Professor Troy Abel from Huxley College of the Environment and his students share their insights on ecological citizenship, political biogeography, and immersions in one of the most biologically intense places on the planet. Costa Rica is translated as rich coast, a name originating from Spanish conquistadors who mistakenly thought the land was filled with gold. Many now recognize that Costa Rica’s riches are more green than gold with more than 4 percent of the world’s estimated biodiversity. Costa Rica has universal health care, a longer life expectancy than the U.S., and no military. Only by expanding our attention to all of these facets can one begin to see “Ecotopia’s Prism,” or Costa Rica’s intersections of ecology, economy, and culture fostering and inhibiting sustainability.

Friday, June 26, 2009

The first few days in the jungle...

So since we have arrived at Carara National Park in Costa Rica there have been many new experiences and adventures. I think we would all agree that the first night of sleep was pretty rough. Troy made sure we read about all the bad things that could bite, scratch, and infect us. One item of particular interest was the botfly, which I won´t share the dreadful details of to you all, you can just look it up later if you really want to know! I had never used a mosquito net before and have learned since that first night that having the net touch you doesn´t do any good and is not very comfortable to sleep under.

Carara station is actually a pretty cool location. We are right next to the rain forest and have two trail access points from our station. I am on the Bird Team and we are going to record (with a really sensitive microphone) the different bird species in the national park. Today all of us : Megan, Mitch, Sarah, Bonnie and myself all went out and marked our first location of bird recording. It was our first experience off trail with our big black rubber boots that we have to wear to prevent snake bites. Another one of those could-be-bad experiences that we are faced with daily here at Carara.

Overall the adventures we face daily slowly calm down the fears we all came here with and we are all getting excited for our touristic experience this weekend, going ziplining!

Hello to all family and friends!
-Rachel-
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1 comment:

  1. AnonymousJune 27, 2009 at 10:08 AM

    rachel,
    glad you made it safe and sound. it appears you have a new appreciation of tropical diseases and parasitology - what an epiphany. we're thinking of you and wish you the best. i'll let mom know you can comment on the blog - she wasn't sure. take care. arba and i have been emailing in your absence. love,
    pml

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