The Story Behind the Wounds

So I never really finished recounting the details of my trip over the bicycle handlebars. Let me start by mentioning this is actually the 3rd accident that the particular vehicle has been involved with while under my watchful eye- I was only the driver for 2 of these incidents, the other was while the bike was under Shea’s care (there was some drunken debauchery here, I have no such excuse, for my bike accidents anyway). & back to Erin, I am certain she is really shocked to read these ramblings after watching me nearly run into a bright yellow pole that was directly in front of us in broad daylight, again totally sober, amongst several other peel outs & very close calls. You would think I was some kind of wild mountain biker or something, but no, these incidents generally occur on strait forward cement.

I had just finished a long day in the lab & was excitedly heading out on the bike for one of our perfect yoga sessions in the Swiss Family Robinson house. I was carrying several items & when attempting take off realized that I had better pack some stuff away first. So I put everything except my umbrella in my already heavy backpack & cheerfully headed down the trail towards the River Station where we live. I got about 20 meters down the trail & my mind had wandered away from the important matter at hand- riding the bike without injuring anyone- when I was surprised by a party of 3 heading towards me around the corner. I quickly squeezed the brake of the hand that not holding the umbrella. It had been raining heavily- a regular occurrence in the tropical rainforest- & since this bike had been sitting in the rain all day nothing really happened when the pressure was applied. I guess I panicked & squeezed the brake about as hard as I could, as it turns out this was the front brake & as best I can ascertain I was promptly thrown forward in a sort of a somersault fashion, with the bike, my huge backpack & myself kind of in a big pile left skidding across the cement. My tank top was pulled over or under, my bra was covered in dirt & both my body & my ego were severely scraped & bruised. It was pointed out to me that I was dripping blood & may need to seek medical attention- I limped the rest of the way to my room & found my roomie, Chris & friend Kellie chatting. I was kind of laughing hysterically by this time, mostly due to wounded pride, but after the blood was noted my emergency team sprung into action. Brenda came prepared with a well stocked first aid supplies (note to self: bring one!) & is not afraid of a little gore, Kellie has a background in Search & Rescue, & Chris provided a little ego first aid & valued friendship by complementing my tenacity, if not my grace. I was in good hands, especially when Emily joined the bathroom party to add some more humor & moral support.

I thought that I had some pretty good excuses/ reasons for these accidents, but after discussing the event with one of the party- Scott from Alabama- who I thought I nearly ran over, I am forced to seriously question my skills. He reports that I had a good 10 yards of stopping room when I took my tumble. Oh well.

So I thought I was up to some yoga today. Which was good, but I discovered that I had even more bruises than is obvious- when going into chataranga I found the mild roadrash across my left chest was accompanied by some deep bruising, on top of my obviously bruised left knee, inner right knee, right thigh & hip, right elbow, chin & right eye socket/ cheek. But in reality I am just really happy to have not knocked a tooth out here in the jungle & I know that this is all an important lesson in something- mindfulness I think…

Update: Mel's Near Death Experience

(Check out cool GJL armpit hair above:)

Okay I am just going to start this out with a shout out to my dear friend Erin Drake, who will not be at all surprised by this at this latest story about my hard core biking skills! So I was a little distracted after a hard days work in the lab & after some serious stats courtesy of our latest La Selva arrival Dwight (& of course dear friend Chris...

Check Out Brenda's New Post (Link to Right)

I am famous now.

Oh the Cloud Forest

Monte Verde- the Cloud Forest

Just returned to La Selva from an adventure in the cloud forest of Monte Verde- & I am tired! ~ a 5 hr bus ride from here & 3 days strait in the field, with much up, down & over hiking & trail blazing. I have a ever deepening respect for a well wielded machete! Made some new friends (a couple of them park employees with afore mentioned machetes). We are starting some work for/ with the Tropical Science Center so collected soil samples from another (besides here at La Selva) tropical wet forest & also tropical dry forest at a lower elevation. Didn't get to see to much animal wildlife, due to the speed of the trailblazing I think. It is such an amazingly beautiful spot, I would love to return & spend some time viewing.

I think that I will continue this story later lest I fall asleep...

Here is a link to the Tropical Science Center's website w/ some info about the cloud forest-
http://www.cct.or.cr/english/reserva_monteverde/historia.php

The Tree Frogs- Don't Try This At Home

7/14/08
So I never wrote about my long night spend wading through the swamp looking for mating tree frogs. It's actually been well over a week now but it was quite an experience, although not for the faint of heart. One does wear rubber boots on this type of venture, but when wading in crotch high swamp water these boots are of small comfort only. Ryan, a new La Selva friend of mine who is studying the feeding habits of toucans, & I had got to be quite good at spotting the tree frogs in El Suampo (as we like to call it, truth be told this is also where some of the crew's drinking & mild trash talking takes place). So when offered the opportunity to tag along & perhaps even help on some research regarding these cool little creatures I jumped at the chance. The recent spotting of a Fer-de-Lance in this new (to me) swamp wasn't really mentioned until the water had hit my thighs, & only one researcher had actually had a leech attach itself- oh well, well worth it just for story value if nothing else!

So the Red Eyed tree frog evidently comes down from the trees to breed & then moves higher up in the canopy again- females only once every 8 wks but males every night I believe. After breeding the male rides the females back on trips down to the water where she fills her bladder in order to moisten the eggs- muy interesante!

So these hardy researching souls were only interested in the matched pairs , we found one pair + another female who was ready to be bred in the lab (none were harmed in this experiment) & I survived to tell the tale!

Comedic Relief

So since I am not providing the juicy details of live at La Selva I am providing the link to my newfound superfunny roommate & workmate/ lab sharer. She has a couple pics of the lab space, living quarters & the super cool bridge that the howler photo was taken on. So check it out with all your spare time
http://brendacampbell-costarica.blogspot.com/

Tried to get to bed early last night so I could get up early & check out the stomach contents of the white breasted wood wren, but unfortunately was waylayed by an extremely large tree coming town right outside the Swiss Family Robinson room. Took the power out for the morning, so no alarm clock, no white breasted wood wren. I did sleep right thru the excitement due to headphones I think, well & a natural talent for sleeping heavily. I took advantage & went back for a much need nap after not sleeping so well.

As a last tidbit- told the 19yr old hotty that I liked his bed, swear I meant his shirt... guess my español is getting better!

love to all, mel

Wildlife Views

Look close for the Caiman



Great Curassow

One big spider

Mama & baby pecarries

Chestnut-mandibled toucan

Finally a good view of a a howler!

Things are great, haven't been on the computer much until tonight- making up for lost time! Here's a few more viewings for the list- if I knew what everything was I would add more...

Birds

Crax rubra- Great Curassow
Penelope purpurascens- Crested Guan
Amazona autumnalis- Red-lored parrot
Baryphthengus martii- Rufous motmot (pretty sure it was a rufous anyway)
Pteroglossus torquatus- Collared aracari
Myiozettes similis- Social flycatcher

Alouatta palliata- Mantled Howler Monkey
Morpho peleides limpida- Blue Morpho
Dendrobates pumilio- Blue Jeans Dart Frog
Coenduo mexicanus- Mexican Hair Porcupine
Iguana iguana- Green Iguana
Ameiva festiva- Central American Whiptail
Caiman crocodilus- Spectacled Caimain

PS

I will add the 2 toed sloth to my wildlife list before I sign off- very cool! My pics aren't great but I should be able to come up with a better one!

Finally... the snakes

Big Daddy Boa

Green Vine Snake

Green Vine Snake says hello

Alright, the internet was refusing to cooperate with my photo uploading when I got to yesterdays grand finale, the snakes! Both of these snakes are very close to my quarters- which my roommate had a better description of- Swiss Family Robinson style. I am thinking that I should just send you a link to hers as she is super funny, maybe when I have the address. For now I will just torment you with wildlife.

Today we trekked thru the jungle looking at sights for a study looking at bacteria on rocks in the rivers, had a lecture/ discussion regarding the microbiology work, Polymerase Chain Reaction here we come! The term just comes with a general sense of coolnees, in case I needed any more!

So evidentally there has been some close calls with actual poisonous here recently- a coral snake I think & a fleur de lance- life on the edge!

I have discovered that wildlife watching doesn't really go along with getting anywhere in a timely fashion, I didn't see as much today just as I didn't have as much time. I was feeling a little moody this am, didn't get enough sleep last night, but met some really cool people in my bldg & cheered up.

cheers for now, I'll continue the list later, I met another cool birder who can help me w/ ID.

luv mel