Chiquibul rain forest

May 1^st

We arrived in country and stopped off at a food mart some time that afternoon. Then we took a very long bumpy bus ride to the middle of the jungle. The scenery was very beautiful.  After dinner we had a presentation and was briefed on what was to be expected during our trip over the next several days.

May 2^nd

This was our first day being introduced to the jungle.  We learned to identify different species of flora.  We also were taught the proper way to measure the different types of flora. In the evening after lunch we hiked in the jungle to one of the plots and spoke about REDD and discussed its positives and negatives.

May 3rd

On this day we traveled to Caracol. Caracol is an ancient Mayan city filled with large temples.  We were allowed to climb the temples and talked about the impacts of tourism on this ecosystem.  I found a book on the animals and its ecosystems.  The colorful pictures drew me to it.  Also the fact that for every book bought one will be donated to a local schools library.  

May 4, 2013

Today we hiked to the bird tower.  Its was a steep challenging climb but it was worth it for the view.  A group of students did mist netting and captured a few birds.  After the climb to the bird tower we were instructed to set Sherman traps for small mammals.  Lastly for the day we set up a camera trap with the hope we might see a big cat.

May 5

Early in the morning we checked our Sherman traps but no small mammals were found.  After that we drove to the mountain pine ridge to see a different ecosystem.  We learned how to set plots and collect data on the pine trees.  Upon leaving we stopped at a man made lake and talked about its controversy.  Just before reach our camp we stopped to take a quick dip in the river and saw several scarlet macaws hanging out in a tree. 

May 6

Today was exciting because we were taken in to the cave system and saw some strange creatures.  They were strange because they have adapted to living in total darkness.  Unfortunately there was evidence of vandalism from past tourists. After our cave jorney we checked our traps one last time.  Out of almost eighty traps set one had a little house mouse in it.  

May 7

Today is our last day in the Chiquibul rain forest. My group has one last mission and thats is to set mist netting to capture an avian organism.  To my disappointment no birds were found in the nets.  As a consolation we were able to observe a troop of howler monkeys for over an hour.  The day ends on a somber note as we will be saying good bye to our new friends in the rain forest.