Day 1: 01 May 2013
In a few hours, I will
be leaving the country for my study abroad course in Belize! This will be my
first trip out of the country besides my deployment and I am thoroughly looking
forward to the unforgettable experiences over the next two weeks!
After arrival: We finally arrived today. Rafael and Alberto
picked us up from the airport in a yellow school bus. We had a four hour bus
ride ahead of us, and what a bus ride it was. The road to Las Cuevas was a
long, long, long, long bus ride. We drive through very rural towns and even
more rural villages. We passed many areas that were burning, either from the
villagers burning garbage or possibly from carelessness. The mountainous
portion of our journey was, in one word… terrifying. We even missed a check
point and were stopped by the Belizean patrol. We finally arrived at Las Cuevas
Research Station about an hour after dark and I was so thankful to be off of
that awful bus. We met the staff, had a presentation by the head biologist,
Boris ****, and went to bed. Tomorrow we begin.
Day 2: 02 May 2013
Angela is the cook
here and has proven to be worthy of immense praise for the home cooked quality,
freshness and authenticity of her meals. I am eager to see what else she has in
store for us.
We began the day with
a short hike on “50 hectare trail.” We learned methods to determine tree
height, tree dbh (diameter at breast height), and light penetration with a
densiometer. We also got to look at a “soil pit” and went through a brief
discussion on a soil profile for a broad-leaf forest. We ended today’s
activities with a really interesting policy oriented discussion about the
practice of one country paying another country to not cut down an area of
forest. What should be the assigned value of a hectare of forest? How does this
value get assigned and by whom? Does the money change hands through
governmental agencies and/or private citizen? What constitutes “sustainable
management” in a protected area? There are no real answers to these questions
right now. The real issue is to learn as much as possible about a particular
issues such as this one, and then make every attempt to affect change.
Day 3: 03 May 2013
I experienced one of
the World Wonders today: the Mayan Ruins at Caracol Archaeological Reserve. I
wish I could describe the power of the site. Such an amazing history and
cultural richness in these stones. Boris, our group leader, led a discussion
about the links between the political, economic, social, and environmental
concerns when attempting to manage a site such as Caracol.
Day 4: 04 May 2013
Today was all about
understanding how to evaluate population dynamics of an ecosystem. We did this
through mist netting (the trapping of small birds), Sherman Traps (the trapping
of small mammals) and the setting of camera traps in the hope to identify the
large animal species in an area. The mist netting was my favorite part of the
day. We got up before first light and set up two 2x10 meter nets. We learned
about the reasons behind capturing birds, the limitations to mist netting, what
to look for when examining a bird, and how to release a captured bird. Our
group was able to capture three different bird species: the yellow-billed
tyrannulet; the white-breasted wood wren; and the wood thrush. Something to
look up later: Birds without Borders.
Day 5: 05 May 2013
We went to the
Mountain Pine Ridge Forest today. It was a completely different ecosystem than
the Chiquibul. Apparently, the Caribbean Pine that
dominates the pine forest used to also dominate the coastal areas and has
migrated over time to some of the highest elevations in the country. This makes
the species of tree very important when considering sea level rise.
We also were able to
look out onto the artificial lake created by the building of the Chalillo Dam
and go for a spontaneous dip in the Macal River on the way back to Las Cuevas.
Day 6: 06 May 2013
We caught a mouse in
our trap today! According to Boris, “the probability of catching zero
organisms: HIGH.” But we caught and were able to identify the organism as a
common house mouse. The little guy had a long naked tail, wide naked ears, a
grey-brown coat, and a short snout.
We also visited the
cave at Las Cuevas. Pictures to come later… but it was AWESOME! We looked at a
huge spider, not sure what kind, and a tiny fungus-gnat larvae. The creatures
that have been able to adapt to life without light are just so cool!
Day 07: 07 May 2013
XATE!! I helped a
group of students today that did a project for the trip. They had to calculate
the density of the different species of xate that have a high commercial value
in the floral bouquet market.
The best part of the
day… the beautiful black orchid that was growing on a tree in one of our xate
plots. I think I know what my next tattoo is going to be!
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