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Day 1: No Mahogany Here

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A lot of the readings and research I have done prior to our departure have discussed the importance and prevalence of Mahogany in Belize. I expected to see a lot of this tree on our drive from the airport in Belize City to Crystal Paradise Ecolodge near a region called San Antonio. Alas, I have seen none (so far).

However, I was able to recognize some species on our drive. One of them was Cecropia obtusifolia, also known as a Trumpet tree or locally known as a Guarumo.  It has a very interestingly shaped leaf that kind of looks like a baseball mitt. Hopefully soon I’ll be able to take and post a picture of one up close.

Trumpet Tree!

Another tree I saw was the Zapote or Pouteria sapota.  I didn’t see as many of these as I did of the Trumpet tree, which at some points were clustered together. These however, were pretty wide spread and not close to each other.

From the moment we got off the airplane in Belize City, I saw palm trees everywhere, but I wasn’t able to identify what species they were. On our trip, Dr. Solomon pointed out a whole field of Attalea cohune, or Cohune palm. So at least now I know for certain what that looks like (from a distance).

The Cohune Palm
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Day 1: Journey to Belize

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Day 1: I woke up at my sister’s house in Houston and began those last minute checks for all of my gear. We grabbed smoothies from Juiceland and headed down to Rice. I brought all of my bags from the car into ABL and grabbed our extra gear to pack. We all loaded into the Rice bus and headed to Hobby.

We met Claire’s dad, who happened to be our pilot, went through security and ate lunch (I ate at Yia Yia Mary’s). We waited in the terminal and then finally boarded! The flight wasn’t too long, especially since I slept for half of it. My first impression of Belize was that it was very similar in look and development to other Central American countries that I’ve visited, like Costa Rice. We went pretty quickly through customs, got our bags, and met our driver Edward as we loaded up into our van.  We stopped by a store to grab extra supplies and I picked up gummy bears and a towel.

We started our drive to Crystal Paradise Ecolodge. Along the way, we drove through a lot of small villages, saw a few forest fires, and talked about the trip. We drove for about 2.5 hours and finally arrived at the Lodge. We put all of our bags in our rooms and ate a great dinner.

I haven’t seen any arachnids yet but I expect to run into a few soon. We’ve been in fairly populated areas so I’m not terribly surprised that we haven’t seen any but we will probably run into some tomorrow.

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Crystal Paradise EcoLodge
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Day 1: Lots of Travel

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My dad and I left Dallas this morning, landed in Houston to meet up with the rest of the class, and then we flew to Belize. Well, I suppose only my dad really flew to Belize, the rest of us just sat in the back of the plane. (Having an airline pilot dad is cool.)

When we landed in Belize it was already pretty hot and humid. As we drove out here to Crystal Paradise Ecolodge, we saw lots of mostly savannah and grasslands. The coolest part was definitely the wildfires. It’s the end of the dry season here in Belize and natural forest fires are common. Some of the plants were obviously blackened and there were giant streaks of reddish-black smoke in the sky.

As far as animals go we saw lots of dogs and horses on the drive. We also saw some cats, sheep, and goats. I saw a few chickens and some cattle egrets and lots of small black birds flying through the sky. The cattle egrets were chilling around some cattle waiting for them to disturb some bugs. As far as the blackbirds go, it turns out that riding in a van with heavily tinted windows looking up at birds against a bright sky is not the best way to identify them. I think they were probably melodious blackbirds,  but they also could have been grackles.

We’re not expecting to have wifi regularly for the next few days. I’ll be writing blog posts, but whether they go up is another matter entirely.

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turns out that I don’t know anything about ants

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Daily Blog Entry 1:

We are finally here in Belize! I have already had three encounters with ants and I do not really know what they are. I spent quite a while working on my taxon ID card and researching ants, so it is humbling to know that in my first hour in the Belizian nature, I have had three encounters with ants and I was unable to identify all of them. But before we get to the ants, quick debrief of what we did today: We left Hobby at 1:40 and landed a few hours later at Belize City. Claire’s father was the pilot, which was very nifty. Edward, the friendly driver, drove us to a convenient store and then Crystal Paradise Ecolodge, which took around 4-5 hours. We then moved our belongings into the lodge (which is where I saw the first two ants) and had dinner at the lodge (which is where I saw the last group of ants).

All three ants that I encountered were probably of the same genus. They were all about 1-1.5 cm in length, thinner thorax than head and abdomen, no visibly large mandibles but a very noticeable elbowed antennae. I took a picture of the first ant and that had a white/shiny/yellow band around its abdomen. Scott said that those were Ponerine ants that can give very painful stings. Thankfully, I did not touch it. The second type was very large and did not have the band around its abdomen. I think Scott also said they were Ponerine ants as well. The third type was in a group were feeding on a beetle, and I think they are Ponerine ants because they look very similar to the second ones. 

I think the last two ants were of the same species. I never realised how omnipresent ants are and how little I know about them – this will be a very difficult week trying to identify them. I took pictures of the first and the third ant type I saw. Unfortunately, my MacBook does not have any portals to insert an SD card, so uploading photos will be a hassle.

I hope to be able to identify those ants later and get a better understanding of how to identify ants. (Also quick shout out to Scott for being the Ant man and for helping me to loosely identify the ants).

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Day 1 in Belize!

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(Crystal Paradise Ecolodge)

Today, we arrived at the airport in Belize City around mid-afternoon Belize time. Ironically, our pilot was the father of one of the attending students and greeted us both before we entered the plane and as we exited. Soon into driving, we stopped at a little market shop to stock up on snacks, water, and anything else we might have forgotten.

I wasn’t personally expecting to see much of anything besides Belizean scenery on the way to the ecolodge, where we’d be staying for the night; however, I was pleasantly surprised. I had prepared myself to identify several types of wild Belizean mammals, but what I hadn’t prepared myself for was the domesticated ones. We drove through the outskirts of Belize city and several small towns on the way to the Crystal Paradise Ecolodge, each of them with a variety of domesticated mammals. I sited several horses standing outside fences with riding collars on. One was even being ridden. We saw a variety of dogs, both what appeared to be strays and pets ranging from large pitbull-like dogs to a nursing female and puppies. I spotted a small white cat lurking outside of a house, but it was hard to tell if it was domesticated. Several farms with cattle were spotted, including one near the Mayan Mountain range with what was anywhere between 30 and 50 cattle.

I don’t think I’d be surprised to see any of these mammals if I were driving through the Texas countryside on a normal day; however, I was today. While preparing for the trip, I was so caught up in preparing to identify all of the wildlife, I almost forgot that people live here too and all of the things that come with that including domesticated animals. It sounds silly, to forget that people actually live in Belize, but when you are preparing for a trip like this, other people are the last thing on your mind. Instead you’re thinking ‘did I pack enough clothes?’, ‘did I forget anything?’, and ‘am I prepared for the work I’m about to do?’. Rather, I got so caught up in everything, that I was surprised to see so many familiar species.

After the drive, we arrived at the Ecolodge around 7, ate dinner, and got an introductory run down of the trip. It’s all quiet after that… except for the chorus of insects in the background.

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1 of 2 Blogs from Houston

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Belize is going to be fantastic, if I have learned one thing from the readings from the class. New words have entered my vocabulary, like karst and lagoon, but they are things I have not personally experienced. I am excited to be in these places that I have only heard of and emerge from Belize as some sort of a tropical field biologist, perhaps as a TFB that Surf and Turf has warned us of becoming.

Not having been there is what makes it exciting, but it also makes it more difficult to predict what type of life I will see there, and what it will look like when I see hundreds of species of life right in front of face. Although the readings have been good about providing descriptions, I am a visual learner and I expect that I have a lot more to learn through trial and error when it comes to identifying species, or even families.

One thing I have learned about identification of species from looking at images online is that there are tons of variation. Take a species of red algae for example, one image may be pink, another greenish-purple. A brown alga often looks yellow or green. Although I don’t usually have trouble identifying colors, the types of coloration in these algae has overwhelmed my ability to describe them. I hope with experience in the water I will be able to become sensitive to all the subtle differences in the color of algae, as it can be helpful in identifying them.

In addition to learning to identify species, I hope to be comfortable in the rain forest, the cave, and the ocean. With enough practice, I am sure these blog posts will become more interesting and I hope you will follow my journey to a fascinating place!

 

 

 

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Yay Belize!

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I just came back from a sampling trip across various counties west of Austin for my summer research project.  I’m still a little worn out from my trip, but I know once we land in Belize City, I’ll forget about that completely and will be ready to immerse myself into tropical field biology.

I expect our trip to be physically demanding, but it will be totally worth it once we get to see a scarlet macaw in person (hopefully) and are snorkeling next to parrot fish. I also expect to get a good feel of what field work is like, and also to experience a day (or two weeks) in the life of a scientist living at a research station.

Since I’m applying to graduate school next semester, I really value these opportunities because it may (hopefully) help me narrow down (or even choose!) what narrower field of EBIO I want to study, as well as potentially answer questions like if I prefer field work over laboratory work or vice versa. I have prepared by reading all the required readings and researching my taxons (trees and herbivorous fish). I think my sampling trip last week may have also prepared me for the long hours out in the field.

I’m not really nervous about anything except the airplane ride, because I really hate airplanes. I am most excited to see rare species up close (ish) like the scarlet macaws and colorful parrotfish I talked about.

I have previously visited Colombia, which is mostly tropical. I spend my time there hiking through the Andes and looking at agricultural products that my grandpa grows, such as coffee, avocado and cacao trees.  Overall, I am just really excited about being able to spend a whole two weeks in one of the most diverse and beautiful parts of the world while doing science. Best combination ever.

 

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Basically Steve Irwin

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Hi friends, I’m Veronica! Tomorrow, we go to Belize. Here are some thoughts.

I was an interesting sort of kid – I was quite socially awkward, listened only to classical music (my  favorite composer was Bach. Who’s Rihanna anyway?), and I didn’t watch any of the classic Disney Channel TV shows. Most importantly, I was absolutely obsessed with Animal Planet’s show The Crocodile Hunter. The show’s host, Steve Irwin, was my childhood hero. I remember sitting in front of the TV with my little brother, both of us riveted, as Steve fearlessly wrangled wild creatures or snagged the tiniest critters for the camera to see.

My younger brother and I were more interested in tiny shore critters on Daytona Beach than we were in Disney World. 

I think that my devotion to Mr. Irwin and his show planted in my brain a fascination with wild places and their inhabitants. This is why I’ve been all but vibrating with excitement for this trip for the last month or so.  I’ve never had any experience with field research, in the tropics or elsewhere, so I’m not sure what to expect. But I’m guessing it’s going to involve equal amounts of sweat and labor as rewarding finds and learning. I’m ready for it! (I think? I’m pretty out of shape, so I’m not sure how well I’ll handle the physical activity…but my mind is ready so BRING IT ON.)  This trip is probably going to involve a lot of physical discomfort and wistful thoughts of air conditioning. But I do expect to put in some sweat to learn things that I could never learn from a textbook! I’m tired of classrooms. I am incomprehensibly excited to learn how to locate different organisms in the field, or how to decipher forest sounds. I can’t wait to learn hands-on how ecologists gather their hard-earned data.

My preparation for the trip has been rather frantic. I’ve been scurrying all over town in the past couple of months to collect all the required equipment. I even bought a prescription snorkel mask so I can see underwater, which I’m SUPER pumped about! I’ve also pored over the required reading materials, spent hours upon hours researching microbial processes of coral reefs, and researched all I can about echinoderms (think starfish, sea urchins, sea cucumbers) and lepidopterans (butterflies and moths). And, of course, I’ve hyped myself up for the trip by watching nature documentaries. My only apprehensions lie in my complete inexperience. I can be clumsy. Combined with my utter un-fit-ness, I’m afraid that in my physically exhausted state, I’ll be a drag on the group. I hope that I can keep up with the pace of the trip. And, of course, I hope we don’t run into any grumpy peccaries (like wild pigs) or fer-de-lances (species of venomous snake).

What  I want to accomplish most during this trip is to scratch that itch I’ve always had in the back of my mind to go venturing out into the wild, if only for a little bit. I also hope to learn about what field ecology entails and to gain intimate understanding of tropical and neotropical ecosystems. I want to find specimens of the echinoderms  and lepidopterans I’ve researched. But I think my core excitement for this course stems from a simple place: the little kid inside me really, really wants to get out there and explore, just like Steve Irwin.

On that note, WE LEAVE TOMORROW?! Amazing.

Catch you all in Belize!

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Day 0: i am sleeping on a bare mattress tonight

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Belize is tomorrow, and I have prepared extensively. A list of everything I’ve put in my bag sits before me now, written hastily upon a legal pad my friend gave me before he left. I own two separate mosquito repellents (for reference I generally own none). I own three separate sunscreens. My snorkeling gear all matches, colored mostly black with accents of red. And I know a lot about crickets now, I guess.
My expectations for the trip are as follows: 1) I will get to re-experience the tropics, my favorite place in this whole earth. 2) I will get to re-experience the tropics in a real research-oriented way and not in a limited tourist way. And 3), I will be thrust into a variety of new environments and experiences I haven’t had yet. I am not, of course, entirely confident and unyielding. I have fears, mostly relating to how much I strongly dislike large insects (you too, crickets) and how unsure I am about ever finding a “green algae”. But having been to the Amazon rainforest like twice, I consider myself fairly accustomed to the tropical heat, the bugs, and the potential diseases. I am mainly and mostly looking forward to being in pure unadulterated nature, something I long for daily in my regular life and that I do not usually get to experience.
My biggest problem, as of right now, is how fully packed I am. Nothing is in my room but bags for Belize, including any sheets or pillows I previously owned — I am sleeping on a bare mattress tonight.
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Ready, Set, Belize!

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It’s almost time to leave for Belize and I’m so excited! I actually went to Belize with my family last summer. We stayed at a resort in the rainforest and had lots of cool experiences. I’m still really excited about this trip though. I can’t wait to do research and actually see the reef.

The prospect of doing research is probably what I’m most excited about for this trip. I definitely plan to major in ecology and evolutionary biology, but this class seems like a really great way to get some actual field research experience. I’ve been to the side of a few highways looking for bugs which is technically field research, but I don’t think will be anything like this trip. I think this experience could really help me figure out what I want to do in EBIO and in grad school in the future.

To prepare I’ve been reading my Belize book and researching for my taxon and topic lectures. I’m a little bit nervous that I’ve researched the wrong thing, perhaps I included a bunch of animals we won’t see or completely missed some species we’ll see everywhere, but I suppose it will just be a chance to learn more about the native fauna.