6/16/2016

After an anxious flight we finally landed in San Jose. I couldn't be happier to bust through the line and get out of the airport too.

I was the first one to land, so we waited an hour for the next arrival. Frances, from Humboldt, who loves all things marine.

The hotel was a lot nicer than I had imagined, and not too hot either.

There was a pool. A dining room. And pet cockroaches.

Too bad they were too shy to say hello when you turned the lights on...

Even  in Costa Rica, so far from home, I could look off into the distance and imagine being back in Oceanside, with all the comforts of home.

The  night was mostly uneventful. This truly is a great crew of nerds. We talked for hours about weird biology facts and what we love to learn about. The conversation went from the penis of a barnacle (the largest of any animal) to how many bot flies we hope to bring home with us (I'm gunning for at least three).

 It's funny how early we all are in our careers, but we still fill these interesting little niches.

One person is the marine specialist. Another invasive plants. A turtle guy. A bat girl. Aquatic insects. Tropical birds. Stream ecology. Nitrogen cycles. Conservation ecology.

And my personal label, which I'm thrilled to wear, like a badge of honor: "the parasite/snake guy"....

yessss!

After eating and talking into the night we went off to bed. It wouldn't be a group of dorks without poking through the bushes of the hotel to try and find some critters!

 Hemidactylus Frenatus (House Gecko) First herp of the trip!

 Nephila Clavipes (Golden Orb-weaver). A.K.A. a big ass spider!

6/17/2013
The next morning we piled into the bus and headed for the OTS offices. Like I said, San Jose wasn't bad temperature-wise. And the air-conditioned bus felt great!

 We loaded up all our gear (after checking to make sure all was present and accounted for). Each of us was left in charge of a different bin for the entire summer. I was put in charge of "chemicals".

Trouble. I feel like Walter from Breaking Bad! (minus the cancer and killer-instinct)

 It was a two hour bus trip to La Selva. We went through the national park to get there. It was ridiculously lush. I would have taken some pictures but all the growth on the side of the road was so thick and tall every picture would have looked like a giant green wall!

The forest looks so impenetrable.

We finally got to La Selva around 12:30.

I gotta say, I wasn't ready for stepping out of that van.

Holy shit is it hot and humid! Heat is around 85-90. Humidity has got to be close to 100% though.  I knew to expect it being pretty bad. But ohhh myyy goodness!

Luckily everything is new and awesome to look at. And I'm trying to be a trooper and not bitch.

Not Too much.

We'll see how that goes.

We ate some lunch at the dining hall. As advertised. Rice. Beans. Vegetables.

After settling into our rooms (I'll throw up a picture soon) we went to a short lecture warning us about all the things that can kill or hurt us. blah blah blah.

Then we went on a nature hike. Uh oh! Excitement explosion. This place is too awesome for words. Here are some sweet animals we saw.

Tayassu Tajacu (Collared Peccary) Apparently we'll be sick of these things by the end of the trip. I thought it was pretty cool though.

 The awesome suspension bridge we cross to get to the dining hall. We sleep at the 'river station' which is ~1km from the dining hall and all the action. There are amazing signs on both sides of the bridge saying "Swim at your own risk. Crocodiles in water!" Yesssss.

Iguana iguana (green iguana) This guy was just hanging out in a tree sunning himself over the river. I hope I get to see them in their breeding colors before the trip is over!

Dasypus novemcinctus (Nine-banded Armadillo) They might be hard to see, but there were five baby armadillo's cowering under this bush. They looked like little puppies and it took all I had not to try to grab one (They're not big on messing with the wildlife at La Selva)

 

 This is one possible study site, it's a swamp not too deep into the jungle that looks promising for a lot of frogs. The craziest part of the jungle is the noises. It is never, EVER quiet, there are always a million birds, frogs, monkey,s or who knows what shouting and hollerin'.

  
Paraponera clavata (Bullet Ant) these bad boys are about an inch long and are said to have one of the most painful stings in Costa Rica. They're also called the 24-hour ant... I don't think I need to tell you how long the pain lasts.

  
Ramphastos swainsonii (Chestnut-mandible Toucan). I love tropical birds, and this noisy fella put on a show for us! Why are toucan's so kewl?!

(Unknown grasshopper species) Did I mention that some of the bugs here are out-of-control large! This thing will haunt my dreams.

A group shot when we were all done with the hike. A great group to end a great first day at La Selva. (I'm coming back to this spot to bird tomorrow morning)

 Oophaga pumilio (Blue-jeans frog)Had to slip this one in, these guys are too cool. One of my study species and they...are...everywhere!