Tropical Ecology Field Trip to Santa Rosa

My second Tropical Ecology field trip was to Santa Rosa. Santa Rosa natural reserve located in northwest Costa Rica along the Pacific coast. It encompasses a number of different types of ecosystems. For our field trip, we focused specifically on the tropical dry forest, because we had focused on the tropical rain forest while in La Selva. We stayed at the national park's facilities, which were similar to the Biological station's facilities. We had gallo pinto at each and every meal, and we had to constantly check under our mattresses and in our shoes for scorpions and tarantellas. I saw more scorpions, tarantellas, scary bees, biting ants, and poisonous snakes than I ever wanted to see in my lifetime. It was very interesting, however. This time, our whole class was not able to go on the field trip because there was a Marine Biology field trip scheduled for the same amount of time. Only having 11 kids and one professor made the 6 hour bus ride a little more relaxing (we all could sprawl out on our own seats). We stopped on the way to Santa Rosa for breakfast, which turned into naranja-piña ice cream time. It is my new favorite flavor, but I still really like Cas ice cream. 

Santa Rosa was the hottest place I have been to so far. When we arrived, it was a little past lunchtime. The lunch ladies still let us have our first dose of gallo pinto for the weekend, but there was also amazing fresh fruit and mora juice. After lunch we went on a walk to Costa Rica's only legitimate battle field. Costa Rica, having no army for the past few decades, does not have a lot of war history. It is a relatively peaceful country despite having less peaceful neighbors. The battle was called the battle of Santa Rosa, and it is where the Costa Rica's only national hero, Juan Santa Maria became famous. We got to tour part  of the original farm house where the battle took place. Unfortunately, a lot of the house was purposely burnt down by some angry hunters a few years back. The fire destroyed a lot of important artifacts. The hunters were mad that they had been fined for hunting. (Hunting is absolutely illegal in all of Costa Rica except for some indigenous tribes) The two hunters are still in jail. 

The history was interesting, and we also got to learn a lot about the national park. Actually, if it were not for the importance of the battle, there would be no national park. The battle was against people from Nicaragua, but they were not actually Nicaraguans. There are still a lot of tensions between Costa Rica and Nicaragua to this day. Apparently, Nicaragua has been doing some environmental damage at the San Juan river in northern Costa Rica. It certainly does not help a relationship that is already full of prejudice. 

Naked Indian Tree

Along the way, we saw a number of plants and animals native to the dry forest. Above is a naked indian tree. The dry forest is the only ecosystem in Costa Rica where the plants lose there leaves. This tree is rare because the bark can be pealed back to reveal a photosynthetic layer. So, when the leaves are gone, the tree can still preform photosynthesis. The tree below is home to many species of ants and bees. It has also lost many of its leaves, and it was FULL of iguanas.

One of the primary forest trees
 typical of a tropical dry forest

After we toured the Santa Rosa memorial site, we climbed to the top of an observation spot. We were able to see for miles, the whole way to the ocean. This is when we asked our professor, Daniela, if we could take a hike to the ocean. Surprisingly, she agreed. She said that the hike was really long, but it was not to strenuous....what a lie. Haha... The view was incredible though. We were also able to see a number of nearby volcanos, although they were covered by a thick layer of clouds.

The view of the surrounding mountain range.

The war memorial at Santa Rosa

On top of the world!

When we got back, we ate dinner. Dinner consisted of...gallo pinto. After dinner, we went for a quick night hike to explore the different animals that are more active at night. The stars were absolutely amazing. They were even better than the ones I had seen in Cherry Springs, Pennsylvania. There was no light pollution for miles and miles, and there was virtually no humidity because we were in a dry forest. One of the more memorable things from the hike was seeing a male and female scorpion. The female was trying to eat the male, and the whole time she had about a hundred tiny baby scorpions on her back. It was crazy to watch!

After the short hike, we quickly went to bed. At about 3:45 am, we woke up and got ready to leave for our long hike to the beach. Everybody had to go, and those of us who suggested it felt bad for making our classmates go. Everybody was a good sport about it at first. We walked for about an hour in a half in a close group using flashlights to check for snakes and scorpions. Eventually the sun rose, and we were able to spread out a little more. Right after sunrise, all of the tropical birds came out. Their songs were absolutely beautiful.

The dry forest at about 5am, the air was filled
 with the songs of tropical birds.

As time went on, it got hotter and hotter. After a few miles, we started going down steep hills. All the while, we were quite aware that we would have to climb back up these hills later when we would most certainly be more tired and hot. The steep downhill lasted for a couple of miles. We stopped to eat breakfast at about 7am. All around us there were Howler monkeys, and a couple of them threw their own poop at us. We kept walking and saw a large group of White faced monkeys. One of them was even caring an infant on its back.

We saw dozens of monkeys including Howler's and
 White faced monkeys.
 This is one of the white face monkeys.

We finally reached the ocean at about 8:40, and we stayed until about 10am. The beach was called playa naranja, and we were the only ones on it. It was definitely worth the walk and the sweat to see such a beautiful, pristine beach.

My friend Isaac, my professor Daniela, and I enjoying the beach

Playa Naranja

Unfortunately, we had to leave the beach to start our 10 mile journey back to the cabins. The way back was a lot hotter, and it was all uphill. There was zero cloud cover, so I had to keep reapplying sunscreen every half hour or so. We walked quite quickly and made it back by 12:15 in time for lunch. After lunch, we got back in the bus for a 7 and a half hour drive back to San José. Needless to say, I was a little sore when I went to walk back to my house after getting off that bus. We tried to convince Daniela that the 20 mile hike should be enough, and we should not have to write our field reports. She said that she did not have any sympathy because she is older and in more pain that we were. Overall, I really enjoyed my trip to Santa Rosa.