Sunday the 5th

This morning, we woke up and had breakfast at 7:30 again. For breakfast, we had an omelette with NO cheese, papaya (not as good as expected), cantaloupe, toast with orange marmalade, and rice and beans. After breakfast, we headed to the classroom for science at 8:30 and got into our groups from yesterday. We began by observing both Atta and Acromyrmex colonies and developing hypothesis to the question: Where does Ecovopsis exist in the ant colonies? After developing our hypothesis and predictions, we carried out our experiment in the lab by putting samples on Petri dishes of PDA (Potato Dextrose Agar) to grow the fungus that we will check on in a few days. We also worked on a couple of readings and activities in our booklets, and then had some free time to play cards before eating lunch.

For lunch we had some sort of rice casserole, plantain chips, and chicken with vegetables. The juice of the meal was a homemade mango juice. After lunch, we loaded up the busses to head into the canopy for zip lining. When we arrived, we all got our harnesses, gloves, and helmets. As a group, we hiked up through the canopy to the first platform. First, they gave us safety instruction, and then we were off down the course. There were twelve different platforms, and on the way we saw a sloth, capuchin monkeys (aka Marcel from Friends). We took several breaks to appreciate the breathtaking view of the mountains and village below. The last platform was much longer than the rest (80 meters), and several of us got stuck at the end.

The Scenic View

We returned from zip lining, and walked ten minutes to the nearby village, where we took a tour of the locally owned butterfly farm. We saw every life stage of the Morpho butterfly, and caterpillars of the Owl butterfly.

Morpho with a broken wing

When we got back from the butterfly farm, we headed straight to dinner. For dinner we ate pork smothered in salsa, salad, broccoli, carrots, and a vegetable called yucca root (like a garlic potato). To drink tonight, we had homemade blackberry juice. For dessert we ate a sweet rice pudding with orange marmalade and cacao nibs. After dinner, we headed back to the classroom to check on the results of our first experiment. We counted the bacteria that we found within our petri dishes, and analyzed the data to see if it was statistically significant. Then we watched a few clips about ants to prepare for our day in the field tomorrow.