or forest litter where water accumulates. Unlike other frog species, this one bypasses the tadpole stage to emerge as fully formed miniature froglets. The raffle will close at the stroke of midnight Dec 31st, along with this bizarre year. The winner will be called January 1st, where they will get to choose the new name, for the new frog, in the new year. All of the money raised will go to preserving the cloud forest this frog and many other rare and endangered species call home. Ribbit. https://go.rallyup.com/ribbit @bioconservancy #newspecies #frog #cloudforest #namethisspecies #biodiversity #conservation #colombia #southamerica https://www.instagram.com/p/CIQbs2dBVpe/?igshid=klwq2e16cupl

#newspecies #frog #cloudforest #namethisspecies #biodiversity #conservation #colombia #southamerica

[janellekaz]

Just a note to say thanks to all my family, friends, friends I haven't met yet, and all of you who help protect nature and those without a voice. I appreciate you. #compassion #gratitude #adventure Photo by @sebaschamorroph @rolandsandsdesign Mia Jacket and Loma gloves https://www.instagram.com/p/CID_bCXh_CP/?igshid=1igv24d0xmzq2

#compassion #gratitude #adventure

[janellekaz]

Do you drink coffee? Do you like birds? For more than 5 million years, a rainbow of Neotropical migrant birds (tanagers, warblers, and orioles) has been embarking on epic annual migrations from breeding grounds in North America to the New World tropics. In Colombia, these wintering areas are a lot different now than they were just 50 years ago. From the 1970s to the 1990s, more than 60 percent of Colombian coffee lands were cleared of forest as new varieties of sun-grown coffee were planted. During that same period, populations for many Neotropical migrant species plummeted—a drop many scientists say is related to deforestation of the birds’ wintering areas across Central and South America. “Among 42 migratory songbird species known to overwinter in coffee plantations, more than half (22) have significantly declining populations. The morning cup of coffee has the power to directly help, or hurt, migratory birds. It’s an old refrain that’s been sung by Scott Weidensaul in his classic book Living on the Wind; by Canadian scientist Bridget Stutchbury in Silence of the Songbirds; and by the late, legendary Russell Greenberg at the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, who helped create the Bird-Friendly coffee certification for birder/coffee drinkers who want to support habitat with their cup of joe. More than 46 million Americans say they watch birds, and 57 percent of Americans drink coffee daily. That means there may be more than 25 million coffee-drinking bird watchers—more than 17 percent of the American coffee market. But Bird-Friendly coffee constitutes less than 0.1 percent of that market. And the market shares for Rainforest Alliance and Organic labels are in the low- to mid-single digits. Clearly, millions of bird watchers have not heard the message on coffee and migratory birds…or they’re not listening. #GustaveAxelson You can directly help birds by drinking coffee that is labeled as shade-grown, organic, and/or Bird-Friendly. @_josecastano @cornellbirds @selvaorgco @rainforestalliance @smithsonianmagazine #coffee #neotropicalbirds #migratorybirds #colombia #cornell #birding #birdfriendlycoffee https://www.instagram.com/p/CIBL4x4B_-y/?igshid=1wucgoxu1yt2u

#gustaveaxelson #coffee #neotropicalbirds #migratorybirds #colombia #cornell #birding #birdfriendlycoffee

[janellekaz]

Picking up bird song listening devices while traipsing around the surprisingly steep (!) coffee growing mountains of SW Antioquia with none-other than Jose Castaño, a birder so skilled, it was said that he was raised by a caring flock of yellow-eared parrots. Just kidding, I know his [human] mother, she’s super sweet. Recording birdsongs within shade-grown, polyculture coffee farms is a way of listening to the sound of sustainability in the dawn chorus of birds. @_josecastano 🐦 @cornellbirds @selvaorgco @nespressocoffee @nespresso.co https://www.instagram.com/p/CH-zggGhd73/?igshid=1erbj5i7qpue8

[janellekaz]

A scary but desperate moment pouring backroad gasoline into my pristine Onça from a plastic jug out of the bottom cement floor room of a home in a tiny coastal town in Ecuador. Not ideal, especially without a filter, but the gasoline was fine, thank goodness. Big eyes, bigger imagination in the smallest of locals. Lucas, half of the adorable Argentinian artist couple I stayed with, helping me fix my stuck RSD shifter. I was stoked to be working on the bike and Lucas, who LOVES taking things apart and putting them back together shows up. Problem solved with long distance instructions from @aaronboss_fabrication Also, the best of vibes at Lucas & Flor’s guesthouse, Casa Los Artistas in Montañita. This cute little abuela who still has impressive strength from chopping open fresh coconuts all these years. Yum. Thanks, grandma  @indianmotorcycle @rolandsandsdesign @giantloopmoto @memphisshades #ontheroad #motorcyclediaries #wearealltrulywild https://www.instagram.com/p/CH79ohChzAO/?igshid=wq1rpymlyhjr

#ontheroad #motorcyclediaries #wearealltrulywild

[janellekaz]

It wasn’t until after I left months of solitude, locked down in a Colombian town I had never been to before, that I realized my phone— my navigation— had completely failed. Apparently my model of iPhone had been recalled, which became apparent as it would not even show me where I was located on a map. It seemed there was some failure in communicating with satélites, so even offline maps wouldn’t work. I was a long way from any city where I could try to get my phone replaced (turns out Apple is only replacing the recalled phones in the countries where the defective model was sold anyways, the US and Hong Kong) so really my only option for navigating was the paper maps I carry with me and my compass. Though it was frustrating in the moment, and pulling over on the side of the road to check a large paper map made me feel more vulnerable, I’m grateful for this low tech experience.  I think it would be a good practice to do a trip without technology (or at least a large portion of it), to really pay attention to landmarks, the directional arrow of a compass, and to ask for directions from locals.  @indianmotorcycle @rolandsandsdesign Photo by @sebaschamorroph https://www.instagram.com/p/CHxsHKTB865/?igshid=18ru3wdv40khi

[janellekaz]

Following the way, or perhaps, more simply, a way. The drive to explore becomes inseparable from the central nervous system. When ignored, mania ensues. That is why nomadic societies such as the gypsies were egalitarian, possession-less and resistant to change.  That is also why great teachers— Buddha, Lao-tse, St Francis— had set the perpetual pilgrimage at the heart of their message and told their disciples, literally, to follow The Way. Inspired from Bruce Chatwin’s Anatomy of Restlessness Via @justinchatwin @indianmotorcycle @rolandsandsdesign Thanks for the snap, @david_gooseman #explorers #gypsyblood #anatomyofrestlessness #ownlesslivemore #nomad #brucechatwin https://www.instagram.com/p/CHvM86Po-21/?igshid=uxl4rzenye9

#explorers #gypsyblood #anatomyofrestlessness #ownlesslivemore #nomad #brucechatwin

[janellekaz]

“An elegant demonstration of a fundamental property of nature." Paul-Antoine Moreau said this about the first ever photo of quantum entanglement, a phenomenon so strange that Einstein called it “spooky action at a distance.” Quantum entanglement occurs when two particles become inextricably linked, and even when separated— whatever happens to one immediately affects the other, regardless of the distance between them (hence Einstein’s description). But I feel like these same words could be said about a waterfall, an elegant demonstration of the fundamental and bizarre properties of water, which we still don’t fully understand. If you haven’t already seen it, the photo by Moreau and his team shows entanglement between two photons - two light particles. They're interacting and - for a brief moment - sharing physical states. #quantumentanglement #photons #waterfalls #moreau #glasgow #bellinequality #physics #colombia https://www.instagram.com/p/CHvH8HGouh4/?igshid=prbqkzinepv0

#quantumentanglement #photons #waterfalls #moreau #glasgow #bellinequality #physics #colombia

[janellekaz]

The photo shoot would have been a lot more enjoyable if I didn’t know they were going to kill the model at the end of it. He looked so handsome against the white, well-lit backdrop. The glowing box he was inside illuminated his long, elegant tail as he tilted his head inquisitively for his close-up.  It’s for a good cause, “for science,” Luis Mazariegos PhD, reassured me. Earlier during lunch, the three park guards excitedly rushed back through the muck, disembarking from their fully swamped rubber boots at the entrance to the main lodge, placing an assortment of plastic containers on the table in front of us. They had found the lizards they were looking for: 6 specimens to be the representatives of a new species. I peered into the container to see their darkly colored scales, punctuated by a flashy racing stripe down the middle of their backs, extending all the way to the tip of their tapered, whip-like tails, fading from vibrant orange to sage green. Except, that is, for the fatter, older male who appeared to be in the process of growing his tail back. He clearly narrowly escaped death at least once already and what re-emerged as his tail looked more like a stubby wizard’s hat extending out behind him. @bioconservancy #thehummingbirdconservancy #newspecies #endemic #cloudforest #conservation #colombia #science (at Reserva Natural Mesenia - Paramillo) https://www.instagram.com/p/CHsWFfkhQoH/?igshid=18qyk316zjh0p

#thehummingbirdconservancy #newspecies #endemic #cloudforest #conservation #colombia #science