Baby Sea Turtle, photo by Eric Beiter
Rio Tarcoles, Bridge on the CR 2: 12:00 noon
Latitude: 9.4oN
Elevation: 0 m
Weather: Sunny, hot, humid
When we stopped it was hot, I was hungry, and I really, really had to go to the bathroom. I soon forgot about all of that when I saw my first Crock. They we so huge. There were over ten of them, they virtually lined the shores. I also saw…
Scarlet Macaws (2)
Great Blue Herons
Iguanas
Snowy Egrets
Jim spotted the Scarlet Macaws flying overhead. You couldn’t really make out any of the colors, but we got a great look at the silhouettes of these birds.
Just outside Quepos, Steve and Lisa’s Restaurant: lunchtime
Latitude: 9.4oN
Elevation: 0 m
Weather: Sunny, hot, humid
We ate lunch here. The restaurant was right on the beach. Before we ate I took a short stroll on the beach. It was my first experience at the Pacific. The water was so warm. I will not soon forget seeing is beautiful body of water. I saw flocks of Pelicans flying in their straight-line flight pattern. For large awkward looking birds they are most graceful when in flight. There were also small marine hermit crabs crawling all over the place.
Steve and Lisa’s Restaurant is owned by Ted Dysterine’s wife’s family. Ted sat with us for part of lunch, but then had to go do some work with his son. Lunch was not as good as we were used to at the previous stops. After lunch Andrus asked if I wanted to drive. I knew it would have been good practice (for the drive to San José), but I was not feeling well after that lunch, so I had to turn him down.
It was a good thing that Andrus drove because as we started driving the weather turned, it began to pour. During this warm and humid trip we saw the many Palm plantations. At these plantations the seeds of the palm are harvested to make palm oil. The trees are planted in rows, it reminded of a tall tropical version of an apple orchard from back home. The plantations extended from the road all the way back to where the mountains began. The level areas were extremely exploited for the production of palm oil. The other types of plantations seen were the Teak plantations and plantations of the trees that are harvested to make toilet paper.
On the top of many of the dead palm trees Road Side Hawks were visible. These beautiful birds seemed to be everywhere along the roads, as their name suggests.
Hacienda Barú: early evening
Latitude: 9.25oN
Elevation: 0 m
Weather: overcast, warm, humid
When we arrived it was not quite time for dinner. We found our rooms (which were quite spacious, I roomed with Ryan, Steve and Argy). Shortly after, a bunch of us followed Mason down to the Ocean. By the time we made it down there it was pretty dark, but we were able to splash around in the warm tropical water a bit.
Soon it was dinnertime. The food was much different from the traditional type we were used to. It was a bit up scale (as was just about everything about this place, “a bit up scale”). We did manage to eat, but there were no second helpings (not used to that concept!) The food was good though. A few of us stayed up a bit and hung out at the dining hall where we were able to get beer for the first time since Arco Iris. To tell you the truth I didn’t miss it at all. When the server woman was ready to leave she let us stay as long as we would turn out the lights. She was really nice.
January 14th 1999 (Day 11)
Hacienda Barú, Just outside my hut, and down by the beach: 6:00 a.m.
Weather: overcast, warm
The bird watching around the grounds didn’t seem to be too spectacular this morning, so I decided to take a walk down to the beach. There I came across a Great-Black Hawk just behind the first row of trees from the beach. It was amazingly large, and flew away before I really got a good look at it. The reason I knew it was a Great-Black Hawk was its black color and its large size.
There were a few early swimmers that beat me to the beach (Bethany, Lisa and Yanira). They seemed to be extremely happy to be here, so close to the ocean (according to Shep 100 m, translation 400-500 m). When walking back Andrus found out that they were going to be releasing sea turtles this morning.
Hacienda Barú has an ongoing turtle-hatching project located near the beach. We saw two of the workers dig the turtles up from the sand pit that was constructed in a fenced off area. There is a worker who is always on the look out for female turtles, which come to shore to lay their eggs. When she is spotted, after she lays the eggs, they are dug up immediately and reburied in the sand pit. This is done to prevent poachers from collecting the eggs.
The eggs are buried at a specific depth and are allowed to gestate for the given amount of time. After this time has passed the turtles are dug up, collected and then releases. The eggs which have not hatched yet are reburied again incase they hatch later. As they were being dug up they were put into a screen mesh container while the others were freed from the sand. While in this container they had some room to roam around. The roaming was anything but random. They all headed to the side of the container nearest to the sea. They sensed it, and were trying their damnedest to get to it.
The workers were going to record the information on the baby turtles and release them in an hour or so. After breakfast we returned to the beach and watch the release. There were about 30 of these miniature sea giants running directly for the water. They were olive ridley sea turtles. It was amazing how they knew exactly where to head, straight for the water.
The apparent mechanism used by sea turtles to find their way to the water is following the polarized light reflected by the ocean. The light reflecting of the large body of water becomes polarized, this allows the turtles to find the ocean if they follow the source of the polarized light, the ocean.
This was such a once in a lifetime experience (as if this entire trip was anything but!). The turtles were so beautiful, and so cute. A select few females would grow, and return to the same beach to lay her eggs. What an exciting experience, will I ever see this many of an endangered species being released into their natural environment. Will I ever see this many sea turtles in the wild in my entire life? I hope the answer will be yes to both of these questions, but the outlook may not be as optimistic.
Los Arboles, Tropical Forest Initiative (TFI): 11:00 a.m.
Elevation: 500 ft.
Latitude: 9.25oN
Weather: 84oF, partly sunny, becoming clear as the day progressed
On the walk down to the station Jim found a two-towed sloth in the crotch of a tree about 10 m up. It looked like a pile of fur just haphazardly thrown into the crotch of a tree, but if Jim says it’s a sloth, than it’s a sloth. (My first sloth, not as good of a look as I would have liked, but it was still a sloth)
I also spotted an iguana hanging on a tree over el Rio Guarro. It was just chilling out there, basking in the sun. Iguanas sit over rivers as a type of defense. When a the iguana feels threatened it drops off of the branch and falls into the water, thereby escaping from the potential danger. This iguana didn’t flee into the water when we neared. He just sat there on his branch.
We soon came to the washed out bridge. About 1/3 of the bridge had been washed out by a hurricane two years ago. Since that time ladders have been put up to allow people to get from the steep bank of the river on the one side to the part of the bridge that was still intact. This way of crossing the river must only be doable in the dry season. When the water is raging in the wet season another way of crossing must be used. To solve this problem a pulley, one man, cable car was made. It spanned from the intact part of the bridge to the steep bank where we now stood. The cable car system was a slow one. Because we didn’t have all day most of us used the ladders to get a cross.
After we crossed it was only a short trek to TFI. When we arrived we all sat down, it was getting hot. The sun was beating down on us. We began to listen to Andrus lecture on the history of TFI and then a teenage boy came out and offered iced tea to everyone. It was a truly nice gesture, but at the same time it seemed like we were invading their privacy. I know that they work for TFI, but I didn’t want to put anyone out of their way for a drink, I had water and was happy with that. I am not sure if it is their culture or what, but there is no need for anyone to take time out of their day to give me something because I am an American, or I am with Andrus. Anyway, the TFI project was started 5 years ago by four American couples, one of which were Carl Leopold and his wife. They are a non-profit origination dedicated to fostering reforestation. Andrus and his wife bought into the project a few years ago.
A major concern is to preserve biodiversity while allowing some of the land to be used commercially, but the ultimate goal is to return most of the TFI land to forest. The group also tries to encourage the locals to join in, as well as the gringos who live in Costa Rica. One way in which this is done is to go to local schools and educate the children. This approach has two benefits. One is short term, and involves the children going home and teaching their parents about the initiative. The other is more long term, and direct. There is a hope that the kids will learn this philosophy and practice when it comes time for them to make a decision on either harming or helping the environment.
Some of the TFI land is dedicated to a nursery. Here saplings are grown, and then sold to locals gringos and ticos. The planting of the trees are coincided with the wet season. They are planted at the beginning of the wet season, so they will have the most possible time to grow while the rains persist.
After a tour of the nursery we headed up into the primary forest. On the way up we heard both the Rufous Pina and the Blue-Crowned Manakin. The Pina sounds like a person whistling for a taxi, while the Manakin sounds like a high pitched purring sound. Both of these birds are lek birds. The Pina is found in the canopy and the Manakin is found more at eye level.
While walking up we first passed through a banana plantation, where we found a Sweet Limon tree. This citrus fruit tasted like very dilute and sugary lemonade. I thought I was going to love it, but it didn’t taste citrusy enough for me.
After passing through the plantation (a small plantation) we came to a grassy area with a few saplings (15-20 ft. max). In this area trees are planted in the wet season and the brush is trimmed to give the trees a better chance when starting off. After about five years the trimming is stopped because at this point the trees can fend for themselves.
We then entered the primary forest. This forest was a moderate sized fragment. There were not many epiphytes found in this forest, this is because of the long dry season in this area. There were many buttresses in this forest, perhaps because of the steep slopes found here and the size of the trees (about 150 ft.) Most fragments in Costa Rica are found on steep slopes, slopes that are too steep for cattle pasture.
The trees were thinner than in the trees we saw in Bajo del Tigre. Thin trees are a wet forest phenomena. The forest here is wetter than the Bajo del Tigre.
There were not many tree ferns, signaling that this is not a very wet area (i.e. that there is a substantial dry season). There are more layers in TFI than in Bajo del Tigre, indicating that there is more complexity here. This was the closest that we would come to a lowland rainforest. On the way back to the vans I got a really great look at an Amazon Kingfisher along el Rio Guarro.
Hacienda Barú, At the ocean: evening
Weather: warm, partly sunny
After we returned from TFI everyone just about ran from the van to the ocean. It was beautiful. The waves were crashing everywhere, and we were all just having a blast. I think I must have stayed in the water for at least an hour, it was just about dark when I decided to head back for a shower before dinner.
After dinner Jack Ewing gave us a lecture on how he came to Costa Rica, how he became a naturalist, the squatters, and ecotourism in this region of Costa Rica. It was very interesting to hear about one man’s life in the conservation movement in Dominical.
January 15th 1999 (Day 12)
Hacienda Barú, The mangroves and beach: 7:50 a.m.
Weather: 72oF, Sunny got warmer as day progressed
When we first arrived at the beach we saw an Osprey dive into a pool at low tide and take a large fish. It dove straight down and the struggled to get airborne again with the fish in its talons.
After we crossed a small brackish river we entered the mangrove forest. We walked along a small river that led deeper into the mangal. The first mangroves we saw were the Red Mangroves. These are the most salt tolerant and are found closest to the sea. Prop roots extend from the trunk of the tree into the water, and finally into the sediment. On these roots are tiny openings called lenticels. These structures are designed to increase the diffusion of oxygen into the plant, for use in the roots. Because the anaerobic conditions (very low in oxygen) the roots can not take up oxygen from sediment. They need to get their oxygen from another source. This is where the lenticels come into play. They are located above the water level and have direct access to atmospheric oxygen. The prop roots are also used for support within this very unstable substrate the mangroves anchor in, which are sometimes exposed to the wave action of the ocean.
Many plants and animals call the prop roots of the red mangrove home. There are countless algae and invertebrates which live benthicly on these roots. Among the benthic invertebrates I saw here were oysters and clams. There were also sponges that make their home on the roots of the red mangrove. Some fish, which as adults live out at see, use the mangal as a nursery. Large predators cannot fit in or maneuver through the complex web of roots and benthic plants and animals. The small young fish are afforded some protection, until they themselves can no longer fit through the root system. At this point they go out to sea, or at least out of the mangal.
To adapt to the high salt environment the red mangrove uses dead leaves to remove excess salt. When the leaves of the red mangrove begin to senesce the tree pumps its excess salt into the leaves. Then when the leaves fall off they are higher in salt content than the tree, thus removing some of the excess salt gained by living in this marine environment.
The Black Mangrove is the next tree found as you follow the zonation from sea to land. Pneumatophores are modified roots and are found on the black mangrove. These aerial roots are formed form the underground root system. They are negatively geotropic and extend straight up and out of the sediment and the water column. Lenticels are found on these pneumatophores, which serve the same purpose as those of the red mangrove, to gather atmospheric oxygen.
The next mangrove on this gradient is the White Mangrove. This tree is less tolerant of salt that the previous two, it is also less tolerance of low oxygen environments. White mangroves have no special roots to gather atmospheric oxygen. The most peculiar adaptation this tree has evolved are salt glands. These glands, which are at the base of each leaf, are where excess salt is excreted.
There were also two less known mangrove species we saw, including the Tea/Pinwheel Mangrove and the Buttonwood (Grey Mangrove). The Pinwheel mangrove has a fluted base, and the leaf arrangement is whorled. The Buttonwood was fruiting when we saw it.
The mangal is a detritus base ecosystem. The diversity of tree species is low, there are only the five major species mentioned above. Each of the mangrove trees has evolved to salt and low oxygen tolerance separately. Although the tree diversity is low the productivity is extremely high here. The tallest trees here are about 100 ft. and are the red and tea mangroves.
While entering the mangrove forest I spotted a Green Heron along the river. He was standing on the exposed banks of the river. While in the forest (under the canopy) we saw a small group of white-faced, capuchin monkeys.
Hacienda Barú, The Beach: 10:30 a.m.
Weather: hot and sunny
We walked along the shore on the way back to Hacienda Barú. The water was so blue and expansive. While looking in the sand I noticed these markings in the sand that looked like they were trails of some animal that had was moved under the sand. When I tried to dig up what was under a few of the ends of the trails I found some small sand dollars (4-5 inches in diameter). Sand dollars are Echinoderms, and look like squished sea urchins. The only spines that remain are along the flattened edges and underneath. Along with the live sand dollars we found many sand dollar skeletons that had washed up on the beach. I also found a half buried Blue Crab with a single claw. I dug it out with my sandal and it was about 5 in. in with. At first it chased my foot around, but then when I started to walk towards it, it decided that it would be better off burying itself.
When I returned from the walk I decided that I would go for a swim, even though I wanted to just sit on the beach and write my journal. But I realized that this could be the last chance I would have to swim in the ocean. So I walked back to my hut with Mary to get changed. We then walked all the way back to the beach and joined a few of the others swimming.
Argy, Cody, Lisa and Andrea were already out there and having a good time dodging waves. So when Marry and I got out there we thought we had no reason to panic. After I dove under one of the first big waves I realized that I could no longer touch the bottom. I didn’t think much of it, I figured that the next wave would wash me back in or we would run across a sand bar in a second or two. When I looked around I noticed that everyone else was fine. After a minute or so I got thinking, maybe this is a rip tide... I soon realized that this was a rip tide. This time when I looked around everyone else didn’t seem so calm. What was I to do? Don't panic, I tried as best as I could not to panic, and it worked for the most part.
All that I can remember thinking was that I was going to be that kid in the story that every class that visits Costa Rica will hear about. My story will be used to deter kids from swimming and getting washed out to sea. Just the night before I talked to Kerry and I told her that something kind of dangerous had happened (meaning the Cougar incident) and she told me to BE CAREFUL! Why couldn’t I have listened? Why did I have to go swimming in the ocean? Thoughts were rushing through my head momentarily. I knew that I had to compose myself and get myself to shore somehow.
I remembered that when caught in a rip tide you were supposed to swim parallel to the shore, and don't try to swim straight in! So I started swimming parallel. By this time I was getting tired, and when I looked around it seemed like everyone had made it back by swimming straight in. Could this be a really weak rip tide? Could I swim in? Or where they just better off to begin with, as it first appeared. All that I knew was that they were getting to where they could stand and I was going out to sea.
I knew I was getting tired and could not do this much longer. The waves were crashing at the exact point where I was. I would take a quick breath and get tossed under water. I was not making much progress swimming parallel, so I was going to try and swim in? I had decided I would do like the others did, and swim in. Swimming towards shore I tried to take advantage of the incoming waves to help wash me in. Soon I noticed that everyone had made it back except Mary and I. I was making progress. As soon as I thought that Mary was in where she could touch bottom I called for help, I was exhausted and I think my asthma was acting up. When she could plant one foot on the ground she extended her other leg out for me to grab. When I grabbed it a big wave hit us and knocked us apart, but I could touch the bottom. I found Mary and together we were able to fight the rip tide and make it to where we were chest deep. What an experience. Mary saved my life? I now have a much deeper respect for the ocean and all her power.
When I got out of the water I had no energy left. I collapsed on the beach and just laid there for a minute or two. After I caught my breath I grabbed my stuff and headed back to my hut with Cody. I took a shower and got ready for lunch. Wow, was this trip full of experiences.
South of Dominical, Rocky Shore: 1:30 p.m.
Weather: hot and sunny
Shep, Mason, Steve and I went to explore the rocky shore just past Dominical (south) this afternoon. It was just after high tide and the waves were crashing hard along a rocky outcrop that we could walk to from shore (about 50 m from shore). I saw some fish in some of the tide pools, along with...
Sea Anemone
Black Spinned Sea Urchin
Red Algae
Green Algae
Crabs
Snails
The sea anemones were small, about 2 cm. They had white tentacles with black bases. They were clumped together in some of the calmer, less exposed tide pools.
The sea urchins were tightly lodged into some crevasses in the tide pools. I tried a few times to pull them out by some of the longer spines, but they broke off when they were just about to come loose.
On the most exposed areas (on the other side of the rocky outcrop) there were hundreds of sally-lightfoot crabs. These are highly mobile (and fast) crabs that move up and down the shore with the tides, (i.e. as the tide comes in the crabs move up, and as the tide goes out the crabs move down). The wave action was like nothing I have seen. Once, when a huge have hit the rocky outcrop Steve and Mason had their backs turned to the ocean, and they got soaked from head to foot.
Hacienda Barú, The Grounds: afternoon
Weather: hot and sunny- light rain- down pour
We walked around the grounds during the afternoon. It was really hot and there were a few people who didn’t want to do this walk, but we all went through the motions. We got a good look at a few Chestnut-Mandibled Toucans. They had such a beautiful, red coloration on their hindquarters.
Jim led us to one of the abandoned cacao plantations. From the cacao chocolate is made. This is a disease-prone plant. There’s a fungus that is responsible for the huge losses of cacao harvests. There’s also a very unstable chocolate market. There are no equal exchange (fair traded), chocolate markets, and therefore the farmers can just barely make ends meet in this industry. These are two of the major reasons this plantation has been abandoned for years.
We then came out to the beach where we saw some of the sea almond trees. The nuts of these trees are so hard that only the Scarlet Macaws can crack open their shells. Before they were nearly hunted and poached out of the region one could see hundreds of Macaws along the beach at certain times of the year eating the seeds of the Sea Almond.
Right along the beach is where I found two Mucuna seeds (Monkey’s eye). When I showed them to Andrus he told me that they polished up nice and took one for himself and he said, “oh, you have two” and helped himself to one.
When we went back away from the beach we found a small canal which we walked along. I saw an American Pygmy Kingfisher flying along the drainage canal. When he landed, only 10-15 m away I got a really good look at him, what I beautiful little bird.
Along the canal we also found many fallen passion flowers. They were very fragrant (a perfume smell). This flower is not to be mistaken with the flower of the passion fruit plant. They are two different plants. We also saw...
Bats (3)
Native Palm
Leaf-Cutters (crossing the drainage ditch)
When we were about the furthest from the huts as we would be on the entire walk it began to pour. It was a heavy steady rain. Some people tried to keep dry with one of the larger palm leaves, but soon realized that is was not going to work, and gave up. We were soaked. It must have rained hard like that for two hours or so. The next morning Jack Ewing told us that it rained between 2-3 inches in that brief time period. Shortly after dinner the rain stopped as quickly as it began.
Hacienda Barú, At the Beach: night
Weather: Partly cloudy, warm
When Ryan, Yanira, Courtney, Dan, KC and I walked down to the ocean we noticed the slight bioluminescent of the unicellular dinoflagellates. We also saw some Sally-Lightfoot Crabs racing up and down the beach. At about 11:00 p.m. I said goodbye to the Pacific. It was my first time to the pacific, what an experience I had there.
January 16th, 1999 (Day 13)
Hacienda Barú: 7:00 a.m.
Weather: partly sunny, warm
This was it. I got up, finished packing, ate breakfast, and said my goodbye to Andrus. Mason and Zuk left early in the morning for a bird census. Mason left without much notice, but Zuk made a point to say bye to everyone the night before. We packed up the vans. This time there was a little more room in the vans, since we were leaving behind two people and their stuff. This was it, it was now my turn to take over Red van!
I made Yanira sit up front with me, so if we got lost I would have someone who could get directions easily. Courtney also sat up front with the two of us. Wow it was so much fun driving. I know I dreaded to take that extra responsibility on, but I am so glad I got the chance to do it. The three things that you always had to be on the lookout for were 1) holes in the road, 2) cars coming from the other way that are passing in your lane, and 3) the road, make sure that it is still were it is supposed to be (there were many places where the road has begun to wash away). This was hard. I earned a little nickname from the Red team, Psycho Driver. They sang Psycho Driver (Psycho Killer, Talking Heads) every time I passed, hit a bump or swerved a bit. It was really an experience, but enough about that.
When we were approaching San Isedro Alyssa N. started to feel sick, and soon we would have to stop. I had to make the call to stop. When I decided to, I had to get Shep’s attention, and let him know what we were going to do. We ended up pulled over in San Isedro for about 15-20 min., until she felt better. I had the idea that she may have been a little nervous about my driving, and maybe she should drive up front with Shep. So we traded Alyssa for Steve. Much of the landscape, esp. from Dominical to San Isidro, was deforested. There were plantations all along the road (where ever the land was flat enough).
Latitude: 9.4oN
Elevation: 0 m
Weather: Sunny, hot, humid
When we stopped it was hot, I was hungry, and I really, really had to go to the bathroom. I soon forgot about all of that when I saw my first Crock. They we so huge. There were over ten of them, they virtually lined the shores. I also saw…
Scarlet Macaws (2)
Great Blue Herons
Iguanas
Snowy Egrets
Jim spotted the Scarlet Macaws flying overhead. You couldn’t really make out any of the colors, but we got a great look at the silhouettes of these birds.
Just outside Quepos, Steve and Lisa’s Restaurant: lunchtime
Latitude: 9.4oN
Elevation: 0 m
Weather: Sunny, hot, humid
We ate lunch here. The restaurant was right on the beach. Before we ate I took a short stroll on the beach. It was my first experience at the Pacific. The water was so warm. I will not soon forget seeing is beautiful body of water. I saw flocks of Pelicans flying in their straight-line flight pattern. For large awkward looking birds they are most graceful when in flight. There were also small marine hermit crabs crawling all over the place.
Steve and Lisa’s Restaurant is owned by Ted Dysterine’s wife’s family. Ted sat with us for part of lunch, but then had to go do some work with his son. Lunch was not as good as we were used to at the previous stops. After lunch Andrus asked if I wanted to drive. I knew it would have been good practice (for the drive to San José), but I was not feeling well after that lunch, so I had to turn him down.
It was a good thing that Andrus drove because as we started driving the weather turned, it began to pour. During this warm and humid trip we saw the many Palm plantations. At these plantations the seeds of the palm are harvested to make palm oil. The trees are planted in rows, it reminded of a tall tropical version of an apple orchard from back home. The plantations extended from the road all the way back to where the mountains began. The level areas were extremely exploited for the production of palm oil. The other types of plantations seen were the Teak plantations and plantations of the trees that are harvested to make toilet paper.
On the top of many of the dead palm trees Road Side Hawks were visible. These beautiful birds seemed to be everywhere along the roads, as their name suggests.
Hacienda Barú: early evening
Latitude: 9.25oN
Elevation: 0 m
Weather: overcast, warm, humid
When we arrived it was not quite time for dinner. We found our rooms (which were quite spacious, I roomed with Ryan, Steve and Argy). Shortly after, a bunch of us followed Mason down to the Ocean. By the time we made it down there it was pretty dark, but we were able to splash around in the warm tropical water a bit.
Soon it was dinnertime. The food was much different from the traditional type we were used to. It was a bit up scale (as was just about everything about this place, “a bit up scale”). We did manage to eat, but there were no second helpings (not used to that concept!) The food was good though. A few of us stayed up a bit and hung out at the dining hall where we were able to get beer for the first time since Arco Iris. To tell you the truth I didn’t miss it at all. When the server woman was ready to leave she let us stay as long as we would turn out the lights. She was really nice.
January 14th 1999 (Day 11)
Hacienda Barú, Just outside my hut, and down by the beach: 6:00 a.m.
Weather: overcast, warm
The bird watching around the grounds didn’t seem to be too spectacular this morning, so I decided to take a walk down to the beach. There I came across a Great-Black Hawk just behind the first row of trees from the beach. It was amazingly large, and flew away before I really got a good look at it. The reason I knew it was a Great-Black Hawk was its black color and its large size.
There were a few early swimmers that beat me to the beach (Bethany, Lisa and Yanira). They seemed to be extremely happy to be here, so close to the ocean (according to Shep 100 m, translation 400-500 m). When walking back Andrus found out that they were going to be releasing sea turtles this morning.
Hacienda Barú has an ongoing turtle-hatching project located near the beach. We saw two of the workers dig the turtles up from the sand pit that was constructed in a fenced off area. There is a worker who is always on the look out for female turtles, which come to shore to lay their eggs. When she is spotted, after she lays the eggs, they are dug up immediately and reburied in the sand pit. This is done to prevent poachers from collecting the eggs.
The eggs are buried at a specific depth and are allowed to gestate for the given amount of time. After this time has passed the turtles are dug up, collected and then releases. The eggs which have not hatched yet are reburied again incase they hatch later. As they were being dug up they were put into a screen mesh container while the others were freed from the sand. While in this container they had some room to roam around. The roaming was anything but random. They all headed to the side of the container nearest to the sea. They sensed it, and were trying their damnedest to get to it.
The workers were going to record the information on the baby turtles and release them in an hour or so. After breakfast we returned to the beach and watch the release. There were about 30 of these miniature sea giants running directly for the water. They were olive ridley sea turtles. It was amazing how they knew exactly where to head, straight for the water.
The apparent mechanism used by sea turtles to find their way to the water is following the polarized light reflected by the ocean. The light reflecting of the large body of water becomes polarized, this allows the turtles to find the ocean if they follow the source of the polarized light, the ocean.
This was such a once in a lifetime experience (as if this entire trip was anything but!). The turtles were so beautiful, and so cute. A select few females would grow, and return to the same beach to lay her eggs. What an exciting experience, will I ever see this many of an endangered species being released into their natural environment. Will I ever see this many sea turtles in the wild in my entire life? I hope the answer will be yes to both of these questions, but the outlook may not be as optimistic.
Los Arboles, Tropical Forest Initiative (TFI): 11:00 a.m.
Elevation: 500 ft.
Latitude: 9.25oN
Weather: 84oF, partly sunny, becoming clear as the day progressed
On the walk down to the station Jim found a two-towed sloth in the crotch of a tree about 10 m up. It looked like a pile of fur just haphazardly thrown into the crotch of a tree, but if Jim says it’s a sloth, than it’s a sloth. (My first sloth, not as good of a look as I would have liked, but it was still a sloth)
I also spotted an iguana hanging on a tree over el Rio Guarro. It was just chilling out there, basking in the sun. Iguanas sit over rivers as a type of defense. When a the iguana feels threatened it drops off of the branch and falls into the water, thereby escaping from the potential danger. This iguana didn’t flee into the water when we neared. He just sat there on his branch.
We soon came to the washed out bridge. About 1/3 of the bridge had been washed out by a hurricane two years ago. Since that time ladders have been put up to allow people to get from the steep bank of the river on the one side to the part of the bridge that was still intact. This way of crossing the river must only be doable in the dry season. When the water is raging in the wet season another way of crossing must be used. To solve this problem a pulley, one man, cable car was made. It spanned from the intact part of the bridge to the steep bank where we now stood. The cable car system was a slow one. Because we didn’t have all day most of us used the ladders to get a cross.
After we crossed it was only a short trek to TFI. When we arrived we all sat down, it was getting hot. The sun was beating down on us. We began to listen to Andrus lecture on the history of TFI and then a teenage boy came out and offered iced tea to everyone. It was a truly nice gesture, but at the same time it seemed like we were invading their privacy. I know that they work for TFI, but I didn’t want to put anyone out of their way for a drink, I had water and was happy with that. I am not sure if it is their culture or what, but there is no need for anyone to take time out of their day to give me something because I am an American, or I am with Andrus. Anyway, the TFI project was started 5 years ago by four American couples, one of which were Carl Leopold and his wife. They are a non-profit origination dedicated to fostering reforestation. Andrus and his wife bought into the project a few years ago.
A major concern is to preserve biodiversity while allowing some of the land to be used commercially, but the ultimate goal is to return most of the TFI land to forest. The group also tries to encourage the locals to join in, as well as the gringos who live in Costa Rica. One way in which this is done is to go to local schools and educate the children. This approach has two benefits. One is short term, and involves the children going home and teaching their parents about the initiative. The other is more long term, and direct. There is a hope that the kids will learn this philosophy and practice when it comes time for them to make a decision on either harming or helping the environment.
Some of the TFI land is dedicated to a nursery. Here saplings are grown, and then sold to locals gringos and ticos. The planting of the trees are coincided with the wet season. They are planted at the beginning of the wet season, so they will have the most possible time to grow while the rains persist.
After a tour of the nursery we headed up into the primary forest. On the way up we heard both the Rufous Pina and the Blue-Crowned Manakin. The Pina sounds like a person whistling for a taxi, while the Manakin sounds like a high pitched purring sound. Both of these birds are lek birds. The Pina is found in the canopy and the Manakin is found more at eye level.
While walking up we first passed through a banana plantation, where we found a Sweet Limon tree. This citrus fruit tasted like very dilute and sugary lemonade. I thought I was going to love it, but it didn’t taste citrusy enough for me.
After passing through the plantation (a small plantation) we came to a grassy area with a few saplings (15-20 ft. max). In this area trees are planted in the wet season and the brush is trimmed to give the trees a better chance when starting off. After about five years the trimming is stopped because at this point the trees can fend for themselves.
We then entered the primary forest. This forest was a moderate sized fragment. There were not many epiphytes found in this forest, this is because of the long dry season in this area. There were many buttresses in this forest, perhaps because of the steep slopes found here and the size of the trees (about 150 ft.) Most fragments in Costa Rica are found on steep slopes, slopes that are too steep for cattle pasture.
The trees were thinner than in the trees we saw in Bajo del Tigre. Thin trees are a wet forest phenomena. The forest here is wetter than the Bajo del Tigre.
There were not many tree ferns, signaling that this is not a very wet area (i.e. that there is a substantial dry season). There are more layers in TFI than in Bajo del Tigre, indicating that there is more complexity here. This was the closest that we would come to a lowland rainforest. On the way back to the vans I got a really great look at an Amazon Kingfisher along el Rio Guarro.
Hacienda Barú, At the ocean: evening
Weather: warm, partly sunny
After we returned from TFI everyone just about ran from the van to the ocean. It was beautiful. The waves were crashing everywhere, and we were all just having a blast. I think I must have stayed in the water for at least an hour, it was just about dark when I decided to head back for a shower before dinner.
After dinner Jack Ewing gave us a lecture on how he came to Costa Rica, how he became a naturalist, the squatters, and ecotourism in this region of Costa Rica. It was very interesting to hear about one man’s life in the conservation movement in Dominical.
January 15th 1999 (Day 12)
Hacienda Barú, The mangroves and beach: 7:50 a.m.
Weather: 72oF, Sunny got warmer as day progressed
When we first arrived at the beach we saw an Osprey dive into a pool at low tide and take a large fish. It dove straight down and the struggled to get airborne again with the fish in its talons.
After we crossed a small brackish river we entered the mangrove forest. We walked along a small river that led deeper into the mangal. The first mangroves we saw were the Red Mangroves. These are the most salt tolerant and are found closest to the sea. Prop roots extend from the trunk of the tree into the water, and finally into the sediment. On these roots are tiny openings called lenticels. These structures are designed to increase the diffusion of oxygen into the plant, for use in the roots. Because the anaerobic conditions (very low in oxygen) the roots can not take up oxygen from sediment. They need to get their oxygen from another source. This is where the lenticels come into play. They are located above the water level and have direct access to atmospheric oxygen. The prop roots are also used for support within this very unstable substrate the mangroves anchor in, which are sometimes exposed to the wave action of the ocean.
Many plants and animals call the prop roots of the red mangrove home. There are countless algae and invertebrates which live benthicly on these roots. Among the benthic invertebrates I saw here were oysters and clams. There were also sponges that make their home on the roots of the red mangrove. Some fish, which as adults live out at see, use the mangal as a nursery. Large predators cannot fit in or maneuver through the complex web of roots and benthic plants and animals. The small young fish are afforded some protection, until they themselves can no longer fit through the root system. At this point they go out to sea, or at least out of the mangal.
To adapt to the high salt environment the red mangrove uses dead leaves to remove excess salt. When the leaves of the red mangrove begin to senesce the tree pumps its excess salt into the leaves. Then when the leaves fall off they are higher in salt content than the tree, thus removing some of the excess salt gained by living in this marine environment.
The Black Mangrove is the next tree found as you follow the zonation from sea to land. Pneumatophores are modified roots and are found on the black mangrove. These aerial roots are formed form the underground root system. They are negatively geotropic and extend straight up and out of the sediment and the water column. Lenticels are found on these pneumatophores, which serve the same purpose as those of the red mangrove, to gather atmospheric oxygen.
The next mangrove on this gradient is the White Mangrove. This tree is less tolerant of salt that the previous two, it is also less tolerance of low oxygen environments. White mangroves have no special roots to gather atmospheric oxygen. The most peculiar adaptation this tree has evolved are salt glands. These glands, which are at the base of each leaf, are where excess salt is excreted.
There were also two less known mangrove species we saw, including the Tea/Pinwheel Mangrove and the Buttonwood (Grey Mangrove). The Pinwheel mangrove has a fluted base, and the leaf arrangement is whorled. The Buttonwood was fruiting when we saw it.
The mangal is a detritus base ecosystem. The diversity of tree species is low, there are only the five major species mentioned above. Each of the mangrove trees has evolved to salt and low oxygen tolerance separately. Although the tree diversity is low the productivity is extremely high here. The tallest trees here are about 100 ft. and are the red and tea mangroves.
While entering the mangrove forest I spotted a Green Heron along the river. He was standing on the exposed banks of the river. While in the forest (under the canopy) we saw a small group of white-faced, capuchin monkeys.
Hacienda Barú, The Beach: 10:30 a.m.
Weather: hot and sunny
We walked along the shore on the way back to Hacienda Barú. The water was so blue and expansive. While looking in the sand I noticed these markings in the sand that looked like they were trails of some animal that had was moved under the sand. When I tried to dig up what was under a few of the ends of the trails I found some small sand dollars (4-5 inches in diameter). Sand dollars are Echinoderms, and look like squished sea urchins. The only spines that remain are along the flattened edges and underneath. Along with the live sand dollars we found many sand dollar skeletons that had washed up on the beach. I also found a half buried Blue Crab with a single claw. I dug it out with my sandal and it was about 5 in. in with. At first it chased my foot around, but then when I started to walk towards it, it decided that it would be better off burying itself.
When I returned from the walk I decided that I would go for a swim, even though I wanted to just sit on the beach and write my journal. But I realized that this could be the last chance I would have to swim in the ocean. So I walked back to my hut with Mary to get changed. We then walked all the way back to the beach and joined a few of the others swimming.
Argy, Cody, Lisa and Andrea were already out there and having a good time dodging waves. So when Marry and I got out there we thought we had no reason to panic. After I dove under one of the first big waves I realized that I could no longer touch the bottom. I didn’t think much of it, I figured that the next wave would wash me back in or we would run across a sand bar in a second or two. When I looked around I noticed that everyone else was fine. After a minute or so I got thinking, maybe this is a rip tide... I soon realized that this was a rip tide. This time when I looked around everyone else didn’t seem so calm. What was I to do? Don't panic, I tried as best as I could not to panic, and it worked for the most part.
All that I can remember thinking was that I was going to be that kid in the story that every class that visits Costa Rica will hear about. My story will be used to deter kids from swimming and getting washed out to sea. Just the night before I talked to Kerry and I told her that something kind of dangerous had happened (meaning the Cougar incident) and she told me to BE CAREFUL! Why couldn’t I have listened? Why did I have to go swimming in the ocean? Thoughts were rushing through my head momentarily. I knew that I had to compose myself and get myself to shore somehow.
I remembered that when caught in a rip tide you were supposed to swim parallel to the shore, and don't try to swim straight in! So I started swimming parallel. By this time I was getting tired, and when I looked around it seemed like everyone had made it back by swimming straight in. Could this be a really weak rip tide? Could I swim in? Or where they just better off to begin with, as it first appeared. All that I knew was that they were getting to where they could stand and I was going out to sea.
I knew I was getting tired and could not do this much longer. The waves were crashing at the exact point where I was. I would take a quick breath and get tossed under water. I was not making much progress swimming parallel, so I was going to try and swim in? I had decided I would do like the others did, and swim in. Swimming towards shore I tried to take advantage of the incoming waves to help wash me in. Soon I noticed that everyone had made it back except Mary and I. I was making progress. As soon as I thought that Mary was in where she could touch bottom I called for help, I was exhausted and I think my asthma was acting up. When she could plant one foot on the ground she extended her other leg out for me to grab. When I grabbed it a big wave hit us and knocked us apart, but I could touch the bottom. I found Mary and together we were able to fight the rip tide and make it to where we were chest deep. What an experience. Mary saved my life? I now have a much deeper respect for the ocean and all her power.
When I got out of the water I had no energy left. I collapsed on the beach and just laid there for a minute or two. After I caught my breath I grabbed my stuff and headed back to my hut with Cody. I took a shower and got ready for lunch. Wow, was this trip full of experiences.
South of Dominical, Rocky Shore: 1:30 p.m.
Weather: hot and sunny
Shep, Mason, Steve and I went to explore the rocky shore just past Dominical (south) this afternoon. It was just after high tide and the waves were crashing hard along a rocky outcrop that we could walk to from shore (about 50 m from shore). I saw some fish in some of the tide pools, along with...
Sea Anemone
Black Spinned Sea Urchin
Red Algae
Green Algae
Crabs
Snails
The sea anemones were small, about 2 cm. They had white tentacles with black bases. They were clumped together in some of the calmer, less exposed tide pools.
The sea urchins were tightly lodged into some crevasses in the tide pools. I tried a few times to pull them out by some of the longer spines, but they broke off when they were just about to come loose.
On the most exposed areas (on the other side of the rocky outcrop) there were hundreds of sally-lightfoot crabs. These are highly mobile (and fast) crabs that move up and down the shore with the tides, (i.e. as the tide comes in the crabs move up, and as the tide goes out the crabs move down). The wave action was like nothing I have seen. Once, when a huge have hit the rocky outcrop Steve and Mason had their backs turned to the ocean, and they got soaked from head to foot.
Hacienda Barú, The Grounds: afternoon
Weather: hot and sunny- light rain- down pour
We walked around the grounds during the afternoon. It was really hot and there were a few people who didn’t want to do this walk, but we all went through the motions. We got a good look at a few Chestnut-Mandibled Toucans. They had such a beautiful, red coloration on their hindquarters.
Jim led us to one of the abandoned cacao plantations. From the cacao chocolate is made. This is a disease-prone plant. There’s a fungus that is responsible for the huge losses of cacao harvests. There’s also a very unstable chocolate market. There are no equal exchange (fair traded), chocolate markets, and therefore the farmers can just barely make ends meet in this industry. These are two of the major reasons this plantation has been abandoned for years.
We then came out to the beach where we saw some of the sea almond trees. The nuts of these trees are so hard that only the Scarlet Macaws can crack open their shells. Before they were nearly hunted and poached out of the region one could see hundreds of Macaws along the beach at certain times of the year eating the seeds of the Sea Almond.
Right along the beach is where I found two Mucuna seeds (Monkey’s eye). When I showed them to Andrus he told me that they polished up nice and took one for himself and he said, “oh, you have two” and helped himself to one.
When we went back away from the beach we found a small canal which we walked along. I saw an American Pygmy Kingfisher flying along the drainage canal. When he landed, only 10-15 m away I got a really good look at him, what I beautiful little bird.
Along the canal we also found many fallen passion flowers. They were very fragrant (a perfume smell). This flower is not to be mistaken with the flower of the passion fruit plant. They are two different plants. We also saw...
Bats (3)
Native Palm
Leaf-Cutters (crossing the drainage ditch)
When we were about the furthest from the huts as we would be on the entire walk it began to pour. It was a heavy steady rain. Some people tried to keep dry with one of the larger palm leaves, but soon realized that is was not going to work, and gave up. We were soaked. It must have rained hard like that for two hours or so. The next morning Jack Ewing told us that it rained between 2-3 inches in that brief time period. Shortly after dinner the rain stopped as quickly as it began.
Hacienda Barú, At the Beach: night
Weather: Partly cloudy, warm
When Ryan, Yanira, Courtney, Dan, KC and I walked down to the ocean we noticed the slight bioluminescent of the unicellular dinoflagellates. We also saw some Sally-Lightfoot Crabs racing up and down the beach. At about 11:00 p.m. I said goodbye to the Pacific. It was my first time to the pacific, what an experience I had there.
January 16th, 1999 (Day 13)
Hacienda Barú: 7:00 a.m.
Weather: partly sunny, warm
This was it. I got up, finished packing, ate breakfast, and said my goodbye to Andrus. Mason and Zuk left early in the morning for a bird census. Mason left without much notice, but Zuk made a point to say bye to everyone the night before. We packed up the vans. This time there was a little more room in the vans, since we were leaving behind two people and their stuff. This was it, it was now my turn to take over Red van!
I made Yanira sit up front with me, so if we got lost I would have someone who could get directions easily. Courtney also sat up front with the two of us. Wow it was so much fun driving. I know I dreaded to take that extra responsibility on, but I am so glad I got the chance to do it. The three things that you always had to be on the lookout for were 1) holes in the road, 2) cars coming from the other way that are passing in your lane, and 3) the road, make sure that it is still were it is supposed to be (there were many places where the road has begun to wash away). This was hard. I earned a little nickname from the Red team, Psycho Driver. They sang Psycho Driver (Psycho Killer, Talking Heads) every time I passed, hit a bump or swerved a bit. It was really an experience, but enough about that.
When we were approaching San Isedro Alyssa N. started to feel sick, and soon we would have to stop. I had to make the call to stop. When I decided to, I had to get Shep’s attention, and let him know what we were going to do. We ended up pulled over in San Isedro for about 15-20 min., until she felt better. I had the idea that she may have been a little nervous about my driving, and maybe she should drive up front with Shep. So we traded Alyssa for Steve. Much of the landscape, esp. from Dominical to San Isidro, was deforested. There were plantations all along the road (where ever the land was flat enough).
Opossum, photo by Eric Beiter
Capuchin Monkey, photo by Eric Beiter
