Team Bushmaster Reporting

Katie's Blog

Everyday, just keeps getting better. Yesterday was the Bushmasters last shift on night surveys. So we took full advantage of having the morning off, and it was seriously one of the best mornings of my life. Josh, Carolyn and I walked up the gravel road we came in on. Located in the middle of farms and houses was a sweet little store that we thought was quite neat because it was just so random. After we purchased some Fanta and pear juice, we continued on our way and ended up stumbling on the most beautiful stretch of stream I have ever seen. You could go down and swim in the calm water right before the waterfalls, or walk down the side of the falls on the large boulders and jump into the natural pool created by the flowing water. It was simply amazing, swimming in this natural pool right beside the rumbling falls, and even being able to sit in a perfect rock seat in the falls. It was such a perfect morning, and such a perfect place that we decided to name it “Paradisio”. We came back excited to bring the others this special spot so they could enjoy it too!

Now that we are done the night shift we are working on the Ficus tree portion of our field placement. It’s a nice relaxing day, we get to sit under large beautiful Ficus trees identifying central American birds with a field guide and a nice man named Emanuel. What I enjoy best about the Ficus surveys is the 4km hike in the rainforest there and back to arrive at the center. I hope you enjoy the picture of Paradisio!

Bushmaster Paradise (Josh Cronmiller)

This field placement is slowly becoming one of the most fun, exciting and beneficial experiences of my life. As we were finishing our last night survey yesterday, I realized how much of a thrill the placement has been thus far. I could honestly say to myself that I could be a part of this type of work for the rest of my life, and be ultimately content. That, underlines the experience I am having in this wonderful line of work so far… enough said.

As I’m sure others have blogged about, yesterday Ms. Knapper, Ms. Bigras and myself came across something worth noting. “Paradisio” as we have dubbed it, is a waterfall/pool/bridge/ol’ fashion swimmin’ hole that we came across yesterday during the day on one of our bushmaster excursions. It is a surreal place, something you’d expect to find in a national geographic magazine. Anyways, I’m going to leave my blog at that, as I’m needed by my peers for a late night coffee on our balcony. Pura Vida!

Carolyn's Blog

Sensory overload, yet so little room to write about it in! The rainforest is always alive; the seemingly simple leaf litter of the forest floor, full of tiny, determined leaf cutter ants, marching with ten times their weight overhead and the angry wolf spiders lurking in every dark crevasse, waiting to attack; the vegetation camouflaging the forest floor inhabitants and providing a perch to wide eyed amphibians; the lush overhanging canopy that seems to soak up every ray of available sunlight streaming onto the land; the meandering rivers that flow over rocks creating beautiful waterfalls and holding schools of tiny fish, unafraid of my presence and swimming around my legs. It truly is paradise!

The last few nights the Bushmasters have been completing the reptile and amphibian surveys with Josh. The forest comes alive with reptiles, amphibians and even birds making their calls into the cool dark air, some sounding like something out of a horror film. The second night brought on a few nasty “jungle bees” that wanted to eat our flesh, and unluckily I was struck! To make matters even better, the immense amount of sweat pouring off my body found its way to the bite, stinging even more. Good thing Im a tree planter and am thoroughly used to being eaten alive by bugs! On the flip side, the days are relatively bugless, and full of sunshine. I spent the afternoon floating down a river in the foothills below our lodgings, allowing the current to carry me along beneath the bamboo and mossy trees. Each day we are exploring new territory, and yesterday we came upon “Paradisio,” named by us because of its breathtaking beauty and serenity. We pass several local farms to get to it, which consist of quaint, bright colored homes, chickens and cattle. The water is cool and refreshing, and Ive been snorkeling after the fish, taking pictures underwater. If there is one thing Ive learned about what I want to do in life, its that I want to travel the world to explore more of the beautiful hidden wonders Mother nature provides, just like the one’s here in Costa Rica.