Waterfall

Our bus is running late. So I'll leave you with this picture of the waterfall at Monteverde.

More Travels

Off again, this time to Cuerici, Corcovado, and Las Cruces. I'll be back in San Jose on February 10, but until then we might not have internet. Corcovado definitely won't, Cuerici didn't last year, and Las Cruces might. After that, I think I should have wireless pretty much all the time, though. Expect many updates in two weeks!

Santa Rosa

I haven't finished uploading my Palo Verde pictures yet, but I thought you guys might like to see some of the ones from Santa Rosa. (Tip: Hover over the pictures to see the titles, I was too lazy to write them all out).

Foooood!

As most of you know, I love food. And tonight was my favorite meal so far in Costa Rica. The cooks at Monteverde have absolutely spoiled us. Tonight we had fried tortillas with refried beans, fresh tomato salsa, delicious guacamole, lettuce, fresh sour cream, and cheese. So very tasty. For dessert, there was delicious, creamy ice cream, one scoop of coconut and one scoop of vanilla. Mmmmmm.

January 20, 2007 – Monteverde

I love this place. I don’t know that anywhere we go will top it, although since we’ve only been to two of the five sites in Costa Rica where we’re doing field projects, who knows. It’s so pretty here. The forest is like what I expect a rainforest to look like, except without the heat and humidity. There are plants everywhere, every possible space is covered. All of the trees have moss and epiphytes growing on them. There are gigantic tree ferns everywhere, and beautiful flowers scattered here and there. On the first day one of the boys commented that he kept expecting to see a dinosaur run out, like in Jurassic Park, and I know exactly what he means.

The other day Pam and I found a waterfall while we were following a trail. It’s beautiful, nestled down in a secluded spot in the woods, with a pool and pretty stream.

The weather has also been nicer than expected. Most of the mornings and evenings are gray and misty, but around 8 or 9 am it’s been getting sunny and very pleasant. The mist is really neat, too, it’s like being inside a cloud. The view from outside our room is also amazing, we can see all the way to the ocean. This place is wonderful. I think I may want to come back here to visit some day.

January 18, 2007 – Monteverde

Monteverde is a cloud forest. It’s way up high in a mountain, and is apparently shrouded in mist most of the time. When we arrived yesterday it misted for most of the afternoon and evening. Today started out misty, but then got sunny. It’s also much, much cooler here than it was at Palo Verde, the temperature has been in the 60s and 70s (compared to the 80s and 90s). We’ve all been bundling up in our long pants and long-sleeved shirts, and even then it’s a little chilly. I’m not complaining, though, I definitely prefer this to the heat.

Today we hiked up a mud pit to see the continental divide. Not kidding. It was about a three hour hike (give or take a few wrong turns) pretty much straight up the side of a very muddy mountain. By the time we got back down, my boots and my pants up to about my knees were caked in mud.

The accommodations here are very, very nice. Palo Verde was nice by field station standards, Santa Rosa was a campground with outhouses (not my favorite way to live), but this is like the Ritz Carlton of field stations. The rooms are fairly spacious, with two bunk beds in each, beautiful hardwood floors, and our own bathroom with a (warm!) shower and flushing toilet. Also, someone comes in every day to make our beds and lay out fresh towels (also very unexpected). The food is fantastic. For lunch on the first day there was sort of a pasta primavera (alfredo sauce with vegetables) and dinners have been a lovely spread with salads, rice, beans of some sort, chicken or another meat, vegetables, and a dessert! The first night was the creamiest ice cream I’ve ever tasted, and tonight was flan covered with a caramel sauce. This place is definitely spoiling us for everywhere else (particularly Corcovado, the sight we have a “love/hate” relationship with, according to one of the professors – very hot, very humid, very very rustic).

We start doing our field projects here tomorrow. Currently, three papers are in the draft stage – Applying Optimal Defense Theory to Ant-Acacia Mutualisms, Environmental effects on nectar production and pollinator interactions with the flowering plant, Ruellia nudiflora (I hate this paper so very, very much), and The Effect of Ant Size on Myrmeleon crudelis Capture Success. The project I might tag along with here is on butterflies. Hopefully it will be interesting and go well. The novelty of doing fieldwork nonstop is starting to wear off, and now it’s just . . . work. Fifty-one more days to go, and I hope that they will be enjoyable, at least some of the time.

January 16, 2007 – Santa Rosa

Yesterday we drove to Santa Rosa National Park and then walked the 12 km (about 6 miles) into the campground. It was a long walk on a rough road – mostly downhill, lots of pits in the road, uneven terrain. I’m not the world’s fastest hiker by any means, and I don’t particularly enjoy it, so I was very happy to reach the campground. It’s really pretty here. Our tents are set up in a little grove about a two minute walk from the beach. It’s nice and shady in here, and the place is crawling with little tiny lizards that blend in perfectly with the sand when they hold still, and the larger ctenosaurs like we saw at Palo Verde. One of them is particularly territorial, and he’s constantly bobbing his head at us. There are also magnificent white-throated magpie jays. They look sort of like blue jays because they are bright blue in color, but they are much larger, with very long tail feathers and a black crest on their heads. I love them. There are many other birds around, but I don’t know all their names.

At night, these small black and orange herbivorous crabs come out and scuttle around. It’s a little unnerving to come across one on your way to the bathroom (a disgusting outhouse about a five minute walk from where we are – yuck). Later that night we went out on the beach in the dark (only starlight) to look for sea turtles. And we found one - an Olive Ridley turtle laying eggs in a pit in the sand. We watched her lay the eggs, cover the nest with sand, and then trek back to the water and swim away. Beautiful.

The beach here is lovely. The water is a beautiful blue and the sand is soft and stretches far in either direction. The water is a very comfortable temperature and the waves are amazing (they make Good Harbor’s look like nothing). I love it here. We watched the sunset from the beach, also very lovely. This makes me very excited for Little Cayman.

Goodbye Palo Verde

Tomorrow we're off to Santa Rosa, and then to Monteverde on the 17th, and it is unlikely that I will have internet again until the 24th. We're all sort of holding out hope that there will be wireless, or at least station computers with internet access, at Monteverde, but I'm trying not to get my hopes up since it's very, very unlikely.

Anyway, thanks for your comments, and I'll definitely continue posting when we get back to San Jose on the 24th, if not before. I'm not sure what my internet access situation will be like for the rest of the trip, so expect sporadic updates from now on. Palo Verde has really spoiled us. :-)

Things of note

1. Apparently I am getting some color, I have a crazy watch-tan going on at the moment.

2. I've sprouted many new freckles.

3. The stars here are more clear and beautiful than anywhere else I've ever been.

Palo Verde Pictures*

*Another post that will be updated over the course of many, many days. Unfortunately, we're leaving here on Sunday, and I probably won't have internet again until the 24th. We're going to Santa Rosa (a beach! with potential sea turtles!) and then Monteverde (a cloud forest, with lots and lots of rain!)

The group on a hike


Antlion pits (more about them in a forthcoming entry)


View from the top of a hill


View again


Jennie and Ankit


Sam


Brigette


Tree with buttress roots


Marsh! So many black-bellied whistling ducks!


Jacana. Not a great picture, and I took it through my binoculars, but I thought it was worth posting.


Cows! So the interesting thing about cows here . . . they brought them in to keep the grasses in the marsh trimmed down, so that the birds can come in to nest (there's a lot more to the story than that, about wetland management and the Invasion of the Cattails, but I might save those for another day)


Ctenosaur on a post! You can click to make the picture bigger


Some sort of water lily on the marsh


The marsh! It's really beautiful


Tree with a Vine. I love this picture


View from our front door


Pam on our step


Our room


Lemon tree outside our room


Dining hall

Blecch

Not the best day here so far. I started feeling nauseous last night, and it's been slowly getting worse over the course of today. I feel really lousy right now, and I have for most of the afternoon and evening. Ugh.

Here's hoping a good night's sleep will fix everything.

More Questions!

From Doug:
Do you work together on certain pieces or is it a collection of individual work?

We've been working in groups of 5 on the faculty-initiated projects, but now we're on our own to come up with projects either to do individually or in groups. Most people work in groups of 2-5, but there's the option to work by yourself if you choose.

So did you howl?
Nope. :-)

Question: Ant-Acacia Mutualisms

Judi writes:
I'd like to know more about Ant-Acacia Mutualisms. What are they?

First, they're really, really cool.

The acacia trees here have hollow thorns, and the ants live in the thorns. The trees provide nectaries on the petioles of leaves and sometimes Beltian bodies, which contain oils and proteins for the ants to eat. In return, the ants theoretically defend the tree from herbivores, and some species clear away competing vegetation. I say "theoretically" because apparently some ant species are more selfish than others, and ants may take from the plant without giving back. Thus, some species are poor mutualists.

We've seen three ant species so far, Pseudomyrmex spinicola, which is red and the most aggressive, Pseudomyrmex flavicornis, which is black and less aggressive, and a Crematogaster spp. They were little black guys who hold their abdomens high in the air and look pretty silly.

It's sort of fun to tap on a tree branch or trunk and watch the ants come pouring out of their thorns to investigate the disturbance. That's basically what our project was, except we were tapping on leaves, flowers, and fruits to see if the ants differentially protected different structures. We found that they didn't really protect anything at all, which could be for a lot of different reasons.

Question Time

If you post questions, I will answer them in your very own special post!

Katie asks:
Have you actually seen any hummingbirds for your paper, or are you only working on other source materials?

The paper I have to critique is Adaptation in a Plant-Hummingbird Association, by Ethan J. Temeles and W. John Kress from 2003. I basically have to summarize the paper, present the authors' conclusions, discuss any shortcomings, talk about what was novel, and suggest ideas for further research. Not too bad.

However, I have seen lots and lots of hummingbirds, including one that zipped over my head yesterday while I was observing a patch of flowers and one that came very close to me today while I was observing a different patch. They're wonderful!

Day 7: Palo Verde

We turned in our first paper today, Applying Optimal Defense Theory to Ant-Acacia Mutualisms. At the end of our program all of the papers are published in a book, and we each get a copy. Pretty cool.

We went on a nature walk late this afternoon. We saw more white-faced capuchin monkeys. They are so cute! We even saw some young ones. We also (finally) saw some howler monkeys. We've been hearing them in the mornings and evenings, but no one had been able to find them. They're surprisingly small. Some of the group discovered that if you make howling noises at them, they howl back.

Tonight we're having a guest lecture on (I think) conservation, and then probably entering data for our second project. We have to give a presentation about it tomorrow, and there's no time built into the schedule to work on it. Yikes! I also have to give my critique paper tomorrow on coadaptation in a plant-hummingbird relationship. I'm nervous about it.

I'm starting to get homesick. For the last couple of days it's been hitting me at about 5 pm, and I have a hard time shaking it until I go to bed. Today it started earlier. It feels like we've been here so long, even though it's only been a week, and it's hard to think that we still have 58 days left. Having the internet is definitely a help, and I'm hoping that I'll be able to stay busy enough to distract myself at the sites where we won't (for example, the next two). I'm trying to focus on enjoying the experience and learning a lot. It's easier when it's light outside, because I can go down to the boardwalk and watch the Jacanas or take my binoculars and watch the spoonbills and ducks for a while, but night is kind of tough.

Anyway, keep leaving comments and sending emails. They make me feel loved.

Animals

Anyone who knows me well knows that the REAL reason I'm here in Costa Rica is to see the animals. Well, and to try the fruits. Speaking of which, I tried passionfruit yesterday. Delicious! Definitely worth the fact that the flesh feels kind of like mucous.

Since we've been at Palo Verde, I've seen a few mammals and ton of different insects and birds. The coatis (we think they were coatis) were adorable, I'd really like to see more of them. One group saw one in a tree this morning eating a coconut. I'm so envious! We also saw a white-faced capuchin monkey who seemed just as curious about us as we were about him. We can hear the howler monkeys sometimes at night or very early in the morning. Their call is a little scary, the first time I heard them I thought a large and dangerous animal was growling right outside our dorm. There are peccaries who hang out behind the dining hall, including some very young ones, and they're also pretty adorable.

I love all the different birds here! There's a group of Great Curassows that hangs out behind the dining hall with the peccaries. We are right across the road from a marsh that is full of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks and Cattle Egrets. Occasionally I've also seen a Tricolored Heron or a Green Heron, a group of Roseate Spoonbills, some Jacanas strutting around, and Wood Storks flying overhead. Where we were sampling this morning there were three Great Kiskadees flying around. They have a magnificient yellow breast and call their name ("kis-ka-DEE, kis-ka-DEE). I love them. We also saw a pair of Orange-fronted Parakeets in a branch during one of our nature walks.

The station has a few resident ctenosaurs that can be seen lounging in the sun or frantically scurrying out of your path when you're walking along. They somehow get on the roof occasionally and we can hear them clattering around up there. They're large, and pretty funny to watch.

Also, tons and tons of bugs. I am not nearly as fond of them as I am of the rest of these guys, particularly when they sneak under the mosquito netting with me at night. There are some neat ones, like the mantids and some of the grasshoppers, but I've been trying to avoid the scorpions, tarantulas, and spiders at all costs. So far I've mostly avoided being bitten. I think I've only had about 3 mosquito bites, and they seem to have healed pretty quickly. Some of the students are covered in bites, so I think I'm pretty fortunate.

Back to work now, but I just wanted to put down a little update while I had the chance.

Pictures

The post with pictures from a few days ago is finally complete!

Life just got really hectic here with projects and papers and presentations (repeat repeat repeat), but I'll try to write an update when I get a chance. It's all a bit overwhelming.

Days 3 and 4: Palo Verde

The last post is still being updated with pictures; I will let you know when it's finished so that you know to go back and check. We have wireless here, but pages upload very slowly, so it's going to take me a while to put them all up.

Palo Verde is an OTS station in a tropical dry forest. This is considered a dry forest because it receives only 1.5 meters of rain a year (compared to around 4 meters for wetter forests). It was a 5 hour drive from San Jose. I slept for about 2 hours of the trip, but the countryside was very pretty and interesting. We saw two of Costa Rica's seven or eight volcanoes on the way. As we got closer to the station, we started to see some interesting plants and wildlife. There are lots of acacia trees and cacti down here. Some small, sort of weasel-like mammals ran across the road in front of the bus in a single file line. They were adorable! We think they may have been coatis or something, but we're not certain. We also saw a bunch of ctenosaurs (iguanas). There is one pretty friendly one who seems to hang around the station.

When we arrived, the first thing we did was eat lunch. The food here is wonderful. We had naranjilla ("naran-hee-ya") juice (sort of mild citrusy flavor), rice and beans, squash, and fresh pineapple. Then we moved into our rooms and went for a short hike (pictures forthcoming!). On the hike we saw some more acacia trees. They are very interesting: they have thorns all over the branches, and ants live inside the thorns. When you tap on a branch, the ants come rushing out to defend the plant. In return, the plant provides nectar, and sometimes lipid-filled sacs called beltian bodies for the ants to eat. We also saw antlion pitfalls, which are like little pits in the ground that apparently ants fall in and are eaten by the antlions.

After our hike we had dinner. The meal schedules are very rigid here: breakfast from 6:30 to 7:30, lunch from 12-1, dinner from 6-7. Dinner was naranjilla, papaya, and beet juice, rice and beans (for pretty much every meal), yummy chicken, and a coconut cake drenched in a sweet sauce. Yum!

After dinner Becky (Professor Irwin) gave us a lecture and then we had a student critque paper. Then bed. Whew.

Today, we woke up at 6:00(ish - this is going to be a common thing), got dressed, and headed off to breakfast. I'm very not a morning person, so I had some watermelon, some avocado (creamy and delicious), and a glass of starfruit juice. They were also serving pancakes and rice and beans (surprised?). We went bird watching after breakfast and saw tons of different species! Black-bellied whistling ducks, jacanas (possibly my favorite), a tricolored heron, cattle egrets, snowy egrets, great egrets, a white ibis, a glossy ibis, and roseate spoonbills (my other favorite), among many others. Next we went on a long hike up a big hill, which was hot and difficult, but pretty neat all the same. And we saw two adorable capuchin monkeys. Back to the station for lunch (tamarind tea, chicken, rice and beans, pineapple), some biology work, dinner (tamarind tea, stirfry (no rice and beans this time, surprisingly), and yummy chocolate cake covered in caramel sauce). Working outside all day builds up quite an appetite. After dinner another lecture, another critique, a cold shower, and a blog update. Then bed.

Other things of note:

Sleeping under mosquito netting is kind of neat. It's like my own personal bubble.

The bugs here are freakish and huge. I don't like them. Luckily (sort of) they mostly only come out at night.

Mario, the station manager, is very funny and very knowledgeable about the area. He led the birdwatching and hike today.

Wearing long pants and long-sleeved shirts and hiking boots in weather this warm feels bizarre. It's a tradeoff between being too warm and being eaten alive by mosquitoes. I'm not sure what I think yet.

The thought of a rattlesnake, coral snake, or scorpion taking up residence in my bed is TERRIFYING.

I'm super glad the water from all the taps here is potable. Thank goodness!

We can't put any paper in the toilets, we have to throw it out in the waste basket next to the toilet. It's weird.

That's it for now. Tomorrow we start some intense sounding biology work. I'll let you know how it goes! Please feel free to post comments and questions, I like hearing from you guys.

Palo Verde

Other than the giant bugs loitering outside our door, and all the mosquitoes, and the chance that a snake or scorpion might attempt to crawl into bed with me, this place is pretty neat. Details later. I have wireless.

Day 1: Travel and Day 2: INBio, San Jose (in pictures)*

*click on the pictures to make them larger.

Day 1

Pam and Allison on the plane

View from the plane

Me and a giraffe in the Miami Airport

Day 2
INBio

Funky plant

Poisonous(?) frog

Sloth! Isn't he a cutie?

Swirly flower

Duck!

Flower that smelled really, really good

Butterflies!

Big butterfly

Butterfly on flower

Monarch butterfly on flower

Butterfly chrysalises

Fish in the pond

Turtles on a log

Ankit in a turtle shell

The FSPers from across the pond

Pretty view

Another pretty view

Pretty purple flowers

Pretty yellow flowers

Heliconia flower

Bananas

Cotton flower (pretty, isn't it?)

Strange-named plant

Goats!

Pam and a friend

This little guy decided to nibble on my hand

My little buddy

Lunch! Clockwise from top: salad, carrots with cilantro, rice, hot sauce, beans, delicious fried plantains, some sort of mixed juice

James and Sam

Internet cafe in San Jose. The cost was 300 colones per hour (about 60 cents)

In San Jose

Park in San Jose

Pam's appetizer

We went out to dinner in San Jose at an Italian restaurant about 5 minutes from La Amistad. I had bruschetta and a yummy pasta dish (chicken, tomatoes, olive oil, mozzarella, garlic, penne. Yum!). Pam had an appetizer that was deep friend plantains with guacamole, served with black beans and sour cream. Delicious!

San Jose is an interesting city. Pedestrians don't have the right of way, which makes walking around a scary experience. A group of us spent the afternoon wandering around downtown. We saw a lot of shops (so many shoe stores!) and we found a neat little market with tons of food and crafts and all sorts of things. I wish we got to spend more time there.