Seeing as I’ve spent the past three weeks in a rainforest with three species of primates, none of which are orangutans, my title does not make any sense. But that didn’t occur to me in the middle of the night when I was frantically trying to find my shoes and headlamp to get away from said orangutans. It has happened before where I wake up in the middle of the night disoriented and thinking I’m still in my dream, but to the dismay of my roommates it has happened nearly every night since half way through my trip. I often wake up, confused and terrified, as I fully believe I’m in the rainforest at night either trying to find leaf cutter ants or scared that there are large bugs and spiders surrounding me. When I finally locate my headlamp and turn it on I realize I’m in the safety of my mosquito net in bed. The other night, after three hours of collecting data on leaf cutter ants past sundown, I woke up thinking I was back in the field and my professor walked by screaming “the orangutans are coming we must get out of here quickly” and it was quite frightening. I jumped over a fallen tree and couldn’t find my shoes or headlamp, luckily my friend Emily came up to me and I told her how we must leave soon but I couldn’t find my things, so she helped me by turning on her headlamp. At that moment I realized I was standing on the floor of my room facing Emily lying in her bed and it was a very strange situation I found myself in. I also realized that the tree I had jumped over must have been me jumping out of my bunk bed (I am impressed with my lack of falling off my bed completely). I had woken up my roommates, but the first thing Kaylee said (having just woken up and not sure what was happening) was simply “did you find the cake we left you?” because I had missed the cake they handed out after dinner. It was a comical ending and I went back to bed still slightly weirded out.

It’s funny because during the day I feel perfectly safe wondering the trails of Refugio Bartola, even taking hikes by myself. It is beautiful here, everything is green and constantly full of sounds I haven’t ever heard before. I enjoy the freedom of choosing a trail and hiking wherever you desire for seven hours of the day. All of that, and the food, and the new experiences I happen upon every day, I will miss. But I definitely wont miss the night terrors.