Sunday, August 4th

What an action packed day! We got up near the crack of dawn, SO EARLY! After a quick breakfast, we piled into the buses for an excruciatingly long car ride to the national park.

A quick stop before the hike.

After a short nap on the way, we arrived ready to observe the wildlife. Our trek took us through both the rain and dry forests; they were so diverse! Along with natural formations, we all looked at the historic ruins of the old cattle ranchers.

"The Cauldrons" used to process sugarcane.

Our first stop took us to "The Cauldrons". No, they're not witch cauldrons (although that would be super spooky!).  After a quick history lesson on cattle ranching, we set off on our hike down the winding nature trail.

Our first walk over water.

Not only were there trees and vines, but there were also a few animal sightings! Along the way, we witnessed spider monkeys, howler monkeys and even a wild turkey (in a tree!).

Unidentified blue moth larvae.

While all the wildlife was mesmerizing, by far the most relaxing part was the stop at the springs! Although there were both hot and cold springs, we all seemed to migrate towards the clear, hot water.

Once we got out of the springs, we had an exhausting hike to the waterfall.  Some of us loved the cold rushing water.

Once we got back to our starting point (a total of 6 km), we had a delicious lunch break of sandwiches, chips and cookies. Let's not forget the juice that was TO DIE FOR! After we filled our bellies, we got back in the van for another long ride.

The after effects of a long hike.

Our relaxing drive back didn't last for long, though!  Our van had a flat tire.

Flat tire time!

Once we got a new tire, we came back to FLA for laser-focused work on our experiments.

Working hard in the lab.

While some of us were busy in the lab, the rest of us were out in the field with important work.

Collecting leaves to feed the ants.