Day 4!

I don't know what it is about this place but I have absolutely no issues with waking up 5:30 am here! Back home, I am lucky if I roll out of bed before 7. Each morning here is a reminder that I am part of CRIRE, which is a fantastic and truly special program. I just can't be thankful enough to be here with all these wonderful people. And waking up to sights like this doesn't hurt either:

The oldest and quite possibly the most photogenic tree in the garden

Following breakfast, we received a blessing before we left the grounds. One of our friends from Panama gave us a blessing and asked for a safe day for all of us in the forest. I didn't capture any photos out of respect, but I assure you it was a very special experience. It's always an honor to experience another person's culture, and this was a great honor indeed.


Today we got to begin our research projects with our teams. My team is called Ziibiins, aka the Stream Team! It is my research partner Aldwin, our mentor Deb, and myself on the team. Our project is the study of "Stream Aquatic Resource Integrity in Different Shoreline Habitats". It involves hiking 2.5 miles into the forest, following the Water Trail to a stream we had picked out.

Water Trail
Stream Team ready to do some good old fashioned trespassing!





















We chose 3 separate zones along the stream we are studying, each zone representing a different shoreline habitat. We collected samples of invertebrates in the stream by using kick netting, where we place handheld nets into the stream and kick up sand, gravel and rocks upstream. The nets collect any invertebrates, allowing us to place our sample in buckets to see exactly what we caught. We had a lot of success at each of our three sample site and the results were very pleasing.

Doing some SERIOUS research over here gang!


I took point on the hike, leading the group and scouting the upcoming terrain to make sure the others knew what was ahead. It was a good leadership experience, something I always enjoy very much.
T
Water Trail was no joke. It was very challenging. We dealt with steep hills, sheer embankments, slippery footing, streams, fallen trees, washed out sections of the trail, and during our search for a way to see a waterfall we even forged a path through the thick forest. I am not exaggerating when I say this one of the greatest experiences of my life. We entered the forest at 8 am, and we got out at 2 pm. It was 6 hours of team building and hard work, but I loved every minute of it. I look forward to hitting the trails hard again tomorrow. I feel like I was made for this. Here are just a few pictures from the trail, but they don't really do it justice.

Deb making her way through part of the washed out trail
A blue morpho butterfly landed on my camera strap

The streams we visited were a total knockout!
One of many water breaks we took with another team our on the trail














The afternoon into the evening was relaxed. I got some homework done and walked through the garden a bit. Finally, it was time for dinner and afterwards we were treated to a native custom. An artist from Panama showed us her skills in creating fiber that she uses to make crafts. She demonstrated how it is done, and then a bunch of us students tried it out. It was a very interesting presentation of her skills that she has honed over many many years.

An artisan at work

Nicole giving it a try




Finally, the evening wound down and we retired to our quarters. We have another busy day tomorrow and we will need our rest.

BONUS! Here is a decent photo of a toucan I spotted on the morning of day 2! Now I just need to see a poison dart frog and a sloth and I will have completed the trifecta of animals I wanted to see while I am here in Costa Rica!
















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