CRIRE 12.19.18

The day of presentations. I was pretty confident in the portion of the presentations I was supposed to give. I knew some of then birds and studied them pretty well. Of course I used my favorite ones here. That would include the yellow throated toucan, the lessons motmot, and hummingbirds. Everyone did so well on their presentations. This is definitely a program I would recommend to anyone interested in traveling and studying new things I attend school for fire management and I learned about birds and bird watching, and what types of strata they live in. The wildlife here in Costa Rica is much different the culture is awesome and it was an awesome program.

CRIRE 12.18.18

Today we all worked on our presentations in the laboratory. Then later in the night we had different groups go on night hikes which was pretty fun. The group I was in went on the jungle trail the larger of the two loops. We didn't see much except for something glowing off in the distance we couldn't identify. It was a really nice hike though we all turned off our flashlight and listened in the dark for awhile. We all crept through the forest as quietly as possible it was pretty fun. If not for all the poisonous snakes that should definitely be something that is repeated often.

CRIRE 12.17.18

Today we all worked on out presentations and gathered the remainder of our data. Outside the window we seen a little group of monkeys. I ran outside and went down the bank to get as close as I could to view them. They actually looked pretty freaky up close but then at the same time they were pretty neat. They were a little scared at first then the one climbed off the tree and walked to another tree with no problem. The other did stay in the tree though. So far I seen a few species of animal I wanted to see while here. Missing one species which is the sloth.

CRIRE 12.16.18

Today the group of CRIRE students but mostly mentors and I hikes with the Ngabe people and learned of the plants and their medicinal uses. We then came back and learned how to make threads from bromeliads leaves which is mainly a woman thing in their culture. Men and boys usually make the hats by weaving the threads. It's beginning to become a lot easier hiking up and down from the river I enjoy powerwalking back up alone. Although I will be a little winded but that passes. We found a huge spider down at the waterfall today another student and I hiked down and I decided to go with I've seen it already but he hasn't. I'm glad I went otherwise I wouldn't have gotten to see the huge spider and take photos of it.

CRIRE 12.15.18

I ate a mangosteen I found today that fell off a tree. It was very tasty. I asked one of the biologists who worked here what it was and he opened it up and told us to try it. It looked like a pomegranate from the outside, white colored orange slices from the inside, but the texture while eating was different and it tasted really good! I'd definitely recommend this fruit and I'd love to try it again. I hiked down to a waterfall with another group today who was studying bromeliads. I didn't see many birds but it was a nice hike. Also I got like four feet from a Lessons Motmot I love that bird.

CRIRE 12.14.18

We walked around with one of the biologists from the station today and learned birds habitats. We also got a few good photos of a yellow throated toucan which I cannot find a way to upload at the moment but in the future after I arrive back at school I may update my blogs with photos. I learned the call of the toucan and now I normally run towards the call so I can watch as it sits in a tree. They seem to prefer palm trees. We found some pretty large spiders in the bromeliads. It's so different than up north because these spiders are huge down here and they're numerous

CRIRE 12.13.18

Today I joined in another groups walk down to a field to observe birds. Their project was looking at tree encroachment and how species of trees take over after so many years. We walked with the Ngabe as well. There's a tree called the cecropia  that we also learned about. The tree provides sustenance and housing for a species of ant and the ant protects the tree from predators. I heard a few birds while on my walk but it was difficult to identify the birds through the canopy. I'm getting a little used to hiking up and down from the river trail now although it is still a little difficult. Costa Rica is beautiful!