Ziplining & Zompopos

After an early wake up from a long night of activities, we headed to breakfast to have our morning dose of pure deliciousness. Following breakfast came our science study sessions. After the long awaited, built up anticipation of heading out to find some ants for our tests, we were rained out (which seems to be a common thing here in Costa Rica). After attempting to wait out the storm, we came to the conclusion that it would be tough to avoid a storm that comes in pulses. 

Dr. Pinto made the executive decision to wait and push our expedition to the following day, much to our disappointment. Instead, we chose to work more on the ❇☆Scientific Method☆❇. Our question- "Where in the leaf-cutter ant colony is Escovopsis located?". After establishing our hypothesis, we moved on to take samples of locations to check our predictions. After a morning of work, we had lunch in the rain.

After such an informational morning, we took the afternoon to go ziplining through the rainforest. Following a 30 minute car ride, we got to the base where we were hooked up with equipment and instructions to help us through our rainforest adventure. We hiked up a beautiful mountain and took a series of lines down. In total, there were probably about 8 lines we had to switch between. Our final zip line was 300 meters long and concluded the adventure with a beautiful look at a forest crawling with wildlife. 

Once the thrill of our extreme zip lining was concluded, we took a trip over to a butterfly sanctuary run by local women in the village. We were all educated in the field of butterflies, metamorphosis, and their impact on the people of Costa Rica. 

To conclude a long and eventful day of thrills, we had a study session to learn more about the process of collecting leaf-cutter ants (which are called Zompopos in Costa Rica) for observation in preparation for tomorrow. I think this is it to conclude day 3 of our Costa Rica endeavor! Mom, Travis I'm sorry I can't message you due to lack of service but I love you!

-Grace Alter

(An acromyrmex ant in our lab today)

(Our gang getting ready to take one of the final jumps of the zipline tour!)

(Greyson getting ready to hike up the vast mountain)

 (A group of our students visiting the local convenience store)

(Two of our students, Rhys and Greyson, enjoying the view on our bus ride to Finca La Anita)