Huxley's Rainforest Conservation Immersion

Ecotopia's Prism

2010-08-08T10:54:00.000-07:00

In the final days of our 2010 excursion, we woke before dawn to a silent block of modest homes and cabinas in Tarcoles town. It was the end of our 2010 field work and our final excursion was helping kick off the annual Scarlet Macaw count held in August around Carara National Park. During the next three hours, we would watch the forest come alive from our vista high above the mangroves and river on our right, the town of Tarcoles in front of us, the Nicoya gulf and Peninsula forming the distant horizon, and the mix of forest fragments broken by pastures and housing developments stretching south. Behind us was Carara, the core of these biological and social communities.

Like the tide coming in that morning, waves of life would emerge from the dark green hues of the trees below us. We were strategically located on a hill allowing a view of one of three flyways the Scarlet Macaws of Carara used for their morning commute. After spending the night in the protected mangroves and along the Tarcoles river, the Macaws would spread across this region in search of food. But the white egrets were the first sights as they floated in small flocks moving north and south to and from the ox bowed river. A pair of white and black ducks fooled me as I strained to sight the first Macaws. They were moving too fast I thought to myself. The early darkness would not yet easily reveal the Lapa’s reds, yellows, and blues.
Cloudy banks of mist hovered in patches over the trees. More light came. Then, the call of a Macaw pierced through the sounds of the distant waves. It’s likely mate squawked back. Their squawks are difficult to describe but perhaps something like the scraping sound of a warped wooden chair sliding across bare floor. I peered uneasily through my binoculars and struggled to focus on the still shadowy canopy. Dropping them for a few seconds, I realized again how Costa Rica’s rainforest was a unique prism revealing our world in its many hues. In the morning light overlooking the jungle canvas, life began to explode before our eyes. It is only in this ecosystem one fully understands biodiversity at its climax. Here in the tropics, the pathbreaking scholars of evolution and ecology would forge their influential theories.

I soon sighted the morning’s first pair of macaws with my naked eyes. After a closer look through my binocular lenses, “one pair” (una pareja) I shouted to our record keeper. One of my students soon confirmed the couple departing the mangroves for points south. The sighting was relayed by walkie talkie to the count’s coordinator. The macaws kept soaring. Two, no, three more pairs. A rare quartet. More pairs. Sad Solos. This is nothing like the monotony of my home in the northwest where, like the thousands of seagulls around my balcony, a few species dominate. From this natural balcony near Carara, I saw egrets, pelicans on the coast, vultures, waves of green Amazonian parrots, a great blue heron, a massive wood stork, solitary flycatchers, and many more. Carara and its surrounding landscapes are home to more than 360 bird species.

Then, a falling tree groaned to its death towards the river and sent five Lapas fleeing. We recorded 86 Lapa Rojas that morning. But numbers, words and pictures could never do these sights and sounds justice. Only after engaging all of your senses will you begin to grasp the complexity of the flora and fauna of the rainforest. Darwin made the following observation in 1893. “In tropical forests, when quietly walking along the shady pathways, and admiring each successive view, I wished to find language to express my ideas. Epithet after epithet was found too weak to convey to those who have not visited the intertropical regions the sensation of delights which the mind experiences.” Immersion in these rainforests and communities may also help you gain a new perspective, a prism to begin seeing the world differently.

A New Perspective

2010-07-28T17:10:00.000-07:00

A New Perspective
Connor Harron

So many wealthy faces,
Still dominated by gloomy traces,
But laughter and smiles abound,
Smothering those where money rarely comes round.

Simple pleasures through and through,
No distractions to break the glue.

How do we justify our lives,
If we consume enough to destroy our hive,
But self report,
That we no longer have cohorts.

How do we learn from our mistakes,
And create something beautiful for our children to take?

Many call our society individually driven,
But the commons only thrive when we have given,
Our cooperation,
Not corporation.

Altruism is a false label,
Which exhausts motivation before we are able,
To change more than the cable.

However, a new perspective will show,
That our success’s are linked more than we know,
So maybe to truly be egoistic,
We need to be more realistic.

Our system is broken,
With so much, our lives are still tokens,
Pawns in a transnational corporate battle,
We need citizens not cattle.

There may not be a simple solution,
But if we focus on a local notion,
A Grameen model for a new revolution,
Support for any creative resolution.

We can work together on these issues daunting,
For we share desires to promote clotting,
Of wounds long unhealed,
A new perspective can bring us together sealed.

In a world so bright,
The darkness is surprisingly tight,
But so quickly can it turn light,
A prism in the night,

Needs but one shaft to arc,
A million separate sparks.

Rain for 3 nights, 2 days

2010-07-17T15:51:00.000-07:00

We finally got some sun back today. The rains came from an offshore tropical depression and reminded us that we were in a rainforest. Perhaps it was payback for our first day. We saw all four species of monkeys. Toucans, macaws, and herons. Bull sharks and crocodiles and even a large one chomping on a smaller croc in a scene worthy of animal planet. But we didn't find a tapir. It found us late on our first night. We had more tapirs yesterday and today, and an army ant column followed by a crew of birds to mop up. Three days to go.

Troy

El Sur: Where Local is trying to Find a Home in a Global World

2010-07-17T10:36:00.001-07:00

Connor Harron

Situated in the foothills of the Central Pacific, El Sur is a small community of agriculturalists living on the northern edge of Carara National Park, Costa Rica. We visited the town in order to get a taste of Costa Rica pre Huggie Billboard signs and Nativa resort communities, where the only sign of tico’s (Costa Ricans) can be found in the kitchen or maintenance facilities. In El Sur everyone is local, and several of the families are related. The village consists of several family homes, a community center where everyone shares their meals together, a church, one school (with nine students), a pulperia or general store complete with a rustic pool table where nightly games can be shared with the local population of giant moths and disco-teca music, and a generous set of accommodations for visitors called Eco Sur. El Sur has been around for generations, and the families there were almost all subsistence farmers. That is until the creation of Carara National Park.

During the formation of Costa Rica’s National Park system much of the land needed in order to create these reserves had to be taken from people who already inhabited them. El Sur was one of them. A large portion of El Sur’s agricultural land used to grow sustenance crops were designated as National Park, no say was given to the community in this process, and to my awareness no compensation has yet to be given. However, the people at El Sur have dealt with hardships before, and while some families left, those who stayed tried to make the best of things by growing new crops that could better suit the communities diminished lands. But along with the creation of the National Park came the animals, and many crops were destroyed by grazing omnivores seeking food that El Sur sought to claim. These animals, under new laws were protected from the community, and killing ones that attacked their crops was forbidden. So again this sustainable community was thwarted in their attempts to preserve their way of life, and in the name of preservation.

Once again more families left in order to find an easier way of life. However, those who stayed desired more then ever to preserve their community so that their children and their children’s children would have the chance to live as purely as they felt they had. In a last ditch attempt to generate enough communal income to support their needs, El Sur created a partnership with an NGO called Global Aware in order to create Eco Sur. This partnership has provided El Sur with a tourism industry which acts to give people like us the chance to see how real tico’s live (d?) and an idea of what it takes to be part of a cooperative community.

During our short stay we had the opportunity to eat as a community with these people. We went to school with their children, taught them about the environment, learned that they were already more connected to the forest than we could have imagined, and planted trees together as a group. We saw their sugar cane plantation and witnessed first hand the ox driven process of extracting the sweet liquid from the stalk, and then the 10 hour process of boiling down and extracting the “good stuff” before tasting and buying much of their days work. In El Sur the excess sugar product is used to feed the pigs, and the leftover stalk acts as the only organic fertilizer they use/need to create some of the finest brown sugar that has ever met my palate.

In a world dominated by globalization El Sur has managed, at least for now, to take ownership of their land and preserve their way of life while still interacting with the outside world. Many places have not been so fortunate, and in a place like Costa Rica where tourism competes for the title as the nations largest economic sector, Americanization is everywhere. There is a fine line to play when integrating societies so that we can maintain our cultural identity while interacting on a multi-international scale. I have heard one of the greatest atrocities of the 21st century being described as “the sense of being homeless in your own home.” This is something that many tico’s are experiencing on a daily basis and will be a major struggle for Costa Rica in this century, but I believe that places such as El Sur are examples of good partnerships that can develop without the marginalization of locals. If Costa Ricans can take back ownership of their development and industries, they may be able to preserve a semblance of what was the Green Republic while creating a society that is more “glocal” than the corporate dream of expanding the Great Wall of condominiums and McMansions unbroken from the Baja peninsula, to Costa Rica and beyond.

Safe and sound at Sirena

2010-07-12T16:10:00.000-07:00

The hikers and boaters have all arrived safely at the Sirena Biological Station in Corcovado National Park. The station now has wireless and a public phone! Stay tuned for more blogs.

Pura vida

Out of the Park

2010-07-11T09:26:00.001-07:00

Troy D. Abel, July 11, 2010

Since 2003, I have led over 100 students into the rainforests of Costa Rica and its national parks. Participants combined readings, reflection, and a service-learning project supporting two park’s efforts to protect biodiversity while also educating surrounding communities about rainforest conservation. For about one half of the experience, students conducted a variety of monitoring and education projects allowing them to learn firsthand about the interactions of environmental science and conservation policy in another culture. We voluntarily worked on improving trails and park facilities for the other half of the experience.
But three weeks before our 2008 trip, everything changed. Our planned 10 day stay and service in the Sirena Biological Station in the middle of Corcovado National Park was trumped by an emergency conference for park rangers. Consequently, our Costa Rica tour company (Endemico), arranged 7 days in Dante’s Corcovado Lodge in the village of Guadalupe near the park’s border. We again spent half of the trip investigating the reserve’s ecological condition but in the other half our service work focused on the community. Over six days, six houses were painted, we taught in the local school, 27 students were transformed, and I began to realize that there could be many environmental service-learning opportunities outside the park.
I am particularly interested in how I can strengthen the service-learning aspect of the RICA program so that it foster a more globally, yet civically-minded student. These kind of learners will recognize that they: “. . . cannot flourish unless the communities to which [they] belong flourish, and it is [their] (enlightened) self-interest to become a more responsible member of those communities—whether they are [their] school, [their] neighborhood or [their] nation (and perhaps even [their] world)” (Barber and Bettistoni, 1992, p. 237. In a world shrinking because of globalization, our students need experiences that expand their notions of citizenship from the local to the ecological, and to the global.
So this year, we intentionally ventured out of the parks for five days of our program and immersed ourselves in two communities near our two parks—El Sur and Guadalupe. In the former, we learned about their community’s cooperative called Ecosur that aims to develop sustainable agriculture and tourism opportunities to keep families from leaving the area. We also delivered an experiential education program about the importance of trees to eight elementary students from the community. And we dined in the community center, slept in the community lodge, and brought a small part of our economic impact to the families of El Sur. We just finished doing the same in Guadalupe.

Tomorrow, we go back into Corcovado National Park; a place that National Geographic called the most biologically intense place on the planet.

Sam's blog

2010-07-01T11:22:00.001-07:00

Today is Thursday July 1st, and it is our 9th day in Costa Rica. The weather has been extremely humid and hot, even when the sun doesn’t shine. This is however what allows for the abundant jungle that we came to see, the sun’s energy sustains the jungle. Having spent most of my time in Costa Rica’s most dense and diverse protected zone, I have seen a lot of animals so far, some of which include: Scarlet Macaws, parakeets, herons, tons of other colorful birds, crocodiles, crabs, lizards up to 3 feet in length, geckos, agoutis, spider monkeys, white face monkeys, various snakes, coromoundi (not sure how it is spelled), sloths, and many other exotic animals. To fauna is beautiful and the insects are numerous, no amount of spray will protect from the mosquitoes and other random biters. So far three tarantulas have been seen in the house, one has been with us the whole time and is currently duct taped into a hole. We have all gotten pretty used to the bugs and wildlife here, it’s a necessity when you live in the same room as them. Beside the constant sweating, cold showers, and bugs, this trip has been remarkably fun and exciting. Our first weekend was spent in the canopy zip lines, and a few nights have been in the bars. A lot of interesting food has been available and we have safe water. Tonight we leave to a nearby city for a night, it will be awesome to get a real shower for the first time in a week.

Spoon and Boat Bills

2010-06-30T11:58:00.000-07:00

Everything about this place is beautiful and the best part is it never gets old! This is now the third day in a row I have woken up at 5:30am and had to be ready for a days work by 6 and I have yet to find it hard to get up and go. Even though don't have an alarm clock it is easy to determine the time to wake up because like clock-work, the howler monkeys are out and howling at 5:20 every morning.
Its exciting to get up with the rain forest, you never know what you'll see though out the day and that is why I'm always sure to have the camera ready to fire. It is an amazing feeling of integration when the animals and birds allow you to see them in action. Although it has already happened many times, whenever the monkeys cross over head or a bird lands just in site it is an exciting experience. Everyday is different and everyday is an adventure. Two days ago we walked right under a pack of spider monkey and the day before that a pack of white faced monkeys. Today we were ambushed from a bird throwing fruit down on the trail. You just never know what will happen on the trails of Carara. We have only been here eight days and i can see now that we have only begun to scratch the surface of the amazing life of the rain forest.
The only Cararian animal that is not an experience to see are the flies that have decided to call our deck, home. Although i don't really blame the flies, as we have our laundry out and our smelly shoes on the deck along with our sweaty, and stinky selves out on the deck, i find it really annoying that they NEVER go away. Why can't the flies be more like the monkeys and just pass over head and disappear into the jungle?

The Monkeys Fling Poo

2010-06-30T11:51:00.000-07:00

The number one reason I wanted to come to Costa Rica was to see monkeys in the wild. The first day everyone found out that the only Spanish I learned in preparing for this trip was "Donde esta los monos?" (Where are the monkeys?). At our first location in Monteverde we saw white-faced monkeys in the trees before we even had lunch. Even the cafeteria workers somehow found out I was the monkey fan and pulled me aside to show me more white-faced in the trees behind the building. After a few days of staying at our station in Carara National Park it seemed like every study team had seen monkeys in the jungle but ours. I went out with part of the biogeography team yesterday afternoon out of boredom and the desire to see some jungle creatures. We got far enough into the jungle to see a full and digesting bird-eating snake but the ominous thunder forced us out before our equipment got soaked by a tropical downpour (nothing like the rain in Bellingham). I've taken two showers in the rain so far but that's another story. We were no more that 30 feet from the trail exit when Sam called out "hey spider monkeys!" I was ecstatic! There were 4 or 5 skinny-limbed brown monkeys swinging from the trees right above our heads; it was like something off Planet Earth but it was real and right there! I started taking pictures and quickly learned that the flash couldn't reach them so I took a couple of videos of them stretching from tree to tree. I started to follow them down another path when I heard Louis behind me call out "AHH they pooped on me!!" and he came running and gagging with poop on the shoulder of his shirt and on the screen of the YUMA satellite monitor he was trying to take pictures with. "Ohh it smells so bad!" he screamed between gags. He then ran off down the trail to our station for a shower and Sam followed him back to make sure he was ok. I continued to follow the spider monkeys a few more feet down the path until a large stick fell through the trees and vines at an alarming rate, nearly hit my head as I screamed and landed right in front of me. The monkeys were throwing things at me! I decided that those two clues meant they did not want to be followed and I headed back to the station. I guess the moral of this story is that you may want to approach wild animals in the rainforest but they don't always want you around and they will let you know it.

Andrea Magnuson

Carara Character

2010-06-30T11:43:00.000-07:00

It is june 30th and its our first day entirely dedicated to field work and research. Mustering up the energy to be in the field for hours at a time is difficult, more difficult for some than others. I myself am on the botany team in which we focus on forest composition differences between Carara and Corcovado NP. It is definitely exhausting crawling over leonas and constantly being attentive to what is on the ground in front and around you. The understory is thick and houses a ridiculous amount of spider webs and insects. I have never had so much difficulty trying to identify a tree since the leaves of the tree are hidden and intertwined with five other species of trees and numerous epiphytic species. A new technique to me for obtaining leaves is to throw sticks and hope to knock off a branch containing the leaves of interest. It is interesting however, to see the huge diversity of tree species within such close proximity to one another. Yesterday we got to experience the mangroves first hand with a boat tour into the mangrove estuary. As it was my first crocodile experience i couldn't get enough of it, they were everywhere, babies to 16 footers! The variety of birds was also amazing, macaws to vultures to pink spoon-billed sifters. At the start of trip the insects were obnoxious, scary, and occupied a majority of our attention, nowadays they are an everyday occurrence which we deal with and dont worry about, even the tarantulas are becoming less noticeable and the giant creepy crawly crickets and maysids have gone from creepy to cool. The most exciting thing everyone is looking forward to now is laundry day, a washing machine and a drier! It turns out that high humidity doesnt add pleasant smells to boxers and socks! But since nobody smells good anymore we have turned into one big happy smelly family! The wildlife is extravagant! Just an hr ago before i came to blog i was walking back from my plot site and ran into a family of white faced capuchin monkeys. There was about four little ones and one parent figure no more than five feet above me in all directions. I decided to take a seat right there in the trail to observe their behavior, i saw them eating and playing among the swinging leona vines and various trees. It was my favorite and best wildlife experience of the trip so far, once they realized i was not a threat they went along with their mid day activities every so often checking back in with me to make sure i was still there observing and admiring. Walking around Carara you would never think that the scarlet macaw population was under 500 worldwide. Just this morning a group went out around 5 am and saw over 120 in just over an hr making their daily journey from the mangroves to the rainforest. Sitting in this ranger station room in front of a computer and air-conditioner i am reminded of home and civilization, and i do indeed miss it. But then i remember that i am surrounded by a rainforest, i am immersed in the most biologically diverse ecosystem on the entire planet and it makes all the negative feelings disappear.

Anthony Sutter
June 30th 2010 from Carara N.P. Costa Rica

"A Squawking Sunrise" by Lisa Karsen

2010-06-30T11:35:00.000-07:00

Rise and shine students! It's 4:50am and half of the group is walking around in their headlamps getting ready to embark on a new adventure to count Scarlet Macaws. The Scarlet Macaw count is important because it allows the park to know the current population of Macaws in Carara.
Just down the road from our rugged Carara station lies a resort, Nativa Resort. This, unortunately, is where our Macaw count will take place. Now, you have to realize it is the morning of Day 6 in Carara and we have experienced everything from Tarantula's, smelly clothes (even after they are washed), and a sudden stop of our water flow (no showers?! for how long?! [this problem is now fixed!]). I say "unfortunately" because seeing a glimpse of luxury so close to home is a tease to our soul.
Behind the guarded gates of Nativa's entrance is a curvy, inclining road that gives us a perfect opportunity to spot an infinity pool complete with an open bar and even a volleyball court. The condos and hotels are nestled comfortingly into the trees and it is quite obvious that only the very rich could afford.
The van continued to climb past all these luxuries and up to the top of the ridge where the most beautiful view of the rainforest canopy appeared. Beside the rainforest wall lies the Pacific Ocean which goes as far as the eye can see beyond the horizon, behind where we stand the sun is rising quickly above the hills.
This is a sunrise that I will never forget, and this is where we spent just over an hour counting Scarlet Macaws as they sqauwked (Raaak, Raaak) and flew for miles over the canopy to some new destination. I believe our final count was 136 Scarlet Macaws, including 13 babies. Many of these exotic birds will fly in pairs (they mate for life) while others will fly as families in groups of 4 or 5.
I am forever thankful that I was able to spend such a glorious morning on this ridge feeling the warmth of a new days sun on my skin and watching the most beautiful birds in the world including Storks, Parrots, and flocks of bright green parakeets soar elegantly over the green canopy.

WAHOO!!!

2010-06-29T22:15:00.000-07:00

!!! It is exactly one week in Costa Rica and it seems like we’ve been here either a day or a whole month at the same time! WHAT an adventure- everyday is cram packed with new experiences, both small and large, amazing and terrifying. Tarantula would come under the combined category of large AND terrifying. However, there is a good side to everything. The sighting of the gargantuum spider in our room has put quite the perspective on the “smaller ones” that line the wall next to my bed. I now look on them with friendly appreciation, and just hope that nothing ELSE will arrive that will give me perspective on the TARANTULA!!! Although many Costa Ricans do speak English very well, I am making an honest effort to learn some Spanish- practicing on the porch the other day my friend inquired, “Como esta usted?” to which I very enthusiastically replied- “SE LLAMMO WHITNEY!!!” which loosley translated means, “THEY NAMED WHITNEY!!!” fail. Let’s hope my talents lie in other areas.
I have only a short amount of time to write. The wildlife is incredible, biodiversity staggering, people awesome, new friends, new sunburns- but the thing that hits me the most about Costa Rica are the people. Costa Rica is scientifically named the “happiest country in the world” and while this seems cheesy- it is actually very much so true. The atmosphere here is so- relaxed. No one is in a rush or hurry, and every moment of the day- good or bad- is enjoyed. The locals are constantly joking- a teasing sense of humor that I got the best of me the other day while we were at the ziplining place. Observing my terrorized face as the guide attached my harness to the cords that strung over 100 feet high over the canopy, he asked me seriously, “Would you mind telling the guide on the other side that this link is broken? You should be fine for a couple rides more- but just let him know. “
WHAT?!?!?!!? I eventually figured out he WAS joking- but I did spend at least one zipline clutching my harness fearfully, making sure my helmet was on tight, and trying to spot a branch belowthat I could possibly catch onto while I fell to my death.
As many who know me can attest- I would sooner jump off a cliff then wake up in the morning before 10am- but as a ditiful member of the bird team I am actually EXCITED to wake up at the barbaric hour of FIVE THIRTY AM!!! The rainforest wakes up early and the best viewing hours for wildlife and birds is- well in the morning! The possibility of seeing endangered species like the scarlet makaw and spider monkeys is more then enough to get me out of my slightly damp bed. I don’t even need my alarm clock- the local howler monkeys do the job for me :D
BAH have to get back to the station before the snakes come out- hope everyone out there is doing as amazing as I am!

pura vida!

whitney

You don’t know what dirty is until you’ve hand washed your clothing in the rainforest

2010-06-29T22:10:00.000-07:00

Love is a dangerous thing. Today is the first day I think I’ve ever really heard “love” used in a negative way. When I think of love, I think that I love this rainforest, I love this experience, I love these people and I love this journey we are on. As we arrived to the dock where a boat would take us down the Tarcoles River to view crocodiles and birds, a naturalist named Ray, who is the VP for LAPPA (a parrot-type bird conservation team) explained to us how humans are separated from animals because of our power and need for love. When asked if we own or have ever owned an animal, most students eagerly rose their hand. It soon dawned on us how love and companionship can become a sort of possession. This is a huge factor of why so many people own not only cats and dogs, but go through the black market in order to find the rarest animal companions such as the beloved Scarlet Macaws.
With everything in life and in this jungle, there must be a balance. Like the balance between a bird who eats the pests of a tree and in return the tree provides a safe home for the bird’s family. “Save the rainforest” is slowly becoming not only a phrase, but a way of balancing the need for love and a respect of nature. We’re learning so much!!

Here are some reasons we’ve fallen in love with the Costa Rican rainforest:

Standing in the middle of Carara park rainforest, there is never a still moment. Movement is a constant and viewing new life forms is always endless. Often branches fall that sound like pouncing panthers.
There are places that look like they stepped straight out of time. Today we passed a man riding a cart pulled by oxen.
Torrential rain downpours on the Carara station’s tin roof… so loud you cannot hear someone sitting next to you speak.
Feeling like we’re living in an episode of Planet Earth and thinking that an episode couldn’t show us anything more then we could walk out into the jungle and see for ourselves.
Helping citizens with conservation (my team, biogeography, is creating a map template for the Carara national park, birds and botany are taking well-needed species counts, and the educational team will teach young children the importance of wildlife conservation.
Falling asleep to rain on tin roofs and crickets chirping literally on the roof above my bed.
Eating fresh fruit everyday. Today our guide picked a starfruit off of a tree and handed it to us to eat right there!
Seeing 31 crocodiles in one boat ride. They were only a few feet away and mostly around 12 feet long!
Taking a shower with the TOAD that lives in our bathroom drain.
Hiking in the most beautiful setting in the world every day for hours.
Watching rare birds, like Macaws, play in the back of our rainforest “yard” and knowing what they are based off their squawk.
Being with the people who actually out their saving rainforest wildlife. Roy, the naturalist, has helped the population of Scarlet Macaws in Carara go from 220 in 1990 to 440 today. Also, we have first hand knowledge of their lifestyle patterns… such as the fact that macaws are monogamous and if one dies they never move on to another mate. (Although some of them cheat on their hubbies/ wifies!!)
Having absolutely no idea what time it is, but living life the Costa Rican way.. based off experiences not time covered.
Watching white-faced capuchin monkeys and spider monkeys play and waking up to a Howler monkey’s roar.
Attempting to shower by standing in the pouring rain.
The passion and love of nature by the Costa Ricans here (and knowledge of real dancing too!)
Dancing tango in the discothèque. (And being jealous we didn’t learn to do this as kids)
Seeing big one-foot tall mice called Guatamundes, more often then seeing deer in the Northwest.
If you walked off the porch looked into the rainforest, it TOTALLY wouldn’t look out of place if a Tyrannosaurus Rex stomped out.

Things I, and mostly we, wouldn’t mind leaving behind in Costa Rica:
Never taking our eyes off the trail when walking in case we walk into a Fur de Lance snake (one of the most deadliest snakes). There was already on our station’s porch!
Not having a clothing dryer in total humidity… our clothes will never be the same.
Aragog, a huge black hairy tarantula the size of my hand that lives in our bedroom wall and used to poke his legs out.
Constantly itching bug bites and sounding crazy when we swear at the buzzing bugs.
Not being able to brush through my hair. Dr. Bronners does weird, weird things.
Rice and beans at EVERY meal.
Spiders with big, knobby knees.
Whatever weird things DEET is doing to our skin.

But all in all, I’d take the bad things in order to have the good things anyday! This place is amazing and an incredible journey we will never forget. We are all being pushed to an almost-breaking point and we will never be the same… in a very good way.

More than the Green Republic

2010-06-29T22:05:00.001-07:00

Connor Harron

Costa Rica. A name that to many is synonymous with “green republic,” “the last country the god’s made,” and many others that describe the eco friendly nature of this beautiful land. Since landing here and meeting the people as well as seeing many of the forests and animals which call this place home it is easy to see why. However, the picture portrayed by many of these descriptions is incomplete. Costa Rica, like the rest of Central and South America has been subject to the cruel hands of fate as colonizers from the west claimed much of its territory and economies, harnessing them for comfort goods that by now we accept as natural. Costa Rica has been one of the luckiest, preserving 25% of their land as protected areas with the help of international organizations and countries around the world through their “debt for nature” program. Even so, Costa Rica is experiencing faster rates of deforestation than any other country in Central America as banana and coffee plantations fill the countryside in order to fulfill the increasing demand from developed nations. As with many developing countries, a disconnect exists here between the raw goods produced as export commodities and the people who eventually consume them in their home or mug. The farmers who till the land here receive less than 1 cent for every dollar made for the goods they produce, and trade agreements with the IMF and World Bank have constricted these countries economies in a vice grip so that only the most highly valued exports can be grown in order that international debts can be paid. In order to do so social spending has largely been cut and the large expansive forests that are “protected” in many ways can only be described so on paper.

Please do not take me the wrong way, Costa Rica is very much the tropical paradise that many envision when they here the word. But there is a complex dynamic between the people here and the forests/animals travelers from around the world come to see. We have heard that humans need to love and be loved, but one of the most moving individuals I have met so far claimed that we need to learn to “love with respect.” An example of this can easily be found in one of Costa Rica’s most famous birds, the scarlet Macaw. Many people love this bird, so much so that a huge black market exists for poachers to sell them as pets to wealthy individuals globally. This depicts the lack of respect for the Macaw as well as many animals around the globe. If we truly love these animals, then we should show them the respect they deserve by allowing them to be free. The same is true for our environment and ourselves, for while we seek to love and be loved, it is imperative that we ensure the same is possible for all others. Just as many of the people and animals in Latin America have been marginalized by our need to seek fulfillment and happiness, so have we marginalized our own lives by creating a society dependent on material satisfaction. If we do not love ourselves responsibly, then we cannot share that love with others, and thus we will continue to ignore the suffering of others so that we can ignore our own. However, if we seek to bear each other up then we can reverse our status as consumers, and be providers of the most amazing gift of all; life.

We Need a Bigger Boat

2010-06-29T21:54:00.000-07:00

Erin Murray
Tuesday June 29, 2010
First Blog

I am a little intimidated to be returning back to the States after this trip. I will most likely be deemed a schizophrenic will all my twitching, swatting and swearing at various insect trying to eat me. This trip has definitely been an experience for me. I have become a lot braver and have overcome most of my fear of large-ish spiders. Now spiders about the size of silver dollars don’t phase me as much, thanks to the Aragog the Tarantula that lives in our room. We also have huge frog that lives in the shower I have named Fabio. You never know when he might hop out and join you in the shower.
Everyday I wake up and am overcome with complete disbelief that I am here in the Jungle. There is never a dull moment, or any event that doesn’t strike you a purely spectacular. The best part is the excitement and surprise you feel when you encounter something new. You may be sitting around, enjoying your lunch when all of a sudden crashing and rustling erupts from the trees and there they are—rare Spider Monkeys! Or you hear a strangled squawk and rush out to see pairs of macaws flying above. Or you may stumble back from the disco and have to drunkenly deal with tarantula under your bed and attempt to recruit one of the boys to handle it. I am also reminded daily of how unique our trip to Costa Rica is in comparison to other tourist experiences. We occasionally see American tourists emerging from the hiking trails right outside our station and realize that they are only seeing a brief glimpse of what Carara Park has to offer. They are not there every evening, or spend the majority of their day looking for wildlife. Even booking the station at Carara requires a friendship with a park ranger. We are truly the more fortunate students who travel to Costa Rica.
Today we took a boat trip down to Taracoles river in order to see the Mangroves where many of the Macaws nest. This large river is the second most polluted river in Central America, yet it is home to some of the rarest birds in Costa Rica. This river also happens to be filled with Crocodiles! At one point we were less than 10 feet away from a 13 foot crocodile. I felt like I was in an episode of the Crocodile Hunter. I just kept on waiting for the biggest crocodile (named Tornado) to come and tip over our boat and have us for lunch. It didn’t help that the boat swayed whenever people stood up or leaned to the other side to take pictures. On our boat ride we saw the endangered boat billed heron and the beautiful rosette spoon billed. In the mangrove forest, we witnesses two pairs of Macaws fighting over a nest. Overall, today was exciting as usual and I look forward to whatever new surprises we will experience today.

Mind blowing

2010-06-27T19:12:00.000-07:00

Suzan Nasona
June 27, 2010

Hallelujah, praise the lord for he is truly marvelous and all mighty! That was the first thought that came to mind as soon as I laid my eyes on Costa Rica and its bountiful wonders. Costa Rica’s plant and animal biodiversity is mind blowing. Furthermore, the fact that I feel at home while I am walking through the rainforest is crazy. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I would see the day! Yet I am here and I love it! Today, during the start of our first field work as a part of the bird team we were able to perform some test runs, recording bird sounds in areas of low, medium and high density, and bird counts as well in these areas. Along the way, we saw the rainforest come to life. White faced monkeys, Toucans, hummingbirds, ants, lizards, wood-peckers and much more were among us left, right, down and up and in all and every corner. What is amazing is that although we might not be able to see all of the animals around us, they are nonetheless amongst us. We notice this biodiversity because although we might not see these animals we were sometimes fortunate enough to hear them.

There is never a dull moment in Costa Rica. That goes both ways in terms of being in the rainforest and out and about Costa Rica learning about it and having a great time.

Adios,
Suzan Nasona

Brooke's Blog

2010-06-27T19:07:00.000-07:00

Wow, so much to say. We have only been in the country for close to a week but it feels like much longer because the days are so jampacked. Costa Rica is such a beautiful, happy, laid back place. I have never been so immersed in wildlife before and every day is full of new exciting animal sightings. So far we have visited the University of Georgia in Monteverde where we saw white faced capuchin monkeys, agoutis, and other forms of wildlife. The campus was very beautiful and the guided hike was very informative. Visiting the Monteverde National Park was also exciting, our group was lucky enough to spot a quetzal, one of the endangered birds of Costa Rica, and it was truly the most beautiful bird I’ve ever seen. Its feathers are very shiny, almost luminescent and the hues of its body are so diverse and powerful. Our group was also lucky enough to have our guide allow us to go off schedule and take a quick trip over to the continental divide, which had breathtaking views. Yesterday was a very fun, exciting and eventful day. On the tranopy over the jungle we spotted 2 two-toed sloths, a toucan, bats, and golden orb spiders. The ziplining was absolutely amazing, it is the closest feeling to flying I have ever felt, I did not ever want it to end. We also were take on a serpentarium tour and learned a lot about the various snakes of Costa Rica which was extremely interesting. All of the guides we have had have been extremely knowledgable and I have learned a lot from them. The people of Costa Rica have all been so friendly and welcoming, they even gave us salsa lessons which was a real treat and very fun. Last night we visited a nearby club that seemed like it did not see too many gringos, but they were all very nice and the drinks were shockingly cheap! Transitioning into the Carara station has been an interesting experience, but after 4 days it is beginning to feel a little bit more like home. We have discovered an interesting roommate living in the girls room, a large fuzzy tarantula that lives in a duct taped hole in the wall. On the first day Louis discovered a tarantula in the boys room and when confronted it put its front legs in the air in an attack position, it was very strange to see a spider act in that manner and definitely gave me the heebie jeebies. Its really fun having lizards, toads and frogs as occasional roommates as well and they can often be seen crawling up the walls or making kissy noises at you when you sleep. The diversity of the wildlife here is so broad and often confronting you with every turn, already today from the station we have seen monkeys and macaws. I am very interested and excited to see all the new wildlife and experiences we will have on the rest of the trip. It was has been absolutely amazing so far and I know there a lot of good more times ahead.

BeeGees

2010-06-27T19:04:00.000-07:00

Louie Brothers

Stepping off the plane into the San Jose airport at 6 in the morning, I wasn’t sure what to expect from Costa Rica. My Spanish had never been tested before in a foreign country and I was determined to use it. I stepped up to the man at the counter with a bright smile despite my lack of sleep with a cheerful “Hola!” I received a terse “paspaporte” and a swift stamp. Almost a week later and I can say I’ve been able to have far more scintillating conversations with the locals: at Monteverde where we took guided tours from some hilarious and informative locals, at a restaurant where we watched a bit of futbol, and even at a discoteca last night in Carara. We’ve been on 4-5 hikes so far, each one starting bright and early and lasting several hours. I could not even come close to describing the beauty had I not been snapping pictures every 5 minutes. Around every turn is a new encounter that blows your mind. The flora and fauna are so much more diverse and colorful than in the States. We arrived at Carara National Park 4 days ago and have been basically camping with the bare essentials in a standalone building where we can’t trust the water, but it’s been a blast. I’m uploading my pictures to Facebook (cliché but meh) in addition to the ones here, so take a look if you’re reading this (that means you Tara! XO). Yesterday we went ziplining in Jaco, which will probably the highlight of the trip for me, as it combined a ridiculous amount of adrenaline with heart-stopping views of the coast. I even managed to tie my camera to my waist and take a video during zipline #5 which was almost 1000 yards according to our guide. Everybody was tentative on the first zipline but by the tenth we were spinning 720s and busting out inverted airs 1500 feet in the air. The only thing that can top that now is our surfing lessons. Hopefully I can summon my snowboarding and wakeboarding experience and manage to catch a wave. For the next week at Carara, we’ve split up into 4 teams: Biogeography, Botany, Birds, and Environmental Education. My group, Biogeography (aka the BeeGees) is in the process of deciding what our final project will be. Most likely it will involve making a new map of the trails since we have a Yuma GPS that tracks wherever we walk using as many satellites as it can pick up. We can also take pictures with it and it will pinpoint the place on the trail that we took them. We also will probably do some trail maintenance and hopefully repair part of one bridge that is covered with 2x6s. I’m looking forward to having some modern conveniences but I also love the time spent here. Amor a mi familia y mi novia lindisima, les extraño mucho!

From the clouds to Carara immersion

2010-06-27T19:00:00.000-07:00

Hilary Cosentino
Sunday June 27th 2010

There is so much to write about I don’t even know where to start. Story after story comes to mind. I want to share all I’ve learned about Costa Rican culture, I want to tell you about their politics, and of course about their spectacular rain forest. Since our arrival in the early a.m. of June 22nd in San Jose Costa Rica (less than a week ago) I have already experienced more diversity than I had to date. The Costa Rican rainforest is tirelessly teaming and humming with life as the forest is thickened with the invisible cloud of constant transpiration. When I mention diversity I am referring to the rain forest yes, but this fascinating countries cities, culture, and politics are just as riddled with unexpected twists and turns and little cultural treasures (that to the unobservant visitor may go unnoticed) as the rainforest itself. Costa Rica’s diversity reaches to all corners of the continent with transformations of rainforest to agriculture and to urban sprawl. Only here have I seen a white faced monkey, Jesus Christ lizard, stopped the bus to wait for domestic cows to cross, removed multiple cockroaches from the bathroom, shared a room with a tarantula the size of my palm, and had a horse get run over by a car right outside the station at three o’clock in the morning. My experience so far has been just that… an experience, but I’m loving every second of it!
Costa Rica is extremely unique. Its topography is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Giant tropical mountains formed by tectonic movement surrounded by varying degrees of valleys are coated with every color green in the spectrum. The combination of rapid changes in elevation, differences in annual rainfall, and light availability are only few of the major forces driving the flood of biodiversity in Costa Rica. Monteverde, nicknamed “the cloud mountain,” was our first real introduction to the rainforest. We were stationed at the University of Georgia’s Costa Rican location. We stayed in quaint little huts with four rooms, all with their own bathroom, and each sleeping four students. Each hut was equipped with a gorgeous hard wood floor wrap around porch; from which I saw my first coatamundi and a toad the size of both my feet put together.
The easy road we were traveling quickly changed to one more like the 900 grade, heavily eroded, gravel road like the one we scaled to Monteverde. We left the comfort of our Americanized Costa Rica and I suppose you could say we began the true immersion process. We are now living in Carara National Park Research Station. The station’s 10 years old but it hasn’t aged well. Some of the windows have screens, some of the rooms have light bulbs, some of the toilets work, and all of the rooms have bugs. There’s a roof, but it’s disconnected form the walls and leaves about a ft gap for airflow and easy access to our insect friends. The girls’ room is packed with 11 girls, a resident tarantula, countless spiders and other insects, and no door (it somehow disappeared between last year and now). Our kitchen floor is now layered with cardboard as a result of a water dispenser mishap. It’s rustic, to say the least, but it’s actually starting to feel comfortable. The first night came with a constant chorus of screaming and “OH MY GOD”s but now a creature is only worthy of attention if it’s a new species or bigger than your fist. It’s safe to say this station’s just another niche to be filled by the jungle, not our home. The first monsoon brought an army of tree frogs taking refuge and our professor shares a desk with a brown hairy spider.
I have been assigned to the biogeography research team. I’m trying to learn how to use a $3000 dollar piece of military GPS equipment that will chart our tracts, take pictures, and post them onto Google earth as attachments. Today was our first research expedition. Following a trail from our station for three hours the trip was littered with sightings. We were blessed with two agoutis, a lime green parrot, 6 to 10 white faced monkeys, two Jesus Christ lizards (the ones that run on water), a non flight native bird, 6 toucans, a 4-5ft long snake we haven’t identified yet, and many other native bird and insect species.
Last night our group made it’s first trip to the Disco. Our group seems like a small one, with only 18 students and three profesores, until you enter a small Costa Rican town as a heard of young white outsiders. It is very interesting feeling like ALL the eyes in the room are pointed at you. In the beginning the bar awkwardly resembled a middle school dance, us on one side and all the locals on the other. However, alcohol does funny things and by the end of the night we were all practicing our salsa. One girl was even given a necklace and paper flower.
It’s different, but good different. Costa Rica’s amazing. They have a 97% literacy rate, are one of the leads in conservation efforts, and are statistically the happiest country in the world, and I’m happy we’re here.

Biodiversidad Botánica en Costa Rica

2010-06-26T15:53:00.000-07:00

It is our fourth day here and it already feels like it has been weeks.
It is unbelievable how much slower time seems to travel here.
Everything is laid back and the people are unbelievably friendly and nice. Being in this rainforest almost feels like you are on another planet. It is so different from the Pacific Northwest in every way.
The levels of plant and animal biodiversity here is just phenomenal. A hike through the forest is a field day for anyone with the slightest interest in the natural world. The plants here are especially fascinating. Brightly colored epiphytes and other flowering plants are extremely abundant and diverse. I am on the RICA Botany team and I am very excited to start our work here in Carara National Park and then Corcovado. Here is a photo of just a small bit of the kind of botanical biodiversity here in Costa Rica. This was from the University of Georgia Biological Station in San Luis near Monteverde, right outside our door. There were also banana trees very close, and Whitney was VERY excited :] The third photo is of Suzan and I on the zip line today in Jaco, a much-needed break after coming to the station at Carara. Hasta luego!

Peace,
Leah White

Primero Blog

2010-06-26T15:36:00.000-07:00

Philip Jackson- Blog #1

I arrived to Costa Rica on the 22nd of June, and I am loving every second of it. The first day we stayed in the Hampton Inn near the airport while we waited for everyone to arrive. My first Costa Rican dish, Casado, was amazing. It consists of rice, beans, salad, vegetable, meat and a starch. To this date I have not eaten anything I did not like and assume it will be like that the whole trip. The weather here is like nothing I have ever experienced; the heat begins around 5 am and does not let off till around 10 or 11. By let off I mean a drop in about 5 degrees. The humidity is unreal and unrelenting, I am getting used to sweating almost all day.
After our short stay at the hotel we packed on a bus and drove to San Luis to stay a night at the Universidad de Georgia. A gorgeous extension of the University of Georgia in the states, it is located right at the base of the Monteverde private park. The picture with the red roofed bungalows is the university. The fist day we saw some white-faced capuchins, monkeys, and lots of vultures. There was also a codimundi right outside my bungalow munching on some fallen plantains, got a good picture of him as well. The next day we traveled up to the Monteverde private park and had an amazing tour around the area. Our guide was great, calling to different birds and monkeys and having them respond, he was very informative. After another great lunch of Casado Pollo we got back on the bus and headed to our first place of extended stay, Carara National Park. This place is going to be character builder for all of us. Giant sized bugs are a common occurrence as are toads and frogs. Tarantulas have also been spotted, a small one in the boy’s room and a bigger one that was found in the girl’s room. The greenish building is the one we are all staying in. The rain forest is literally right behind us.
The hikes here are amazing and full of wildlife. The first hike we spotted a woodpecker, poison dart frog, agouti, and lots and lots of insects. Fortunately we have not been caught in any rainstorms yet but they are very common. The rain is warm and it cools off everything, including those of us who elect to take rain showers rather than cold ones, as we have no hot water. Today was the best day so far which included an early morning Tranopy tour with lots of zip lines. Flying high above the canopy on lines as long as three football fields is something I will never forget. Tonight we are headed to a disco to show off our salsa dancing skills that the park rangers here in Carara have helped us learn. We are here for nine days total and then it is off to surf lessons in Dominical. After that we head to Corcovado National Park for a 10 day stay and a 18 km hike. Our field research will start soon as well as our service work. Being part of the Bio geography team it is my job to map out all the points and trail systems we travel on. Mammal identification will follow as well as geo tagging everything we take a picture of. Enjoy the pictures and until next time, Pura Vida!
- Philip Jackson
June 26, 2010

Livin’ La Carara Vida Loca,

2010-06-26T15:08:00.000-07:00

I have been in Costa Rica now for four days after a surprisingly easy day of travel. I am currently at the Parque Nacional Carara at a service station that I am pretty sure is only used and taken care of by these annual Western Rica trips. So as you can guess when we arrived it was a bit shocking, we had to clear the rooms of the compound of tarantulas, frog, geckos, lizards, and other creatures before we could set up our cots, and beat the bugs and dust out of our overused under cared for mattresses. We have electricity and a few fans to combat the heat which at times can feel overwhelming, but it seems now I am starting to acclimate. We lack hot water, but we can take showers, but the rain preferable because it’s quite a bit warmer. It has rained everyday but it usually last no more than an hour probably less time, but when it does rain it pours. We are surrounded by the jungle where you can hear the bellow of howler monkeys, the buzz of cicadas, the call of frogs, and so many different bird sounds you cannot classify them with anyone noise. The bugs are everywhere they definitely own the forest, but I feel like we are living in harmony as long as we give up a little blood everyday. We have made many treks into the jungles and I have already seen many plants, insects, mammals, and birds of Costa Rica, but I know it is only the tip of the Iceberg. In the jungle you cannot help but be astounded almost every inch is covered by some sort of vegetation and the trees shoot into the sky harboring a whole new world of life. It’s a world full of niches and all of them are filled. The trees are covered with epiphytes (plants that grow on other trees), many of which are orchids, vines also hang everywhere it’s truly a spectacular place. It’s not only the naturaleza that is great about Costa Rica, but also the people everyone has been wonderful and even the Spanish they speak is more polite than the Spanish I learned in school referring to everyone with the reverence of Usted, disregarding the informal tu. We have not only been in Carara though we spent a day in a Hotel at San Jose which is what you would expect, but we spent a day at the University of Georgia campus near Monteverde. Here were excellent facilities compared to our compound, it seemed like high class safari lodging. The area is beautiful I saw some giant toads, a coatimundi, some white faced capuchin, and many birds, as well as the complex behavior of leaf cutter ants. I spend most days with at least one hike through the forest identifying birds, trees, plants, and whatever else we can find. After UGA we went the Monteverde private reserve an excellent park, where our wonderful guide Giovanni led us on a three hour hike introducing us to all of his “bebes” which were insects and birds he studied with a real love for the forest and animals, here you see the difference of a native guide compared to our gringo guide at UGA. We were lucky enough to see two Resplendent Quetzals, an endangered bird that is brilliantly colored (you should google it). There were also many humming birds buzzing around, and saw all kinds of bugs. This is a cloud forest so at times the clouds come down and touch the mountains creating a fog so thick you cannot see 8 feet in front of you according to Giovanni. This allows epiphytes to dominate this forest almost every inch of trees are covered; reminding me of the Hoh rainforest. After this we headed for Carara where I am now. Last night we had Salsa lessons that turned into an informal party on the veranda with pouring rain and thunder and lightning in the background. Today we went to the Tranopy where we rode a tram to the top of hill sighting toucans and sloth, then coming down the hill on series of 10 ziplines one of which reaches 30mph. At the bottom we had a wonderful meal and went to the serpentarium. That leads me to where I am now at the Carara Ranger station using their internet to blog, and resting before going to the Disco and putting my Salsa skills, or lack thereof, to use.

Con Mucho Gusto,
Atticus

(There are more photos on my facebook if you have such privileges)

An Eventful Change of Pace..

2010-06-26T14:38:00.000-07:00

Jaime Liljegren Blog

We arrived in San Jose on the 22nd at 530 in the morning and shuttled to the hotel where we got breakfast and waited for our rooms. Basically we sat out by the pool and read while waiting for the other people to come. The next day we woke up and traveled to the University of Peace at Monteverde where we drove up some sketch mountain roads while our bus driver fought to get our bus up the mountain. Once we pulled into the campus we unloaded our stuff into bungalows and went on a hike throughout the surrounding nature. There were so many frogs hanging out and hopping around our campus it was awesome!! After hanging out there for a night and doing some lecture we traveled to the private reserve of Monteverde for a guided tour. Our guide was so cool he could do so many bird calls that I didn’t even know existed. Howler monkeys began ‘howling’ throughout our hike and responding to our guide so much we wondered if the guides were just calling to each other. It was too hot for the forest to be covered in clouds but it was still definitely cool to see the upper clouds moving incredibly fast and all the animals. After our hike we ate lunch and headed over to our station and Parque Nacional Carara. Our facility was definitely different compared to the comfortable bungalows at University of Georgia. Taking out our mattresses and beating them to get some of the dust and stuff I don’t even really want to know what it is off of them we put our mosquito nets up (Leah and I basically are experts now, just saying..) and cleaned up the facility that hadn’t been used in a year. The bugs and creatures that have been found since arriving here has definitely created for an eventful stay. Cockroaches, tarantulas, mosquitos and termites are some visitors that have been less welcome; however we have had encounters with many frogs, iguanas, leaf cutter ants and awesome birds too!
Here we began to understand our research equipment for recording the morning songs of the birds and got to play Frisbee in the middle of a downpour in the rainforest, where we lost it in the jungle and had to retrieve it (using rubber boots of course) Today we went on a ‘tranopy’ and ziplined through the middle of the forest! An ok way to spend an afternoon. Starting research soon. Miss ya fam and Michael!

Zane's Carara Vida

2010-06-26T14:27:00.000-07:00

Hola,

5 days ago I arrived in Costa Rica not quite sure what to expect. I expected to see a lot of organisms and ecology that I had never seen before but I never envisioned seeing all of this. I have seen more already than I expected to see all 5 weeks. Today alone I saw 3 toucans, 3 poison dart frogs, an entire gallery of snakes, and a coati. The lowlands of Carara are far different from the mountainous cloud forests of Monteverde. The views alone are enough to fall in love with the country, but throw in the hospitality of the locals, the delicious food, and the immense biodiversity and Costa Rica is the most beautiful place I have ever had the pleasure of visiting. However, with all of the positives do come negatives, its hot, and I don't mean Washington August hot, or even East Coast muggy hot. This is a completely different term, you sweat day and night. It has been a challenging adjustment but its nice to know I have 19 other people going through it as well.

Hasta Luego!

Zane

From the cloud forest to the station

2010-06-24T20:50:00.000-07:00

All our students arrived safely two days ago. We've already been to Monteverde and back and now settled into the biological station at Carara. They've seen the resplendent quetzal, a blue-crowned mot-mot, dozens of hummingbirds, the glass-winged butterfly below, and the amazing forest in the clouds. The mosquito nets are up, and we'll be exploring the Carara trails for the first time manana. Zip-line and canopy Saturday. The students will start blogging soon. Buenas noches.

De-wilding?

2010-06-17T09:30:00.000-07:00

Back in December and January, my brother and I completed a 10 day photography safari here in Costa Rica. We captured some beautiful images thanks mostly to my brother's experience and skill, and a lot of dumb luck. But in my journal those days, I wrote the following. "A pair of scarlet macaws glided across the sky. A trio followed. Another pair. They were streaks of red, yellow, and blue in the morning glow. We hoped to capture such a moment with a battery of photography equipment. But a crisp photo was elusive. Maybe capturing such a wild thing makes it less wild?"

A blog titled "Too many lenses, too few eyes" in today's New York Times digs into this question.

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/17/essay-18/

In the juxtaposition of the two photos above and below, I think one can see this tension.

I would write more on what unfolded that morning at the Sirena station. "Called the most beautiful bird in the world by some, Lapa Roja symbolizes the exotic beauty and wildness of the tropics. One day, a pair unexpectedly flew directly towards our porch. As one bird flew over the building, the other looped back and perched on the roof above us. Then, like a leaf, the Macaw fluttered onto the railing right in front of us. I was face to face with the bird the Park Rangers called Lapa Poncho.

This was a bird connected on the one hand to the wilderness and his or her mate in the trees. But Lapa Poncho also remained connected to the station and its rangers who had rescued it after falling out of the nest as a young macaw. This bird has one wing in our world and the other in the tropical wilderness surrounding Sirena Station. That bird also could symbolize the challenges we face in conserving biodiversity.

Costa Rica is one of the world’s leaders in the share of land protected from human disturbances. But their reserves are islands surrounded by development and managing species like the Scarlet Macaw no longer occurs just inside the parks. Conservation is managing people as much as it’s about managing wildlife and their habitats. This is one of the many lessons I bring students to Costa Rica to learn."

Back in the Carara

2010-06-16T19:10:00.000-07:00

I've returned again to the place of my first tropical rainforest immersion. Luck brought me to Costa Rica for the first time in 2001. I was a second year assistant professor of political science and a faculty member of our small environmental science and policy graduate program. The latter part was enough to warrant an offer from a business instructor I had never met. She asked if I would be interested in joining a study abroad trip to Costa Rica? I doubt I hesitated. I could do policy stuff, another professor the environmental science, and she’ll handle the economics. She knew a Park in Costa Rica we could do volunteer work for. We attracted more than 25 undergraduates and off we went.

We traveled to Carara, a central Pacific National Park encompassing nearly twelve thousand acres of rainforest ranging from sea level to the foothills of Turrialba mountain and the beginning of the Talamanca range. It’s located south of the Rio Tarcoles and a population of endangered crocs and like Costa Rica bridging North and South America, this transitional forest was an intersection of the tropical wet ecosystems of the south with the tropical dry habitats in the northwest. Therefore, it hosts a great concentration of biodiversity, a kind of microcosm of Costa Rica itself, and includes one of the country’s last habitats for scarlet macaws. The Carara name derives from an indigenous language that would translate as “river of crocodiles”, and many guide books describe the Park as a wildlife oasis. But in reality this park is an ecological island.

On Carara’s eastern borders, agriculture dominates the rural highlands with pasture fences marking the Park’s edges. To the south, the real estate bubble went global and luxury housing developments have sprung up like an invasive species. But the most significant border is on Carara’s western edge. Highway 34 cuts this terrestrial ecosystem off from the coastal plain to the west. A new road brings even more traffic from the central valley to the Pacific coast.

Ten years ago, there were an estimated 200 Scarlet Macaws. Today, their numbers have doubled and I'm proud that my students have had a small part in this conservation success. But there are new challenges. While the Scarlet Macaws fly effortlessly through the surrounding human developments, mammals, amphibians and snakes don’t fare so well. The tragic pictures below are from last week as an ocelot mother and her juvenile didn’t make their dash off the island. The linked article is more bad news. The road takes on average 16 animals a month. This may become our next collaborative project with Carara.

http://www.nacion.com/2010-06-16/AldeaGlobal/NotasSecundarias/AldeaGlobal2410065.aspx

Ecotopia for the tenth time

2010-06-14T13:38:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Santiago de Puriscal. I’m back in Costa Rica for my tenth time since 2001. This nation’s name originated from Spanish conquistadors. It means rich coast in English. The colonizers thought the land would be filled with gold. Columbus set eyes on a Caribbean coastline in 1502 that stretched for 132 miles (212 km). In letter a year after his travels, Columbus had this recollection. “I arrived in the land of Cariay, where I stopped to mend and provision the ships, and to give some rest to the crew members who were quite ill. . . There I heard tales of the gold mines that I was searching for in the province of Ciamba” (July of 1503). To the west of where Columbus first anchored, nearly 20,000 square miles of land undulates through 23 different ecozones (Holdridge, 1967). Framed on the other three sides by a 192 mile northern border with Nicauragua, a 397 mile border with Panama, and 800 miles of Pacific coast on the western side, many recognize that Costa Rica’s riches are more green than gold.

Countless observers have documented Costa Rica’s natural exceptionalism. In one of the first, an author in 1895 called it the gem of American republics. “A naturalist’s paradise” proclaimed Alexander Skutch. One coffee table book labeled Costa Rica The Last Country the Gods Made. It was one of The Living Edens featured in a PBS television series. An environmental historian labeled it The Green Republic (Evans, 1999). Others would proclaim that Costa Rica was the Switzerland of Central America. In a more infamous reference, conservative radio voice Rush Limbaugh exclaimed that he would move to Costa Rica if the 2010 health care reform legislation passed. Ironically, Costa Rica has universal health care. It also has a longer life expectancy then the U.S. and a larger share of land protected from development. Rush didn’t immigrate nor did he recognize the double serving of contradictions in his statement. But many other journalists and observers have been drawn to this country’s exceptionalism.

One New York Times journalist would celebrate Costa Rica’s recent ban on oil drilling (Friedman, 2009). That was 2004 when the former Present Abel Pachaco overturned the permits a Texas Oil company had acquired. In an ironic twist, George W. Bush was on the board of Harken Energy when they first got permissions to explore oil along Costa Rica’s coast. Imagine President Bush denying BP’s applications for deep well drilling concessions in the Gulf? That never happened and the Gulf of Mexico Oil spill will go down as one of America’s worst environmental disasters. But not in Costa Rica!

You also won’t find an army, something another columnist marveled at because Costa Rica has seven decades without an army (Kristof, 2010). That is impossible to imagine in the US. Costa Rica’s former Minister of Natural Resources, Alvaro Urmana, called his home “a biological superpower.” The accolades could be continued. But surprisingly few have associated Costa Rica with the idea of ecotopia.

Wandering around my college bookstore in 1986, I saw ecotopia for the first time. I was a wide-eyed freshman buying my first college books. I didn’t stumble across a book about Costa Rica. I grabbed calculus, geology, and ecology; texts representing the accumulated knowledge of scientific disciplines. But for English 101, the required book was titled Ecotopia Emerging. This wasn’t going to be your typical text. Ernest Callenbach’s second novel was published in 1981 and served as a prequel for his 1975 book, Ecotopia. Inside each, I would find the fictional stories of a new nation forming when parts of northern California, Oregon, and Washington seceded from the United States. But that was fiction. This blog includes real accounts of my experiences and the reflections of my students.

Since 2003, I’ve taken more than 100 students of environmental studies to explore the landscapes, culture and economy of Costa Rica. Costa Rica’s tourism bureau proudly proclaims “no artificial ingredients” to draw visitors from around the world. Situated at the confluence of two oceans and bridging two continents in the tropical latitudes, this small nation hosts some of the greatest concentration of biodiversity anywhere. Costa Rica is about the size of West Virginia, or, 0.03% of the world’s surface, yet it holds an estimated 5 percent of the world’s biodiversity. Species from North and South America mixed on this continental land bridge for over a millennia leading to new combinations of flora and fauna.

In the south central spine of the nation’s Talamanca mountains, the highest peak of Chirripo reaches over 12,000 feet with a cap of Costa Rica’s rarest life zone—an alpine cloud rain paramo. To the east, an alluvial plain spreads into the Caribbean and north to the Nicaraguan border. On the Pacific side, the geography varies more with clusters of mountains criss-crossing the landscape to create numerous valleys. A second and distinct volcanic range rises up again north of the central valley. This undulating terrain and climate creates the variations of elevation, temperatures, and rainfall that form differentiated cauldrons where the alchemy of speciation led to new life forms. Over 87,000 have been identified and scientists expect they might discover a half million species across Costa Rica (Zamora and Obando, 2001). You can’t really understand biodiversity and how thick nature can get until you are immersed in a tropical rainforest’s flora and fauna.

This blog, and the program I’ve been leading every year (called Rainforest Immersion and Conservation Action), is not only about tropical ecology. We embark on a broad study of the environment. The students will monitor rare Scarlet Macaws, study deforestation from satellite images, and learn about botany. They also take action to conserve the rainforests by building trails and volunteering in the communities outside Costa Rica’s conservation areas. We also learn about globalization and how economic forces can help and harm this nation in studying the tension between profits and people. Students are, for instance, confronted with the inequitable development patterns transforming Costa Rica’s coastlines. Oceanside property is predominately foreign-owned and often very different than typical housing in the interior. As one of my students put it one year, “you can visit Costa Rica, but never be in Costa Rica.” In short distances, you can see opulent clusters of homes and golf courses catering to the super rich near the meager homes of ordinary residents. The former’s wealth can be a hundred or even thousand-fold higher than their neighbors. According to the New Economics Foundation (NEF), nearly ten percent of Costa Ricans live on less than $2.00 per day. Such inequity is an often an underappreciated weakness of any community or country’s aspirations to hit the sustainability sweet spot.

This blog will give you a glimpse of the three-dimensional perspective we use here, and in doing so, illuminate Costa Rica’s lessons in the triple light of the ecological, environmental, and social dimensions of sustainability. These complicated webs will make or break Costa Rica’s environmental achievements.

Pura vida amigos, 14 June 2010.

2010-01-04T15:51:00.000-08:00

playground or preserve?

2009-12-26T08:51:00.001-08:00

Monkeys and sloths for christmas

2009-12-26T07:58:00.001-08:00

Costa Rica Soccer Final

2009-12-24T14:27:00.000-08:00

Lagoon Hike

2009-12-23T14:06:00.000-08:00

Tico Navidad

2009-12-22T14:38:00.000-08:00

Day 3 in Carara yielded some of our best photography from the trails of Carara National Park, the banks of the Rio Grande Tarcoles, and the almond trees at Playa Azul.

Abel Expedition begins today!

2009-12-20T05:56:00.000-08:00

The Abel brothers are gearing up for stage 1 in Carara National Park.

Monkeys for Myla

2009-07-25T10:10:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRSOd5a9ugA

Sunday morning at Sirena

2009-07-25T08:24:00.000-07:00

I wrote the following blog after a wonderful first day at Sirena 12 days ago.

Day 1 at this Corcovado biological station began at 4am. Yep, 4am. We didn’t dream of such an early wake up but the forest had different plans. The howls began slowly and seemingly in the distance. They grew to a crescendo right above our buildings and most of us were shaken out of a tropical slumber. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXiFgANry30). Two and a half hours later we really started our day with a breakfast of rice, beans, eggs, and toast.

Station rules were the first order of business. Breakfast will be from 6:30 to 7 and the dining room closes at 7:30. The groups will split up with half painting the station building and the other half conducting their project research. Lunch is roughly 11:30 to 12:30 followed by more service and research. 2pm marks the end of our work day and the beginning of time for exploration. Shoes are the topic of rule number two. No field shoes on the stations deck. Our living area is a series of elevated sleeping wings, a dining hall, and a two story building with a beautiful veranda and upstairs for research work. Closed toed shoes are the rule for off the deck and trail-hiking. Boots are required for the research work off the trail. Rule number three covers swimming. Visitors can only swim in one spot along the Rio Claro. No one can swim on the beach or at the mouth of either the Rio Claro or Rio Sirena.

Well, you could swim at the mouth of either river but you might encounter a crocodile! They like brackish or salt water and both rivers funnel nutrients into the ocean that attracts a lot of other fish that the crocs feed on. This rule really came into focus when we nearly stepped on a baby crocodile tanning on the beach TWO DIFFERENT TIMES ON THE SAME DAY! Sharks also patrol these waters! Bull sharks a common sight between the two rivers while also feeding at the mouth of the rivers at high tide.

Finally, trail rules. No one hikes alone and one must always be vigilant. No running on the trails and no casual strolls off-trail. Its crucial to maintain respect for the forest. Then, your safe and you’re more likely to benefit from all this ecosystem can offer.

For instance, this is a quick re-cap of yesterday’s first full day at Sirena. Again, it started at 4am with the howler monkeys. As we began our morning hike, we were greeted by a blue-morpho and its puppet like flight. This butterfly flaps its large blue wings at a pace that gives one an impression that there is some hidden puppeteer in the sky. We then cruised down the beach and startled what we first thought was a lizard. But it scurried into the ocean and it became obvious that we just saw a baby croc. We then formed a human chain into the beach surf (this is allowed) to unload our paint (pintura) donation, new roofing tiles, and some of our food. A pelican floated next to us in the surf attracting quite the affection from Devon. He’s one of Devon’s friends now. She also reminded me about the “crap-ton” of hermit crabs also on the beach.

We then began our “interpretive hike” with Alberto and walked north on the beach. I asked Alberto to stop half way down towards the next river to talk about the tapirs at Corcovado. They’re the largest mammal in Central America, in the horse family, nocturnal, and herbivores. Typically, they are gentle creatures that you can be close too but mothers with their babies can be dangerous. They have a very hard skull to hit you with but incredibly poor eyesight. We finished our first chat and proceeded around the beach point to the Rio Sirena mouth and as I asked Alberto to stop and prepare for his next interpretation and right on cue, a tapir lumbered awake just twenty yards away. We enjoyed its antics for a bit and then wandered back to the station for lunch. We saw more in one morning than most visitors see in their day jaunts on a boat from Drake Bay.

But our epic day continued. After lunch, an anteater appeared in a banana tree on the Westside of our front porch and ambled to the ground, underneath our platform, into our courtyard and then disappeared under the kitchen building. We then took a siesta and started hiking to the swimming hole. 2 km later, we found the spot and two other visitors who promptly informed us they spotted a small crocodile. Now I’m a policy guy, but I remembered that Alberto said crocs are only in salt or brackish water, not clear river water. So I thought this must be a small caiman and not much of a threat to us. So we waded in, threw rocks in the swimming hole and then splash, the caimen moved against the other bank of the river. It was about 1 meter long and keeping its distance from us. So I dove in, crossed through a short, but deeper channel until I could again stand on the river bottom up to my knees on the same bank as the caimen. Then it hit me. I’m swimming in the same waters with a caimen! We approached, and it darted downstream. We approached again, and it darted downstream. I then gave the ok for the rest of the group to swim.

At 4pm, we decided to hike to Rio Sirena for high tide and along the way, we saw squirrel monkeys, spider monkeys, and then walked right into a large herd of collared peccaries. We got back to the beach and continued hiking north when we again ran across a baby croc. It ran into the incoming surf and we tried to get a second glimpse but it was gone in a flash. As the sun began to set, we saw one bull shark in the mouth of the Sirena river and it was time to call it a day.

Rainforest Immersion comes to an end...

2009-07-25T08:17:00.000-07:00

Today brings the end to RICA 2009. Everyone is in good health (maybe a few with tummy aches) and some will return today while a big group will stay on to explore more of Costa Rica or Nicaragua. I too will stay on for two weeks of much needed R&R and return on Aug. 11. We saw and learned a lot in these 31 days and I have a few more posts to share today and during my own travels in the coming days.

Danta Corcovado Lodge

2009-07-10T15:35:00.000-07:00

We are officially staying in the most amazing lodge...but only for a grand total of 14 hours (we leave at 4am for our 18 mile trek to Sirena station). Walking into the lodge you feel like you are still in the forest as the whole building and almost everything inside of it is handmade from reforested wood. Some of the more fascinating things I've encountered so far include the stick that you turn to procure water from the sink, the polished log rings that serve as beautiful yet somewhat ungainly toilet seats, and garbage receptacles carved like little houses complete with swinging shingled roofs. The bungalows where most of the group are staying are a short walk through the forest and over a creek where a caiman is said to live. The bungalows, consisting of wooden platforms, a sectioned off bathroom, and green netting for roof/walls, almost appear to be part of the surrounding forest. My description of the lodge and bungalows may sound somewhat rustic, but this is not the case. Immaculate detail and planning has gone into every aspect of the construction of the structures and overall atmosphere with intricate wood working everywhere you turn (including a few carved snakes around corners). You can read more about the lodge at their website: http://www.dantacorcovado.net/index.html

Wish us luck on our venture tomorrow! <3 sarah catudio

University for Peace

2009-07-10T07:11:00.000-07:00

Hola! Policy Sara here once again....
Since this is our last chance to blog before disappearing deep in to the jungle, I have been given the assignment to inform you all about our University of Peace experience this past week. We were given a unique opportunity to attend 4 guest lectures at U Peace on a variety of topics on environmental and social justice issues. Robert Fletcher, a freshman professor at U Peace provided an interesting and critical look at ecotourism and its effects on local communities, culture, and economies. He introduced the idea of a nature/culture dichotomy that is present in the consciousness of most westerners-the idea that there are human spaces and natural spaces- and ecotourism gives a chance to "cross over". He argued that ecotourism is a the extention of our colonial legacy, as the heros of American narratives ventured into the unknown. Jan Breitling gave a lecture on environmental values, valutation, and services of forests where he talked about the economic use and non use values of environmental services. Our second day at U Peace we received lectures from Rolain Borel and Victoria Fontan. The first examined environmental stress as a cause of both intrastate and international conflicts. He described different forms of land degredation such as top soil erosion, nutrient mining, deforestaiton, etc., and how they contribute directly to conflicts over land and resources, often leading to political struggles within and between countries. The final lecture was on peace studies with a focus on post-saddam Iraq. Professor Fontan starting her second doctorate, researching how quantam theory-- very simply put, the holistic interconnectedness of everything--is key to peace studies. She emphasized the complexity, uncertainty, and creativity that is and will be necessary to achieve peace in post-Saddam Iraq.

And here I was, worried that I wouldnt be getting any Political Science curriculum out of this...

Anyway, I am off to surf. Be jealous Chris...haha! Love and miss you all.

Sara Hall

Come on a surfin safari with me...

2009-07-10T06:57:00.000-07:00

This is the second morning we've gotten to wake up and be able to jump in the ocean and it still amazes me everytime how warm the water is here!!! Dominical is a mix of locals and people from all over the world just living the life in a small beach town. The beach front hotel is so perfect to go with the beach bum feel and I could not asked for anything more, there is even a hamock right outside every room, just in case you want to relax for a few in the shade after being in the sun. But make no mistake a quick shade jolt is all you need, and all you will agree to give up, before jumping back into the sunshine, waves and sand. Yesterday was surfing day, and the bulk of the day was spent with that...which is a positive for me!!! This is heaven if you ask me, and one of the most perfect beach spots with the best atmosphere I have ever been to. This blog is going to be cut since we have exactly 2 hrs and 54 min (by my watch right now) until we have to leave Dominical, which means its surfing time before heading out. Miss you and pura vida from paradise!

Surf Camp

2009-07-10T06:20:00.000-07:00

Buenos dias friends and family. We are finishing surf camp this morning and the students have enjoyed their break. We are at full strength again and the group is ready for our Osa portion of the trip. We leave Dominical at 11am and should arrive around 4am. We'll get a good rest in a nice eco-lodge and then start at 4am tommorrow for the tractor ride followed by an 18 kim hike. We should arrive at the Sirena biological station after a full day of trekking and begin our 8 day immersion into Corcovado National Park. We'll be off the grid so our last blogs for 10 days will appear today.

abelt67 sent you a video: "local nature global commitment"

2009-07-09T13:44:00.001-07:00

	help center \| e-mail options \| report spam
abelt67 has shared a video with you on YouTube: One theme that we discussed early in the trip is about the political challenge of reconciling local perspectives with global pressures. For instance, ecotourists deman certain services and may inadvertantly marginalize local traditions. On cue, this phrase appeared as we exited the plane. local nature global commitment
© 2009 YouTube, LLC 901 Cherry Ave, San Bruno, CA 94066

abelt67 sent you a video: "Service work improving Carara trails"

2009-07-09T09:36:00.001-07:00

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abelt67 has shared a video with you on YouTube: Video of trail service work. Service work improving Carara trails Our service work encompasses both maintenance and environmental monitoring. Here, we paint one of the main bridges in the trails of Carara National Park.
© 2009 YouTube, LLC 901 Cherry Ave, San Bruno, CA 94066

2009-07-05T19:47:00.001-07:00

Hola from Costa Rica! Today we had a guide at Monte Verde (Cloud Forest). We saw a eyelash viper, glasswing butterfly, an array of hummingbirds, some white faced capuchin monkeys and many other creatures. It was indescribably beautiful there. Our tour guide was enthusiastic and seemed to know everything about the flora and fauna of the area. Yesterday we took a hike through the trails of Monte Verde and went over a suspension bridge overlooking the canopy of the forest. It was very high up and the bridge wobbled quite a bit when walking over it. We hiked to the continental divide and there was an observation deck that overlooked the jungle. It was extremely windy but so much fun. We took our rain jackets and made a sail- everyone almost blew away from the wind. After our tour guide we had lunch and packed up our luggage into our backpack and made our way back to San Jose. It was about a four hour drive and mostly everyone slept on the bus. It was nice to get some sleep but it started raining and I had a leak over my head and woke up towards the end of the trip. Tomorrow we are going to the University of Peace for some classes and then we are headed to the beach for surf lessons.

Hello friends and family! Pura Vida!

Bonnie

Hello from Costa Rica

2009-07-05T19:34:00.001-07:00

It has been 2 weeks since I left Bellingham.

We celebrated the 4th of July at Moteverde.

Today, we went for a hike with an experienced guide.

The most significant moment was at the continental divide.

I felt a cold wind from the Atlantic ocean side, and at the same time, I felt a warm wind from the Pacific ocean side.

Tomorrow, we will have a lecture at UPeace for Peace studies.

I am very much looking forward to it. Japan (which is my home country) and Costa Rica both have peace constitutions, but while Japan has been compromising its constitutional ideal for the past 50 years, Costa Rica has got so close to its ideal. We can see it through permanent dissolution of the armed forces.

There are lots of things we can learn from this country.

well, it is time to go to bed...

Masa

Hola! from Bird Megan

2009-07-05T19:30:00.000-07:00

Well a lot has happened since we all arrived in Costa Rica. It was sad to leave Carara National Park yesterday but i am ready to see more of Costa Rica and see what Sirena has in store for us. It was exciting to see all of the animals of Carara up close and personal. On Friday a Group of white faced Capuchin monkeys came to eat the mangos out of our tree. They seem more concerned about getting the mangos then the crowd of people taking pictures of them.

The bird team finished all three recordings, after changing many variables, at Carara as well. We also got to go bird watching with an expert bird guide. Now we can identify some of the birds we recorded, although it's going to take so more practice for me. It will be nice not to wake up at 5 in the morning for a change... at least until we are in Sirena.

Yesterday we spent the fourth of July at the Monteverde Cloud Forest. We enjoyed pizza for dinner and hot showers. Today while hiking with a guide my group got pooped on by a Guan, a Costa Rican flying turkey. Jason got the most, his shirt must be very unlucky.

We are now back in San Jose and will be attending the University of Peace for the next too days. Until next blog, Hi to everyone back home. Its been an adventure and i am looking forward to the next ones that are sure to come.

-Megan Watson

Thank you for coming!

2009-07-05T12:42:00.001-07:00

This is Giovanny Soto, the Public Use Coordinator at Carara National Park. I had the chance to work with many local and international universities but when my friend Dr. Troy Abel comes with WWU, its really a different experience because we appreciate his students and staff and welcome all the group. For me its just a great experience to work, organize and share with students about the importance of nature, national parks (especially Carara which is very biodiverse). The best thing is to let the students know about the support from them and how it makes the difference here at the park. Its seems to be a very unique experience because not all the rangers in the whole sytem of conservation areas have this kind of relationship and it allows me to show my country as it is. Perhaps the only way to have people in touch with this protected area is to live inside the biological station and to understand the needs we have and share your time to collaborate with our main purposes and keep going with protection and activities. You have been more than tourists, but collaborators and friends.

Maybe in the future we could have more equipment, supplies and more technology to provide not only for students internationally, but for local student volunteerss who can understand your effort, support and your ideas to help Carara make improvements. I hope you keep your Carara experience in your memories and share these with your families and friends in Bellingham and around the USA.

I certainly like to thank all of you who gave us a hand and to understand our purposes and say “ An empty mind produces nothing, a full mind and warrior heart can get us what we need” Gracias amigos to give us the opportunity to help you and to be your hosts, here in my country, friendly by nature. Thank you for coming.

Also, my best for mi amigo Troy, without your help, we could not have had this marvelous experience at Carara National Park.

Sincerely, Bach. Giovanny Soto.

Costa Rica Highlights

2009-07-02T16:48:00.001-07:00

We are living and hanging out at the Biological station. This is full of nice sized bugs. We went on our first hike and saw so many different creatures. The rain forest is so wonderful and beautiful. There are so many creatures I don´t know where to begin. Today we went croc hunting. They are such weird animals I don't know how to explain. They are so rustic set in the new world. We saw this huge one that look like it eats very well. :) We also have been able to partake in some "ecotourism" and went zip lining. That was a blast but a little to touristy. I really enjoyed the Macaw counting we did the other day. My group saw 147 Macaws. They are taking an average over the month for the park. Those birds are so graceful and pretty. When we went on the lagoon hike we saw a flock of like 30 birds feasting. That was so amazing!!

I am so over whelmed by the fact that there is such a first world influence in a truly 3rd world country. You see billboards and high class hotels right next to the run down shack. So interesting I would love to investigate more about the culture. It is just so cool.

On Monday my education group went to one of the local schools Esquela Capulin, to do some teaching. We played with the kids and taught them about the trees and how they help the environment. It was so cool. Then after all of our teaching we went to plant trees with the kids! I made a friend who told me all about his biking battle wounds. It was great!! It was so exciting and so much fun to extend our work down here to the community. The really cool thing was that neither the students nor the teacher knew much English and so we had to work through the language barrier together to understand each other. We taught in broken Spanish and used lots of gestures to get our points across. We had one of the rangers who knew Spanish and English to help translate. I have been using some of my Spanish but it seams that it is a little rusty. Saturday we will be leaving Carara headed to Monteverde, then to U Peace and finally to Corcovado. Though I really enjoy it here I can't wait until our next part of the trip.

Until then,

Katie

blog

2009-07-02T16:45:00.003-07:00

Hola from Costa Rica, So its been over a week and a half and so much has gone on. First of all i learned a valuble lesson that all should heed when coming to Costa Rica. When you buy a new shirt always shake it out before you try it on. I learned this lesson the hard way when i bought a shirt and got stung by a scorpion that was living inside. Real painful sting that made me feel pretty brut but all and all I was ok and was able to do the zipline with the whole class (which was awesome). So yesterday we had a soccer game between Troys team the advacados and Adríans(park ranger) team the Macaws. It was an intense battle which went down to the wire. Skyler scored an early goal for the advacados which was answered by a goal by the Macaws. Sarah from the advacados hit one just by the diving goalkeeper josh. Then i scored one sliding the ball off the fingertips of Troy. Time was running short when baby sarah of the macaws hit one in from midfield which ended the match 3-2. The night ended with a great dinner of vegetarian lasanga made by the famous wilma of carrara national park.
The following day we went to the mangrove forest and saw some wild crocidiles in there natural habitat. Our time at Carrara is running short but it is for sure a time to remember.
Pura vida,
Jason

Sun, crocs, and rain...a typical day in Costa Rica

2009-07-02T16:45:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone, Sarah Degenhart (from the bird team) here! The ´09 rica team had an excellent day today. The bird team and a visitor from the Ed team, Katie, went out in the field at 5:30 am. We hiked along the Quebrata Bonita trail to our medium density canopy plot to record the birds we heard. The team completed 4, very difficult, point counts somewhat successfully while Katie got the headphones to hear what was being recorded. The recording worked great so we decided to take the long way home to try to see some creatures. Walking through the rainforest when the sun is rising is an amazing thing. ¡Que bonita! We tried to find some snakes but no luck, sorry Em! I will get some pictures for you soon. The hike back was great, no new sightings but still worth it.

After a much needed breakfast and coffee break, some of us headed to the Tarcoles River for the first crocodile tour. The drive was long, bumpy, and most people slept but once we got out we were fine. The eight of us put our life-vests on and piled into the small tour boat with our two guides. At first the ride was fun, no crocs or anything, just a nice ride on the brown, murky river. We finally got to a bend in the river where you could see the ocean and crocodiles! There were at least five of them sunning themselves on the beach directly in front of us. It was so cool! But dont worry, these werent "killer crocs" or anything. We sat there for a while, watching them enter the water and slowly swim away. On our way to the dock Erica spotted a huge one across the way so our guide drove us right up to it. This guy was pretty massive! After sitting there for a minute the guide started splashing the water and hitting the boat to get the crocs attention. It walked itself right into the water and disappeared! It freaked out a few of the people so we drove back to the dock. They were so cool to see up close. Amazing.

When we got back to the station, Handy-Boy Troy showed us the sloth in our front yard. He had the scope set up so we could see the sloths little face and everything. Super cute. A little after lunch, Troy spotted another animal in the tree next to the sloth. An anteater decided to drop in to visit. One of the park rangers said this is a rare sighting and he believes this species will be extinct within the next ten years. Yea, we have crazy jungle animals hang out in our front yard all the time. (Buggy you would have loved it! I have pictures to show you when I get home) The sun was out and a few of us decided to try and get a tan. After sitting in a boat for an hour and then falling asleep in a chair in the sun my arm got pretty burnt. Sorry Mom and Dad! I wont forget sunscreen the rest of the time I am here.

Well thats all the time I have now. Hopefully I will get to write again soon. Hello to everyone back home! Love you and miss you all, wish you were here!

2009-07-02T16:40:00.001-07:00

hi friends! a note from sarah catudio

The education team got to visit and teach a lesson at Escuela Capulin, a small elementary school in Costa Rica on Monday. There was one teacher for 20 students in grades K-6. After spending the morning at the school we went with the students and Adrian, a park ranger from Carara, to plant trees near the community water source to help filter sediment and remove unwanted nutrients from the ground water. I teach at an elementary school in Bellingham and am very excited to hopefully set up some global connections between the students at Escuela Capulin and Wade King Elementary in the fall.

Coming from a non-environmental studies/sciences background I´ve been very interested in both the novel coursework as well as the fieldwork that other teams are completing. I took a tour of the botony plot yesterday and was very impressed with how well Khai, Megan, Sara and Masa were able to explain thier research and answer all of my questions.

Hola from Costa Rica!

2009-07-02T16:38:00.001-07:00

Carara has been a wonderful, if not sometimes challenging experience so far. We have seen so many different animals in their natural environments. We get to fall asleep, and wake up, to the screams of Howler monkeys. I am getting used to ice cold showers, an endless supply of beans and rice, and having at least 5 swollen, itchy bug bites at any given point. It is very humid here, but it is really nice when it rains. And boy, does it rain. We went on a Crocodile River Tour today, and got to see them pretty up close. They are pretty lazy and just lay there with their mouths open. I wanted to see one eat a bird or something, just to see them move fast, but no luck.

As a member of the Policy team, I have been able to go into town and see some of the local culture. Most people are very friendly, and it is a unique experience to be able to see people living in little villages and fishing towns. All of the park rangers in Carara are friendly, and it has made me not as intimidated to try speaking Spanish. I enjoy trying to read all of the signs, and understand what is going on.

Yesterday morning, a group of us went to a lookout to count Macaws as they flew off to their daily routines. These counts are part of the Macaw Conservation efforts, and it was awesome to be part of it. Macaws always fly in pairs, and occasionally in families. Some of them flew right over us, and others were really far away. Their bright red stood out against the green of the trees though, and it was beautiful to watch even from a distance.

We only have two more nights in Carara, and then we get a little break from our rainforest living. I think everyone is looking forward to getting laundry done. It is hard to keep things smelling even half-way decent when it takes a couple days for them to dry. I am looking forward to our big hike into Corcavado National Park. It is supposed to be similiar to the lagoon hike we did last week- calf deep muddy puddles. During that hike, i tried pretty hard at first not to get super muddy, and my shoes held up very well. Once i looked ahead on the trail to see solid puddles, however, i knew it would just be easier to give in and embrace it.

Hello to all my family and friends, I miss you lots, and hope you are all having wonderful summers!

Pura vida!

-Mallory

Living la Pura Vida!

2009-07-02T16:31:00.000-07:00

by Skylar Hinkley (Policy Team)

Life in the rainforest is never dull. Yesterday I woke up at 4:30am to sounds of howler monkeys, birds chirping and insects buzzing (the rainforest never sleeps). We had to be up before 5 to go monitor scarlet macaws at a nearby lookout. Everyday they fly from their homes in mangrove forests across the Tarcoles River to a feeding area to feast on fruits. We counted 147 of these beautiful birds fly by us and overhead. It is truly an amazing sight to see. I never thought I could smile so much, so early in the morning. Then the rest of the day consisted of the usual rainforest treks with all sorts of creatures crawling, and flying around. Although I have grown accustomed to it over the past week, waking up to the rainforest right at our porch never gets old.

Today there was an ant-eater in a tree right over our station (a rare sight)...so I snapped a quick pic:

Not only is the rainforest exciting and beautiful, but so are the local towns. The policy team gets to interact with the community through interviews. The other day we went to a nearby school and interviewed the principle about environmental education programs with Carara Park. The students were excited to see us and have there pictures taken…to say the least.

Over the weekend we had a little play time to relax from our week of field work. We went to a popular ecotourism attraction in Costa Rica where you get to zip line over the canopy of the rainforest. It was as cool as it sounds. It was another hot day in paradise, so John decided to wear his usual short-shorts uniform (crocs and all), even on the zip line. The employees got a good laugh out of his unique gringo style. It's so hot though that it is hard to blame him.

Today we got to go on a boat ride through the mangrove forest on the Tarcoles River. We got to see crocodiles bathing in the sun. They looked more lazy than vicious.

Just another day in Costa Rica.

erica´s blog

2009-07-02T16:30:00.001-07:00

Hola from the jungle!

I have had some amazing experiences here so far.

One of my favorites is when my group (the environmental education group) got to visit an elementary school here. It was a little tricky communicating with the children because of the language barrier, but we managed pretty well. It was also interesting to see how the schools here differ from ours in the U.S., they only have one class for all the grades and the ages in the class range from 6-14 or so. We got to do a presentation and science experiement about tree planting. Afterwards we got to then plant trees with the children, since their school in loctaed in a flood basin. The trees will help slow floods, and the roots will help clean their drinking water since they get it from the groundwater. It was such a great experience! When it was time for us to leave the school, a little girl ran up to me and gave me her bracelett to remember her by and it made my day! I can´t wait to further my environmental education experiences.

Another great time I had was the macaw monitoring. Although we had to wake up at 4:30 am, it was definitely worth it! We counted around 147 individual macaws. The sunrise was gorgeous as well. It was awesome to see so many macaws fly overhead!

Today we got to go on a boat through the mangroves and the first thing we saw was three white-faced monkeys which are my favorite! We also saw a few crocodiles!

I am really excited for the "Carara Olympics" tomorrow that Sarah D., Bonnie, Mitch and I have been planning. Go Environmental Ed. Team!
- Erica Roeglin

Tengo un excellente tiempo

2009-07-02T16:15:00.001-07:00

Tengo un excellente tiempo!

Today I woke up about 5am and prepared for field work. I am on the team studying birds in Carara National Park and we will continue our work at Parque Nacional de Corcovado (Corcovado National Park). For breakfast I had something that resembled Cocoa Pebbles as well as some coffee.

For field work we had a site selected about 20 minutes from our biological station about 10 meters off of the trail. We have to where our rubber boots for protection since we are off the trail so as not to be bitten by the Fer De Lance which is a poisonous snake. Our site was selected because we wanted to monitor birds in a canopy layer with medium density. We had already done a low density and will do a high density tomorrow. The team monitors number of individual birds as well as number of different species. To do this we use a microphone that rests on a tripod, a recorder, headphones, a densiometer to measure canopy density, and our notebook to do a point count of the number of birds we here for a 10 minute period. In the evening we have students in other study groups listen to our recording and have them note how many birds and how many species they can hear. Half the students will listen at Carara and the other half will listen at Corcovado.

In other news, we went on a boat tour in the morning and observed some crocodiles as well as some fascinating birds. Upon returning to the station we saw a sloth right by our biological station and soon after we saw an anteater! He was pretty awesome. I also spent some time reading Trouble in Paradise about the destruction of the Amazon rainforest. For lunch I had a ham and cheese sandwich with some chips and salsa.

Nothing but good times here in Costa Rica. Right now we are at an Internet café in the town of Quebrada Genado. I will blog later. Pura Vida!

Mitch Olson

2009-06-30T16:49:00.001-07:00

Hey from Botany Megan!!
Today we did a macaw count and woke up at 4:30 am. We saw 105 individuals and 12 baby Macaws. After that we ate breakfast. We then painted half of a bridge. The paint was super smelly. Then we ate lunch. Nice tuna fish sandwhiches. After that the botany team went out to their plot. We finished measuring the diameter Base height of all the trees in the plot. We have a total of 17 trees with the base height of more than 10 cm. We have been having difficulting in identifying the species, but we´ll figure it out. Yesterday the botany team was out all day working in our transect. We also got a lecture about the Scarlet Macaws and saw pictures of snakes. There is a tree next to our station that has a bunch of Howler monkeys that wake us up in the mourning!
Later from Megan!

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2009-06-30T16:44:00.000-07:00

Today the GIS team went on a long hike all the way accross Carara National Park. the day started at about 4:30 in the morning and we were on the road to the trailhead by five. we started the roughly 9 mile hike with our hired local guide around 7. the purpose of the hike was to map the ¨trail¨ with GPS because it had never been done before. Antonio, the guide, who used to be a hunter in these parts before it became illigal in the park, estimated that there had only been about twenty people to have ever traveled this trail. when we started along our journey, i knew he wasn´t lying, because there was no trail. some portions of the trek were on small game trails at best, but the majority of it was spent hacking our way through the jungle carefully placing each step to ensure we didnt step on any snakes or other dangerouse animals. we saw some monkeys, tucans, wild pigs, macaws, among other jungle creatures. it took us 5 hours to complete the trail, which was a pretty fast pace.....the fastest done so far Antonio says. our GPS data turned out well and we were all pretty tired and glad to get back to the research station at the end.
I hope everyone following this blog is doing well back home and i wish you could be down here with us.

-Jon Skelton

Weekend!

2009-06-29T20:01:00.000-07:00

Hola Amigos! “Policy Sara” here. Sara Hall to my friends and family back home. In a group of 25 students there are 4 Sara(h)s , so seeing as I am a member of the policy team that is what I am now called. Welcome to my first blog ever. So much to tell! This weekend was a whirlwind adventure. The highlight was most definitely seeing 30 scarlet macaws at once on our Saturday afternoon lagoon hike. It was a beautiful and rare sight to behold. Many of us stood in awe for a half hour unable to turn away as the birds flew from the food tree to their perching tree. On the same hike I saw my first monkey of the trip which Shanley and I were quite excited about, let me tell you. I think the hike itself was a short preview of what is to come on the Sirena trek—lots and lots and lots of mud. Imagine getting back to the station with only 30 minutes until leaving for a fancy happy hour and a night at the disco. What are 20 girls, sweaty and covered in mud to do with only two showers? Answer: out door sink shower. It was quite entertaining as well as environmentally friendly. Once we all finally smelled well enough to reenter the real world (read: no longer smelling like a zoo mixed with a gym locker) , we hoped in the lovely air conditioned vans and drove to a beautiful resort on the top of a cliff overlooking the ocean for happy hour. A mojito has never tasted so good.

The night progress to dinner at an authentic Costa Rican restaurant and dancing at, Lucille’s, la discoteque, where we were the only patrons for a good hour, as it was only about 9:30. Once the locals showed up they were quite amused by the dancing gringos and gringas, watching from the outskirts, waiting for us to leave to have their dance floor back.

Despite partying, the ziplining, and the movie night, I am learning a ton.(Mom and Dad, this is for your benefit...) Being on the policy team, we have interviewed numerous locals about Carara National Park and gotten their views on how to get the comminty and the local schools more involved in the Scarlet Macaw Conservation Project. I love being immersed in the rainforest and the local community. Today's highlight was definitely going to the school, although I'm sure the teacher's were not as pleased to see us. As soon as we pulled out our cameras the kids came running out of the classrooms jabbering rapidly in Spanish, all wanting to have their photo taken. All in all it has been a great trip so far.

Parque Nacional Carara photos by Khai Bhagwandin

2009-06-29T19:57:00.000-07:00

Tucan!

On one of our hikes, we were advised to wear our rubber boots but Troy told us not too. 2 days later our shoes are finally dry... the crocodiles and macaws were worth it though.

Spider moneys! walking the many trails at Parque Nacional Carara, seeing these guys is only one of the many treats we see every day!

Zip line over the canonpy at Turu Ba Ri

The endangered scarlet macaw, while on one of our hikes we saw over 25 feeding on the fruit of these palms.

2009-06-29T19:47:00.001-07:00

Hola Senoras y Senoritas!

Today the ranger station had a problem with their wáter system, as they had very little water pressure. Like all the tough jobs, they assigned the GIS team, consisting of John, Jason, Ian, Kelly, and me. Troy joined us today, however, and we set out to the ranger station early in the morning to save the day. We were decked out in knee high rain boots to ensure protection from the all the beasts of the jungle. Trailing three rangers with machetes, we slipped quietly into the rainforest, hoping to not disturb any wild animals. As we entered the jungle following the water pipe, it seemed quiet.. Too quiet. All of a sudden out of nowhere I hear "Shit!"… "Get the hell out of here!" We all turn and run to escape the deadly snake, or maybe a jaguar? After the 5 of us got out safely, we realized that the 3 rangers had been split up and ran the other direction deeper into the jungle. When Troy came running out, he showed us his nasty battle wounds on his neck. Wasp stings! Apparently we walked into a wasp nest and they swarmed the people in front of the line. One of the Rangers then walked back to the nest, grabbed it with his bare hands and threw it into a bag. We then continued on, following the water pipe, being more careful than we had been on our first attempted entrance. About 20 meters into the depths, we decided to start digging to get a visual of the pipe and try to find the leak. We quickly found one, but it was minor and most likely not the cause. During our excavation, we were frequently attacked by acacia ants, the nasty little guys that guard the Acacia trees from invaders (apparently we were invading). They would crawl up our boots and down into our socks, only to grab on and continually bite. And they hurt! There was a time when I thought ants were friendly and minded their own business. After 15 minutes of digging, another "Shit!" could be heard, and then the nasty sound of water shooting up through the pipe. Uh oh. One of us broke the pipe pretty severely. After 5 minutes of arguing, the water finally was turned off and we kept digging. Eventually it was decided that there were too many holes and the old pipes were to be completely dug up and new pipes layed down. We were told to wait for 30 minutes for the new pipes to arrive, so we waited. And waited. During our stay, we decided to play with the army ants. We threw dead bugs into the massive trails of army ants and watched the swarm engulf the bug like the scarab beetles in The Mummy movies, tear it apart and carry it off to the nest. Then a ranger challenged us to see who could put their hand into the army ant stream the longest. We all agreed and thrust our hand in. They swarmed and all of a sudden my hand was on fire. My hand was in the middle of 2 others, so I only got 5 or so, but some hands were totally engulfed and they didnt last long. The ranger made it to 1 minute, and pulled his hand out to see ants clinging on like little staples to his skin, and had to pull them off 1 by one. 1 and a half hours later, we decided to just leave and walk back to the biological station. As we left the gates out onto the road, our ride drove up and picked us up. We made it back just in time for lunch. Not too eventful the rest of the day, we walked around and marked the areas on GPS where other groups had made animal sightings. Now it is time to sleep, for the GIS team gets to travel to the other side of the park via van, and make the 8 mile hike back to the station. Only 20 people have ever been on this trail, so we should get some action.

Adios, hasta luego!
-Geoff

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2009-06-29T19:24:00.001-07:00

This country is amazing! Being able to stay at Carara National Park has been the biggest eye opener and most exciting experience. Going to sleep to the sounds of the rainforest and waking up to the roar of the howler monkeys is unreal. I thought I knew what the rainforest was like, but nothing beats actually experiencing the torrential downpours, biological diversity, and green canopy! Everyday has consisted doing service work for the park and local community, as well as diving right into our research for our different teams. We worked on the trails, raking the debris away and painting buildings. Today my policy group went on morning interviews that led us to a local school and we got to interact with the kids. They were all so full of life and not shy about coming up to us at all, it was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had. One thing I have really enjoyed about being on the policy team is all the interview outside of the park we have got to conduct. We have really got to get a taste of all the different aspects of the local community, with more to come! Along with our service and research time, we have also got to experience both the local culture and tourism sides to being in the country. Going out to eat and then to the disco gave us a taste of Costa Rica nightlife, and then going on the zipline above the canopy was an experience like no other! Staying at the station has been such a great change of pace from our usual lifestyles and has really allowed the group to get to know one another. I think one of the most surreal things we have done is watching the Jungle Book on the side of the station with the actual jungle less than ten feet away. I would have never thought that I would be watching that in this situation when I was a kid…it is truly amazing here. I am overwhelmed by the amazing people I have met and the openness of the local people. It has nearly been a week, and I have already had so many new experiences…I cant wait for the rest of this month! Pura Vida!!

2009-06-29T19:22:00.001-07:00

Lots has happend since I last wrote! We have been very busy at Carara, each team working on their individual projects and all of us have been doing service work in the park on the week days. We did some trail clearing to minimize snake habitat, and also have been working on cleaning and painting the bridges on the trails. I am on the policy team, and am really enjoying my experience so far. Giovanni, the head park ranger, has been arranging interviews for us to do around town. This has been really great because we have the opportunity to get out into the towns and see the community and interact with people. Today we had one of our best interview days because we got to go to a school to interview a teacher and the principal, and also got to see the kids at the school. They were all so excited to see us, and we took lots of pictures with them! So cute!!! The little girls were very interested in my hair because it is blonde, they kept touching it and telling me it was "bonita." We also had a really great weekend that was packed with activities. On Saturday we went out on the muddiest hike in the world! We were hiking to a lagoon that had crocodiles in it, but in order to get there we walked through 3-4 inches of standing muddy water, with deep mud underneath. We all were wearing hiking boots and everyone had mud up to their knees! After the hike we went back to the station to shower, where we discovered that we had a water problem and the showers were not really working! Many of us had to shower out in the laundry spicket! That night we went out to have drinks and dinner, and also went to a disco for dancing. It was nice to get out of the station and have a good time as a group. On Sunday we went on a canopy zipline tour! I have always wanted to do a zipline, and I really enjoyed it. It was a really cool way to see the forest canopy and at times I really felt like a bird flying over the rainforest! Overall I would say that we are having a really great time here, but we are also getting lots done. I cant believe that we leave the station this Saturday, but I cant wait to see what the rest of this adventure has in store!

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The jungle from the inside

2009-06-26T20:49:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

I (Sara De Sitter) would like to fill you in on what the botany team has been up to.

Today we got to start our research project. At around 1:45pm we took off down a trail to set up our transect. Of course that is exactly when it started to rain. An hour later we were still trying to find a place to fit our 50m x 10m transect and we were so wet we blended in with the rain. At 4:00 we ended our reseach for the day. Despite the drenching rain and the puddles in my rubber boots we had found a place to set up our transect and had pin-pointed two of the corners. Of course we were working hard but we also took the time to enjoy watching tucans and taking pictures by the river. It was a successful day!

The first few days in the jungle...

2009-06-26T20:23:00.000-07:00

So since we have arrived at Carara National Park in Costa Rica there have been many new experiences and adventures. I think we would all agree that the first night of sleep was pretty rough. Troy made sure we read about all the bad things that could bite, scratch, and infect us. One item of particular interest was the botfly, which I won´t share the dreadful details of to you all, you can just look it up later if you really want to know! I had never used a mosquito net before and have learned since that first night that having the net touch you doesn´t do any good and is not very comfortable to sleep under.

Carara station is actually a pretty cool location. We are right next to the rain forest and have two trail access points from our station. I am on the Bird Team and we are going to record (with a really sensitive microphone) the different bird species in the national park. Today all of us : Megan, Mitch, Sarah, Bonnie and myself all went out and marked our first location of bird recording. It was our first experience off trail with our big black rubber boots that we have to wear to prevent snake bites. Another one of those could-be-bad experiences that we are faced with daily here at Carara.

Overall the adventures we face daily slowly calm down the fears we all came here with and we are all getting excited for our touristic experience this weekend, going ziplining!

Hello to all family and friends!
-Rachel-

Tromping throught the rivers and such by Kelly Ess

2009-06-26T19:53:00.000-07:00

So far Costa Rica has been amazing. The hot and humid climate is a huge shock at first, but surprisingly it isn´t bothering me as much as I thought it would...although I don´t think I have been completely dry since we arrived in Carara National Park.

Today my group, the GIS team, began our first field research. This consisted of testing our equiptment and mapping the northern section of the Quebrada Bonita, which is a small creek that runs through Carara. Because of the dense canopy cover of the jungle we had to walk in the middle of the creek to recieve satelite signals to track where we were and the path the creek follows. Right as we began this adventure the largest amount of water I have experienced fell from the sky and continued throughout our hour or so long trek. By the time we arrived back at the station it looked like we had just swam up the creek with no paddles. Even with the wettness this has been my favorite part of the journey thus far. We saw some scarlett macaws on our way home and the rain was a bit of relief from the heat. Tomorrow should be another adventure to a river where supposedly crocodiles make their home....

HEY FAMILY!!! I LOVE YOU!!!

Carara arrival

2009-06-25T09:35:00.001-07:00

Greetings from the rainforest of Carara National Park. And naturally, its raining. Our group arrived to the park yesterday and we spent the afternoon cleaning, fixing beds, and putting up mosquito netting. Larissa and Mallory joined us later in the day after meeting our TA Jim at the airport and taking a taxi to the park. We also got our van stuck and unstuck in the mud!

Today we started with our service projects beginning with trail raking, sign cleaning, and painting the handicap trail bathroom. Carara is Costa Rica´s first National Park with an accessible trail. We ask for our lodging fees to be waived so that we can turn that money into a donation for Park materials. This year´s donation will total $2,530.00 and that goe along way for the Park. For instance, we will donate life jackets for the rangers to use on boat patrols in the mangroves where the Scarlet Macaws rest at night.

Every morning next week, one team (birds, botany, education, geography, and policy) will be up before first light to take part in the annual scientific count of these rare parrots only found in Carara and Corcovado National Park. We will be in position on a hill to observe the Macaws as they take flight along three ¨flyways¨ around and into the Park. Later today the teams will meet to plan their field work.

Hasta luego and Pura Vida

Troy D. Abel, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Environmental Policy
Department of Environmental Studies
Huxley College of the Environment
Western Washington University
516 High St., MS 9085
Bellingham, WA 98225-9079

tel: 360-650-6133
fax: 360-650-7702
http://myweb.facstaff.wwu.edu/~abelt

Devon's First Blog EVER!!!

2009-06-23T21:10:00.000-07:00

Yay!!! After a long day/night of travel we are finally here, and I am so excited to go to Carara tomorrow morning. When we first got here, I decided to go ahead and answer the first set of questions in my journal for the program. It was asking how I think Costa Rica will be different from home and I came up with five ways that I am expecting Costa Rica to be different. The first is the language difference! If I could go back in time and tell myself to take Spanish in high school and not French, I would. Knowing how to speak Spanish certainly would make life easier, but it has not been too bad since I have been with a group since I arrived. The second difference is the climate. It is very humid here and the rain is warm. I knew it would be this way, but this is one of the defining factors that sets Costa Rica apart from Washington ( and makes for excellent hair-dos). The third difference is the food. At home we have a variety of choices of what to eat, all of which come from different places around the world, but from what I have seen so far the food is very traditional to the country. We ate dinner at a restaurant just down the street from the hotel for dinner tonight, and it was really good! I enjoy getting to experience another culture through experiencing authentic food. The fourth difference that I expect is the plants and animals. I have lived in Washington all my life, and have grow used to the plants and animals at home. I am looking forward to be able to experience a new take on nature, and see Costa Rica's biodiversity first hand. This is the one difference that I am most looking forward to, and I know that it is something that I will remember about Costa Rica. The last difference that I have experienced and will continue to experience is the different way that women are treated here. Women are seen to have a more traditional role, and this is a stark contrast to the way that I am accustomed to being treated at home. For example, when Rachel and I arrived at the airport today we met up with two other students, one of whom was male. When we all walked out to try to get on a shuttle to the hotel, the airport staff and shuttle drivers always approached him first and asked him where we were headed, and did not pay much attention to us girls. Overall, I am excited to see where this trip takes me, and cannot wait to discover more similarities and differences between Costa Rica and home while I am here.

Sarah Catudio's day 1 reflections

2009-06-23T21:09:00.000-07:00

I have very rarely been in a visible minority group. Walking around San Jose today (away from the immediate tourist areas) I was visibly a minority; not a ton of other folks with the kind of skin that freckles instead of tans. I'm pretty sure I already have a bit of a sunburn. I also only know about 10 mispronounced Spanish words/phrases. So upon realizing the above I immediately became more self-conscious and unsure of my actions. I waited behind a man blocking the sidewalk awkwardly for about 2 minutes because I wasn't sure how to say excuse me. I eventually mumbled something that sounded like "pardone" and ducked under his arm.

While I am intimidated by my overwhelming lack of language skill and cultural social graces, I am excited for the challenge of communicating my wants/needs as well as socializing with locals. I work with ELL (English Language Learners) students and families and I know that being in the language minority/unable to communicate as effectively as I want to will be an amazing learning experience and frame of reference to reflect upon.

I am also very self-conscious of falling into stereotypes of American travelers. I have had so many people tell me to say that I am from Canada and I have responded each time that I think I could be a positive representative from America. Now, I'm not totally convinced, I should have practiced more Spanish before getting here, and I am totally unaware of the social customs of Costa Rica. Walking around the town I attempted to observe as many social interactions as possible and to engage in a few of my own...I'll keep trying. I learned that honking is used very differently here, less for traffic purposes and more a masculine way to greet women. I also found that the people I talked to quickly switched to English after I mumbled my first "hola." I'll keep working on it and hopefully by my next post I'll regale you with tales of less awkward interactions and conversations. - Sarah Catudio

The adventures of Erica, Bonnie, Sarah, Brandon, and "Jorge"-Downtown San Jose

2009-06-23T15:11:00.000-07:00

An interesting building

Our tour guides....

Sarah, Erica, and Bonnie shopping downtown San Jose

Erica & Bonnie's new favorite fruit-Rambuton!

Today Bonnie and I (Erica), Sarah, Brandon, and Josh (who was told by our taxi driver that his name is Jorge) decided to go downtown San Jose. It was a sunny then stormy then sunny then very stormy day. We got dropped off at the Teatro Nacional Museo, but we were not allowed in because there was an event going on and the guys were "in use of shorts" (they were wearing shorts). It was very pretty from what we saw though!

Then we walked around downtown. We were sure to be very careful about watching our belongings since we knew it was a pretty risky area. At one time some guy came up to us yelling at Sarah to keep her camera on her wrist. He was trying to be helpful but yelled it pretty harshly!

Then I (Bonnie now) bought rambutan fruit at a fruit stand for Erica and I. It was delicious (Erica agrees)! We walked around more, stopping in various stores and stands. At one point the clouds got very dark and there was a downpour. We got some lunch at a small resaurant in Mercado Central (a local food court). Sarah, Erica and I ordered what we though were chicken quesidillas but turned out to turned out to be a couple tortillas with a couple small chicken drumsticks. It was still delicious!

We tried to call the taxi that dropped us off since we were told it was a roundtrip deal but were unable to get ahold of our driver. We wandered around trying to find a payphone but all of them were broken. We decided to learn out how to ride the bus and made it back home.

What a great adventure!

-Erica & Bonnie

( We are going to attach pictures of Rambuton fruit, us girls downtown with a bull, the boys being our tour guides, and a cool building)

2009-06-22T17:48:00.000-07:00

The faculty support team arrived safely today along with a few students. 80 degrees with sticky humidity and circling thuderstorms. That didn't stop Josh and I from getting in a bull fight (see pic!).

Rainforest program countdown-4 days to go

2009-06-20T09:57:00.000-07:00

We are in the final preparations for our Huxley Rainforest Immersion program. Only 4 days remain until our arrival in Carara National Park, a central Pacific rainforest in Costa Rica.