On September 14, the night before Costa Rica’s Independence Day, torches and lanterns are carried throughout the country to symbolize spreading the announcement of freedom when it was gained in 1821. To this day, people start lighting torches

from Nicaragua and walk to light other people’s torches throughout the entire country. People make their own lanterns

and torches so that they can participate, using either small electric lights or candles (electric lights for children). Our group got the chance to make our own lanterns to walk with children in a nearby school. We used paper, glue, glitter, and anything else we could get our hands on.

 

Once we arrived at the school, we watched the children go through some dances before we were included in one of the dances. No one was expecting to be pulled in, but everyone had a smile by the end.

Since it was raining, we could not walk with our faroles outside so we turned out the lights in the gym. The school’s students led the way with their faroles before our group followed. It was an unforgettable experience in Costa Rican culture.

 

While on our trip through the lowlands of Costa Rica, our group had the opportunity to visit the Jaguar Rescue Center (JRC) in Cahuita. JRC is a rehabilitation center for injured animals found in the area or by citizens. Their main goal is to rehabilitate and release the animals back into their native habitat which is actually so cool because their main purpose really isn’t to have a “petting zoo.” Anyone that pays the park entrance fee is supporting the betterment of Costa Rica’s natural environment rather than paying to remove animals from their habitats.

The first animal we saw was a crocodile that had been found near death at a local beach. Fortunately someone called the police, and the crocodile was rushed to JRC for treatment. We also got to see baby sloths, the cutest animals on earth, and they had a jungle gym set up for the sloths to practice climbing around on. They painted the nails of the sloths, so when they start reintroducing the sloths into the surrounding forest it’s easier for the volunteers to spot them in the canopy while they’re doing check-ups. Since most of the workers are volunteers, the painted nails also help them identify the sloths correctly since they can be difficult to distinguish.

After the baby sloths, the naturalist brought us to the ocelot exhibit. The ocelot is an absolutely incredible big cat found in South and Central America. However, it is a pest to many farmers in Costa Rica because ocelots like to break into hen houses and eat the chickens. JRC and the Costa Rican government have tried to prevent farmers from killing the ocelots by offering a reward for reporting the animal. Recently, a farmer called JRC and asked them to help him build a fence around his chickens to stop the ocelot from breaking in, so they sent him the funds to build it.

When we first realized that the Jaguar Rescue Center didn’t have jaguars some of us were upset, but eventually we realized that it’s actually so amazing that they don’t! Many zoos will intentionally remove animals from their habitats so more people will visit, but JRC only removes animals who will benefit from the medical care they can offer or are unable to survive in the wild anymore. Visiting the Jaguar Rescue Center was an amazing and educational experience, and the volunteers were so knowledgeable and passionate about their job.

If you want to learn more about their story or feel inclined to donate, you can visit their website: http://www.jaguarrescue.foundation

Jessie Motes

Over the past week, we have had the incredible opportunity to stay at the La Selva Biological Research Station and the Veragua Research Station. While we were there, we went on several night hikes and encountered a variety of wildlife. Each of us were in awe of the creatures we got to observe with the help from the naturalist guides at each location.

During the first night hike in La Selva, we split into four separate groups, which helped to keep the noise level at a minimum. This gave us a better chance to see wildlife in their undisturbed environments. One of the neatest (and most unique) things one group was able to observe was a pair of mating sloths! Our guide initially pointed out a female

sloth sleeping in a tree when all of a sudden (but very slowly), we saw a male sloth climbing up the tree towards the female. Our guide had been at La Selva Biological Station for ten years, and he had never seen this occur. Another group was even able to get a glimpse of an ocelot on their night hike. In addition, we had the opportunity to see organisms including litter toads, blue jean frogs, and peccaries all just on the first night.We were stopping constantly to check out animals and insects that group members would find. It was only our first night and we were able to see things others had rarely, if ever, witnessed.

Although difficult to see, this is evidence of our sloth mating encounter.

In Veragua, we went on night hikes both days that we stayed at the Research Station. While the second night hike was long, it was by far the most spectacular. We got to see many species of snakes, scorpions, crabs, and frogs. This was our most adventurous trek as we were almost up to our knees wading in streams and even had to climb over fallen trees to look for frogs! It was definitely well worth the effort, as you can see by some of the pictures we took.

The picture above is an ogre-faced spider (Deinopidae) that we saw on our first night hike in veragua. We all found this insect to be incredibly fascinating since its web is so distinctively rectangular. The spider holds the web with its front legs and will stretch it as it propels itself onto prey to entangle it inside the web. If only we had been able to see that!

One thing that really impressed everyone was the knowledge that each of the guides had. They were complete experts and could name a frog based strictly on its call, could spot shining eyes in the water, and point to different animals we would have never seen on our own. They also had a lot of knowledge about the local communities, which was really helpful to learn about. They impressed us throughout our trip and helped each student see some truly incredible organisms.

September 7th was a day centered around food (which means it was amazing). Our first stop was a certified organic pineapple farm! After we tried some delicious pineapple juice, we hopped on a large flatbed truck with benches to begin the tour of the farm. Our tour guide said that by the end of the tour we would all be pineapple experts. Costa Rica is the number one exporter of pineapple, and Brazilis the number one producer of pineapple. Costa Rica grows the MD2 hybrid variety of pineapple.

It is actually quite difficult to grow pineapple on a large farm. Since the pineapple plants are top heavy and have shallow roots, they must be grown close together in order to keep them upright. This creates a field of what appears to be tall, sharp grass sticking out in all directions. But to an ecologist, it looks like a field of bromeliads (which it is). The pineapple plant is a bromeliad, and it will only produce fruit when it is in unfavorable conditions such as a lack of nutrients.

This is the reason behind a complicated set of steps to get the plants to produce ripe fruit which can all be harvested at the same time. First the ground is covered with plastic that needs to be replaced every three years. Then the pineapples are planted by hand (approximately 22,000 plants per acre). After 8 months, the plants are sprayed with ethylene gas (signal that causes the plants to produce fruits). After an additional 4 months the plants can be cut and harvested. The plant will produce a second pineapple fruit a year later, but after that a new one needs to be planted. Because pineapple is grown as a monoculture, it is a very intense process that is not good for the natural environment. In order to add more nitrogen to the soil, legumes are planted every few years. Since the farm is organic, they also have some interesting techniques to manage pests. To control flies, they put sticks around the field that have white plastic bags on them covered with glue. We finished the tour by eating loads more pineapple, pineapple upside down cake, pineapple empanadas, and of course piña coladas! After the tour, we continued eating our way through La Selva by going on a chocolate farm tour.

 

Fun facts:
-Pineapple is a self pollinated composite fruit (which means it’s actually a combination of many fruits
-Pineapples ripen from the bottom to the top (which means the bottom half is always sweeter than the top half)
-Once a pineapple fruit is cut from the plant, it stops ripening and begins to ferment inside

How to buy the perfect pineapple:
The pineapple should be firm on the outside
It should be more green than yellow and have a strong crown of leaves
To test it, hold a leaf on the bottom of the crown (you should be able to hold the pineapple up just from this leaf without it breaking)
As soon as you get home from the store, put the pineapple in the refrigerator
Or if you are entertaining guests, cut the pineapple in half and set out the top half for your friends. Then put the bottom, sweeter half in the refrigerator to save for yourself.

 

On the morning of September 5^th, we left our mountainous home for a lowland tropical rainforest, the La Selva Biological Station. We were prepped on the hot weather paired with constant rainfall that we were bound to encounter, but were pleasantly surprised when our first day (and next 4 days for the fact of the matter) remained rain free. Upon arrival, we were greeted by enthusiastic naturalists, friendly staff, and the station director Carlos de la Rosa. After an exciting night hike where we saw a rarely spotted ocelot, sloths, an adorable big-eyed vesper mouse, and multiple frogs and insects, we all situated into our cozy dormitories.

The following morning, it was beautiful outside and a perfect day for us to have our river float. We were split into three groups, each lead by one of the resident naturalists. The rapids were calm, the sun was soothing, and the wildlife was constant. My naturalist was Lenny, who was enthralled by birds of all sorts. He pointed out perfectly still tiger herons and water-skimming swallows the entirety of the trip, while simultaneously attempting to speak to the howler monkeys in the branches above us. We had a quick pit stop at a swimming hole where we had a cannon ball competition that Grant blew out of the water (literally) followed by a tropical fruit snack.

After the river float we had a natural history presentation given by Carlos de la Rosa that really put into perspective what a dynamic and biologically rich landscape we were lucky enough to be staying in. With species counts around 2,077 for plants, 470 for birds, 125 formammals (72 of them being bats!), and 135 for reptiles and amphibians, we were all excited to get out and explore to say the least. Carlos finished with an inspiring message emphasizing the importance of scientific research of the natural world, and offering methods for us to inspire our generation to take steps in the direction of preserving and saving the biodiversity it supports.

Other than our trip to the Paradiso pineapple farm and Tamarindo chocolate tour, we spent a majority of the trip exploring the trails that winded through rainforests and hovered above the river. My favorite walk was the morning of September 8^th, which was led by Albert the naturalist. His ability to point out animals was outrageous and when asked how he did it his only explanation was “I can smell them”. Throughout the trip I saw a toucan, 2 different colorations of the eyelash pit viper, a white-whiskered puffbird, a family of peccary and guan, a helicopter dragonfly, blue jean frogs, bullet ants, iguanas, and colorful motmots. It was a beautiful and educational trip spent with a staff of passionate people!

 

 

During the mornings of August 30^th and 31^st, we went on a tour of the Café San Luis coffee farm translated by the resident naturalists on campus, Michaela and Dionne. Victor, the owner of the finca, walked us through the process of making coffee from seed to grounds. For a new plant to grow, coffee seeds are collected off a ripe plant, removed from the outer fruit, planted directly into

the ground and covered with banana leaves to keep moisture in for 45 days. Next, the germinated seed is transplanted either to a different area in the ground or to bags. The seed is then kept in the bags for a year to make strong and then two years after being in the ground, it will start producing fruit. The best soil Victor has found for the seed to grow is a compost from coffee leaves and soil. One advantage to growing shade-grown coffee is the natural falling of leaves adds fertilizer to the soil. The fruit on a coffee plant turns red when ripe. In October and November, there are few ripe plants while in December and January the harvesting starts and there is a lot of coffee produced. Even 4 to 5 months later, they still have to visit each plant every week or two because they keep producing

ripe seeds. Victor and his workers collect the ripe red seeds by hands and put them in a basket held with a belt around their waist. After each harvest, they check the quality of each plant because after 4-5 harvests, they don’t produce as many seeds and need to be cut down so new plants can grow from the roots. They also will cut down plants that get infected, with the Riya fungus being the most common disease. While the coffee tastes better and they get more money with red seeds, they will also sell the green seeds at the end of the harvest to anyone who like bitter coffee.

After Victor showed us how the coffee is grown, he showed us two different procedures for processing the coffee. The natural process had been used for 60-70 years and produces natural or honeyed coffee. They dry the seeds with the fruit still on to make it sweeter and leave coffee beans in sun to dry. However, it takes longer to dry and it is hard to deal with the rain. Once the coffee seeds turn black, they are ready to be put in a pilón where they are smacked until the parchment skins fall off and are blown away in the wind, leaving behind a gold bean. The beans are then ready to be roasted by being moved constantly in a pan above  a fire until the last skin comes off. After this happens, the beans are crushed by a grinder or rocks and used to brew a cup of coffee. This pure tradition has since been lost to a more mechanical means that Victor also showed us. The type of coffee produced in Costa Rica is the species Arabica. The Robusta species that is sold in a lot of other coffee-growing countries is illegal in Costa Rica since they have found it does not grow as well here so to increase production and

have a standard, the government outlawed the other species. However, there are many different cultures, or varieties, of coffee that have their own characteristics. For example, Costa Rica 95 is shorter but resistant to disease and produces big beans while the F1 variety is taller. The yellow seed variety has seeds that are very delicate and fragile which fall off in rain. The original coffee variety that is not as common is called Café Antigua.

 

 

Last Saturday, the 19^th August, we went to San Gerardo. We had to hike in with our backpacks on. It was a beautiful hike, mostly downhill. We stayed in a research lab run by a wonderful family. Giovanni, the father, kept the facility running and took us on hikes. Ivannia, the mother, cooked delicious meals for us and made amazing desserts (the banana bread was increíble!). They had one son named Andre who is in elementary school and plays soccer really well. We had a beautiful view of the Arenal volcano

in the mornings and as the day progressed we could watch the mist and clouds creep up the mountain bringing rain. San Gerardo is part of the Children’s Eternal Rainforest, named this because children actually raised the money to create the reserve. Most days were spent in the field, which meant in a dense, species rich rain forest. We learned a lot about the local plant life, for example the cecropia tree is actually hollow and is a home for a specific type of ant that helps guard the tree from leaf eaters that hurt the plant. We did an engaging stream lab as well. We

measured various aspects of the stream including: pH, temperature, flow rate, diversity of invertebrates, canopy cover, and more. It was so fun to work in the stream and learn about the complex ecosystem supported by it. One night we had a night hike led by Giovanny. He has no educational background in ecology but knows so much about the land his family has lived on for generations. It was fun to practice my Spanish with such a friendly individual. We saw many frogs including a red-eyed tree frog and a glass frog and also saw a snake. The stars were amazing that night and I even saw a shooting star! There was also a beautiful waterfall that was at the end of a fun hike (we had to duck under logs and walk through a strangler fig). When we had free time we spent it on the big porch outside our rooms. We hung out on the hammocks and played games (after getting our homework done of course). After four nights there we hikedout (which was one of the most strenuous hikes I have ever been on) and returned to campus.

 

We have arrived! 21 students 4 faculty and around 50 pieces of luggage. The students had created a “group me” Costa Rica group so they all knew each other virtually if not already in person, which really made introductions and welcomes much easier. It was apparent right from the beginning that we have a friendly, fun, and talented group of students. We all made it through a busy first week. The first morning we went on an orientation hike around the UGA campus and the surrounding forest. Lectures started for all the courses being offered with a special 2-part lecture by Dr. Ron Carroll about climate change effects in Latin America with a focus on Costa Rica. The students spent time making observations and developing questions and had their first of many plant orientation hikes.  We also had a farm tour and did a service project by weeding the vegetable gardens at the UGA campus.  We prepared for our first trip off campus to San Gerardo and the students will write more about that soon! Overall, we (the faculty) are very impressed with all our students and their enthusiasm and excitement for studying in the tropics­­.