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.

Monday, June 29, 2009

Hola Senoras y Senoritas!

Today the ranger station had a problem with their wáter system, as they had very little water pressure.  Like all the tough jobs, they assigned the GIS team, consisting of John, Jason, Ian, Kelly, and me.  Troy joined us today, however, and we set out to the ranger station early in the morning to save the day.  We were decked out in knee high rain boots to ensure protection from the all the beasts of the jungle.  Trailing three rangers with machetes, we slipped quietly into the rainforest, hoping to not disturb any wild animals.  As we entered the jungle following the water pipe, it seemed quiet.. Too quiet.  All of a sudden out of nowhere I hear "Shit!"… "Get the hell out of here!"  We all turn and run to escape the deadly snake, or maybe a jaguar?  After the 5 of us got out safely, we realized that the 3 rangers had been split up and ran the other direction deeper into the jungle.  When Troy came running out, he showed us his nasty battle wounds on his neck.  Wasp stings!  Apparently we walked into a wasp nest and they swarmed the people in front of the line.  One of the Rangers then walked back to the nest, grabbed it with his bare hands and threw it into a bag.  We then continued on, following the water pipe, being more careful than we had been on our first attempted entrance.  About 20 meters into the depths, we decided to start digging to get a visual of the pipe and try to find the leak.  We quickly found one, but it was minor and most likely not the cause.  During our excavation, we were frequently attacked by acacia ants, the nasty little guys that guard the Acacia trees from invaders (apparently we were invading).  They would crawl up our boots and down into our socks, only to grab on and continually bite.  And they hurt!  There was a time when I thought ants were friendly and minded their own business.  After 15 minutes of digging, another "Shit!" could be heard, and then the nasty sound of water shooting up through the pipe.  Uh oh.  One of us broke the pipe pretty severely.  After 5 minutes of arguing, the water finally was turned off and we kept digging.  Eventually it was decided that there were too many holes and the old pipes were to be completely dug up and new pipes layed down. We were told to wait for 30 minutes for the new pipes to arrive, so we waited.  And waited.  During our stay, we decided to play with the army ants.  We threw dead bugs into the massive trails of army ants and watched the swarm engulf the bug like the scarab beetles in The Mummy movies, tear it apart and carry it off to the nest.  Then a ranger challenged us to see who could put their hand into the army ant stream the longest.  We all agreed and thrust our hand in.  They swarmed and all of a sudden my hand was on fire.  My hand was in the middle of 2 others, so I only got 5 or so, but some hands were totally engulfed and they didnt last long.  The ranger made it to 1 minute, and pulled his hand out to see ants clinging on like little staples to his skin, and had to pull them off 1 by one.  1 and a half hours later, we decided to just leave and walk back to the biological station.  As we left the gates out onto the road, our ride drove up and picked us up.  We made it back just in time for lunch.  Not too eventful the rest of the day, we walked around and marked the areas on GPS where other groups had made animal sightings.  Now it is time to sleep, for the GIS team gets to travel to the other side of the park via van, and make the 8 mile hike back to the station.  Only 20 people have ever been on this trail, so we should get some action. 

Adios, hasta luego!
-Geoff 
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