Cuerici!

el paramo!>gutting the rainbow trout below

reflector flower petals-->

giant mushroom!-->

top of mountain! after camping

So for the past four days, I have been in Cuerici! This biological station is in the mountains and is owned by Don Carlos (very nice man whose eyes twinkle like a Costa rican dumbledore! he acts a ranger for the surrounding forest). It was incredibly chilly in comparison to las cruces (and especially la selva! -the jungle). At night I had 4 heavy blankets and slept in a sweatshirt and pants to keep warm. Don Carlos showed us around the woods and we saw the difference between primary (old) and secondary (newer) forests. Don has his own self run trout farm where he raises rainbow trout and sells them to be eaten. He showed us how he removes eggs from females to breed them. On our last day Don Carlos let us kill some (with bare hands!), gut them (which i actually took part in!), and we ate them for dinner. One day, we went to el paramo, to the elevation above which forests easily. The land becomes shrub-like plants that are adapted to survive at these great elevations (by developing special venetion, tougher leaves, etc). There was even a flower that attracts fly pollinators by having reflector petals that generate heat in the middle. El paramo can change temperature rapidly, going from very cold (due to cloudy high elevation) to extremely hot when the clouds clear out. The whole time in Cuerici, the high altitude caused an increase heartbeat and hiking was so much more challenging!! One time I was foolish enough to try to exercise and run up hill- worst idea ever! At night we had people playing the guitar and everyone in my group singing along, it was very fun!

And probably the most exciting part of Cuerici was when I decided to hike up to the top of the mountain last night and sleep there with 5 other students. Everyone told us we were crazy and were going to freeze (the house was already freezing enough), and everyone thought I'd come back at 3 am too cold to sleep. And although I did not sleep to well on the wooden plank shack, it was totally worth it! The sky was so clear and you could see all the lights on in the town. It was so beautiful, and I felt very accomplished after completing the journey. (Also, I survived the cold!) This morning we saw some bats flying around in front of us on the hike down (we had to get up at 4.40 this morning to get down in time for our 6.00 breakfast!).
expect some pics soon! hope everyone is well
shemi