When I entered Refugio Bartola I immediately felt at home. I have always heard of the tropics, an environment where it is rainy, humid, sunny, and cloudy. I just had no idea this can happen all at once! My partner Emily and I walk the flagged trails, letting our boots sink into the waterlogged soil caused by the many bouts of rainfall. Like Floods! The warm air becomes even more saturated with water after it rains, how that is even possible I do not know. We always come back drenched in a mixture of forest dew, humidity, and most of all… sweat! I am grateful to return to camp and being greeted to a deliciously prepared meal thanks to the wonderful staff at Bartola. The combination of forest hikes and fulfilling meals is an experience I will never forget. It has only been 4 days here, and I am already dreading the thought of returning to UCLA and having to cook my own meals. Tears!

We were able to explore the series of trails that branch throughout Bartola and get a sense of its bountiful wonders. Yet, I am certain we have not even scratched the surface of what truly goes on here. It is a humbling and invigorating sensation. We have the unique opportunity to explore deeper into this tropical wonderland, which is why I am so excited to venture fourth with a behavior and a conservation project. While my group had their eyes in the trees for howler monkeys, I kept my gaze low to see the abundance of life at my very footsteps. I noticed a golden-black insect crawling about. It’s a spider. No, it’s a wasp. No, it’s an ant! I happened to stumble upon a wasp-like ant, adorned with yellow bands and spots along its jet black body. My mind races with ideas on how to test its behavior and possible mimicry, which is even more enticing once I learned this species of ant is likely unknown. While walking with our headlamps fully ablaze at night, we noticed a flurry of moths and winged insects heading for our faces. This was the spark to look into anthropogenic lighting at night, and how it can disrupt the natural behavior of diurnal and nocturnal moths. The next step was to test the idea of attraction to a bright light. So, I did the obvious thing and tied a white pillowcase to a tree so moths can stick to it, and taped a flashlight to illuminate the fabric. I walked away proud of the rigorous scientific set up we have accomplished that day. Upon returning we saw no moths but a few mosquitoes. So at the very least, our project can explore the solutions to reduce mosquito attraction to camp sites. However, I still believe a bat ate all our moths.