Sorry it’s been so long, we didn’t have very consistent wifi for most of the trip and it’s been really busy at home! But we’ve done some pretty amazing things so of course I’m going to tell you about it!
January 1, 2016 HAPPY NEW YEAR! I started the New Year with some early morning birding. At La Selva Biological Station, the birding is fantastic! There is a cafeteria with a few decorative bushes and about 4 trees. You can practically stand right around there and see a ton of different species! (Around this time, I became quite the birder!) We started looking for flowers to sample for our research project. The best seemed to be the decorative species around the cafeteria because hummingbirds frequented them the most. We also got help from one of our professors, Donna, with creating a data table to input all of our numbers into. Later, I joined the professors, Donna, Hays, Kevin, and our TA, Garrett, on a hike to look for tent bats. Because the birding is so good at La Selva, it took us about 50 minutes to just get to the trail. The bats weren’t in one of the tents that they created but it was still worth it. We were in the middle of a really hard rain in the rainforest. I remember when I was little and we would visit the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, I would always want to go to the rainforest section. It is crazy how similar it is, you literally have no idea when it’s going to happen (I guess at the zoo though it was every 20 or so minutes, so maybe not exactly the same but you get the drift). Because of the rain, I had to put down my camera which made the experience even more amazing. With a camera you see through almost a third eye and don’t get the full impression to make a lasting memory without a picture. It was nice to put away all of the technology and just enjoy the nature. (I’ve been trying to do that a lot more throughout the whole trip.) For class, we had a lecture from Mark Wainwright about climate change and amphibians. He discussed different species, such as the Golden Toad, and how species are beginning to move to different latitudes and elevations. The issues facing amphibians can be vast, including deforestation, disease, ozone depletion, invasive species, and pollution. He also lead a night hike, where he fished out a tarantula! For our discussion, we had a debate about capitalism versus socialism. It was a very engaging conversation. January 2, 2016 As I mentioned before, the birding at La Selva is excellent, so of course I did some early birding again. After breakfast, we had a guided hike. We were the luckiest people ever, we were joking around with our guide and made a wish list of all the species we wanted to see. We actually saw all but two of them! Our guide could spot animals (especially birds) from a mile away. Our professors, Hays, Kevin, and Donna, tour guide, Marco, and TA, Garrett, could see everything before anyone else (I'm pretty sure they all have secret x-ray rainforest vision). After lunch, we took our bus to Tarcoles. | |