Hello Hello from Tico Town!
We wish to keep saying hello from Costa Rica, because we aren't ready to say bye to it. The last week has been more than great and more than what we expected. Kelly and I are still in shock that we get credits for an advanced class for having a fantastic time in Costa Rica. Don't get us wrong- we have learned SO much but have had such a great time doing it. Kelly and I are even inspired to keep watching birds every now and then back in Dallas.
The past couple of days were spent not just learning about birds and counting them for our research, but also learning about tropical environments-tree classification, some animal behavior, some insects, plate tectonics, and the list goes on.
Here is picture of the whole group acting like leafcutter ants, a very common activity around the forest.
Today was our last day of data collection. We are done with data evaluation and now we just have to analyze everything in whole and make some conclusions about this past week. Don't worry, we won't forget to fill ya'll in. Kelly and I are a little sad because we never got to see a Mot Mot in our bird points, but we are definitely happy to not have a 5:30 am wake up call from Dr. B anymore (which was extremely nice of her). Today Kelly and I had the chance to take a horse back riding trip to a waterfall in between our birds counts. On the way to the forest we found a Dendrobates auratus, also known as a black and green poison dart frog.
The ride there was pretty intense and had great scenery. Our guides were very informative and made stops to point out certain bird nests, monkeys, frogs, etc.
The long horse back ride was worth the pain we feel in our muscles now. When we arrived at our destination, we had the opportunity to swim there and walk behind the waterfall. Some rocks were slippery, but Kelly and I are just about hiking pros now so our sure-footed-ways proved to be useful. We even went so far as to jump off some of the rocks around the catarata (waterfall) resulting in a nice splash, which the guide gave us good direction for along with a perfect score of 10!
After a long day, we were extremely tired and ready to get some good sleep before our free day tomorrow, which we have a ZIP LINE planned for. Wish us luck and don't worry we won't get lost in the canopy.
PURA VIDA
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