Suria and Selva Bananito Adventures

We left Tiskita and headed back into a cloud forest to hotel de Suria in San Gerado de Dota. We were amazed to see how foggy it was as we drove through the clouds up the mountain. Once we arrived, we spent our days hiking the area and exploring caves. We also were able to see a male and female pair of the resplendant quetzal.

One of the days we went to a resplendant quetzal research facility. There, we were taught how the field biologists conduct their studies. After, we went to a trout farm and learned about how they save resources. We even got to take our turns fishing and ate our trout for dinner!

The last full day in San Gerado de Dota we hiked up Cerro de la Muerte, or the hill of death. A very steep climb, but well worth it. We were interested to see how the foliage changed so drastically as we climbed up to 11,000 feet in elevation.

The next day we traveled to Selva Bananito. The last hour of the drive we ditched our bus and drove up in an old army truck! Once we arrived, we immediately decided this was going to be a great spot. That night, the owner gave us a special presentation about how this ecolodge started and its importance.

The first full day we were taken out by a guide to go birding and saw over 50 species in only 2 hours! After lunch, we were taken out on another hike to explore the property and learn about the history of the land.

The next day we went on another guided hike to learn about the forest. We were showed a kerosene tree that could be lit on fire even in this humid climate. The guide showed us many plants where medicines come from and even silk web from a spider that is so strong you can pull it and it won't break. We were excited to see a hog-nosed viper and a parrot snake on our tour.

The rest of the day we went horseback riding on the property and were able to gallop. We also went tree climbing which was a fun experience for all. We were so high up the Montezuma oropendola's were at eye level.

The adventures continue in Tiskita!

Last night we went on a guided night hike. We were very lucky and excited to see the most dangerous snake in Latin America, the fer-de-lance(pictured). On the hike we also saw a red-eyed tree frog.

This morning, all the students split into groups and conducted their bird counts. We have already surpassed our goal of finding 200 different bird species!

During the day, we took advantage of the last time we would be at a beach in Costa Rica. Students swam in the ocean and relaxed on the sand.

During our class discussion, the owner of the lodge surprised us with green coconuts called pipa (pictured). Also pictured is a northern ghost bat that resides outside of one of the cabins, a red backed squirrel monkey, and a dot-winged antwren.

Pictures by: Micah Walker

Uvita and Tiskita Adventures

After we left Monteverde, we headed over to Uvita to stay at Villas Gaia. There, we spent a lot of time relaxing by the pool and exploring the local beach. One of the days we went whale watching and snorkeling. Dolphins (pictured) swam right up to our boat! We were able to see puffer fish, starfish, parrot fish and many other tropical colored marine life.

After Uvita, we then arrived at Tiskita Jungle Ecolodge. We are staying here for four days. While on the property, we went on a guided tour by one of the lodge owners. He taught us about the forest and we saw a chestnut-mandible toucan and spectacle owls (pictured). Students were also able to explore the new beach and nearby town.

Thursday, all of the students split into their groups and conducted bird counts. Many beautiful birds were seen such as the violacious trogon and the long billed hermit. Throughout the day students observed various species of mammals including coatis, tent bats (pictured), white-faced capuchin monkeys, and red-backed squirrel monkeys (pictured). Some students spent the day on a horseback ride on the beach and into the mountains while other students ventured over to a waterfall (pictured).

Pictures by: Dom Scaffa, Jen LoDico, and Micah Walker

Monteverde Adventures

On Tuesday, we arrived at University of Georgia (UGA) Costa Rica and began exploring right away. We were taken on a guided tour of the campus and learned about the relationships of different organisms in the forest.

The following day we went to the cloud forest on another guided tour by an experienced Costa Rican naturalist. We were able to see a variety of hummingbirds, the resplendent quetzal, and coatis. This hike gave us the opportunity to see a lot of the endemic species to the area. That evening we went on a guided night hike around campus in hopes of finding reptiles, amphibians, and nocturnal mammals. We saw kinkajou, pygmy rain frogs, and a few sleeping birds.

The next morning we set out into groups to conduct bird counts in the surrounding areas of UGA; this will give us an idea of the biodiversity in the campus. Following this we went on a coffee tour of two local coffee plantations, where we had the chance to try some fresh coffee and sugar cane. Later on the group ventured on a hike to a known waterfall and enjoyed the beautiful view. The water was freezing but all had a great time swimming.

Yesterday some of the group took advantage of UGA's farm and milked the cows and learned about sustainable ways to deal with human and animal waste. During the day, students spent the day in the town of Santa Elena to do some souvenir shopping and eating at local restaurants.

Photos taken by: Jen LoDico, Dom Scaffa, Micah Walker, Dr. Kyle McCarthy

Santa Rosa and Nancite Adventures

On Friday, January 4th, we drove to Santa Rosa and along the way we saw a Scarlet Macaw. Once we arrived to Santa Rosa we began seeing all different types of animals including white-faced capuchin monkeys, spiny-tailed iguanas, an anteater, agoudi, Pacific screech owl, among other birds, and various snakes.

The following morning we set out on a long hike of 10 miles to Nancite, a turtle conservation beach. It was a struggle climbing over a very steep mountain towards the end of the hike but the reward that followed was well worth it. We immediately went to the beach and were surprised to see a female Olive Ridley sea turtle laying her eggs into a hole she dug up. We were very lucky to see such an amazing event. Little did we know, that very night we set out in search of baby sea turtles hatching and found over 800 of the Olive Ridley females coming onto the beach and leaving the beach to lay their eggs. This event only occurs 3 days in a month for only a few months and we were so thrilled to have seen it!

While at Nancite we set up wildlife trap cameras to see if we could find any mammals. We were able to get a picture of a coyote and raccoon. We also helped cleaned the beach and practiced our spanish with the locals.

On January 7, we hiked back to Santa Rosa and relaxed. After dinner we had class and went over all the wildlife species we had seen over the past few days and recorded it like field biologists.

Photos by: Micah Walker, Jen LoDico, Dom Scaffa

Bienvenidos

We have finally arrived in Costa Rica and it is gorgeous! We woke up this morning to the sounds of birds calling and the thrill of being on an adventure. Today we are going for a drive and checking out the scenery on our way to Nancite.

Adios US, hola Costa Rica

Today is the day that we leave for our trip to Costa Rica!!!! Everyone is all packed and ready to go. There will be a couple of weeks/days where we will not have Internet but we are hoping to still write our posts and get them on the site as soon as we have access to Wi-Fi. So keep posted!!!

We are on the plane!