Got to see a toucan today even though I woke up late for bird watching. I’m glad I finally got to see a toucan, and I can say I have seen the two most iconic birds here at Las Cuevas. I do feel bad for not actually getting up at 5:00a.m for bird watching, but I tried very hard.

The bird tower hike was very VERY tiring, but once I got to the top of the tower, it was all worth it. The view was such a pretty sight, and the sunset was great as well. Got a couple photos during the golden hour which only lasted for about 10 minuets. That’s nice. The walk back was definitely faster, and it probably would have been faster to take that route.

As we were walking along the shortcut road that leads to the bird tower, I saw more and more lichens. We went down this trail to tackle our afternoon experiment, and along the way I looked for epiphytes, which were everywhere. Bromeliads were everywhere as they usually are and so were these never ending loops of lianas.

After lectures, I just enjoyed the view with Elizabeth, and we talked about the day. We looked at a moth that had she had caught, and she would not playing with him. Before going to bed, I talked to Pierce about how he has an eye of an eagle, and how awesome it is for him to just see lots of things at night. Today was definitely the longest day, but a good one. See you tomorrow as our stay at Las Cuevas winds down L.

Picture: View from the bird tower

Today I woke up at 5:30a.m. to see birds so go me! During the whole hike to retrieve our pitfall traps, it was very cool, and I don’t think I was even sweating during that trip. At lunch today, we had a delicious soup that was full of vegetables and chicken but was very hot! I don’t think I was sweating as much as I did today eating that soup, but it was worth every bite.

Along the hike to retrieve our pitfall trap, I saw bromeliads, lianas, lichens, strangler figs, long roots along trees, and mosses. The lianas that I saw today were called the monkey ladder, in which it looked like a latter, and it stretched the length of the tree. Once again, I saw lichens the whole trip, large bromeliads, and two strangler figs. These plants are just everywhere and everywhere I turn my head, I see epiphytes looking at me.

The frog that was sleeping on leaf was such a thing of beauty. Scott disturbed the sleeping frog by picking him up. I wanted to hole him but I had sunscreen on my hands earlier so I couldn’t hold him. The black-eyed leaf frog then went back to the leaf and we got to see this guy stretch out and it was amazing. He stretched from Scott’s hand to the leaf and it was like a few couple inches!

After the retrieval of I hung out with Keagan and Brendan and we talked about many different things (mostly them telling me lies since I am so gullible). We played ultimate tic-tac-toe and that was fun and just something to kill sometime. Listening to Brendan telling jokes while I was trying to concentrate made the game so memorable. Brendan is seriously funny, and he can really sing his heart out. That does it for today’s blog, catch you guys tomorrow.

Picture: “Sleeping beauty” i.e the morelet’s tree frog

Today I woke up late and missed the bird sighting which was sad since they saw two toucans. As I was enjoying one of the best breakfasts I have had here in Belize, Scott comes in and tells us to take two vials. Then he tells us that we have to pee in these vials without telling us why. We thought he was kidding but nope, we all collected 50mL of our urine, which we found out will be using as pitfall traps for our experiment.

Along the Maya trail and the 50-hectare plot, I saw bromeliads, lianas, lichens, strangler figs, long roots along trees, and mosses. Bromeliads that I saw today were bigger than other bromeliads I have seen yesterday. These tank epiphytes had long leaves and they were filled with water and even some arthropods! The lichens that I have seen today were everywhere and seem to be found everywhere on other plants. It’s pretty great to see epiphytes everywhere you go in the Chiquibul region.

We got to explore the cave that lies underneath a Mayan site here at Las Cuevas. I did almost slip a few times, but I had rocks to grab on to for safety. Today’s lectures were given in the caves and that was a great experience since we were at nature’s natural air conditioning unit. We all sat around on the rocks and listened to the lectures given.

After dinner, we all went on a short night hike and I can say it was an adventure. We saw this cockroach that has this glue-like substance near the rear-end. Very cool and we got to “play” with it. As we were walking towards the pond, Brendan pointed at a stem and told me he thought it was something. It turned out that something was in fact something and that it was a stick bug. It blended in so well it took lots of “work” to see this stick bug, and I got to hold this little guy. And that wraps up this blog. See you guys tomorrow!

Picture: My reaction to nature’s air-condition unit (the cave at Las Cuevas)

Today has been a full day of hiking where we went to set up our camera traps for our research. Let me tell you. If every day is going to be me walking up HUGE hills, I don’t know if I will make it. Observing other taxonomic groups and my group, epiphytes, has made it worthwhile. Oh, and hopefully we will see a jaguar! I can say this whole day of hiking feels like the most exercise I have ever had in my life.

As we were walking towards the top right corner of the 50-hectare plot, this bee would not stop hovering over me! Brendan and Keegan were both there and it was hovering the three of us for a good amount of time. Also, every time I have fallen, Brendan was behind me (at Rio in the pool and our hike today). EVERY TIME. I will keep this in mind on our next hike and hopefully Brendan will not say, “Be careful Michael”.

Along the 50-hectare plot, lots of ferns and mosses were present. These epiphytic plants were found to be on one side of the trees, and it was cool to see that characteristic on multiple trees! Along the monkey tail trail, I saw lichens for the whole 45-minute hike to the end point of our methodology. I could identify more and more species today as we saw more bromeliads, large veins, and lots of lianas hanging from tree to tree.

After the hike back from the monkey tail trail, I took a shower and as soon as I finished, Scott yells, “Scarlet Macaw!!”. I quickly ran to the balcony by lab/dining area and I saw two just chilling up on the trees! Rare site guys, and I can say that life is complete. Hearing the calls that they make; it is just so loud that you cannot miss it. Well that does it for my blog today since I have had a very tiring day. See you tomorrow! CAWWCNAW!!

Picture: Sheer beauty of the Scarlet Macaw.

Hello friends today was the big day! had an early start to the day, but a good kind of start since it’s the big day. Met everyone at 6 in the morning and we had a last minute check of our gear before heading to the airport.

Security at the airport was extremely fast. I don’t think I’ve ever gone through customs and security as fast as I did today. Had some potatoes for breakfast and a nice bottle of water. We sat in the plane for about an hour before we actually took off, but as soon as the plane left Houston, I was out.

We arrived in Belize at 11:58 and we quickly got out on to the road. As soon as we were on the road, I could see lots of epiphytes. As we made our way to lunch, I saw more epiphytes, and lots of observations were made in the car ride to lunch. I saw lots of pollution in the sides of the road, saw an Asian restaurant, and we all saw a wildfire firsthand. As we were eating at the restaurant, Scott also pointed out a termite mound that was above ground, on a tree branch! First taste of Belize was so good, and the soup sop juice i could drink for days!

Picture 1: You can see the roots of these epiphytes and how they stretch to the ground, characteristics of Hemi-epiphytes.

Picture 2: Ferns that were spotted at lunch.

Later in the day at the lodge, we went for a swim in the river. Along the trail to the river, we saw lots of ants, “mammals”, and plants that we all looked at prior to the trip! Being in Belize for only a few hours and seeing the diversity of epiphytes has made all the reading worth it. That’s a wrap for this blog! See you for day 2!