Carara, El Sur y Volcan Poas

Tarcoles River Basin:

1. Went on the 'Crocodile Man Tour' in the morning. We all filed onto this tourist pontoon boat and travelled up stream in a tropical mangrove forest. We saw tons of birds and cocodrilos; but, due to the salinity of the brackish water and constant flooding of this ecosystem, there is actually a relatively low biodiversity compared with flora and fauna rich tropical forests elsewhere in CR. The primary fauna in this location are invertebrates. There are many species on crabs, clams, and mussels that florish here. In the muddy clay banks of the mangrove shores, there are tons of little peeps holes where the crabs hide in low tide! Cool stuff.
2. After our tour, we went to the beach at the base of the river and had a discussion on water and waste management. A fitting site, considering this beach was absolutley riddled with trash and waste from upstream. We discussed the importance of a collaborative approach for ecosystems protection because in this case, the polluters are not the ones heeding the problems. This is especially so in the Tarcoles River because 70% of Costa Rica's industrial output feeds into this watershed.

El Sur y Carara National Park:

1. After our time in Tarcoles River Basin, we drove about an hour more to Carara National Park. In this backside of the park, a small town named El Sur runs an eco-tourism, education and volunteer program.
2. We had a tour of the town which included a tour of the traditional sugar mill. They squeeze the sugar cane through a grinder powered by two oxen and boil down the extract in two large vats, fired by the remains of the cane plants. Very cool and a long, labor intensive process. Julie almost fell into the vat of boiling sugar water because the oxen kicked in her direction. WOAH!
3. We also got to see the honey suckle and bee hives of a local town member. The honey was so good and our professors bought some for us to use with tea and coffee at the center.
4. In the morning we went on a 3 hours hike through the JUNGLE. Definitely what you picture trekking through the amazon to be like. It was awesome. Leaves as big as people, grasshoppers as big as your hand. What an amazing hike.

Poas Volcano:
1. This was Saturday morning. Poas is the most visited park in CR. We visited an active volcanic crater which is huge (400 m across) and smells distinctly of sulfur. Luckily we got there early enough in the morning for a clear and perfect viewing.
2. Then we hiked for 30 min to the even more breathtaking Lagoon Botas, an ancient crater with crystal clear blue water and surrounded by dense, lush vegetation. There was a small beach on the side of the lagoon, looked perfect for camping. If only...
3. We also had our Economics Field Exercise, which consisted of accosting tourists and asking if they would fill out a park survey for environmental services. It was a good way to practice Spanish, but I didn't like bothering people.

Other week highlights:

1. I am officially the bug lady/ exterminator. There was a red and black spider BIGGER than my hand that I caught and removed from Jesse and Ruby's room. Their roommate was freaking out. I felt proud of my feat.
2. Spanish class has been frustrating. It is all conversation and our professor never write anything down for us to see or tells us what tense we are going over so it is hard to follow what she wants us to be doing. Grr.
3. We played a soccer match with spanish kids that were learning english. My foot-to-ball contact rate was about 50%. Haha, I really do stink at soccer. But it was still fun. I am good at laughing at myself.
4. Started planning for the weekend away at the Arenal Volcano. We have a great group of people and I'm really excited!!

Monteverde and Good News

Monteverde and Sunday:

1. Ate lunch at the continental divide. We could see the Pacific and Caribbean slopes from our lunch spot. Being at the top was so neat because all of the clouds are so close and move really quickly.
2. Hiked across a 200ft high suspension bridge for canopy observation.
3. Performed our first field experiment on the male/female flower sex ratio of begonias. It was nice to just be in the forest and not in a huge group. Julie (goes to Bates, plays on the frizz team, is awesome) and I had a fun time chatting, attempting to navigate the steep slopes that held our plants, and having a photo shoot on the suspension bridge.
4. Bought cheese! YES cheese, I love thee.
5. Put up the pictures from last week on facebook. I'll try to get the ones from Monteverde up soon.
6. Watched Planet Earth today and just slept and relaxed. Very nice.
7. Got to chat with my lovely roomie and parents. Its awesome being here, but I do miss Davidson and the fam.

Funny thing:

1. A couple of girls on the program still bring their makeup and hair straighteners to all of our field trips. Because its not like we are going on hikes in the tropical rainforest or anything. You've gotta look your best for all those birds, trees, and epiphytes...

Good news:

1. Got the Davidson Research Initiative grant for this summer's research with Dr. Paradise! Yay insects!
2. Dad bought me a sage green Subaru Forester, lightly used, primo condition!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He's going to pick it up in Cleveland this weekend. So pumped, I finally get a car! And it is just what I wanted!
3. We are going to the Poas Volcano this coming weekend and its gonna be awesomesauce.

WOW! That is the first word that comes to mind when trying to describe the last 7 days and what this semester will be like. Here are 10 cool, totally awesome things I've already done:

1. Seen a sloth, poison dart frogs, tarantulas, giant stick bugs, toucans, finches, hummingbirds, and every kind of palm tree you can imagine.
2. Visited the tropical rain forest on the Caribbean side of the country.
3. Planted a beech tree.
4. Made organic microorganism compost.
5. Drank straight from a coconut with a straw.
6. Gone on a night hike. 
7. Held a hummingbird to measure its beak size.
8. Made tons of friends who play frisbee. A couple who are even on teams at their own schools. We've already been tossing the D on the center's soccer field.
9. It's 80 degrees, sunny, and breezy everyday here.
10. Gone out to the only bar in town, "Sports Bar", and we are heading there soon for the super bowl!

We have classes Mon-Wed, bad ass field trips Thur-Sat, and Sunday is free time. Atenas is the town we are living in and their slogan is "el mejor clima del mundo" based on a review from Nat Geo a few years ago. I agree! No wonder there are so many ex-pats living here. Right now I'm sitting at Gelly's, an outdoor gelato cafe with free wifi!

Pura vida: the catch phrase of Costa Rican life. It literally translates to pure life, but it is a way of living, a mindset and a reality. So, if you're wondering how I'm doing when you think of me, I can guarantee you my answer will always be pura vida.