Day 3: Real-life Jungle Cruise

Admittedly, the work part of today was a little frustrating for me because it felt like there was a “right” answer that remained elusive. But, the day wrapped up with two choices for an activity. I’m sure the hike was great exercise, but as soon as I saw the option for a boat ride, all this Disneyland-lover could think was they were literally offering a cruise in the jungle! And with a great local guide and colleagues who are good spotters, it didn’t disappoint. Our small boat headed upstream past monkeys, iguanas, caiman, birds, etc., stopping to observe each of them and making sure everyone saw them. So glad I went. 

View on the river

Iguana on the riverbank

Caiman

We returned with plenty of time before dark, so I joined a few colleagues to walk a nearby path for some more exploring before dinner.

Monkey!

Along the trail at dusk

Day 2: Night Hike

I’m a night owl by nature, but the sun comes up early here and the critters never stop making noises, so it wasn’t a problem getting out of bed with my alarm. The bridge looked far less foreboding in the daytime, and it was an easy walk from our cabin to the dining area. 

Our cabin

The bridge connecting the two parts of the campus.

On my way to the session, a colleague helped me spot a Jesus Christ lizard on a tree branch that I’d completely missed (this would be a theme for the week). Its name comes from its ability to run on water, but the branch was so high up and the lizard so content, there was no way I’d get to see a demonstration. Our first day of the retreat included a presentation from our Costa Rica program, and it was inspiring to learn about all their efforts and how they tie together. I also appreciated seeing my tax dollars at work, as USAID funded the air-conditioned room that we used for all our sessions. The room didn’t have a view, but they were great about building in breaks into the agenda, including snacks on a balcony overlooking the forest. After dinner, we broke into smaller groups and went on a night hike. I was so impressed at my colleagues ability to spot different animals–truly “eyes to see” and “ears to hear”. Plenty of frogs, birds, insects, etc., and I was also grateful that the only snake we encountered was at the very end, and was a tiny one that’s not poisonous and was sitting on a leaf. I’d wanted to see a sloth and was a little disappointed we hadn’t found one on our hike, but at the very end someone noticed that one had crawled onto the bridge’s suspension wires! It made for perfect viewing, and was a little funny that it had probably been there (or close by) the whole time.

The largest insect I saw all week--thankfully on an outdoor sheet from a safe distance.

Sloth!

Day 1: En Route to the Jungle

I was thrilled when work announced our department retreat would be in Costa Rica at the La Selva Biological Station. The first day was entirely spent in travel, arriving at La Selva after dark. Our van missed the welcome and orientation, but we got our keys and a quick overview after dinner.

It was pitch black leaving the dining area, and colleagues with bright flashlights helped us find our cabins which were in two main areas. The walk began with crossing a long suspension bridge in the dark that swayed as we crossed over a river with our luggage, and for a moment I wondered what I was getting into. Before we even made it halfway across the bridge, my colleague Carlos excitedly pointed out a bird on a nearby tree that I would never have noticed in the dark (or the daytime for that matter–it was practically camouflage with the branch).

I was relieved to see our cabins had a bathroom, and hoped no critters would be joining us inside during the week. Before calling it a night, we had a bit of a Goldilocks moment when a colleague found a group of researchers in the room she’d been assigned to, rather than her bunkmates, and we couldn’t get a hold of her assigned bunkmate to find out what happened. I joined her on the walk to solve the mystery with a few others from the team, and we were nearly to the furthest dorms when we learned she’d only been moved to the cabin next door. It made for an interesting orientation to that part of the grounds, anyway. Our cabins had an overhead fan and screened windows, which were little match for the heat and humidity, so despite the long day it took a while to fall asleep.