Sun, crocs, and rain...a typical day in Costa Rica

Hey everyone, Sarah Degenhart (from the bird team) here!  The ´09 rica team had an excellent day today.  The bird team and a visitor from the Ed team, Katie, went out in the field at 5:30 am.  We hiked along the Quebrata Bonita trail to our medium density canopy plot to record the birds we heard.  The team completed 4, very difficult, point counts somewhat successfully while Katie got the headphones to hear what was being recorded.  The recording worked great so we decided to take the long way home to try to see some creatures.  Walking through the rainforest when the sun is rising is an amazing thing.  ¡Que bonita!  We tried to find some snakes but no luck, sorry Em!  I will get some pictures for you soon.  The hike back was great, no new sightings but still worth it. 

 

After a much needed breakfast and coffee break, some of us headed to the Tarcoles River for the first crocodile tour.  The drive was long, bumpy, and most people slept but once we got out we were fine.  The eight of us put our life-vests on and piled into the small tour boat with our two guides.  At first the ride was fun, no crocs or anything, just a nice ride on the brown, murky river.  We finally got to a bend in the river where you could see the ocean and crocodiles!  There were at least five of them sunning themselves on the beach directly in front of us.  It was so cool!  But dont worry, these werent "killer crocs" or anything.  We sat there for a while, watching them enter the water and slowly swim away.  On our way to the dock Erica spotted a huge one across the way so our guide drove us right up to it.  This guy was pretty massive!  After sitting there for a minute the guide started splashing the water and hitting the boat to get the crocs attention.  It walked itself right into the water and disappeared!  It freaked out a few of the people so we drove back to the dock.  They were so cool to see up close.  Amazing. 

 

When we got back to the station, Handy-Boy Troy showed us the sloth in our front yard.  He had the scope set up so we could see the sloths little face and everything.  Super cute.  A little after lunch, Troy spotted another animal in the tree next to the sloth.  An anteater decided to drop in to visit.  One of the park rangers said this is a rare sighting and he believes this species will be extinct within the next ten years.  Yea, we have crazy jungle animals hang out in our front yard all the time.  (Buggy you would have loved it!  I have pictures to show you when I get home)  The sun was out and a few of us decided to try and get a tan.  After sitting in a boat for an hour and then falling asleep in a chair in the sun my arm got pretty burnt.  Sorry Mom and Dad!  I wont forget sunscreen the rest of the time I am here.    

 

Well thats all the time I have now.  Hopefully I will get to write again soon.  Hello to everyone back home! Love you and miss you all, wish you were here!