Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve

A 3-hour drive north, through the rolling hills of rainforest and pastures, led us to Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. Our longest field trip so far, we spend 3 days hiking, having lectures and animal workshops, and conducting research in one of the most interesting ecosystems in Costa Rica! The cloud forest, named for the almost constant cloud cover, sits on the Tilarán Mountain Range and the continental divide. The high humidity makes the forest very green and fast growing, covering everything with a layer of fuzzy moss.

On a trail through the cloud forest,
taken with flash! (the other picture is
the same path,  without flash)

Our first hike, with Edgardo as our guide, was to the continental divide via the Sendero Bosque Nuboso (the cloudy forest trail).  One of the prominent bird species here, the Black-faced Solitaire, has a creepy, almost metallic call like the sound of a rusty seesaw or old door. The whole forest feels haunted when the clouds roll in and the solitaire sings its eerie song. The divide itself was exciting, as both the Pacific and Caribbean could be seen when the clouds that hugged the peak allowed.

Friends on the continental divide!

The Pacific side of the continental divide.

The Caribbean side of the continental divide.

Over the rest of the day and the next few days, we were allowed to explore and develop our research project in pairs for our Tropical Ecology Field Exercise.  (Our project is about the relationship and affect of mining larvae of leaves on additional herbivore damage…it doesn’t sound exciting, but it actually is pretty cool, I promise!)

The black-faced solitaire.

A fallen strangler fig.

Our first morning started with an animal workshop with Edgardo. He has spent a lot of time at Monteverde doing research and getting his doctorate and set up mist-nets to catch birds and 6am. We caught 6 birds in total: a hermit hummingbird, a black-faced solitaire (with its eerie call), a black-headed nightingale thrush, a chestnut-capped finch, and another from the robin family. Edgardo knows plenty about birds, but the highlight was getting to release the nightingale thrush when we were done!

Other highlights and events:

·      We hiked through part of the Children’s Eternal Rainforest called Bajo del Tigre (Jaguar’s Canyon), that only 20 years earlier was a cattle pasture. Now on its way back, it is a perfect example of a Tropical Montane Forest.

·      During our research collection, Matt, Benji and I saw a barred forest-falcon!

·      A hummingbird exhibit with a bunch of feeders was close to our lodge, and one even landed on my wrist and tried to drink from my watch! (Apparently they like the color red!)

·      Saturday was my friend, Matt’s birthday! We all went out and had a great night! Looks like everyone is getting along really well and its going to be a great semester!

This little guy landed on my wrist!

Pacuare River

Once again we didn't take a day off this week! Instead of sleeping in and just hanging out, we went whitewater rafting! We started the day at 4:30am and planned to meet our bus shortly after. Instead of being on time or even running on "tico time" (usually more relaxed and less punctual), the bus driver was early! We headed to the airport to meet the rafting company's bus that would take us to river, but were dropped off on the side of the high way with no clue as to where we were meeting our group! Our expert planner, Elle, managed to find us a ride to the pick-up site and after 2 hours of waiting for the bus in the bushes near a Hampton Inn, we were finally picked up. The 12 of us scurried across a busy highway and climbed aboard an empty bus where we were dubbed the "mystery group" by our driver Marvin! After that mishap, we thought we had avoided all obstacles! But ooooh were we wrong!

The traffic jam on the "Calle del Muerte"

The 1 and a half hour drive to the company's main site turned into 3 hours when an accident on caretera 32, known as "the street of death" stopped all traffic and somehow created 5 lanes out of 2! Ticos are some crazy drivers, and Marvin got us safely to the main site. From there we were geared up and fed and off to the put-in spot on the Pacuare River!

The river flows through some of the most beautiful mountains and forests in Costa Rica, and even through one of the parks in which Jurassic Park was filmed. At any second, you could have seen a pterodactyl fly overhead! Our guide was nicknamed Yiyo ("jee-joo") and led us through some awesome rapids. Lunch was provided on a beautiful, rocky beach where every rock had been perfectly sculpted by the rushing river from the rainy season! Farther down the river we went, and entered a huge canyon that let us swim and float until we entered our last set of class 4 rapids!

The whole trip lasted about 5 hours, but we were far from being home! The bus ride home was filled with other rafters and we all chatted and slept until, of course, we hit another huge traffic jam. This time however, a land slide from earlier in the day was blocking our path! Marvin explained that it could take up to a day for them to clear it, but before we knew it (3 hours...) we were moving again! We finally got home around 9:30pm. That made it a solid 17 hour trip in all, but well worth it!


Since then, we've been working on a big Econ project evaluating the serviced provided for visitors to Poás Volcano National Park. This morning I also killed my first chicken! It was really intense and kind of scary, but I thought it was something I should experience at least once!
Tomorrow morning we are off on a trip to Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve for the next 3 days!

Tárcoles River, Carara National Park and Poás Volcano

Tárcoles River

I think I’m finally catching up on my posts! It’s been a busy last couple of days packed with field lectures and hikes all over the country.

This huge crocodile got super close to our boat...

 First, we had a field trip to the Tárcoles River Basin and Carara National Park. The Tárcoles River watershed only covers 4% of the total land of the country, but contains 55% of the total population. As a result, the river basin contains a very large about of trash and debris from as far away as San José. That doesn’t make it any less beautiful however, and we started out the day trip on a boat at the mouth of the river, getting to see a ton of birds and animals while on our way to a lecture in the mangrove forest.

Field lecture on the mangrove forest
in a mangrove forest

Playa Azul

The mangroves are a crucial species that figuratively and literally supports an entire ecosystem. Practically grasping the water with their long roots designed for extra water, the mangroves provide homes and food from many species of fish, crabs, clams, birds, and other animals. 

I saw plenty of birds I’d never seen before: Yellow-headed Caracara, Rosette Spoonbill, Yellow-crested Heron, Magnificent Frigate Bird,  and White Ibis. And some I recognized from home: osprey, Neotropic Cormorant, Little Blue Heron, Snowy Egret and spotted Sand Piper.

After the mangrove lecture, we moved on to a small costal town called Playa Azul that saw the direct results from the trash of the Tárcoles River. Another lecture there about Waste Management and a quick lunch and we were on our way again to Carara National Park just across the closest highway. A hike there with Achim meant loads more info on plants and fungi of the Wet-to-Dry Tropical Pacific Forest.

A "young" strangler fig (about 100 years old)
growing on its host Cashew tree.

Another huge Kapok tree!

On our hike through Carara National Park!

The next day we were off on another trip to the Central Volcanic Mountain Range for a visit to Poás Volcano National Park. We started with a morning hike with Achim again. He is by far my favorite person to have guide our hikes. He seems to enjoy our banter and get along well with us while still teaching us a lot. The park is in a Tropical Montane forest. Almost like home: oaks, elders, blueberries, a celery (and Queen Anne’s Lace) related plant and much colder than anywhere we’ve been so far!

The Elfin Forest!

At Botos Lagoon 

A nice hike to an old crater now called Botos lagoon from its remaining lake, then through the “Elfin” Forest of crazy, twisted vines and finally to the main crater! The view was mind-blowing and beautiful (if not a little stinky!)

The active crater at Poás Volcano National Park!

La Presa

RAIN!

In Atenas, our center is known as La Universidad de la Presa. The University of the Dam. We are located at the end of our street, overlooking the dam on the Río Grande Thanks to the kids from last year we followed the path past our campus, down the hill and through the thick undergrowth of jungle, to the dam itself. I’ve been down once before, but this time a group of 5 of us ventured down the mountain; Dangerous Dan, our stoic poet, and Lina, Elle and Kelly, we followed faithfully (even after only 10 days) down the trail. Thanks to our rubber boots, long pants and rainjackets, we didn’t get cut up by the crazy overgrown trail and as the rain started and we pases 3 tall, waterfall cliffs, Dan the man, our stoic poet screws us up! In case we can't ford the fast rising water, Dan, having been the only one down during the rain before, sends us back up the trail. Instead of heading all the way home, we stop and enjoy the fall of rain on the riverbed of the biggest fall. Since we were already soaked through, all we could do was play in the water! After 45 minutes, the water having only risen a few inches and the sunset casting a beautiful glow over the trail, we decide it was time to head home. All in all, more fun in the rain than I've had before!

Into the night we go!

First Weekend

I'm actually pretty far behind on my posts...and I know I've been here for 2 weeks already, but here's what I did on my first weekend in Costa Rica:

Unlike a normal Saturday here, we got to celebrate the Costa Rican Día de Independencia! OUr taxi driver on friday night told me he was excited for their version of the 4th of July, and when I questioned him on what was going to happen he told me that the Costa Rican army was going to march in the parade! Totally confused (since Costa Rica abolished their army in 1948), he reassured me that he was talking about their students! The parade the next morning was literally only student, but a lot of fun as the entire Atenas community squeezed into the town square to watch, enjoy and eat a lot of food!

The bungee crew!

Sunday, our first real day off, finally came! Some people when to San José and others to the beach, but 6 of my friends and I decided to try something new and go bungee jumping! After somehow finding a cab to fit us all, we were off to jump off the highest bridge for bungee jumping in the Americas!

Literally, it was the scarier thing I've ever done. I made everyone let me go towards the beginning in case I chickened out from watching everyone else jump. The anticipation was crazy and the moment when you stand on the edge of the platform was extremely emotionally draining. 265 feet is a long way down and as you jump and realize the ridiculousness of your situation and the canopy and rushing river rise up to meet you, your only thought is "WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING!?"

Thankfully, that doesn't last long, and the sensation of being sucked out of the air by the bungee around your ankles brings you back Earth, even though you're still bouncing and spinning and dangling in the middle of a Costa Rican canyon!

Dole Plantations

The banana plantation

SFS must love torturing its students! Making us choose between the much needed sleep after the jam-packed days and other crazy, awesome experiences that we will only have once. Again, I got up at 5:30am to join Edgardo, our Tropical Ecology professor, for some morning birding. Fortunately, the pain of an early morning was well worth it! Before we even left, I spotted my first Toucan! I feel like I've checked off an important goal and could just go home now! Of course, I won't and as we left the hotel lobby with Edgardo, I was amazed once again. Toucans, Colored Araçaris, Collared Trogon, and plenty of humming birds. As we crossed the bridge, we also saw a big and serious iguana and a terrified opossum, caught in one of the researcher's traps.

After la Tirimbina, we entered some of the largest mono-crop farms on the side of the world. Costa Rica's main agricultural exports include coffee, pineapple and bananas, making it the 7th biggest producer of bananas world wide. Dole plantations produce an absurd amount of bananas and is a crazy sight to see.

Looking up into a banana bunch still growing on the tree.
They are wrapped in plastic to protect against bruising and insects!

Bananas are not technically a tree but a giant herb, and can be grown year round because of the wet and hot climate here. The bananas we eat today are not however necessarily, completely natural because they are all the same genetic could and no plants are actually fertilized. The whole operation was intense and causes some tension in communities due to the instability of jobs and the increase in immigrants from Nicaragua.

The tour of the facilities, all of which are open air, was actually pretty interesting. Our tour guide was very full of himself and was clearly used to entertaining large tour groups from cruise ships and avoided the hard questions about pesticide and fertilizer use with ease. Still, it was crazy to see how so many bananas were grown and shipped all over the world without causing any overrippening and bruising!

The Dole processing facilities

A "banana train" waiting to get
packaged and shipped.

Tirimbina Biological Reserve

We are already off on our first field trip! La Tirimbina Biological Reserve is located in a fragment of a tropical rainforest on the caribbean side of the continental divide, forcing us to leave by 7am! Through San José and up and over the mountains, we drove through the small rural communities that still thrive off the beaten path. The village here, La Virgen, is not a popular tourist stop, but La Tirimbina has fortunately brought some of the growing eco-tourism industry to this area.

Achim holding a bromeliad
that fell from the canopy.

After dropping our stuff in our fancy, resort-style rooms and changing into our rubber gumboots, we were off on our orientation hike. Achim, the Natural Resource Management professor, took the first prepared group across on of the longest suspension bridges in Central America! Thankfully, Achim is a plant nerd, and knew exactly what to impress us with while still teaching us the complexities of the Tropical rainforest. From the towering Ceiba pentandra Kapok tree that's seed might have been blown over from Africa some 100+ years ago, and the spindly fern-tree, to the halls palm tree that was surviving in small, sunny clearing. 

One of the longest suspension bridges in Central American!

The animals and bugs were less abundant during the day obviously, but just as impressive. Small red and blue dart frogs, katydids, bullet ants the size and strength of, well, a bullet, a small but powerful pit viper, and plenty of spiders and leaf cutter ants. I even found mu first feather, which Achim identified as some kind of parakeet. No big mammals yet, but I'm sure we will get our chance soon, even if we did miss the puma that was rumored to have been in the park last week!

The rainforest is something that can really only be experience for one's self. The amount of life is astonishing and every shadow, noise, and movement pulse with life.

A bullet ant

A humming bird's nest
on the end of a leaf!

After another much needed lunch of rice and beans, we have free time to relax and play in rain. This style of school is so rewarding and so unlike anything else I've done before. I'm sure work will get harder, but for now, we can only enjoy each other's company and our new tropical home.

Tomorrow we head to Dole Plantation for a tour of the farms and facilities. Bananas have been a cause for concern in this county, causing deforestation and job insecurity, but nonetheless a huge part of the Costa Rican culture.

Pura Vida

Clearly starting and maintaining a blog is not what I’m meant to be doing, but here we go anyway… 2 flights and 8 hours after leaving the busy urbanity, I lug my stuff out into the humid Costa Rican air. I’m finally here and ready to spend the next 3 months getting to know this tropical climate. There are 31 of us from all over the states, and we piled onto the bus for our first trip to Atenas, our new home!

The campus is beautiful! 6 hectares of land hold a mix of houses, a dormitory, an outdoor classroom, an organic orange and mango farm, a chicken coop, and a pool among other things. The fall months are the rainy season in Costa Rica, but how else would so much life thrive if it weren’t for it. Our classes and the center in general follow a specific focus on sustainable living and development. The center is Rainforest Alliance certified and the farm is completely organic. The showers are cold; the food local; and our carbon footprint is monitored everyday. We pledge to life a sustainable life while here and help this country on its way to an impressive goal of reaching carbon neutrality by 2021.

Life here is great. As the Ticos say, “Pura Vida”!