Day 38
First, happy birthday Mom!
Adventure of the day: We were on our way to San Jose when the bus broke down. We have about a two hour wait for the next bus to show up, which will put us into San Jose around 5 or 6 pm instead of 1 pm . . . but it’s okay. Kind of unfortunate, since I was planning to shop a little and buy a few souvenirs and an avocado. David (Professor Peart) is marveling at what a good-natured group this is, because when he gave us the bad news everyone just got out their computers and started revising papers. I’m currently between drafts for two papers (yay!), so I decided to catch up on some blogging (not that I have the internet here, but I'll post it tonight from San Jose).
LAST NIGHT AT CUERICI:
On our last night, Carlos and Alberto threw us a special dinner, which was a barbecue on the porch. It was delicious (as was all of the food there) and so much fun. We ate, salty-dog ragged (lots of D.O.C. people on this trip), played ridiculous games, and relaxed. The next day for lunch Carlos served us trout from his trout farm, which was delicious. I’ve liked every place we’ve gone, but Cuerici is still my favorite.
COCOVADO:
Oh boy, where to start with Corcovado. Before we got there I was really intimidated. People who’ve gone on the FSP in past years always sort of chuckle a little and say something to the effect of “have fun there” whenever it’s mentioned. First, to get to the Sirena Biological Station is a 22 km hike through the rainforest. I actually didn’t hike, I flew in to the station in a little tiny bush plane with our gear. It was cool! The flight was much smoother than I expected, like a very mild roller coaster ride, and the pilot was very nice and spoke good English. The view was fantastic!
Corcovado itself was very hot and very humid. We were always sweaty and nothing ever really dried. The station was definitely the most rustic we’ve visited, but better than I expected. There was one lady who did all of the cooking, and the food was really tasty. One night she made guacamole, and it was such a treat!
There were a lot of guests visiting the national park while we were there, just about a new group every day. It was interesting to chat with them and learn where they were from and what they were doing. Most were tourists just passing through on their way to other places in Costa Rica.
The wildlife was amazing! There were beautiful scarlet macaws flying everywhere. They are funny birds, brightly colored, very loud, and very flamboyant. I loved them. One day while I was on a hike, I heard something barking at me. I looked up and there were about 15 coatis lounging in the trees above me, staring at me. I stayed and watched them for about ten minutes. So amazing. That might be my favorite memory from the trip so far. We also heard howler monkeys (every morning at 4:30) and saw lots of spider monkeys. I even saw a roadside hawk try to snatch one out of a tree (and fail). One of the researchers at the station was a young guy named Charlie who was studying tapirs, and one night he brought us out behind the station where two were foraging. They’re such wonderful animals.
My project at Corcovado was on coconut palm trees, Cocos nucifera. It required spending a lot of time on the beach looking for coconut trees. I got my first sunburn, on one side of my face. It’s currently itchy and peeling, but not very bad. We also found lots of coconuts, which Aider (the ranger) showed us how to get out of the husk and crack open. So much coconut milk and fresh coconut, yum!
So overall, Corcovado was great. We found a stream and went swimming in it every couple of days, which was great for cooling off. The plants and wildlife were amazing, and while it was hot and humid, I don’t think it was worse than New England in the summer. Overall, I loved it.
LAS CRUCES:
After the rustic Corcovado station, Las Cruces seemed extremely plush. We didn’t do a project there, but used the time to revise papers and learn about plants. There’s a botanical garden there, filled with both native and foreign plants. We also had a plant “quiz,” and while I didn’t do very well on it I was surprised to see how much I’ve learned about plants on this trip.
The station was really nice, nice rooms, hot showers, a beautiful lounge, internet, and a lovely dining hall (and excellent food!). It was a nice break from projects, even though we spent pretty much the whole time writing.
-----------------------------------------
Four weeks from today I’ll be on a plane from Miami to Boston. We have eight days left in Costa Rica, and then we’re flying out to Little Cayman. I’m really, really excited for Little Cayman.
I’m also starting to get excited about getting home and eating lots of food. I’m getting really sick of rice and beans for literally every meal (but I’m the only one, everyone else just loves them). I want applie pie with vanilla ice cream, Kraft macaroni and cheese, EBA’s buffalo chicken pizza, Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, pizza, and pasta, oh do I miss pasta. I know one thing I’ll be doing over spring break!
Adventure of the day: We were on our way to San Jose when the bus broke down. We have about a two hour wait for the next bus to show up, which will put us into San Jose around 5 or 6 pm instead of 1 pm . . . but it’s okay. Kind of unfortunate, since I was planning to shop a little and buy a few souvenirs and an avocado. David (Professor Peart) is marveling at what a good-natured group this is, because when he gave us the bad news everyone just got out their computers and started revising papers. I’m currently between drafts for two papers (yay!), so I decided to catch up on some blogging (not that I have the internet here, but I'll post it tonight from San Jose).
LAST NIGHT AT CUERICI:
On our last night, Carlos and Alberto threw us a special dinner, which was a barbecue on the porch. It was delicious (as was all of the food there) and so much fun. We ate, salty-dog ragged (lots of D.O.C. people on this trip), played ridiculous games, and relaxed. The next day for lunch Carlos served us trout from his trout farm, which was delicious. I’ve liked every place we’ve gone, but Cuerici is still my favorite.
COCOVADO:
Oh boy, where to start with Corcovado. Before we got there I was really intimidated. People who’ve gone on the FSP in past years always sort of chuckle a little and say something to the effect of “have fun there” whenever it’s mentioned. First, to get to the Sirena Biological Station is a 22 km hike through the rainforest. I actually didn’t hike, I flew in to the station in a little tiny bush plane with our gear. It was cool! The flight was much smoother than I expected, like a very mild roller coaster ride, and the pilot was very nice and spoke good English. The view was fantastic!
Corcovado itself was very hot and very humid. We were always sweaty and nothing ever really dried. The station was definitely the most rustic we’ve visited, but better than I expected. There was one lady who did all of the cooking, and the food was really tasty. One night she made guacamole, and it was such a treat!
There were a lot of guests visiting the national park while we were there, just about a new group every day. It was interesting to chat with them and learn where they were from and what they were doing. Most were tourists just passing through on their way to other places in Costa Rica.
The wildlife was amazing! There were beautiful scarlet macaws flying everywhere. They are funny birds, brightly colored, very loud, and very flamboyant. I loved them. One day while I was on a hike, I heard something barking at me. I looked up and there were about 15 coatis lounging in the trees above me, staring at me. I stayed and watched them for about ten minutes. So amazing. That might be my favorite memory from the trip so far. We also heard howler monkeys (every morning at 4:30) and saw lots of spider monkeys. I even saw a roadside hawk try to snatch one out of a tree (and fail). One of the researchers at the station was a young guy named Charlie who was studying tapirs, and one night he brought us out behind the station where two were foraging. They’re such wonderful animals.
My project at Corcovado was on coconut palm trees, Cocos nucifera. It required spending a lot of time on the beach looking for coconut trees. I got my first sunburn, on one side of my face. It’s currently itchy and peeling, but not very bad. We also found lots of coconuts, which Aider (the ranger) showed us how to get out of the husk and crack open. So much coconut milk and fresh coconut, yum!
So overall, Corcovado was great. We found a stream and went swimming in it every couple of days, which was great for cooling off. The plants and wildlife were amazing, and while it was hot and humid, I don’t think it was worse than New England in the summer. Overall, I loved it.
LAS CRUCES:
After the rustic Corcovado station, Las Cruces seemed extremely plush. We didn’t do a project there, but used the time to revise papers and learn about plants. There’s a botanical garden there, filled with both native and foreign plants. We also had a plant “quiz,” and while I didn’t do very well on it I was surprised to see how much I’ve learned about plants on this trip.
The station was really nice, nice rooms, hot showers, a beautiful lounge, internet, and a lovely dining hall (and excellent food!). It was a nice break from projects, even though we spent pretty much the whole time writing.
-----------------------------------------
Four weeks from today I’ll be on a plane from Miami to Boston. We have eight days left in Costa Rica, and then we’re flying out to Little Cayman. I’m really, really excited for Little Cayman.
I’m also starting to get excited about getting home and eating lots of food. I’m getting really sick of rice and beans for literally every meal (but I’m the only one, everyone else just loves them). I want applie pie with vanilla ice cream, Kraft macaroni and cheese, EBA’s buffalo chicken pizza, Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, pizza, and pasta, oh do I miss pasta. I know one thing I’ll be doing over spring break!
posted by Allison at 10:59 PM
1 Comments:
You should do all of your projects on edible things! And maybe also tapirs.
Doug
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