13.47 miles of hiking=over 30,000 steps= I am so sore

I have never more strongly felt the effect of not working out enough. Today was a hiking day. Our mission was to set up camera traps to try and measure species richness and composition in natural and man-made open areas of the Chiquibul forest. It sounded so simple. We planned out approximate locations for the cameras and were quickly aware we would have to scale down the distances between some of the cameras. It would have simply been too much ground to cover in a day. Armed with a planned route [AND A BUTTERFLY NET!!!] we started on the first part of the trail hoping to get the hard hiking done before lunch.

Our first time in the forest. Overwhelming. Distracting. Amazing. There were many new sights. We saw Encyclia cochleata(Belize’s national flower), Chicle trees with the scars of former harvests, and so many epiphytes. And oh, the butterflies. There were seven sightings of blue morpho butterflies. I hadn’t realized how big they are. I also several swallowtail I didn’t recognize(one was a Thaos Swallowtail, I think). After climbing the hill to the bird tower- mostly an ascent- I saw a heloconius butterfly. Finishing up the hike I managed to catch a butterfly for the first time- a yellow and orange butterfly.

After lunch putting the rubber rain boots back on was a challenge. Feet were already sore and we had miles left to hike. Luckily this one was mostly flat. We almost managed to set all the traps before sunset and hiked the rest of the way back with our headlamps. I have never seen so much eye shine peeking out from leaves. It was an amazing, tiring day.