Inspired Elements: Peñas Blanca - My Condensed Jumanji Experience: July 9th to July 13th

July 9th

- Today is the big day. The big day of the big hike. Let's get psyched up. 10 miles - something a car could drive in 10 minutes, but over terrain so rough that horses have to take a different trail half the way. On foot, it will end up taking us about 7 hours (including breaks for lunch and snacks). Begin at about 5200 feet in elevation, end about 2300 feet in elevation. There's an awful lot of ascending in order to descend 3000 feet. Just for reference, Salisbury, MD is 26 feet above sea-level.

Ellie and I before beginning the hike

Elevation in the first portion of the trail

Apparently the trail was closed? That didn't stop us

- Depart at around 9 am from the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. Break at Refugio Aleman (The Germans) around 12:15 pm. Arrive at Refugio Eladio in Peñas Blanca around 4 pm with sore blistered feet, mud-covered legs and a pack that feels ten times heavier than when I left.

After climbing up another hill with no idea how much farther you have to go, this is the most beautiful site you can see.

- We took our shoes off to cross a few rivers on the way. The first time, I successfully threw my shoes across a fairly small river. The second time, I took mine off and had decide to carry them across because the river was larger and faster moving. Ellie unfortunately tried to throw her shoes across one at a time. The first one bounced off a rock and was down the river and out of sight in a matter of seconds. She did the rest of the hike in Chaco sandals.

Ellie with her lonely shoe

- Once at the Refugio, we played cards and rested the rest of the evening.

July 10th

- Pancakes for breakfast/Panqueques para desayuno

- Orientation hike around Peñas Blanca - wore my Keens since my feet are blistered and I don't want to put them in those hiking boots ever again. Saw some huge orb-weaver spiders. The big orb-weavers are the females and the small spiders surrounding her on the outskirts of the web are the males (prospective mates). The males are cleptoparasites and steal food from the female. Sometimes if the males get too close, she will eat them. She will also cut large thrashing insects from the web so that they do not destroy it.

Fruiting body of an orchid

So yea, I may have worn the same clothes for 4 days

- Feddi showed up in the late afternoon - He's an interesting character/birder extraordinaire. His shoe busted within the first mile, so he walked the rest of the way without a sole on one of his shoes.

This is Feddi

- We read about and then went out to collect lianas (woody vines) and vines to give a presentation to the rest of the group after lunch and poster-making.

- Again played cards for awhile. Cards are universal - something everyone does when they're bored and without electricity. At one point, we played with one of the hosts, Tony, who knows less English than I do Spanish.

- Heard the story of how Eladio (our other host) helped save and conserve Peñas Blanca. The area was being mined by Canadians and Costa Rican people were moving in to work for the mine and to raise cattle. Many were hoping that the more that moved there, the more likely it would be for them to get a school, clinic and other infrastructure. Eladio was living there part of the time and raising cattle. Some conservationists convinced Eladio to sell them his land in order to conserve it. He then worked with them to help convince other Costa Ricans that this was the best option for the area (since the mining company left and the area was not good for agriculture). The conservationists began adding more and more land to the conservation area and continue to today. Eladio still has permission from the conservationists to bring in student groups throughout the year and use the the Refugio.

July 11th

- Woke up at 6 am to bird watch off the porch - I am not a good bird watcher. I prefer them to come to me rather than actively look for them. I don't have the patience and crappy binoculars doesn't help with that. However, I did manage to see quite a few birds during that time and Feddi identifies them as fast as they hop from tree to tree.

- Went birding in the forest with Moncho and some other students - I saw lots of birds, but not very close up because my binoculars aren't very good. Most of them moved to fast for us to identify, but we managed to get some down. We were looking to gather species richness information by recording different species we saw in the primary growth forest.

Bird watching

A jelly covering produced by the plant's roots to protect against parasites

It's hard to tell, but this is actually a large tree that fell down over the river and is now used as a bridge to cross the river - talk about eco-friendly corridors!

- Later, we compiled our data with the data of the other groups - another group in the primary forest, and two groups in the secondary forest. Once back to Monteverde, we will have to do a lab write up on this information.

- Our free time in the afternoon was mostly dedicated to...you guessed it! Cards! Ellie taught me a new game that is like a 2 person version of Euchre.

- That night we heard the story of how Eladio picked up a snake that he thought was a Fer de Lance mimic, but it turned out to be the real thing and bit his hand 3 times. He had to go to a clinic and was then taken to a hospital by plane. His finger turned into a huge blood blister and against his doctors wishes, he cut it in the shower to drain the blood and venom out. Although the doctor did not want him to do this, it may have saved his finger. Eladio asked to be transferred to another hospital closer to Monteverde and eventually convinced the doctors to let him be moved. The car that was supposed to take him to the hospital was late and so he decided to take a bus to Monteverde. Unfortunately, he had an allergic reaction to the anti-venom and had to go back to the hospital.

July 12th

- Fungal Diversity Day!

- Began the day with a lecture about fungus and were then sent out on a fungus scavenger hunt. We were given 13 different kinds of fungi to find, and Ellie and I tied with another group for first place with 7 different types of fungus. Our prize is a free beer back at the station.

The basket of fungus Ellie and I collected

Super awesome puff-ball fungus that I found

Then we got artsy in our picture taking

- We had fungus presentations in the afternoon. For this, we had to do a skit about how puff-ball fungi dispersed their spores. We wrapped a sheet around us (creating the puff-ball) and threw rice out (spores) whenever wind, water or an animal brushed up against us (dispersal mechanisms).

- During free time in the afternoon, Ellie and I walked to the river to relax and take pictures.

- That evening, a few of us worked on a thank you poster for Eladio and Tony. I drew a tree and Ellie and Bridget added leaves to it for everyone to write their names in. Mackenzie added a bird to it also. Eladio hangs all the posters that groups make him in the Refugio.

- We saw a fat paca eating the compost and a coral snake mimic crawled under the house. Feddi pulled it out for us to see once he determined that it wasn't poisonous.

July 13th

- Hike out aka emerging from the game Jumanji like Robin Williams - the walk made it feel like we were there for 30 years, rather than 5 days. Over 20 miles of hiking through the jungle, no shower and swatting at horse flies (tabanos) the size of birds will do that to you.

Big hills

Bromeliad

Crazy caterpillar

Nyssodesmus python - Millipede

- I wore my keens out and Ellie wore my boots. They're so old that the heel has now broken off and my keens are also starting to rip - those I'm either getting fixed or replaced. How many pairs of shoes can one trip destroy?

- Ran up some of the hills towards the end, excited to be out of the forest soon.