Even though my two/three toed sloth is still playing hide-n-seek with me, I am amazed by the biodiversity of the rainforest of Nicaragua. On the first day here, we took a stroll through one of the trails and we ran into a pack of howler monkeys and were able to observe them for over an hour! The best part was that one of them was carrying a baby on its back! Then today, not only did we see an agouti but I was finally able to spot and capture a green and black poison dart frog (don’t worry we set it free after taking some awesome pics).

Although we’ve been here for a couple days now, it still feels extremely surreal being here. Everyday consists of early morning breakfast, trekking through boot-high mud (tropical rainforest=rain 24/7), coming back for lunch, heading back to the trails, coming back for dinner, and heading back out for night time trials. The professors and TA’s warned us about how tiring fieldwork could be but my goodness, it is exhausting! It’s funny because today at dinner, Adrea mentioned how there’s a certain satisfaction you get from being so physically drained everyday that you immediately fall asleep as soon as your head hits the pillow and I could not agree with her more. Even though I come back from the field drenched in sweat, it’s totally worth it!

One of the things I look forward to during every meal is the fresh tropical juice we get. My favorite so far is naranjilla, it really brings back memories of home. The food here is amazing! And the staff is also so great, I love that they always have a smile on their faces. I’ve been fortunate enough to get to know a couple of the rangers here and they’ve shared some of the best stories and shown me some amazing pictures. They’ve even offered to help me with my behavioral project, how amazing is that! If all this has happened within the first week, I can’t wait to see what’s in store for the rest of the trip.