Day/Night 1 in La Selva. I was so sad to leave Palo Verde and the amazing faculty we got to work with there, but alas I have to experience as many ecosystems as I can, right!? So the move from a tropical dry forest to a tropical wet forest was astonishing. I went from wetlands and acacia forest to travel to a prehistoric time. La Selva is everyone's romantic picture of what the rainforest is like. Trees tower powerfully, yet hang in a lethargic manor. The rainforest has a polar vibe, it is thriving, moving, a most complicated machine, but at the same time encourages a slow paced existence. Maybe it is the overabundance of life that forces you to stop and smell the flowers, the bugs, and the trees!
I felt so safe in the dry forest, sure there are things that go bump in the night, but here there is so much more. Just walking from dorm to the comedor you might step on a venomous Fer-de-lance! Another thing to watch out for are the bullet ants, who are aptly named. These one-inch ants delivers a bite that packs the same punch as being shot, so it is best to avoid them! The Machaca is an unusual sight, this insect is large, white-ish and has a hollow protrusion on it's head that looks like a peanut. The legend in Costa Rica goes if you have been bit by the Machaca, you need to make love within 24-hours of the bite. Oddly, enough there are no consequences, just an incentive.
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| Last day in Palo Verde |
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| My first bat! Micronycteris microtis! |
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| A fairly odd couple |
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| Add caption |
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| Sloth! Choloepus hoffmanni to be exact! |
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| So many colors |
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| A peaceful moment |
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| Three peas in a pod. I mean three Machacas in a pod |
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| Machaca |
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| Remnants of a bat tent |
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