New Adventures

Sarah: I don’t have a ton of time to write but I thought I’d give a quick update anyway. I finished up my time working in the city for LASP this semester a couple weeks ago, and said goodbye to my Nicaraguan host family. I was actually sad to say goodbye and give them my house keys, even though I only stayed with them two nights a week. They were a good family, and I hope to be able to visit them when I am in the city in the future. I will continue my work for LASP next semester, but will have a different set up – I will be able to do the same work, but from QERC, so I won’t have to be in the city each week. Instead, I’ll spend about a day at the office every couple weeks or so, just to touch base. As much as I enjoyed being in the city, we’ll be busy enough with our own semester program at QERC, and I’ll be glad to be able to do the work for LASP from home.

Last week our friends Cassie and Matthew arrived in Costa Rica. We worked with them as Naturalists at Mission Springs Outdoor Education when we lived in California a couple years ago, and they are good friends of ours. The first couple days with them were a whirlwind of traveling and birding. They took a night flight here, and as soon as they got in early in the morning we headed up to La Selva Biological Research Station. Matthew is extremely into birding, much like David, so the two of them have been birding every chance they get. Cassie is like me – she enjoys the birds (especially the colorful tropical ones we have here), but isn’t into keeping bird lists and trying to find every possible species for every area we visit in the country (which is what our husbands do). Besides the birds at La Selva, the highlights for me were the poison dart frogs – both the blue-jeans frog and the black and green frog – and…a kinkajou! We were on a night hike and heard some rustling in the trees, and were able to locate it climbing up high. It looks a bit like an oversized squirrel that looks a bit like a cat.

After La Selva we headed over to Arenal Volcano. We first spent a bit of time in the hot springs, and then saw a great show put on by the volcano as it spit a lot of volcanic rocks out at night, looking like bright red lava flowing down the sides. After some more birding the next morning, we headed back through San Jose for some grocery shopping, and then on to QERC. One incredible thing I need to point out is that by the time we got to QERC, so only a couple days into Cassie and Matthew’s trip, David had already seen 20 new birds. This in itself is pretty exciting (more so for the birders who read this blog), since David had been to both La Selva and Arenal on numerous occasions. However, even more impressive is that by the time we reached QERC, Matthew had totaled about 130 new species! It just goes to show what can happen when two dedicated birders get together…

Our time at QERC has been both relaxing and productive. We’ve spent about 3 total days here so far and hiked on a number of trails. We’ve also seen some good looks at the quetzal, collected plants in the forest for the native demonstration at QERC, planted those plants, played games, visiting the local bakery, and of course more birding. We are now getting ready for the final leg of our trip. We will drive all the way south to a small town, stay overnight, and then the next morning get up and hike 12 ½ miles through Corcovado National Park, down on the Osa Peninsula. We’ll stay at a ranger’s station a couple nights, and then hike all the way back out a couple days later. It’s the most adventurous thing David and I have done since being in Costa Rica, and we’re pretty excited about it. Because Matthew is such a birder, and both Matthew and Cassie are extreme nature lovers and hikers, we are excited to experience this sort of adventure with the two of them.