Almost a full week at SFS

Caterpillar in Braulio Carillo

Sloth!

Walking through the Dole banana plantation

I've been so busy I can't believe that its not even been a full week. Thursday our schedule was changed a bit (i.e. we had to eat breakfast at 6.00 am instead of 7.00) to accommodate for our field trip to Braulio Carillo National Park and Centro Manu. We had just a short hike at Braulio Carillo, but we had so much information thrown at us...the flora and fauna are amazing. On my hike we saw a crazy caterpillar, white faced monkeys, leaf cutter ants and so many plants that I can't remember the names. After we finished we were able to sit by a waterfall to have lunch, which was gorgeous. Then we hopped back in the bus to drive the rest of the way to Centro Manu, where we stayed Thursday and Friday nights in little cabins. This field trip was not all play and no work though...we did still have a couple of classes and another orientation hike at Manu. Thursday night ended with a fun game of soccer that my team won. Our orientation hike was on Friday morning and on this hike we saw a strawberry dart frog, golden orb spiders, sugar cane, huge bromeliads and even a baby pineapple. In the afternoon we went to a palmito plantation where they harvest heart of palm. Saturday activities started very early with a 6.00 walk to where one of the professors set up mist nets to catch some birds. Unfortunately we didn't catch anything but we were at least able to see a toucan from afar and hear some parrots and an ibis. We were all surprised when we got back and a pancake breakfast we served. I think it was the first non-gallo pinto breakfast we've had. The rest of the trip consisted of a trip to the Dole plantation where we had a lecture on the history and process of banana farming. We were also able to go into the plantation and the packing plant. We finished this all off with a shot of banana liqueur that our tour guide promised us. The trip back to Atenas proved to be more eventful than expected. After stopping for lunch at a roadside restaurant we got back on the bus and drove 1/4 of a mile before we stopped. Nobody knew what happened but the bus driver didn't like the sound of the bus and left all 35+ of us sitting on a hot, stuffy bus for around 20 minutes. We were then allowed off the bus and shuttled back down to the restaurant where we waited over an hour and a half for a replacement bus to come pick us up. the other bus got to the restaurant just after it started to pour and we all scrambled to get cover in the restaurant. Once we were on the bus we made it back to the SFS center in one piece. After a quick dinner and a reality check in on the internet, almost the whole group went out to Don Yayo's, a local bar just outside of Atenas. It was a much need night off that we all enjoyed. Today, Sunday, has also been a relaxing day, even though I was woken up much earlier that I would have cared for as people left for their day trips. I stayed at the center and went for a run in the morning with my friend Rachel, who is another Coloradoan! Even though we left at 9.00 it seemed very late and very hot. I'm definitely not used to running in this kind of humidity. After a quick breakfast (cereal, not gallo pinto because we were on our own for food) and a shower we left the center for Atenas almost as hot as we were upon returning from our run. We explored the town a bit more, and got some shopping done before sitting down for lunch at one of the sodas, or little restaurants. We were sitting right across from the central park/square where we were able to watch the festivities that were for Children's Day, or so we were told by our taxi driver. On the weekend almost everything in Atenas shuts down around midday, so after we ate we walked around a few very quiet blocks and decided to find a taxi before the afternoon rain found us.

Strawberry dart frog