Traveling (Feb. 16th and 17th)

The 16th was a travel day: boats from Corcovado to Sierpe, then a bus from Sierpe to a nice hotel at Playa Hermosa. The most exciting part of the day was waiting for two hours in Sierpe because our bus had fallen into a ditch on its way to pick us up. When the bus finally made it, there were several large dents in the side and near the taillights, and one of the bottom compartment doors had to be tied on. Luckily, we made it to Playa Hermosa with no further incident, in time for a gorgeous sunset.

The hotel showers were cold but clean, though even my semi-clean clothes felt pretty dirty afterwards. We had a tasty dinner at a seafood place nearby, where most tables ordered the grande seafood plate.

I did some laundry in the hotel room sink (yay clean underwear), and then enjoyed a great night’s sleep in a soft bed.

The 17th was another travel day, thought we stopped in two places before reaching our final destination: a campsite in Santa Rosa National Park, where we stayed for the rest of the field trip.

The first stop was Carara, another national park, where we walked around with lots of foreign tourists and did species reports on several plants and animals. A cool park, but not the most interesting way to spend the time, and I was really hungry the whole time. Lunch was exactly what I wanted though: pizza! And soda and salad. So good after a week of rice and beans. The ctenosaurs wanted some too.

walking around Carara

We also walked over a bridge, where a bunch of crocodiles hang out in the river below.

After another bus ride nap, we arrived in Liberia, a town with internet cafes and supermarkets. We stopped here for only an hour so we could contact home and buy anything lacking, lost, or broken from the first half of the field trip. I bought ice cream, some cheap sunglasses to replace the pair that is now somewhere in the Pacific, a bigger memory card for my camera, and a few minutes of internet to check my email and let my parents know I was still alive.

YES. I needed multi-colored hair gel.

back on the bus

The rest of Corcovado (Feb. 14-15)

The next day (Valentine’s Day!), we took boats to Caño Island to learn about island ecology and go snorkeling. Along the way, a pod of pantropical spotted dolphins crossed our path. There were about 15 dolphins swimming around and coming up for air 2-3 meters from the boat. One even jumped out of the water; very cool.

the Isla!

We had class on the beach, with Alan using the sand as a chalkboard to demonstrate island biogeography theory. We also hiked around the island a little and did some species reports.

Snorkeling was very fun. I got a little seasick sitting in the rocking boat adjusting my snorkel mask, but once I got in the warm water I felt fine. There were lots of pretty fish, and I even saw a green sea turtle and a white-tipped reef shark. Back on the boats, we saw more dolphins and I learned that my missing bag was on one of the boats. I was very happy to have my bag back. As soon as we returned to camp, I brushed my hair, brushed my teeth, and used deodorant for the first time in four days. I also set up my clean and comfortable sleeping bag and pad in the tent.

After dinner and a lecture, our professors took us on one of the coolest things I’ve ever done: a night hike through the rainforest. Part of the way we hiked on the path, keeping quiet and listening to the night sounds and stopping often to check out some amazing insects, spiders, lizards, and frogs. The other part of the hike was through the creek, stepping carefully through knee-deep water, our headlamps reflecting on the surface. Large orthopterans (grasshoppers, crickets, and katydids) with crazy long antennae blended into the leaves until our movements disturbed them into jumping away. Huge spiders and tarantulas waited for prey under leaves and logs. Sleeping Norops lizards stretched out on thin branches overhead, trying to hide from their vine snake predators. We found a few yellow leaf frogs, which were smaller than the spiders we were seeing. One of the coolest finds was a cane toad sitting by its burrow under a log. Native here, they are huge pests where they were introduced in Australia. The other cool find was a caiman, which is like a small crocodile, swimming in the creek. We followed it upstream for a ways before it hid.

through the creek

through the creek

yellow leaf frog

katydid

cane toad

Feb. 15

Our last day in Corcovado, we had a morning lecture on beach ecology, appropriately barefoot and sitting on the beach. Class was interrupted twice; once when someone discovered tapir tracks nearby and the other when we watched humpback whales spouting and diving several hundred meters off the coast.

tapir tracks

After lunch, we had a scavenger hunt. My partner, Shelley, and I finished early, so we went to the swimming hole with a few other people. After sweating in the humidity all day, the creek was so refreshing. It was the perfect temperature sitting on rocks in the shade by the creek, and we had a view of the ocean and the sunset. While we were chatting, a white-faced capuchin monkey jumped into a tree right overhead. Then, we noticed some howler monkeys munching on leaves in a different tree. Soon after that, some spider monkeys swung by and some scarlet macaws flew overhead. We marveled at this amazing place, and considered what we would be doing if we were at our home universities right now: definitely something much less remarkable, like studying in a dorm room. This was one of my favorite moments from the trip.

sweet spider on the path to the swimming hole

view from the swimming hole

Quick update

Hey everyone,
Sorry I've been so behind on blog posts. Take it as a sign that I'm having too much fun to sit at my computer. I'm changing to week-by-week updates instead, because the day-by-day updates take me far too long. Don't worry, there will still be lots of photos. Love and miss you all.
~hannah
P.S. If you'd like an awesome postcard from Costa Rica, Facebook/email me your mailing address (kornbrathh@gmail.com).

Feb. 13th: long hike in Corcovado

As I ate breakfast under the coconut palms this morning, I watched more Bare-throated Tiger Herons, Spotted Sandpipers, and some American Oystercatchers eating the tiny fish that landed on the sand with every crashing wave. Again, we could hear howler monkeys calling in the trees as we enjoyed our fresh pineapple and watermelon.

American Oystercatcher

Soon after breakfast, we began today's activity: a substantial hike through the wet lowland forest to a beach and back. The hike was 8 km (5 miles) each way, uphill and downhill, over rocks, tree roots, and fallen logs, and through the 95°F heat and humidity. It was quite a trek, but definitely worth it. I saw about 20 new birds, including Mealy Parrots, Blue-crowned Manakins, and a Black-throated Trogon.

Black-throated Trogon

Blue-crowned Manakin

  

Our lunch destination was a nice beach, and food plus a dip in the ocean was the perfect reward. We refilled water bottles in the spring nearby, then began the long trek back. Rebecca and I hiked together and saw more birds, leaf cutter ants, frogs, lizards, a snake, and a sloth. Awesome.

leaf cutter ants

leaf cutter ants

froggy

I was tired and sore when we got back to camp. I drank 4 liters of water that day. After dinner and hanging out with friends for a bit, we went to bed early.