Hill of the Dead; Palo Verde Volume 1

So I've returned safely from the Hill of the Dead (Cuerici Biological Station) and am now currently sitting in a hot room with two fans next to a marsh in el Parque Nacional Palo Verde (Palo Verde National Park) in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Time to back track.

After spending a couple of weeks at Las Cruces Biological Station, we migrated to Cuerici, a small reserve in the mountains about four or five hours from San José. Cuerici isn't a national park, but rather a reserve area (semi-protected, I guess) and trout farm run by don Carlos, a true "papa bear"-type figure. Here he is now, super-casually sticking his machete in a tree along the continental divide. He always, always wore that hat. It had a parrot on it. I liked him.


Anywho, Cuerici has been (and probably will be) the most primitive of the stations we visit. No internet for a week--gasp!--and an emergency-only phone. At Cuerici we explored the Montane Oak Forest, which is a completely different ecosystem than the Tropical Lowland Forest of Las Cruces or the Tropical Dry Forest of Palo Verde. Basically, a bunch of people (around seven) got together to buy the land that has become Cuerici, only one of whom actually lives and works there, don Carlos. His family has owned the land for generations, and he has, essentially, single-handedly created a private reserve with the purpose of preserving/regrowing the old oak forest and educating people about it. Here's the building/house where we stayed (upstairs in one big room). It had a wood burning stove, a dining area, hot showers, and a classroom/lab attached to it with a huge fireplace inside. It got pretty cold at night--four blankets weren't enough if you weren't wearing sufficient clothing. It was nice to not have internet for a week. We went to bed at around 9:30 every night. Haha.




Don Carlos also runs a trout farm. Trout ("trucha") is an introduced species of fish in this area, and no fish occur naturally at such a high elevation. This is the main "crop" in the area, along with some blackberries. He generates his own electricity with a turbine hooked up to a small creek (being sure to watch how much water he takes from it), and allows a stray horse left by a French couple to roam his property, using the manure to help feed the worms that he feeds to the trout. Don Carlos both uses his land sustainably and conserves it, a rarity for Costa Rica, much less the rest of the world. Here is the aforementioned ungulate involved in a staring contest with the author:



One day we went up to an area of Páramo ecosystem. You could see the pacific ocean, and it looked more like a shrubby desert in the Andes than anywhere else in Costa Rica. There are more facts in this picture than I'd like to explain at the moment, but if you ask, you shall receive. In short, note the leaf shapes and reflectiveness of the flowers.


There were some speckled lizards that would bite and hold on to anything, including the ears of South Africans.



Typical Bromeliad.


One of the reasons that Cerro de la Muerte is called such is because when the fog rolls in like this, people suddenly become completely incompetent at driving. The same thing happens when there is ice. The automobile accident rate is ridiculously high in Costa Rica, and this only adds to those figures.



Here's a view from a lookout point on a trail at the station:


This moss is called Barba del Viejo, or Old Man's Beard. It was pretty sweet, and covered many trees, including this small one.



One day we took a morning hike, resulting in these "typical" rainforest pictures.



Look at that cute little epiphytic bromeliad growing on a stump with a sketchy looking tree in the background. It was quite foggy.


Three other students and myself (voluntarily) got up at 4:55 a.m. to hike up the road to see the sunrise on one of the last days. The clouds were completely covering the valley--usually you can see all the way to the Pacific. Way cool.


This tree was really, really tall. like hundreds of feet tall. Not as big as "El Abuelo" (the grandfather) the HUGE (about five people, arms spread out, across), centuries-old oak that we saw on the day we hiked across the continental divide and my camera battery conveniently chose to die.




So jump ahead a few days, and we're at Palo Verde Biological Station. It's the complete opposite of Cuerici: dry, hot, and lots of mammals and tons of birds. So far I've seen two raccoons, a couple of male coati, some howler monkies and white-faced capuchins, and countless storks, cranes, and egrets. Oh, also lots of iguanas (and bugs)!




This marsh used to be a cattle farm. They're doing some crazy difficult things to try to restore it that I won't go into right now. Here's a sunset from the second day.



And a Ctenosaur (black iguana). There are lots of them here.




A note about Palo Verde from our orientation materials:

Through an agreement with the Costa Rica National Park Service, OTS maintains this field station within the Palo Verde National Park. This reserve, located in the northwestern region of the country, lies on the boundary between an extensive marsh and seasonally dry forest underlain with limestone. It protects part of the lower Tempisque River Basin, the largest river drainage of the historic province of Guanacaste. Palo Verde is recognized internationally as one of the most important wetland habitats for nesting waterfowl. It is also a great place to see monkeys, deer, lizards, and crocodiles. Several trails lead to lookout points with incredible scenic vistas, favorite spots for watching the sunset. The park is currently impacted by rice and sugar cane cultivation in surrounding wetlands. It is also unique among Costa Rican parks in that domestic animals (namely, cattle) have been incorporated into its management program; a somewhat controversial decision that we will have a closer look at when we are there. The field station is rustic.


That said, coati!


Howler monkey and baby.



Today we went to sugarcane and rice fields. I've seen two scorpions, one of which was as small as a penny. Crazy.

As a testament to our location, we get complimentary bug nets for our beds. Luckily, however, there aren't that many mosquitoes right now because it's the dry season.

Also, yesterday was my birthday. It's the third birthday in a row this week, but my cake (banana) has definitely been the best, in my opinion. Yep, I spent my 21st looking at water hyacinths and crocodiles in a lagoon and getting lectured on both the potential seed dispersal effects of Gomphotheres and ant-acacia interactions in a Dry Forest ecosystem.

We're here until mid-March. Next week we have to start our independent projects. I might do mine on something to do with spatial-temporal learning and dietary needs of the ant Ectatomma Ruidum.

Bedtime.

"I STRONGLY DISAGREE WITH YOU"

It’s been a little while, but here is my last entry for a week. We’re leaving tomorrow morning to go to Cuerici (A.K.A. Cerro de la Muerta [Hill of the Dead]) for 6 days. No internet/phone, so don’t be afraid if you can’t get in touch with me. I’m all right.

Here’s a blurb about it from our orientation materials:

“Cuerici is located at an altitude of 2,900 meters near Cerro de la Muerte in the Talamanca Mountain Range of Costa Rica. This small farm and biological station includes about 200 hectares of primary forest bordering the Rio Macho Forest Reserve and Chirripo National Park. Both of these protected areas mark the northwestern edge of La Amistad Conservation Area. Ancient, tall oaks dominate the forest at this altitude (primarily Quercus costarricenses and Q. copeyensis). Some of these trees are estimated to be nearly 1,000 years old. Near Cerro de la Muerte, at 3,200 meters, the trees give way to high-altitude paramo, a unique tropical ecosystem specially adapted to temperatures that fluctuate rapidly between warm, sunny days and nights below freezing. Páramo is dominated by shrub land where drainage is adequate and by bogs where drainage is poor. The station at Cuerici is a large, rustic cabin complete with a large fireplace for roasting marshmallows and a wood burning stove to keep visitors warm during the exceptionally chilly nights. The surrounding oak forests, which were heavily exploited for charcoal, are an important habitat for the resplendent quetzal. The region produces organic blackberry, much of which is exported to the United States.”

Anyway, here are some words about the past few days.

On the 5th we went on a hike past the Río Java to take our first field observations. It´s pretty odd, actually, to just sit somewhere for thirty minutes and write what is happening to all of your senses. You should try it sometime: get some paper, go to a park or the woods or even your backyard, sit down. And look around you. I bet you ten thousand colones that you’ll see, hear, and smell things that you’ve never noticed before. (I double dare you).

While hiking on the trail, we came across the largest ant colony I’ve ever seen. See the picture below. It’s no optical illusion—that tall guy is tall.



On the way back, the unexpected (yet slightly expected) happened. About five of us were lagging behind (me because of my picture-taking addiction, the others because they are a little slow, of course) and ran into a friendly little bug on the trail. And by friendly little bug, I mean huge ass tarantula. Big spider. Everyone was sticking their foot out to see if it would crawl on it. However, it decided that my foot was the best choice (and I hadn’t even stuck it out yet), and embarked on a ridiculously fast journey—a straight shot to the groin. So, naturally, I took pictures. Here it is on my leg:


And here it is after I picked it up and it started crawling up my arm. At this point, I handed it off to one of the Costa Rican students, Andres. After he tried to kiss it (jokingly, of course), it reared up in defense (meaning that it wasn’t happy and you should get ready for some fang action) and we put him on the nearest tree.



(You should have seen Darby’s reaction when I told her.)

On the 6th, we hopped in the cars and drove a few kilometers to the Gamboa farm. We were learning/experiencing the effects of forest fragmentation and island biogeography. Basically, when people cut down patches of forest, it changes the microclimate and biodiversity along the edges and greatly affects the species living in the remaining “fragments.” I won’t go into too much detail, but basically, what happens in the resulting “edge effects” are carried deeper and deeper into the fragment until the whole mini-ecosystem is affected greatly. So I don’t bore you, I’ll leave the rest to my old friend Wikipedia.

(I thought these leaves were cool.)

(Our Costa Rican professor Mau (Mauricio), looking qué suave.)

We’ve watched two videos on fair trade coffee. Coffee is the second highest traded commodity besides oil, and that’s something that I bet no one reading this knew. OK, someone might have. Anyways, the point was that buying fair trade assures that the farmers get a fair price for their coffee crop. It's an important thing--companies like Starbucks, Folgers, etc., are buying coffee at ridiculously low prices and selling it for ridiculously high prices. E.g., you can make about 35 cups of coffee out of about a pound of coffee. Big companies that don't do fair trade buy coffee at world market price at, let's say, a dollar a pound. Then Starbucks sells a (cheap) cup of coffee for $2. That's 35 cups per pound, at $2 a cup. The farmer got $1 per pound, and can rarely afford to send his kids to school. Now think about the $6 cups of coffee they sell. Just think about it.

One of the farmers participating in fair trade in the video we watched has a farm in Agua Buena, a town about 10 min from here. His name is Roberto Jimenez, and he's one of the coolest guys ever. He grows café arabica (as opposed to robusta, the lesser quality one with more caffeine and bitterness), bananas, plantains, sugarcane, mangoes, and more on his "finca" (farm).

(Drying coffee)

(Greenhouse)

(An ancient, still functioning/used sugar cane press. Used to be cranked by 2 oxen, now he just does it with the hand crank.)

(He also has a couple of pigs and cows)

(Roberto holding some fresh beans. He works hard and knows his shit. True.)

He's part of a fair trade co-op that produces sustainable and, apparently, really good coffee. He uses his bananas and other trees to shade his coffee plants; he's doing it the right way, and uses about 80% less pesticides than other farmers. What he does use is organic and he makes himself. His finca resembles more of a rainforest than your average farm, and he's trying to do his work in an ecologically friendly mindset. He uses natural fences and erosion control and provides homes to many a bird, which non-shade grown coffee plantations do not. He was obviously very interested in and had his heart set on helping the environment and protecting the lands instead of making a dime (literally). Inspiring.

You can even buy it online and they'll pack some up (according to your grind/roast specifications) and mail it to you. And you're supporting the coffee growers instead of the corporations. You pay a few cents more per cup and increase the quality of life of countless individuals instead of fattening the coffers of a bunch of CEOs somewhere. Cool? I think so.


On to other news: here's Mike (one of the funniest kids on the trip) up in a huge strangler fig.







And here are a couple from a night walk:

(under the leaf of a Heliconiaceae)

Lastly, I finished my insect identifying, and got a 100% on my plant test. Woo! I guessed on four, too. I also finished my statistics homework. For future references, I hate statistics.

A couple of birds (chestnut mandibled toucan and a blue crowned mat mat, respectively), and an agouti about 15 feet away from me!

See you after Cuerici!


(By the way, coffee is a member of the Rubiaceae family. Trivia.)

Too Many Possible Titles, So I Chose This One

So Las Cruces is pretty mazing, and I’m behind on many things already, including (but not limited to) readings, blog entries, knowing scientific terms for things I have no reason to know already, and, of course, sleep.

On Thursday, we toured the gardens with Rodolfo (Rodo), one of the important people here (not sure of his title, exactly). He is quite the character, and is pretty funny: “Questons? Comments? Regrets?” The garden has species from all over the world. I can’t really explain it without pictures, I guess.

We split into two groups that day, and half went on the garden walk and half went to the neighboring town of San Vito to buy snake boots (5700 colónes, or about $11) and various other supplies. The boots aren’t that comfortable, and they are the hottest, sweatiest footwear I’ve ever had. Plus, they don’t protect you against the big snakes, only the little ones that you don’t see, which is what your regular shoes could do. Kind of silly.

A few of us went on a night walk in the garden that night. The bugs and sounds and smells (and temperature, of course) are all very different when the sun is sleeping.

So far we’ve had various lectures on Costa Rican history and politics, one on coffee, various plant, fruit, and insect taxonomy/morphology (blegh), and about biological vs. statistical hypotheses. Oh yeah—and one on “Dangerous and Annoying Creatures," such as this one (sorry, Darby):

I’m already feeling pretty behind, because many/most of the kids in the group have definitely had taxonomy classes before. Did I know what the hell a Bromeliaceae was before I got here? No. But most of them did; apparently it’s the family that pineapple belongs to. Most of them are epiphytes, pineapple being a terrestrial exception. Yep, didn’t know what an epiphyte was either. Nor did I know what Cyclanthaceae, Moraceae, Marantaceae, Melastomataceae, Heliconiaceae, Rutaceae, Rubiaceae, Passifloraceae, Piperaceae, or Zingiberaceae were. I still don’t know, actually. Those are just plant families, much less the other terms for parts or insects, which are even harder. Ha. The Costa Rican students definitely know way more than any of us, though. They learn the scientific names in school like nobody’s business. This is going to be tricky. I wish my teachers had emphasized scientific names, but they definitely haven't

The next morning we took the jungle trail to the Rio Java, which is mostly a creek in the dry season, to observe the layers of the forest (canopy, undergrowth, etc., etc.).

See the snake boots in action!

Last night we had our fruit “lab,” which was basically just a feeding frenzy on local fruits (and vegetables). Some were gross, some were good, some I just couldn’t make myself try, such as Noni.

But speaking of fruits, I’ve found the answer to the fruit/vegetable conflict regarding our familiar tomato. In 1883, the U.S. government declared tariffs on all vegetables. This list included the tomato. However, a farmer in Florida challenged this, saying his tomatoes were in fact fruits, not vegetables. The Supreme Court ruled that tomatoes were indeed vegetables, because they were usually served with the meal, and not with dessert. What kind of bogus answer is that? Tomatoes are in fact fruit, since they are the seed-bearing part of the plant.

Also, oranges (and lemons and limes) are technically berries, each little ball on a blackberry is itself a fruit (it’s called an aggregate fruit), and each little diamond-shaped thing on the side of a pineapple was one flower—pineapples are called “multiple” fruits. Each one of a strawberry’s seeds is in fact a fruit, and the rest of the fleshy material is simply an enlarged receptacle; the seeds are individual achenes. Squash and cucumbers are also fruits (they are the ovaries, containing the seeds used for reproduction), but we classify them as vegetables because we’re silly. Any part of the rest of the plant should really be called the vegetable part. Look up the definition of a vegetable on different websites, and you’ll get different answers everywhere.

Yep. Bet you didn’t know.

Today is a free day. I went to breakfast at 6:30, then came back and slept until ten. It was quite glorious. Some people went into San Vito, some went on a hike, and I decided to stay here and participate in academia. Boo.

A shout out to those back home who still don't have power: that really sucks. It's warm here. I'll enjoy it for you.