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!