Day 4

Woke up early again, worked out again, still felt faint. But started our pushup regime!! The goal is to do 100 consecutive pushups. We worked our abs too of course.

Breakfast was good this morning - a lot of fresh fruit. Then we had lecture and a biologist spoke to us about all of her work that she has done with the Crested Toad - Sapo Concho in Spanish - since 2007. It was really interesting! Lunch and then learned how to work a compass - woo! Into the forest we went! Ashley and Diana gave us a tour and talked about the local flora. We went to the swimming hole, which looked so so fun. The stray dog followed us the entire way. We also set up an experiment that is testing the theory that biodiversity increases with an increased area. We were in the forest all of the afternoon until dinner. It's so amazing that we have pretty much unlimited access to the rainforest. I love it! Before I arrived here, I didn't know what to expect but I have been blown away. Also, everybody gets along really well. We had a long dinner tonight, talked for 2 more hours after we ate. Apparently in Austria where Dom is from, boys eat chocolate pudding and girls eat vanilla pudding. That is just the way it is. But he told us how he wanted to have vanilla pudding - just the way he described the story was so funny. After dinner, the guys started working out again! I did some jump roping and handstands... Greg and I wrote our paragraph about our research project and then now just hanging out. My calves are completely bit up from the mosquitos or its the chicken pox.

 Sapo Concho tattoo!

 Swimming pools!

 1 of the 2 poisonous plants

Day 3

Today my roommates and I decided to wake up early to do a little workout before breakfast. We ran down to the gate and back twice. I felt so faint after that and sat in a cold shower. Recuperated and did some abs and pushups. Breakfast was an hour late this morning - islands time! Then we were off to el Yunque National Forest. When we arrived, one of the rangers gave a presentation about the flora and fauna in Puerto Rico - some endemic to the island and some have been introduced. Victor told us about the species that have gone extinct and about ones their highly endangered. There were only 13 Puerto Rican parrots in the 70s and now after a lot of research, 370 thrive in el Yunque, most in captivity. Apparently, they have a nesting site near our field station, but our impossible to spot. They are very sensitive to noise and any human presence. Puerto Rico's rainforest, unlike the Amazon, lacks monkeys and big cats. Large animals lack the capabilities to transport through water to the island. However, smaller mammals do exist like rats and bats. The only sloth species endemic to the island has gone extinct.

After the presentation, we ate lunch on the bus as we traveled to another area of the park. We were led on a short hike by another Forest Service Ranger - Edwin. We learned about the stratification in the forest based on elevation. The Luquille forest is divided into 4 life-zone: tabonuco, palo colorado, sierra palm, and dwarf forest at the top. Edwin told us that Puertoricans have Spanish, African, and indigenous descent, which is why there isn't a typical-looking puertorican which I thought was interesting. After the short hike, we went on a longer hike to a waterfall where we all swam. It was beautiful and quite refreshing. Back on the bus, stopped at a Puertorican restaurant for some snacks and refreshments. Dinner, shower, meeting, reading, and studying. What a day! Now we have to start thinking about our individual group projects. I'm thinking something about pollinator activity. It would be cool if I could work at night and see the bats.

At night here, the coquis, a type of tree frog, make a lot of noise. The males call for mates as well as to defend their territory. I like the noise, it helps me sleep.

Still can't believe the humidity!

 Baby bananas we had for lunch! 

 The water fall pool area was pretty crowded. We all got directly under the strong waterfall!

 The beach that we went to yesterday. We had a tour of the mangrove forest in the estuary where the spring water mixes with the warm ocean.

A walking stick insect on the leaf!

Day 1

Woke up at 5:30 on the dot. Maybe mother and father know this - but I didn't finish packing until 2. I wasn't really sure everything would fit into my bags, but they did...barely. I looked like an idiot trying to carry all my stuff around. My bags kept falling off my back and I practically fell down from the weight of everything. After the uneventful flight, I met everyone at the Tourist Information Center and waited another hour for one last straggler. Then we were off to the field station. The drive didn't start out too scenic but we finally made it to the top of the mountain in El Yunque!

Puerto Rico is so humid! We are surrounded by the rainforest. It's very cool. Right now all I'm hearing are the froggies chirpin. Frogs don't chirp - i know. Rippitting. After we arrived, we found out who our roommates would be for the next 5 weeks and set up camp. We had a nice dinner outside. Apparently, its common for people to abandon their pets once they decide they don't want them anymore. So at dinner a stray dog was inching towards the group trying to get his share of our dinner. He did not succeed. After dinner, we unpacked, showered, and now we are all doing our first assignment. It's our first night here and we already have 70 pages of reading.

 The Kitchen/Living Area - a couch on the right and one behind me

 Yvonne is already asleep. Hilary, if you're reading this, you know her!

I'm on the lower bunk bed

El Verde Field Station

This is where I'll be staying the next 5 weeks!

The field station is operated by the Institute for Tropical Ecosystem Studies at the University of Puerto Rico. The Station is within Puerto Rico's Caribbean National Forest, El Yunque - the only tropical forest within the United States Forest System.