Day 11

All the hard work is done, so now we can relax a little on the ride home. Scott planned ahead really well allowing us to have some time at the beach after lunch. We were able to see the local way of life at the beach, watch some surfers and enjoy some of the local arts as we walked the boardwalk.

After lunch we stopped at the crocodile bridge where we saw over 15 of them just hanging out. After we stopped at a gift shop where most of us finished our Christmas shopping. When we arrived at the hotel tonight, they were expecting us and knowing we had been away from home during our holiday they had the restaurant decorated.

This trip has reminded me how much joy people can have over just simply being alive. We were so blessed by the ngobe and there willingness to welcome us and teach us about their native land. They have very little material things but yet Victoria gifted me a traveling wallet as we departed. We shared many laughs and smiles with the two women over the last week and it humbles me that they go home to no power and possibly no water. I live very a very busy life between going to school, taking care of the people I love and maintaining at work. This trip has shown me many things and I was reminded by them to stop and take in the simple things in life, take time to be aware of the surroundings.

It was such a blessing to see Costa Rica's rainforest and how the development has really effected it.

Day 10

Presentation Day!! Today was pretty high anxiety as I have never presented a poster before. You could feel everyones nerves starting last night and into breakfast. Our practice run was a little rough which did not help. I feel like our presentation went okay, this was also my first time presenting with another person. I did enjoy our project but if I could have changed something I would have had a better understanding of our project before we started collecting data. Doing this it would have allowed me to ask more relevant questions as we were in the field. Our presentation went fine, I do not have the confidence talking in front of a group, but I do believe people when they say with practice it gets better.

Day 9

Today was Prep day, we put the finishing touches on our posters. We had a heck of a time designing our project last minute due to being in a group of 3 in which we collected a ton of data and thought we were presenting on the clarifications of habitats as the stream delineated. Last minute we were split up and are now analyzing the data we collected on the hydro lab. I think we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel!!! With us working in the lab most of the day we were able to sneak away and check out the gardens a little more. It was amazing how much ground we covered but we did not get the chance to see as many birds as we did today. The kitchen crew puts out fruits to draw them into the patio area.

I'm a little anxious about presenting tomorrow with such little tine to prepare but I have a great partner so I think we will be okay.

This evening I went on a night hike with a couple people one of which was the man from NSF, he was super nice and interested in our project. Thankfully I did not see any snakes because it would have been really embarrassing. We did see a cute little fog though:)

Day 7

Last night we were all swapping stories and everyone is talking about the things they saw that day, a few mentioned seeing snakes... Yuck talk about my biggest fear,  thankfully even with all the ground we have covered we have only seen one, and that is one to many for me. I asked them where they were seeing these snakes (so I could avoid this area) apparently they have been swimming in the river, the same river that I have been standing in all week!!! Never been so thankful to be done with field work. 

Today we worked on our posters off and on through out the day. It was the first day we really hung around here and got to explore the gardens. As we were walking to the lab from the Wilson House Cass and I saw a bunch of monkeys. They were adorable, one got a little curious and was swinging from tree to tree towards me. It got so close that I started to back up, I thought it was going to try and poo on me.lol As they wondered off we went up the the patio where we just happened to be in the right place at the right time and all these beautiful bright birds were flying around. 

So our work day turned into be quite the animal sighting day. 

Day 7

Today is our free day, which I spent the morning getting life back together the past week has been so busy that everything is everywhere. We learned how the ngobe use the plants to make bags. Victoria let use help her strip the plants to get the threads.

Later in the day we went to town where I again was reminded how I should know know Spanish. I had probably the best blended coffee I have ever had, then we headed out to check it out. We went to a local fruit stand where the owner showed us every fruit that we never knew existed so naturally we had to buy them and try them. We are full about half way through but so far they are quite interesting. We then went to the grocery store to get some snacks and as I was looking pretty closely at this bag and I feel someone pet me. Apparently the two men working were interested in my long Bleached blonde hair and just had to touch it.haha

Day 6

Last Field Day!! We finished collecting the last of our data at "the headwaters" which was really down stream a ways but as far as we could go. The stream bed consisted of mostly bedrock which was awesome to see because in theory thats what we should expect. We brought two of the Ngobe visitor on our hike today as we did the first day and they are so knowledgable about their land. We stopped many times learning about the different plants and there medicinal uses. On our way back we split from the group and swam in the pools of the Java river. After the long hike it was amazing, the clay stones were so soft on the bottoms of our feet. The clay stones are so interesting as they can be broken down simply by your fingers.

This evening we had some free time to just roam the gardens taking in all the vegetation and birds. After dinner we did a cultural exchange where a man shared a traditional story, a young woman sang a traditional song with the most amazing voice. The two men from SKC shared how to play stick game with everyone and we ended the night with a round dance.

Day 5

Today we went into San Vito and explored the agricultural effected sites. We found this crazy road which led to someones house and the man was super nice and gave us directions to the water saying it was short hike and pointed us in the direction. "Short Hike" was quite a steep adventure to say the least as we got suck in the soils and climbed thought trees. As we walked down to the site the soil was polluted, we had a hard time walking through it. There were random panama trees with the remainder mostly pasture. You could see places on the hills where the cattle had warn down the grasses and with no trees to hold it into place land slides had occurred. The future for their land there could really be in trouble. We hit a few sites on our way back to town where we had lunch at a little pizza ria which wasn't super great because we have great pizza in america.lol
Tonight was a data night where we entered in what we had collected so that we could spend some time tomorrow in the Primary forest with our time restraints.

Day 4

Today we hiked from the biological station to San Vito. It was a beautiful day we walked through some primary and secondary forest and the closer to town we got the more we saw the agricultural effects on the forest. Our first test site had a concrete dam, which was the first man made obstruction that we had come across. In this area we could really see the difference in the forest hight and under growth.

 We did town other sites as we came into town one of which I  did come across a snake which is my absolute worst fear and I didn't die so thats great.  It was a total of 7 mile hike to San Vito and there was never a dull moment. Once we got there we caught the bus back. On the bus there were tow little girls that sang to us and laughed and though it was hilarious that we could not speak Spanish. 

In the evening we had a cultural exchange where the Ngabe-bugle tribe shared a traditional dance and some of their stories. They shared that 4 is kind of there magic number, they have celebrations for days after things happen such as a women coming into woman hood or a big storm. 

Once of the students shared her family song. It is something they sing in happy and sad times, she had to ask for permission for us to be able to hear it because it is sacred to them. 

Day 3

Today we got a chance to split into our groups and discuss our projects. With having access to primary forest, secondary forest and forest that has agricultural lands close enough for impact we knew we wanted to compare the streams in each area. This meant we needed to cover a lot of ground. We walked about 7 miles stopping at four different locations, three of which we tested, and the other was just for a little cool air at the bottom of the waterfall as we were hot and tired by that point. All day I was in awe of honestly everything but the colors of the forest are so beautiful. We can read all about how primary forest has little growth down on the forest floor due to the higher trees absorbing all the sunlight and that there is a difference once its been altered but seeing it first hand and how dramatic of a difference it is was amazing. 

 There is so much I want to write about today because its still surreal the things that I have taken in today but Im honestly so exhausted. 

Ps. Wild bandanas are pink and in the middle of the bundle have a beautiful flower and I feel so blessed to have been able to see those today. 

Sharing with the people.

This evening we went into San Vito to get some miscellaneous  supplies and it was quite the experience. I have never wanted to speak Spanish so bad in my life. I'm sure it is very frustrating  for them as we can not communicate, it was a reminder to practice patients with people. The diving down here is something else, I'm pretty sure they just do whatever they want.

When we came back we met with the Indigenous people of Costa Rica and as we went around introducing ourselves I was in awe of all the Native languages spoken. It was very touching to see these tribal nations come together and share. We all have a common purpose, we all want to learn from one another. Over the past two days on our hikes or over meals a women has been teaching me her words and even when I am butchering them she is so patient and makes me repeat them until I get them right. She has a kindness about her that I truly admire.

Day 2

Today we toured the Las Cruces Biological Station. These are some kind of Caterpillar (bear with me we are taking in a lot of information 😁) Their bright red and yellow stripes are a warning that they are poisonous and keeps them safe.  

This is a very special Garden because it is not only native plants of Costa Rica but also plants that have been transported form all over the world. To allow them to survive they have had to modify things such as the amount of sunlight plants are receiving by strategically placing them, also the amount of available water. This is modified by the slope they are planted on, location relative to other plants and  altering the soils underneath allowing for water to run off. 

This was such a cool thing to experience, this was a tree at onetime that had died and other trees had grown around it eventually leaving only the living trees standing. 

Right after lunch I looked over to see this beautiful bird, the picture does not do the color justice. 

Day 1

Today we traveled through the city of San Jose to the Las Cruces Biological station. As we travel though the city I noticed their water diversion system. It is made up of stones, and cement. These are very different from our area. I also noticed that the soils of the banks have clearly been eroded away leaving the roots of the trees exposed, this is also something I am not use to seeing in our region. As we traveled I was saddened to see all of the trash along side the roads, people litter everywhere. I am confused if it is because they do not have a place to put the trash or it is lack of caring for the land. We did make a pit stop where we walked up a mountain road, which was much more difficult then I anticipated do to the high elevation levels reaching over 10,000 ft.