Guess who has twenty-six thumbs and is on an island three hours off of the coast of Belize- all of us. Today we arrived at Glover’s Reef! It is 20 miles long, 6 miles wide, and absolutely gorgeous. Some patches of water are a turquoise color, which I learned means that the ocean floor is sandy and probably fairly shallow. The boat ride in was three hours and I may have gotten a little bit more sun than I needed for a tan, but we made it and we saw some Spotted Eagle Rays along the way (that’s good luck)!

Soon after we arrived, we went for our first snorkel off of the island’s dock. It was cut a little short due to some of us having equipment issues, but during our time in the water, I was able to see a large school of fish, an upside-down jellyfish, and a conch. We then exited the water, regrouped, reequipped, and then headed out into the water once more. This time, however, we went to the shallows on the leeward (opposite of windward) side of the island, and in order to do so we had to pass through the “mangroves of death”. They earned this name because the area is full of sand flies and mosquitoes and we practically sprinted through it to avoid them.

The shallows had a decent amount of coral, and we were able to see some interesting organisms, such as brain coral, a Christmas tree worm, and some butterfly fish. While we were out there, the wind and current were very strong and it was hard to stay in one spot for long.

I haven’t seen any echinoderms yet, but I’ve been on the lookout and I’m sure they’ll turn up soon! We should be able to see them in shallow water, so hopefully, we’ll be able to see some tomorrow.

Today was our last full day at Las Cuevas, and because of that, we spent the morning collecting the camera traps we placed during our first day here. We waited until tonight to view the images so that it would be a kind of sendoff and it was a great way to end our time here. A couple of the cameras didn’t capture any animals, and we didn’t see a jaguar (so sad), but we did see a TAPIR. It was walking right down one of the trails and the picture was at a fantastic angle. We all yelled when we saw it and it was a really cool moment. We also think we might’ve seen a puma, but we couldn’t tell.

Earlier in the day, Scott showed us some really interesting things about leaf-cutter ants. We looked at a smaller young colony and then a MASSIVE mature one. He wanted to show us the differences between colonies of different ages, as well as their fungal gardens. The large colony was super cool and we found fungus right away. Also, a soldier ant which was protecting the colony bit through Amanda’s pants! (crazy right)

We saw a new bird today- a curassow. It was in one of the pictures from the camera traps and it was tall, black, and had thin legs. I was also able to get really close to some social flycatchers because they were perched on a wire running from the deck of the station. I can see where they get the “social” in their name from as they seemed to be playing around with each other and had no problem with me being close by.

Tomorrow we will leave Las Cuevas, but I will certainly remember my time here forever. Everything from the long difficult hikes to staring out over the Chiquibul forest from the bird tower was memorable and I’ve learned a ton in the mere week we’ve been here. I can wait to head to the reef and gain a whole new set of experiences. Goodbye Rainforest, you will be missed.

Today we were able to complete an entire research project in the span of a morning. We were trying to see whether plant diversity was higher in disturbed or undisturbed areas of the forest, and this, in turn, helped us to understand how hurricanes can potentially lead to diversity changes. After lunch, we began work on another project but we haven’t quite finished yet.

While we were out in the jungle, we were able to see four Scarlet Macaws perched on the same tree! They were close enough to where we could see their brightly colored feathers. Also, Kaela and Cassia told me that they saw a bird (probably a kite by their description) fly over the canopy holding a rodent almost as large as the bird itself. I really wish I would’ve been able to see that because it sounds pretty wild.

In the late afternoon, we hiked an increasingly steep trail up to a place called the Bird Tower. It’s a tower on a large hill which overlooks the jungle and although it does the views we saw from the top were absolutely incredible. There were no signs of civilization and the forest seemed to go on forever. I could’ve sat up there all day. Unfortunately, all things come to an end and we had to walk back to the station, but on our way, we saw a jumping pit viper, one of the venomous snakes in the region!

Tomorrow our main goal is to retrieve all of the camera traps we placed during our first full day at Las Cuevas. Hopefully, we were able to get pictures of some cool animals! We aren’t really supposed to get our hopes up too high, but I for one hope to see a Jaguar! It’s crazy to think that we only have one more full day at Las Cuevas, but I’m looking forward to heading to Glover’s Reef!

This morning I woke up again for birding and we saw some familiar birds such as parrots and another Plumbeous Kite. I can now recognize the parrots’ calls which is fun. After breakfast and as we were about to head out into the jungle, two Scarlet Macaws flew near the research station! They landed in a tree close by and we were able to get some really good photos of them. They seemed to be playing at certain points and they even landed on the research station. We see them basically every day now which is crazy.

Today was all about our research project. We spent the morning out in the jungle retrieving the pitfall traps we placed yesterday and then we spent the afternoon quantifying and classifying our data. We caught a ton of ants, so Brendan (the ant expert) spent a long time sorting them. We found that our data supported our hypotheses- that the canopy was both more nitrogen limited and less species diverse. We compiled our data onto a poster and presented it for Amanda and Scott. It was a great experience!

While we were out in the jungle, we saw a bunch of really cool animal species. Soon after we set out, we spotted a Keel-Billed Toucan ridiculously close to us. We stopped and watched it for a while. Later, we even saw a MORELET’S TREE FROG!! They are a critically endangered species of treefrog and we spotted it on a Fishtail Palm while we could hear Scarlet Macaws in the background. It was overall an incredible moment. Kaela was really excited about it because she’s all about amphibians.

We haven’t been told what we’re doing tomorrow but I’m sure it’ll be interesting. Also, we only have two more days at Las Cuevas so we’re going to have to make the most of them!

This morning I woke up early enough to go bird watching, and it was definitely worth it. It was really peaceful and a great way to start the day.  We saw a couple interesting species such as a Plumbeous Kite, and multiple parrots (which both act and sound like they are in a constant state of panic); however, the most fascinating bird we saw by far was the keel-billed toucan. It has a characteristically long beak and is fantastically colored. We spotted it eating some kind of fruit from a tree on the edge of the clearing.

During breakfast, we were surprised with an interesting request- to fill two 50mL conical tubes with 25mL of urine each. We thought we were being messed with at first but we soon realized it was for real. The tubes were used for the research project we set up today. We are trying to determine whether the canopy or forest floor has a greater abundance and richness of arthropods as well as which level is more nitrogen limited (our urine acts as a nitrogen source). Again, I was surprised by our lack of bird sightings within the jungle, although we could hear their calls.

After we finished setting up our project and ate lunch, we got to explore the cave near the research station. The whole experience was surreal. The cave was massive and if it wasn’t for our headlamps it would’ve been completely dark. There were a lot of really cool rock formations and the cave was at one time a Mayan pilgrimage site (also the cave was covered in bat guano but no biggie). Liz, Anna, and Pierce even gave their presentations in the cave!

We ended the day with a night hike. It was nice because it wasn’t as hot and we were also able to see a lot of species which are most active at night. We didn’t see any birds, but we saw a lot of spiders, a scorpion, a snake, and a ton of other interesting organisms. Outside of collecting the tubes that we set up earlier, I have no idea what we’ll be doing tomorrow, but that’s why it’s exciting.