Today, we left Crystal paradise and started our trek to Las Cuevas research station. On the way, we stopped at Rio-On Pool. The Rio-On river forms large pools of water over these large granite slabs. There were really pretty waterfalls! It was a lot of fun scrambling over the large boulders. After about an hour, we continued on our way to Las Cuevas. We played card games in the van on the way. The 2-hour drive passed very quickly. We played B.S for most of the drive.

After we got to Las Cuevas, we quickly unpacked and ate lunch! Surprisingly, I am not tired of chicken, rice and beans. Then we went on a hike! We hiked the Mayan trail and got to see a lot of Mayan ruins. I was so surprised when Scott told me that the “hill” I was standing on was a Mayan temple covered in trees. We also got to see the ball court where they used to play the Mayan ball game. Supposedly, the prize for winning the game was a sacrificial death!

While hiking through the rainforest, I did not see any amphibians. Sad Face. I really expected to see a frog our toad on our hike, because it was sprinkling. I will search more in the leaf litter tomorrow! However, I did see lots of wolf spiders, epiphytes, and grasshoppers. We looked at a giant leaf cutter ant nest. I also saw oropendulm,a black bird with yellow tail feathers. After the hike, there were a lot of termites flying around the station. I got to eat a termite! Dad, they were not minty, but I will try to find a minty one!