las mariposas

After finishing our coursework and taking our last final on April 17^th, we have spent the last two weeks immersed in our directed research projects. My group is exploring how environmental factors influence butterfly biodiversity. This entailed ten eight-hour days of running around catching butterflies, identifying them, and releasing them. It was a blast – although very tiring. As with any group it took us a couple of days to learn how to work well together but by the end we were working as a cohesive team. We are now in the process of analyzing our data and writing our final papers.

Our research group!

Despite all this work we are still finding time to enjoy life here in Panama and do new things. Here are a few of my favorites from the past couple weeks:

We made tamales in one of the villages on Solarte.

 We made over 70 that they will sell in town.

Group beach day after our last final

 Tara and I made bagels for everyone!

With only 8 days left before the semester end, it is starting to hit us all how fast this semester has gone by and how much we will miss this little community we have created. While I am excited to go home and see my family, it is sad knowing that several of the students here I may never see again even though we will always share experiences that no one else can really ever understand.

manatis

I am featured on the School for Field Studies blog! Feel free to check it out:

http://www.fieldstudies.org/blog/?p=2474

This past weekend in the Changuinola area really was great. Here are some more photos from the weekend:

Group picture :)

 Demonstrating the chocolate making process.

Watch out for the manatees!

Did I mention we saw manatees?!

The beach we did sea turtle patrols on during the night.

Boquete

I am now over halfway through my time here in Panama. It feels like it has gone by so quickly yet it also feels like I have been here forever. For our 5 day mid-semester break, I, and most of the other students, headed up to Boquete, Panama. We spent our time hiking to waterfalls, visiting natural hot springs, touring a coffee plantation, and all-in-all enjoying the change in scenery and the cooler weather.

A highlight of the trip was climbing to the summit of Volcan Baru, the highest point in Panama. Maria, Tara and I started at 11:30 at night so that we could reach the top by sunrise. It was hard to keep my eyes on the trail because the multitude of stars in the moonless night kept begging me to look at them. The view from the peak was definitely worth the 13.5km trek and 1800m elevation gain. From the top we could see across the entire country. On one side we could see the Pacific Ocean and on the other we could see the Caribbean Sea. We got to the peak in time to sit and relax as we watched the sun slowly inch up out of the horizon. It was spectacular to see the world slowly light up around the summit, especially with the satisfaction of knowing that I had just climbed to the highest point in the country. While the sunrise was gorgeous, I think the moonrise, which came prior, was even more striking. On our last incline before the summit, we reached a clearing in the forest and we saw a sliver moon hovering above a glowing orange-red horizon with the stars still shining above.  It was beautiful.

The hike down the mountain was, in my opinion, harder than the hike up due to the strain it put on our knees. I was amazed by how far we had hiked up in the dark (at times it seemed endless on the way down). However, our descent was enlivened by the fact that it was race day. We, by chance, were hiking down the day of an annual race up/down the volcano. There events for runners, hikers, and mountain bikers. While it was impressive to see the courageous souls running up the mountain, the bikers gave us quite the adrenaline rush as every time one whizzed down the mountainside we had to jump out of the way and hope our legs, in their weakened state, would move quickly enough to avoid collision.

Moonrise

Our hiking group at the summit right before the sun rose

Sunrise

A view from the top

Carnival y mas

Two weeks ago (wow it is amazing how fast time flies) was Carnival. The festival began on February 27^th and culminated on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. It was fun to go into town and enjoy the festivities. There were water cannons, parades, and diablos (devils) roaming the streets. The diablos are people who dress up in ornate red, black, and white costumes with large masks and dance in the street. I found them slightly frightening because they have whips with which they make loud cracking sounds.

Diablos in the street in town.

This past weekend was our weekend off after having midterms last Thursday and Friday. This basically meant that we didn’t have scheduled activities on Saturday so we could spend a night away from the center. A group of us decided to stay on the neighboring island of Bastimentos for the weekend. On Saturday, two of my friends and I hiked through the forest to the other side of the island to go to Wizard Beach and Red Frog Beach. On our way we summited the highest point on the island (a whopping 330 feet above sea level). The hike, while longer than expected, was very enjoyable. One of the highlights was our encounter with a most pleasantly smelling tree. We saw fruits on it, picked one, opened it, decided it looked like a guava, and ate it. It was delicious and fortunately we all survived our impulsive consumption of wild fruit. At our final destination, Red Frog Beach, there was a fundraiser for the local indigenous community of Bahia Honda so that they can send their children to school. They were selling fresh coconuts, empanadas, and johnny cakes (all of which were scrumptious). I was glad that we were able to go to the event because we had visited the community earlier in the semester and so it was nice to be able to support them in this way.

Maria and Tara trying the “guava” fruit.

Struggling with mud on the hike.

We made it to the beach!

Bonus Photo: My friend Herman who enjoyed being photographed after he joined me in the kitchen.

los loros

It is strange being in a place where my professor has to talk over the red-lored parrots that try to interrupt our class with their loud cackling as they fly by, but it sure makes class more exciting. In addition to classes, these past couple weeks have been filled with field excursions.

For our Tropical Coastal Ecology class we have been going snorkeling about 3 times a week as we learn to identify fish, invertebrates, coral, and algae. Each day and each snorkel site is a little different. Sometimes there is so much color and so many animals in the reef it is hard to keep track of all the species we see. The water can be so clear and when the sun is out the sea bottom glistens with the patterns of surface waves. Some of my favorite things I have seen are moon jellyfish and caribbean reef squids. But sadly the effects of human activity in the area are visible.  Amidst this beauty, there are coral reefs that have been damaged and are dying.

A view of one of the reefs

A cool looking seastar

Our terrestrial field work, led by our Resource Management professor, has been just as enjoyable (if not more in my opinion). These include early morning bird watching hikes, butterfly catching (and release), night hikes, and trips to other islands to observe differences in biodiversity. The night hike was especially exciting for me because there was a chance we would see an armadillo. We didn't, but that was okay because we did see a three-toed sloth climbing up a tree. I am still on the hunt for an armadillo sighting.

My group as we are about to leave for our night hike.

Collecting insects for classification.

Eating yummy cacao fruit while hiking on Isla San Cristobal.

A group picture after one of our hikes.