A true update

            This will be one of my last posts because sadly, I leave Costa Rica on the 20^th.  Sorry I haven’t been posting regularly, but I haven’t been doing a whole lot that is worth mentioning.  Turns out I won’t get to work with the local children.  They never ended up coming April 25^th because the materials for them weren’t ready.  So instead, I have been following around the guides here.  I go with them on all the tours and observe them to see what they do, and to get a better feel for how the tours are organized.  I have observed the chocolate tour (of course), the night hike, the natural history walk, and the two different bat tours.  They have 5 main guides here, but also some workers who used to be guides who are now doing other things around Tirimbina that they can use if they need to.  I picked a bad time to start observing tours because the rainy season just started and this is the time of the year where the number of tours decline.  Not many people want to go into the middle of the rainforest when it is raining. Go figure.

Here are some pictures from some tours.



Chocolate tour

 

Night Hike

 

Bat program (Cristhian showing how a nose-leaf works)

Bat tour (Wendy letting people touch the wing of the bat)

            In other news, one of the researchers found a baby squirrel on the forest floor somewhere and now we are taking care of it.  If it were up to me, I would have taken some pictures of it, and then let nature take its course.  But no, the others who live here said that they wanted to care for it, so we now have a baby squirrel.  Conveniently, those who said they would take care of it left for 4+ days, and guess who is now taking care of it? Yup. Me.  It has to eat every 4 hours, warm milk from a pipette.  And it will cry if it doesn’t.  AND you have to make it go to the bathroom by massaging that specific area.  As much as sometimes I don’t like the responsibility, (you know, like when it is crying at 3am and won’t shut up) it is a pretty cool experience, and the little critter is pretty adorable.

Jackie (4 weeks??)

Not Jackie, but a REALLY cool insect (Rhinocerous beetle?)

Also not Jackie, but a really pretty emerald basilisk

          Also, in other interesting news, there were parties in La Virgen (the town that Tirimbina is in) the past 2 weekends (not including the weekend we just had) where there was a ton of dancing! And I mean legitimate Salsa, Merengue, Cumbia dancing.  It was a lot of fun to just go out and dance salsa and merengue for hours! (I am completely inept at dancing cumbia).  I am really going to miss dancing like that in the states!  Oh, and on one of these nights I ran into the guide I had here when I was here 3 years ago, Fito.  It was pretty crazy, and he ended up remembering me and my group, so that was pretty cool.  Since then, he has shown me some really cool places nearby that I never knew existed! 

I am going to miss a lot of things when I go.  But, I will probably do one more post before I go back, so stay tuned!

Post that should have been posted a month ago!!!

So this is a post that I should have posted a month ago, but I just now have the pictures! Sorry!

Wow, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize how long ago the last post was!  So the kids didn’t end up coming April 5^th.  They are now coming April 25^th, next Monday.  Since I was originally going to only stay until May 3^rd, the fact that I would only get about 5 days with the kids was not good.  I ended up switching my flights and now I don’t leave until May 20^th.  I haven’t been doing much since I last updated, until about last week.  I worked on the Tirimbina newsletter for a couple days, which kept me occupied.  I also went out into the forest with Eugenia (the woman in charge of the education program) to look for bat tents to show the kids when they come.  We found a few, but also made a few artificial ones on the trail that we are going to take the kids on, just so they would have more experience spotting them.  Building bat tents is not as easy as it sounds! It’s pretty tough to be a bat!  Here are some pictures of the tents we made.



Apical



Pinnada



Inverted boat



            I also helped some of the researchers go out and collect bat tents for an experiment they were doing about temperature in bat tents.  The day after that I helped a different researcher change mammal traps that were high up in trees, and he even let me climb one!

Triumphant!!

            It was pretty tiring, but very exciting. 

            And then this Saturday, I visited Alex, the woman who rescued me the first day I got to Costa Rica.  Her boyfriend Felix picked me up at 7:30 am and took me to their farm.  I got to help her and Felix do some field research (because she is a biologist working on reforestation experiments) as well as get some well needed animal time!  In the morning I helped her change seed traps that she had set out, which she then takes the seeds and grows them to see what they become so she can make a seed identification type guide.  Then, in the afternoon, I got to play with her 3 dogs, meet her cows and calves, and go horseback riding through her old growth forest!!!!!!  And to top it off, she made pizza for dinner!  It was a great day, and I only got one tick! (My 5^th one, and no, I haven’t found the best home remedy to get them out).

            Yesterday was pretty low key, just walked around the forest a little and went for a run.  This week is Santa Semana, which is pretty much the same as Holy Week, but they take it to the extreme here and practically everything closes down for the whole week.  I’m about to venture to the grocery store with my new roommate in hopes that they are still open.  So yes, I just got a new roommate, Joyce, from the Netherlands, and she will be here for 6 weeks!  But now I am really outnumbered because out of the volunteers and researchers living here there are 5 Germans, 4 Dutch, and me, from the US.  But everyone here is awesome, so I don’t mind.

I will post an update hopefully later today since this is from a while ago :)

Camera!!

                  Not much has happened since the last time I updated.  I hiked more with my parents and we ended up seeing a fer de lance (really poisonous snake), a white collared peccary (very rare to see, but you smell them often enough!), some howler monkeys up close and personal, along with possible spider monkeys.  And, they got to see a basilisk right before they left, which was pretty cool.  They left on the 13^th to see other parts of Costa Rica, and I didn’t do much for most of that week because Eugenia wasn’t around.  On Thursday I left for San Jose with Claire, Mat, Debbie and Stephen because we were going to pick up Claire’s mother and sister from the airport and then Friday morning go to Monteverde.

            Monteverde was fun, it was a long and bumpy bus ride, but it was worth it.  Santa Elena, the town next to the Monteverde reserve was a small touristy town.  We stayed in a pretty nice hostel, and we got some good deals on zip lining and hiking.  We did a zip lining tour that had between 11 and 14 cables (I don’t remember exactly), one of which was called the “Superman” where they strapped you up to the cable by your back so you could glide down the cable and hold your arms out in a superman pose.  Definitely awesome.  The last one was called the Tarzan Swing, where you jumped off of a platform and freefell for a couple seconds and then ended up swinging like a pendulum.  I screamed, but it was a lot of fun too.  Definitely worth the $40.  The next day we hiked through the Santa Elena cloud forest (which is basically the same thing as the Monteverde cloud forest) and here are some cool picts!

            We came back on Sunday and I have actually had a little bit of work to do! The kids were supposed to come this week, but the program wasn’t ready yet, so they aren’t coming until April 5^th.  But I get to make a bat tent identification sheet that the kids can take out into the forest with them.  I’m trying to take my time with it because I know I won’t have much to do.  On the plus side, I got my camera last week! FINALLY!  Those pictures of the cloud forest above? MINE.  Horay! At least now I can go out into the forest and look for stuff to take pictures of when I’m bored now.

            Oh, and Tuesday we went to a little hidden waterfall back on some guys farm in La Virgen (the town I live in) and jumped from the cliff into the pool below.   The place was called Pozo Azule, and it was amazing.  Someone had to lead me up the path the entire way because I had to go without my glasses, so it was almost scarier going up to the cliff than to jump.  Almost.  The first jump I did pretty well, I only hurt the inside of my arms, but the second jump I landed smack on my butt.  I emerged from the water and all I could say was “OWWWWWWW” for a good couple minutes.  It was really a beautiful and secluded place, and I wish I had brought my camera!

           

            I have no plans for this weekend, probably staying here and getting up early to see if I can get some good animal picts.  My Ball State friends only have 2 more weeks here, and it’s really sad.  I’m going to miss them a lot.  Costa Rica won’t be the same without them!

I'm Back!

So, it’s been a while, wow, almost a month!!  I’m sorry but I have actually been busy! So I actually have some pictures from the Amphibian Center that I will try to get on here, and I have some pictures from the beach!  Which, by the way, was amazing!

Agalychnis callidryas
Red-Eyed Tree Frog

(I forgot what one this is!)

Cruziohyla calcarifer

Anotheca spinosa

And yes, that is a spider eating a cockroach!

            I ended up meeting 5 of my friends, some Ball State students, at San Jose on Saturday, and we left for Tamarindo Sunday morning, really early.  We left the hostel around 5am, and took two separate taxis (there were 6 of us) to the bus station which none of us had ever been to.  So, I got in the taxi with Mat and Claire, and our taxi was behind the first one, which Debbie, Alyssa and Steven were in.  The ride started off ok, we were all still very sleepy, until our taxi turned when the one ahead of us holding the rest of our friends didn’t.  Mat, Claire and I looked at each other and only panicked slightly.  When we pulled up to this tiny, really sketchy bus station, we all got out and exchanged really nervous looks.  It was still dark out and nobody was there except for this one weird guy who we weren’t even sure worked there.  We waited, and then a few minutes later, the other taxi showed up, thankfully.  Even after we all were together again, we were stuck outside with this one guy who was acting strange.  The bus station didn’t open until 5:50 and our bus was supposed to leave at 6am.

           

            While we were waiting for the bus, the strange guy greeted the few other brave souls who came at such an early hour.  Then, he started talking to the payphone, without picking up the actual phone.  Then he pointed to the payphone, then pointed two fingers at his eyes, and then back at the payphone in the “I’m watching you” gesture.  Thankfully he stayed outside while we went inside to wait and pay for our tickets.  While we were waiting for our bus, he started a mini uproar by screaming that a dog had bit him, and he ran around holding his arm, trying to show people.  There was no dog around, and he was not really bitten.  As a group we decided he must be a crackhead or something like that.  The rest of the trip there was uneventful, we got on all of the buses we needed to,  got to Tamarindo, ate lunch, and then picked up the car from the rental place.

           

            We drove to Coco Beach, which was 45 minutes away, with 6 people smushed in a 5 person car.  We resolved this problem by always making one person lay down across the laps of the people in the back.  Most of the time it was me (which I didn’t mind).  We stayed in a really cool hostel, called Coco Azul, in which we had our own kitchen area, a futon (which the guys shared), a single bed and double bed in the bedroom and we asked for another mattress which we put on the floor.

Car ride solution :D

Our kitchen area at Coco Azul

           We beached hopped the whole time and we made it to Playa Hermosa, possibly Playa Panama, we weren’t really sure, Playa Blanco (I think it was called) and Playa Tamarindo.  Playa Blanco was my favorite because you had to cross a bunch of rocks during low tide to get to it, and leave before high tide or else you would be stuck there!  I got sunburnt the first day, and I was called the lobster because of it.  We cooked most of our food, but one night we ate at a really touristy place called the Happy Snapper, which was a lot of fun.

           

Playa Hermosa

Playa Blanca

Playa Blanca

I forgot which beach this sunset was at

The Happy Snapper!!

Playing cards on the beach

All dressed up ready to go out on the town for some dancing!

            I was supposed to leave earlier than everyone, on Thursday, to go meet my friend Meagan at the San Jose Airport, but after realizing that I would get there at night, by myself, and remembering how sketchy it was that morning, I decided to wait until Steve and Alyssa left Friday morning.  I met Meagan at the hostel she was staying at in San Jose on Friday and all was good.  Meagan came back to Tirimbina with me on Saturday, and she stayed until Tuesday.  I showed her around the forest and a little bit around the town nearby.   I didn’t do much the rest of the week after Meagan left, because I was getting ready to go home to Rome on Friday.  I woke up at 6 of Friday and caught buses and taxis to the airport and flew home and made it home by midnight on Friday.  I had a nice relaxing stay at home, and then yesterday I flew back here with my parents and they are going to stay here until Sunday, and then travel to Las Suenos on the West coast.  I took them hiking through the forest this morning, and so far they like it!

            That’s it for me right now, and hopefully on Monday I will be helping Eugenia prepare for the arrival of kids!!

CRARC!!!

            Time to update again! Monday in the afternoon I helped Catherine and Gato bait mammal traps, even though it started to downpour shortly after we started.  Tuesday I didn’t do much because it was pouring the whole day.  Wednesday is where all the adventure was! 

            On Wednesday I traveled with the four German researchers, Vito, Eva, Simone and Max to Guayacan to the Costa Rican Amphibian Research Center!  We had to take four different buses to get there, and it took about 4 hours.  We arrived there around 4pm on Wednesday and stayed in the guest house that could fit 7 people.  Around 6pm we started off on a guided hike by the owner, Brian Kubicki, who studies the phenology of the herps (amphibians and reptiles) in Costa Rica.  This was one of the best hikes I have ever been on because we saw sooooo many things!  In the end we counted about 25 frog species alone, plus one bolitoglossid (a CR salamander), a few snakes, many spiders, and even some scorpions!  I was able to see some frog species that are endangered and only occur in certain spots of Costa Rica that not many people have seen!  After about 6 hours of hiking, we finally made it back to our guest house around midnight, but the guys kept searching around the hillside and found even more species while Eva and I went inside and got some food.  I kind of wish I had gone with them even though I was incredibly footsore from rubber boots, because they found Anotheca spinosa which I think is called the spiny headed tree frog, and it looks soooo cool.  Of course I didn’t have my camera with me because I haven’t received it yet, but I will get pictures from the researchers and post some (if I figure out how to post picts).  We returned yesterday evening, after staying only one night.

            The next adventure starts tomorrow!  It is spring break for the Ball State students, so I’m meeting some of them in San Jose tomorrow so we can leave for Tamarindo on Sunday morning.  Tamarindo is a place in CR that has a ton of beaches! I can’t wait because I haven’t been to a beach yet!  I’m only staying with them until Thursday, at which point I am leaving and going back to San Jose to meet my friend Meagan at the airport that night.  We are going to spend Friday in San Jose and then return to Tirimbina on Saturday.  She is going to stay the week with me (she had to reserve her own room though) and then she will return to the US March 3^rd, and I will return March 4^th!  Busy, busy, busy! I will post pictures as soon as I get them!

Blue Morpho!

        Well, a lot has happened since Wednesday when I updated last.  Thursday I went out into the forest with Laura again, helping her set up more traps, and in the afternoon I translated stuff for Eugenia while Laura patched up some more traps.  Friday morning I went out with Laura again, to help her bait the traps with the banana stuff that I helped her mush the other day.  I got to see howler monkeys (we set up a trap right under where they were hanging out actually), a ton of blue morphos (a BEAUTIFUL big blue butterfly), a red morph of the pit viper, and again, more cool butterflies and bugs.  Friday afternoon I went on the chocolate tour (again) with Matt, Claire and Julia (3 Ball State Students) and we saw an agouti and a beautiful hog-nosed pit viper!  Then later that night we all went on a night hike, but didn’t see much because it hadn’t rained in a while.

            Saturday I slept in and had a relaxing day.  I went out into the forest with Matt to help him collect ants.  He wanted a bullet ant, but instead we found some ants that mimic wasps with their coloring, so he got those instead.  Then I went to lunch and came back to my room to find that I had a new roommate!  Her name is Lisi (and I have no idea if I am spelling that right) and she is from Spain and she is a photographer.  She seems pretty cool.  In the afternoon I went into town with Claire, Julia, and Annie (another researcher) and we got some supplies and ice cream, because ice cream here is ridiculously cheap and tasty.  Then Saturday night, Matt, Julia and I watched the Chronicles of Narnia in Spanish (with English subtitles) which was pretty cool.

            Sunday it was raining in the morning so I didn’t do much, but in the afternoon I went to the hot springs with some of the researchers and some of the Tirimbina workers.  We had a whole bunch of beer and food, intending to make a day of it, and when we got there they told us we couldn’t bring in food or drinks (not knowing if we had any or not) but we brought them in anyway.  Nobody ever said anything! It was a lot of fun, and we didn’t get back until around 10pm. I was surprised that Lisi wasn’t in the room, but she had talked about going to Tortuguero for the day, so I thought she might be back later, but she didn’t come back at all.

            This morning I got up nice and early to go help Catherine, one of the Tirimbina researchers, but it was pouring buckets outside, so she said to see if I could help Christian, another Tirimbina researcher, collect caterpillars.  When he came by, he said that it was raining too hard to find larva, so we would do it later.  So I came back and went to bed for a bit, and now I’m updating!  I’m not sure what I will be doing today, if anything, but I will keep posting!

Stuff to do!

Howdy all, thankfully a lot has been happening lately! Sunday I didn’t do much, just did some drawings of local flora and fauna.  Monday, again, I didn’t do too much, but I did see an iguana going to the bathroom in a tree, all of which landed on the cabin next to mine.  Also, I saw a lineated woodpecker, which is very similar to our pileated woodpecker.

           

            Tuesday I got woken up at 9am ( I didn’t fall asleep until 3am) by Eugenia, the woman who is in charge of the environmental education program here, saying that they were leaving for a meet with the directors of the schools and she invited me to come.  So I showered real quick and went with her and another person.  The meeting was cool, Eugenia just gave a quick presentation about the results from last year’s program, using my excel graphs, and made dates with the schools for when they are going to come.  The first school doesn’t come to Tirimbina until March 21, so I’m free to do whatever until then.  So Eugenia said that she would talk to the other programs to see if they needed an extra volunteer for a couple of weeks.

           

            In the meantime, on Tuesday, I volunteered to help two butterfly researchers mash up brown bananas with my hands to make bait for butterflies.  I got to talking to them, and ended up offering my services to one of them, Laura, for today.  So I got up at 7 and helped her carry stuff to make butterfly traps out into the rainforest.  All morning, until 1, we were out on trails putting up butterfly traps.  We saw lots of cool butterflies (go figure), a mot mot, a potoo, which is a really cool bird that looks like the extension of a branch, dendrobatis pumillio, and some cool bugs.  We went out again after lunch, but for a shorter time, and just to drop off the rest of the traps.  When I got back, I enjoyed a nice, cold beer in my hammock. I’m going to help her tomorrow too, and we are going to set up the traps we dropped off, and hopefully end up baiting them in the afternoon.  Then, this weekend, I think I am going to Monteverde with some of the Ball State students. 

            Next week I will be working with different people on butterfly stuff, collecting larva and whatnot.  So yay for keeping busy!!