Thursday, December 19th

Today was a very fun day! It was our last breakfast at the station, and afterwards we started the long journey back to San Jose. We stopped at a couple different places on the way back, one of which was the beach in Dominical. Even though we couldn’t swim (it’s a surf beach, the currents are not ideal for swimming), it was an amazing experience. We all had lunch together in Dominical, and I was a little brave with my order.

My lunch today in Dominical.

I’ve never had whole fish before, and I absolutely loved it! I would get this all the time, if I could. After eating, we had about an hour or two of free time to explore the beach area. Dominical is not only a surf beach, but it also has a variety of different shops and restaurants. We all walked along the beach, and looked at some of the things people were selling along the beach. 

An iguana we saw at the beach, hanging out in a tree.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t stay at Dominical all day. After we left, we only stopped one more time for snacks and a bathroom break. Surprisingly, we arrived at San Jose well before the sun set! I was really surprised when we arrived at the hotel, I definitely thought we had at least a few more hours of traveling to do. 

We had our last dinner together at the hotel, and while it was delicious, it was a little sad. I’ve com to really like the people on this trip, so it was hard to say goodbye to those who had early flights. Before we split off for the night, we all decided to exchange social media information, to keep in touch after we go back to our respective homes. 

I really will miss this place, and especially the friends that I’ve made on this trip. Until next time, my friends, have safe travels home! 

Wednesday, December 18th

Today was our last day on the station, and I am having some bittersweet feelings about it. While I am happy to be going back to the comforts (and freezing temperatures!) of home, I am also sad that I won’t have anymore field research days or super fresh fruit! I am also going to miss this incredible group of people I’ve come to know in this program. 

To make today special, a small group of us decided to get up to walk to the observation tower to watch the sunrise together. It was also an opportunity for the group’s videographer to take out the drone to get some nice footage of the station and the sunrise. It was an incredible bonding experience for us! 

A photo of the valley containing San Vito, just as the sunlight started to peak over the mountain. 

Today was also the day our presentations were due! Finally, all the hard work we did for the past week and a half came to fruition! It was amazing to see everyone’s results from all the hard work they put in, and to see how knowledgeable they’ve become on the subjects. 

One of the highlights of the day for me would have to have been the dinner tonight. All this time, I’ve been waiting for them to make their pasta, and they finally served it! We finally got that delicious pasta, and on our last day! It was almost like a farewell from the kitchen staff, I was really grateful for one last delicious meal. 

Tuesday, December 17th

Today was just about the last day we had to compile our data and work on our poster presentation! Needless to say, it was a very busy day in the lab. Almost every group was in the lab finishing things up today, so it felt a little nice to know we were all working hard.

Even though it was a day jam-packed with data analysis, we managed to squeeze in some time for some fun! After lunch, we all met in the lab to have Lucia teach us how to finish making the thread from the fibers we helped collect a few days ago. After demonstrating how to roll the thread, she asked a couple of us to try it ourselves, and I have to say that the ones who did try it out did really well! Or so it seemed to me, I’m sure Lucia would have something else to say, considering we’re all newbies to this sort of thing. After rolling the thread, Lucia showed us how she weaves the thread to make various items, like the bags and hats she sells.

While Lucia was finishing the threads and weaving, Celestino had a presentation that taught us a lot about his reservation. I had no idea the troubles his people go through, just to keep their land, and to keep their traditions alive! It hit me personally, because a lot of the things he talked about were things that I was taught. Some of the things he was talking about reminded me of things the government did to my people in the past, especially when he talked about how their government flooded the river they depend on so heavily. We had a very similar flooding situation with our tribe, and those are the kinds of things that never leave a communities’ memory.

The full name of the organization Celestino is president of.

After the demonstration and presentation, we worked on our posters for the rest of the day. Even though we had so much data to compile into one poster, my teammate and I managed to get most of the poster done! All we have left to do are really minor cosmetic additions and changes, otherwise, we’re done! I seriously cannot express how glad I am to have gotten to work with Ian and Jessica. They’re a really great team and helped me with so much! Especially when I was losing my mind over the little things that wouldn’t work correctly. They’re an incredible support system.

Finally, at the end of the day (after dinner), we all gathered in the reception hall to have our final cultural exchange with the indigenous folk from Panama. We got to share many things, and we got to learn many things from the different cultures that are represented during this trip. My mentor, Deb, brought a couple pairs of handmade earrings and asked me to help gift them to Lucia. I felt very honored that Deb allowed me to help gift them, and that Lucia so graciously accepted our gift.

The earrings Deb and I gifted to Lucia.

As one of my fellow Anishinaabe people said at the end of the night, giigawaabamin! Which is our word for ‘see you later’, because we have no word for goodbye. :) 

Monday, December 16th

Today was overall a good day! The group got off to a fairly rough start this morning, as there were some incidents last night, but after jumping over the initial hurdle of talking about it, the day moved along rather nicely.

It was a long, long laboratory day. Most of us were in the lab from right after breakfast, all the way until dinner time, myself included. One of the only breaks from the lab and data analysis I had today was right away this morning when I went out to the field to collect the last two cameras and kestrels. After that, it was all loading our data onto our computers and compiling it into one easy-to-read spreadsheet.

My teammate and I had a few hours of collaboration on our project, and we got to share some really good ideas about our presentation and our project! We got to take a first look at all the camera footage we got, and we were so pleasantly surprised! We saw a band of coatimundi on a couple of our trail cams. Everyone in the lab took a quick break from their work to come look at our footage, I guess we were making it sound just too exciting to ignore!

In the afternoon, right after lunch, we took a short break as a group to join the Ngobe and Embera as Armando performed a ceremony and showed us different plants and their medicinal uses. Even though we don’t speak the same language, it was really refreshing to walk with them as they taught us about their plants. Because they’re so expressive when talking, it almost feels like I can understand what they’re saying before it’s translated. Maybe not all of it, but I get the general idea.

Photos of plants taken during our walk with Armando. 

At the end of the day, we all gathered for a quick sharing session. It was really nice to be able to openly share our positive feelings about this adventure we’re on, especially since I know so many of us are starting to feel the affects of being on the go for so long. Personally, I’ve been feeling very homesick for the past couple days, wondering how I’m going to make it through this next week. It really seemed to lift a weight off my shoulders to be able to talk so positively, and to hear everyone else say such nice things about the limited amount of time we get in this amazing country, and on this wonderful station. 

I truly feel like we all walked out of the reception room with uplifted spirits, ready for whatever the rest of this trip has in store for us. 

Sunday, December 15th

Today was another adventurous day! We finally had a free day, and we all went to town to explore. A smaller group of people chose to hike the trails to town, and I’m a little sad I didn’t chose to go with them - apparently they saw a really beautiful snake, and a group of vampire bats! Even though I’m a little upset that I missed some exciting sightings, I am glad I chose to take this day to catch up on some rest.

We all agreed to meet in town for lunch at a pizza place called Pizzeria Lilliana, most of us got there at about the same time. For the most part, we all broke off into separate groups to explore San Vito. Seemingly everyone needed snacks, so we stopped at a grocery store, as well as a clothing store! At the end of it all, we decided to all get crepes together.

The beautiful crepes we got at the end of our exploration. 

Even though we didn’t do as much today as we’ve been doing for the past week, it was really tiring. By dinner time, around 6:00pm, I was ready for bed - though I didn’t want to go to sleep so early. A few of the other students and I decided to play a few rounds of cribbage. It was fun, even though I had to relearn it a little bit! A few rounds was just enough to keep me awake until it was a decent bed time - not too early, but not too late either. 

Hasta luego, friends! 

Saturday, December 14th

Today was a very laid back, nearly relaxing day. Since we completed all the field work yesterday, I got to sleep in (even if only for a little bit longer than usual) before heading down to breakfast and getting work done in the lab.

We only had half a day available for lab work - we had a cultural enrichment experience planned for the afternoon. Lazaro, our Embera friend, collected all the materials he needed to give us traditional temporary tattoos!

Traditional Embera temporary tattoo made with a natural dye. 

According to Lazaro, the dye will take a few hours (or maybe even a day) to fully develop and darken. In any case, I really, really love this design! Everyone else got tattoos as well, and they all look so cool! Tomorrow, Lazaro said he would try to touch up and darken some of the tattoos for us.

Dinner was also very eventful, we all had a great time talking and laughing - it was really loud in the dining hall, but it was full of good vibes. After dinner, Lazaro (Embera) and Lucia (Ngobe) set up some handmade items on a table for us to browse and buy. I got myself some beautiful beaded earrings, and I got my mom a pretty sea turtle carved from the tagua fruit/seed.

Tomorrow will be our first free day - we are going in groups to the nearby town, San Vito! Some people are hiking there, they have to leave early to get there at a decent time. Apparently the hike will take at least a few hours - I think those who choose to hike have some serious dedication! The rest of us are planning on taking taxis and shuttles to town around 11:00 am so we can all have lunch at a delicious pizza restaurant together. It should be a very exciting day, I can’t wait to wake up in the morning!

Friday, December 13th

Today was a long, long, long day. We started out immediately after breakfast and didn’t get done until just an hour before dinner. We had to count plants in 11 transects to replicate the study done last year. We managed to do counts in 5 or 6 transects before lunch, and we were able to complete the rest of the transects after lunch! Thank goodness another mentor, Mandy, came to help us count - I don’t think we could have finished it in time without her.

Topside view of the shampoo ginger’s inflorescence.  

Today was almost entirely field work, so not a whole lot of interesting things happened. The most interesting thing to me would be how the numbers this year compare to the numbers from last year and from the original study in 2007. Overall, we’re seeing an incredible increase in plant numbers. Although, we won’t know the actual numbers or comparisons until we start compiling our data - which we should begin doing tomorrow, and continue doing throughout next week!

Thursday, December 12th

Today was a tough day. Both myself and my teammate were not 100% in the field, so we called it early. Regardless of the circumstances, we managed to make the most of the day, and we were able to do counts in 3 transects!

Even though today was rather busy, I did manage to fit some time in to take photos while I was out and about - there are some really nifty things to be seen just off the trails!

The crazy vine that got me good. 

A little antiseptic on the cut, and it’ll be good as new in no time. Maybe I’ll have a new scar, maybe I won’t. But even if I do, it’ll be another cool story to tell people!

Other than that, today was rather uneventful - because we had to call it an early day today, we’ll have to be out there as soon as possible tomorrow morning to replicate the transects from last year. Currently, we have 1 1/2 days to finish the transects, and there are 11 more to do! We’ve enlisted some help from one of the other research groups that have already finished their data collection, so hopefully we will be able to get our counts done before the deadline! I have complete faith in us though, all we need to do is put in the work for it now.

Wednesday, December 11th

Today was the first full day of field work! Yesterday I wasn’t prepared for the hike down to the Rio Java, but today I felt much more prepared for the full day of hiking. I brought two bottles of water, and I had better fitting boots, which made a world of difference. We were joined by another group looking for animal trails, and the Ngobe and Embera came with us to show us around the forest. The Ngobe and Embera are extremely knowledgeable about the different species of animal and plant in the area!

For lunch, since we were out in the forest a couple mile, we stopped at a “look out” point on the Melissa Trail. I say “look out” because everything was overgrown, and there wasn’t much to look out at! It was still an nice place to stop for lunch regardless, as there was a very nice little breeze that helped cool us down. After lunch we continued our hike and put up a few more camera traps on some animal trails the Ngobe and Embera pointed out to us. I’m so excited to see what our camera traps reveal!

We put a few camera traps up on animal trails, but we also put some up on clusters of the shampoo ginger (Zingiber spectabile). We want to see what animals are using the shampoo ginger! In previous years, we’ve seen birds, insects, and rodents on the flowers of the plant.

A photo of a flowering inflorescence of the shampoo ginger. 

Tomorrow we start counting the plants, and I’m eager to see the results of our research. I would like to know how fast the plants grow, so we will be comparing our numbers this year with the numbers from last year. I’m expecting quite an increase, we’re seeing the plants in the primary forest - a place they haven’t really been seen in years past. Tomorrow will be a very busy day, as will the rest of the field days, so I have to make sure I’m prepared for a full day of work!

Tuesday, December 10th

Today was another early day, just as the rest of the week will be. We started by having breakfast at 6:30am, which is the usual breakfast time here on the station. Almost immediately after breakfast, we met with Rodolfo, one of the experts here, and he gave us a tour of the gardens. He showed us many things, but he did it in a way that was very engaging, and encouraged us to make our own guesses about certain aspects of the garden.

A banana flower with small bananas that Rodo showed us in the gardens. 

After our tour with Rodolfo, we met up with Scott at the laboratory. He showed us a few things about the station, mostly where to find things, and how things worked. After that, we went to the observation tower to see above the canopy. Space was limited on the observation tower, so we had to go up in two different groups. Afterwards, we continued our hike down to the Rio Java (Java River). I underestimated how hot it was going to be, and underestimated how much water I would need to bring with me to keep hydrated. Even though the hike down and back up was difficult, it was completely worth it.

We ate lunch after our hike, and got acquainted with our mentors and research partners. After lunch is when we finally broke off into our separate groups to begin our research. My group consisted of Jessica, Ian and myself, but we had a Ngobe guide, Celestino, and our resident shampoo ginger expert, Rodolfo. Rodolfo was only with us for today, to show us how to identify the shampoo ginger, and how to distinguish it from the native ginger. Though they can be hard to tell apart, Rodolfo showed us many different ways to differentiate between the two.  By the time we were done counting in our first transect, both Ian and I were much more comfortable identifying the plants.

Finally, after dinner, we all got together with our Ngobe and Embera guides to introduce ourselves. It was very interesting to hear everyone speak their own native languages, and to hear how far some people traveled to get here! For our Embera friend, who lives in a very, very rural part of Panama, it took him about 3 days to travel here - that's some incredible dedication! The part of Panama he lives in doesn't have any modern roads, and has only trails to travel by less conventional methods. 

I can't wait to learn more about Costa Rica, and about other peoples' cultures! 

Monday, December 9th

Some small plants surviving the altitudes of the Paramo. 

Today was a pretty eventful day! We got an early start, eating breakfast at 7:00am so we could be loaded on the bus and on the road by 8:00am. It was a long drive to Las Cruces Biological Research Station, All together, including the stops we made, it took us about 8 hours to get here.

We stopped a few different times for snacks and bathroom breaks, but the most exciting stops were at the Paramo and La Georgina. The Paramo is a unique ecosystem, approximately 10,000ft in elevation at the top of Cerro de la Muerte. Because it is so high in elevation, it is rather cold and windy, so plant life there resembles a desert. Small shrub-like trees and lots of prickly grasses and bushes. Being that high up, we were actually in the clouds! It was really a unique experience seeing the clouds blow past us.

After our short hike at the Paramo, we stopped at La Georgina for lunch. La Georgina is actually well know, especially for the amazing views they have of the surrounding mountains, and for all the hummingbirds that frequent their many feeders. Lunch was very delicious as well, and a few of us stepped out of our comfort zone to try “lengua”, or tongue. I tried it, and it was very delicious and tender! Unfortunately, during my meal, I just kept thinking about what the meat was made out of, which made it rather difficult to eat. It didn’t help that I wasn’t feeling too good in the first place, I had a mild case of elevation sickness going through the mountains.

After eating our lunch, we only stopped one more time, most for a bathroom break, but also to use an ATM to withdraw colones. I’m not sure where it was we stopped (I was napping pretty hard in the back of the bus), but it was pretty busy there! The line for the ATM was relatively long, and took me about 15 minutes just to get up to the front of the line.

Finally, closer to 5:00pm, we arrived at Las Cruces near the small town of San Vito! We were greeted by Rodo, one of the professionals here at the station who will be showing us around tomorrow. He gave us a quick introduction, and just a couple station rules to get us through the night, until we’re able to attend a full orientation tomorrow morning. One thing I was surprised to learn was that Costa Rica, and specifically the part of Costa Rica we’re staying at, is host to quite a few tremors! Apparently we’re right on two tectonic plates, and we are likely to experience some mild earthquakes during our stay.

Overall, though today was full of travels, they were fun and we learned a lot. I am excited to get started on our research projects tomorrow! I know it will be hard work, but it will also be very rewarding at the end of it all.

Buenas noches, amigos!

Sunday, December 8th

After arriving in Costa Rica late last night, we spent the day in our hotel in San Jose. Today was mainly about getting to know each other, and learning the rules of staying at the research station. We started out relatively early this morning, we agreed to meet in the dining room by 8:00am to have breakfast. Though today was an early day, all the days to follow on this research trip will begin even earlier.

After eating, we met in a conference hall to introduce ourselves and discuss some station rules - primarily in place for our safety. Some of the rules seem almost like a nuisance, like having to wear big rubber boots for a majority of the time, but I would rather be uncomfortable in cumbersome boots than get stung or bitten by something in the forest.

After getting all the introductions and orientation done, we finally had an afternoon of free time to do what we wanted to. Some chose to travel into the city, to go to the supermarket to get some supplies, and others chose to stay at the hotel. Exhausted from all the traveling the day before, I decided to stay in the hotel and get some rest and relaxation. Not only was I able to catch up on some much needed sleep, but I was also able to take a dip in the hotel’s outdoor pool. It was freezing, but it was very refreshing to be able to swim around for a bit. Finally, we had dinner at the hotel. After eating a hearty meal, we were finally able to prepare for our road trip via Cerro de la Muerte (Mountain of the Dead) tomorrow.

As an interesting side note, Cerro de la Muerte is named as such, not necessarily because it is a dangerous path to take, but because of its history. Before modern technology, people looking to travel across Costa Rica would have to walk to their destinations. Many people trying to move to the southern part of the country would have to cross the mountain range. Because it was so hot during the day, travelers were often underprepared for the high elevation temperatures, and many would freeze during their journey through that mountain range; hence the name, Cerro de la Muerte, Mountain of the Dead.

This is a Panasonic photo of the lobby of the hotel we stayed in.