"Is the Water Safe to Drink?"

It is April 2nd and we just got back from our second long field trip. In 18 days, we've traveled the Caribbean Coast and even made our way into Panama! I'm almost positive I won't return to the States after having gone on the field trip. We've hiked over 20 miles on foot, stayed in some of the most beautiful field stations/ areas I've ever witnessed, and saw a completely different variety of flora and fauna from our first field trip. Trees with sexual overtones, red-eyed tree frogs (!!!!), poison dart frogs, venomous snakes, bats, birds, butterflies, sloths, howler monkeys, you name it. But, just like before, this is only a snapshot of our two-week adventure. Read on for the complete picture. I can assure you the sights and stories will not be disappointing. From the beginning, here we go!

3/15: Day 1
After two weeks of intense schooling, we finally left for our second field trip today! This time, we'll be traveling the entire Caribbean Coast of Costa Rica with a five day stop in Panama to observe marine diversity. In the span of three days before our trip, we had two midterms, a 15-minute Spanish oral presentation to give, and an essay and quiz to complete. My roommate Brandon and I literally did not sleep last night so we could complete it all. Probably wasn't one of our smartest decisions, as we hiked 10 miles through the Children's Eternal Rainforest today with a 20-some pound hiking backpack full of clothes and gear. This was no easy task, as we had to ascend insanely steep hills and descend ones of similar slope. One time, I actually ended up falling forward as I descended a hill resulting in me getting a couple battle wounds. No pain, no gain I guess. Mud is extremely slippery. I also ended up taking an unintentional swim as I tried to rock-hop across a river. Epic fail on my part. My backpack and I alike got drenched. At least my backpack had a rain cover. We got to Eladio's Refugee in Peñas Blancas at about 2:30, a little under five hours of walking. It normally takes an average of eight hours to make it here- we booked it even with our backpacks on.


Talk about primitive living. This little "nothing but walls" cabin in the middle of nowhere is without electricity, hot water (meaning cold showers), and toilets on the edge of breakdown. Dinners are by candlelight (Eladio is a fantastic cook), and visits to the bathroom and showers are by headlamp. All 22 of us are divided into two rooms with bunk beds and mattresses that I don't even want to know where have been/ what's been in them. Mosquitoes and horseflies are TERRIBLE here, so we sleep with bug nets. And we're here for five nights. I don't think I can be more excited. I think staying here will show me what I take for granted back home and make me grow as a person as I adjust to life with very little "luxuries."And now, it's 6:30 and I'm going to bed for some much needed sleep.

3/16: Day 2

I'll leave the interpretation up to you...

12 hours of sleep felt great! I was ready to do today's activity, which consisted of a bunch of orientation hikes and filling out species reports. It rained all day today, but being in the understory of the forest kept us mostly dry. Who woulda thought Mother Nature could be so sexual? One of the plants we studied had roots that looked like certain male appendages. Apparently, they provide structural stability to the palm tree. Another plant we learned about was nicknamed the Orgy Plant. One species of beetle climbs into the base of the flower, has an orgy, while at the same time pollinating the plant with the pollen from another. Interesting. We had the majority of the afternoon to ourselves after we recorded a few more species reports.

3/17: Day 3

First sighting of red-eyed tree frogs!

After a hearty breakfast of pancakes, eggs, and rice, we began Fungal Diversity Day. Lecture came first, and then we set off into the woods on a competitive scavenger hunt to see who could bring back the most diverse collection of fungi before lunch. Prizes were fungi-related and given to the top three groups. Last place got anti-fungal cream, second place (my group) got cheese, and of course, first place got beer. After lunch, we put our acting skills to the test, as each group was given a specific fungus and had to act out its reproductive cycle. That didn't take too long, as we had the majority of the afternoon free. Instead of going on another hike, I rested up for the night hike after dinner. Back on the first field trip when we saw the whales, that was my favorite part so far. Now, this night hike is my favorite part. We were able to see the notorious red-eyed tree frog! This is quite possibly my favorite animal. 15 years ago, they were believed to be extinct from the area, but as of recently, they're coming back. We also saw some other species of frogs, and a really neat helmeted iguana.

Helmeted iguana 

3/18: Day 4

Epic mud fight

In the morning, we did another field experiment, only this time, we all compiled the data because we each have to write up an individual lab report. Collecting data was even harder with the relentless rain, because when it rained, it poured. The bright side: an abundance of mud pits! Some of my friends and I had a mud war with our professors. When we were all drenched with mud, we showered in the river. So refreshing! Nothing was scheduled after lunch, so we lounged around the cabin. At night, we set up bat traps  and caught a bunch of different species of bats.

3/19: Day 5

Black-faced solitaire

We began today catching birds, much like they way we caught bats with mist nets. We did species reports on each of the different birds we caught. I spent the whole morning in the forest trying to come up with a topic for my independent project once we're back in Monteverde. As of now, I'd like to work with some type of lizard or frog. Our trip to another waterfall was delayed because one of the girls got lost in the forest and the TA's had to leave to find her. To get to the waterfall, we had to cross a big river (on foot!) and fight the current by walking up another one. Luckily, there were large boulders for us to rock-hop on. Although the water was freezing cold, the sun made its appearance for our last day at the cabin. Everyone went to bed early in preparation for our 10 mile hike to Pocosol tomorrow.

3/20: Day 6
I find myself continuing to ask stupid questions. As I was about to fill up my Camelback, I asked everyone if the water was safe to drink. It's not like it was used to make our juice the past five days. I really need to break that habit. I should know by now that water in Costa Rica is safe to drink. Anyways,

More of a resort than a field station

the hike to Pocosol was extremely more difficult than our hike to Eladio's, even though they were the same length. The terrain was much more varied. It would go from flat to downhill to uphill repeatedly. One hill took us a little under an hour to climb up. It was so steep, and we had our backpacks to carry. I felt a sense of accomplishment once I reached the top, despite having another 1.5 hours of hiking left. After all was said and done, we finally made it to Pocosol in about five hours. The field station is incredible! Too bad we're only here for two nights. After some much needed R&R, we had a lecture on the wonderful world of birds for Bird Diversity Day tomorrow.

3/21: Day 7

Oropendula nests

For a place who's name means "little sun" in Spanish, it's ironic that our stay in Pocosol was very sunny. The majority of today was spent birdwatching, beginning at 6 am. No need for an alarm clock when Montezumas oropendulas are around. A population of the birds had hanging nests from a tree right outside the station. Our lecture after dinner was focused on statistics in the sciences. To better understand the applications, we had a hands-on (or should I say "drinks-on") activity to help us. The activity: taste-testing 10 types of rum. Our professors know us too well. We wanted to see if a regression existed between our ability to detect higher quality rum (more expensive). We ranked the rums from favorite to least favorite and then compiled the data. After our taste-test, we had the rest of the night to chill. Between taking a three-hour nap earlier, and going to bed now at 11, I'm beginning to think that I was born a sloth. Either that or my spirit animal must be a sloth since I sleep all the time.

Mom and baby peccary

3/22: Day 8
In the words of Ice Cube, "Today was a good day," especially for seeing wildlife. We left Pocosol at 8 am in cattle trucks en route to La Selva, a world famous biological station/ nature preserve. This 4,000 acre preserve sees over 3,000 students and 300 scientists per year, either for tours or for research. After lunch there, we went on a three hour guided hike on one of the numerous trails. Even though the peccaries (think of a hairy pig) in the area are wild, they aren't afraid of humans. They've just grown accustomed to us and even let us get close to them. On the trail, we saw poison dart frogs, a sloth, and even a highly venomous eyelash pit viper. We also saw howler monkeys but they were too far away for a good pic. My imitation of their call was so realistic that they even responded to me! We head some free time in the afternoon to do some much needed laundry and take a HOT shower, the first opportunity we had to do so in seven days. But, getting dirty without anyone caring is half the fun on these field trips. Another opportunity we had was internet. Thank God. While going days and weeks without outside communication and Facebook is awesome, checking up on all your missed emails is a pain, especially when you get 180 of them. On the bright side, I found out I'm going to be a TA for a course next semester (Zoo 430)!! I Skyped my parents to check in on them and tell them the great news. After dinner, we had a lecture on amphibians before going on another night hike. First, we saw another sloth, only this one had a baby with her, and they were low enough in the tree for a picture!


Then we saw a snake that we originally thought was a coral snake, one of the most venomous snakes in the world. Upon closer inspection, it ended up being a false coral snake. Finally, we saw some more red-eyed tree frogs! Fact: this is the most widely photographed species among tropical frogs. It's easy to see why- it's beautiful.






3/23: Day 9
We began the day with a lecture on reptiles before spending the rest of the morning doing species reports. One of the species we did, the cocoa (chocolate) tree was one of the remaining ones at La Selva. Years ago, this place used to be a large scale chocolate farm before it became a biological preserve. Awesome. After lunch, we had a lecture on tree fall gaps in a tree fall gap for our Tropical Community Ecology class. Then it was off to another field station in Tirimbina for three nights. We had a filling dinner of chicken, rice, and beans before finishing the night off with a lecture on sustainable forestry to prepare us for tomorrow in the field.

3/24: Day 10
The whole day was dedicated to traveling to different farms learning about sustainable forestry. The first place we visited was a 30 hectare (Ha) farm where we learned about some of the many forestry laws in Costa Rica. Trees with less than a 60 cm diameter at breast height (DBH) can't be cut, and trees 15 m from a creak or 100 m from a spring can't be cut, no matter the DBH. In talking about sustainable forestry, we also learned that wood certified as sustainable is the same price as non-certified wood, which may lead one to wonder what's the point in using methods to harvest trees sustainably. The second place we visited was a 83 Ha tree plantation and pineapple farm. In order to receive environmental compensation for the trees,  the plantation must be established with 800 trees/Ha in one year. Thats a lot of trees. Although farmers get $600/year/Ha for their trees, it's quite expensive to maintain a plantation, and less profitable. Again, what's the point?
        Tonight, Branden and I went on a night hike by ourselves. In addition to finding a tiny glass frog (so named because of its transparent body), we flirted with "death." Next to a giant spider web, we saw a colony of bullet ants. Now, these aren't your average sized"ants go marching one by one steal your picnic food" ants. These are ants on steroids, with powerful mandibles. Bullet ant. They are regarded as having the worst insect bite in the world. People here would rather get stung by a scorpion than get bit by one of these. We thought it would be a good idea to try and help the spider eat by throwing the ants in its web with a stick, but both of us almost got bit in the process. Next time, we'll just let nature run its course.

Hog-nosed pit viper

3/25: Day 11 

Honduran white bat

The whole morning, we took a trail in the woods to do species reports on our way to the other side of Tirimbina. Most of the reports were on plants, but we managed to catch a few butterflies and see a hog-nosed pit viper, another highly venomous snake.  A biologist gave us a lecture on bats after lunch, and we went to the field to try and find the elusive Honduran white bat. It's a rare species to find, as it eats only two types of fig fruit, and roosts in only one species of plant. It was great that we were able to find some. We cooled off in the river for a little bit before returning to the station for another bat lecture.

3/26: Day 12

We left Tirimbina a little bit later than normal, at 11 am. Lunch was in town again, and then it was time for four hours of travel. I got a lot of studying done on the bus before sleeping. A short boat ride took us to our final destination, Parismina. We got there at 4, and after settling into our rooms, we had a pool party! The pool is awesome- it has a swim up bar! It's hard to believe I'm in school now. After dinner, we had a lecture on sea turtles to prepare us for tonight's activity: searching for nesting leatherback sea turtles on the beach! Our search was guided, and since light disturbs the turtles, we walked the beach in complete darkness. It was hard to do so at first, as I tripped on numerous pieces of driftwood and sand dunes. It took a while for my eyes to adjust. After walking what seemed like miles, we finally found not one, but two nesting mothers! I wasn't able to get a good picture of how massive these turtles are because of the no- light policy. Just being there was good enough for me. Most of the world's seven species of sea turtles are endangered because of poachers killing them for their meat and eggs, but the leatherback is critically endangered. In addition to poachers, pollution is a serious problem, namely plastic bags. It too closely resembles jellyfish, their main prey. In an effort to try and conserve this magnificent species, the villagers are working on a project that relocates the eggs to a secret part of the beach to try and thwart poachers.

3/27: Day 13

Green heron

The morning was quite nice and lazy. We slowly strolled down the river in boats to birdwatch for wading birds. At the end of the river, we took a short hike to do a few species reports in the woods. Mosquitoes. Were. Awful. I swear you could play connect-the-dot on my legs and outline the Mona Lisa. That's how bad they were. The trail emptied onto another beach and I got my first daylight glimpse of the ocean in weeks! Can't wait to rekindle my relationship with the ocean tomorrow in Panama. We did a few more species reports on the area's beach vegetation before heading back for lunch. Post-lunch, we swam and napped under the sun before one of the villagers involved with the turtle project gave a talk. Post-dinner, we watched a movie on sea turtle conservation, and now, a bunch of us are going to bed early for 7+ hours of traveling to Panama tomorrow. So excited.

And this ends our travels in Costa Rica! Panama was too fantastic that it deserves a completely new post.