This morning, while in the bathroom I noticed a sign taped to the wall that said not to flush the toilet paper. This is a new concept. I’ve never heard of such a thing. This is a little weird and uncomfortable. Laura was on board with it because during her time in Nicaragua volunteering, she said they couldn’t flush the toilet paper there either.
As I continued to get ready I heard a lot of birds. I hope we get to see some and learn who is making what call. Breakfast was delicious! We had an assortment of fruit and pancakes. I tried some papaya because I don’t think I’ve ever eaten it before, and it was really good!
After breakfast, we packed the bus, snapped a group photo and made our way to the Soltis Center.
Along the way we passed many plants like coffee, sugar cane and coconut palm trees. We also felt the temperature drop as we climbed to higher elevation and disappeared into the clouds.
About halfway through the drive we made a pit stop for everybody to stretch and use the restrooms if they needed. I went around and took some pictures. One girl (whose name I would learn later was Madeline) came up to me and asked if I was the graphic design major. I told her no, I was creative writing (with minors in Spanish and photography and publishing & editing), but an artsy kid nonetheless, and that I was not a bio student in any way, shape, or form. She thought it was cool and wished she knew how to take good pictures. I guess the group knew there was an art kid coming and even if they forgot, I stand out with my DSLR camera. But that’s okay because I don’t mind being different.
When it started to drizzle, we got back on the bus and continued on our way to the Soltis Center. Someone had found a swallowtail moth. It was really pretty. It was black and green, and about the size of my palm. It was probably the prettiest moth I have ever seen. I would have thought it was some kind of butterfly if somebody didn’t tell me it was a moth because of all of its colors.
As we drove, I noticed not all the houses had gates and almost all of them had tin roofs, which reminded me of the townships I saw in South Africa during my trip with People to People in 2011. We don’t usually see tin roofs for houses in the US.
When we got to the Soltis Center we got our room assignments (I was with Emily, Rachel, and Laura (?)).
For lunch, we had lunch: pork, rice and beans. I would soon learn that rice and beans were a staple food, and I would be made up of 98% rice and beans by the time the trip was over.
There were hummingbirds outside in the garden from where we ate. I tried to take pictures of them but it was very difficult. I was told to come out early in the morning if I wanted to see a bunch of them. I think I might try and do it.
After lunch we went to a lecture on the Soltis Center and then we got to put on snake guards (they’re like shin guards to protect you from getting bitten by one of the poisonous snakes that lurk around this forest) and went for a hike. We were told it was a good idea to go for a hike now so we can familiarize ourselves with it before we go out in the night.
We hiked up one trail towards the waterfalls where we saw lots of plants and a katydid that landed on Dr. Holt’s shirt. I have never seen one of these before (much less, even heard of one). It looked like a giant grasshopper against his shirt, and when it was in the brush, it looked like a leaf.
Once we had enough of this trail we came back and walked along Frog Pond’s path and looked at more plants and an anole (another critter I’ve never heard of). It was kind of cute. It was similar to a salamander, except these guys have a little throat flap that comes out from under their throat (as the name suggests).
When we returned from our hike, we practiced setting up mist nets for bats. Everyone got the chance to set one up. I was proud of myself for doing it and even prouder when I got the “okay” and was told it was going to be used to catch bats. Even though we didn’t catch anything I’m glad I got the opportunity to assemble a net.
For dinner, we had more rice and beans, and from what I gather so far, they’re a popular side. After dinner we went to try and catch bats. We saw a king toad and a giant cockroach in the area which were pretty neat. After not catching anything we checked out some bullet ants and then went on a walk to look for insects, reptiles and amphibians. We saw a lot of frogs and it was very exciting. We saw the red eye tree from (my favorite), a yellow swamp tree frog and some other frogs as well. It was drizzling so it was the perfect time to see some amphibians.
Tomorrow there’s talk of catching hummingbirds in the morning. I hope we get to do that because I really want to, I think it’d be really neat. I remember banding birds in high school when I volunteered at the zoo near my house and it was my favorite fieldwork assignment we did. I am currently getting sick and running out of DayQuil so I hope I kick whatever’s in my system out by tomorrow.
A Life Full of Laughter 