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.