First off, food:
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This is queso. It it’s basically a block of cheese that you will have at every. Single. Meal. Especially if you’re a vegetarian, like me. And these are Chiky’s, chocolate covered cookies that make a great snack after trudging through the forest.
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So, after we had queso, again, we went to our succession plot. This is a piece of land that was previously pasture. Las Cruces gave it PDS to study how plants change over time as the area regrows into a rainforest. The last group of kids wrote down and diagramed the species of plants other then the originally planted non-native grass, and although their “low tech” drawings were a little difficult to decipher, they gave us a good starting point as to what to expect.
Before(2011):
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When we looked, most of us actually found many more species then the original group, a good sign of succession and that the rainforest is growing back.
After(2013):
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Hopefully, the next group of students will again look at the spot so we can see what the future holds for this plot of land.
On our way to the plot of land, we took a beautiful hike through the rainforest and climbed up a canopy tower. There we stood 15m from the ground, but when we looked out at the canopy of trees below us and the gorgeous mountains in the distance, it seemed like much higher. As well as being super cool, it was a great photo opportunity, and really fun to be up in the trees like the famous sloth.
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Along the way, Katie and I got handmade bamboo walking sticks from our awesome guide Rodo.
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The walk back was a little more difficult to say the least, mostly because we were all so tired and the sun had actually come out, a rare occurrence for the unusually cool Las Cruces. After lunch, we watched an impact full video on coffee farms and agroforestry. It helped explain the importance of buying organic and fair trade certified coffee to ensure that you not only get great tasting coffee that helps keep the environment clean, but by buying this product you are insuring that the laborers and farmers are getting paid fairly for their work. It really helped raise awareness at least for me, and I’m excited to meet one of the stars of the video tomorrow when we visit his sustainable coffee farm.
Tonight after dinner we went for a final night “stroll” through the park. We saw a lot of really cool things, including giant spiders and minuscule frogs. You can read about all the animals we saw on the major taxonomy page!
And finally, to end the day, a little more hauntings from Mrs. Catherine Wilson, may she rest in peace. This morning she turned off all the water around Las Cruces, leaving us soapy, thirsty, and of course scared. Thankfully, the water came back on by the time we got back from our hike so we could all take amazingly relaxing showers.
