Welcome to the Jungle

This is  my fourth day in Costa Rica, and already I've gotten into the rainforest, gotten sunburnt, met my fellow OTS students, and learned all about the things that can kill me.  OTS, the Organization for Tropical Studies, has organized my study abroad program and has kindly invited a bunch of undergrads to explore to explore two of their three biological research centers.  When we arrived in San Jose, we were brought to their Costa Rican University headquarters.

The boring classroom.

 Yesterday, we left San Jose for the Las Cruces Biological Research Center.  The student housing happens to be in the middle of a tropical garden.   We were welcomed with a heavy downpour when we unloaded our luggage.

The backyard.

 Of course, we all had to go exploring.  The trails near our house have many non-native plants, and, although the oldest tree is only 150 years old, everything is surprisingly large.

This bamboo is about as big around as my leg.  You can get a good idea of the scale in the photo below; the stalks are in the upper right corner.

With only seventeen of us on the program, we are already getting to know each other relatively well.  Of course, we aren't the only people at Las Cruces.  Every night for dinner, we eat with our teachers, other researchers, and various traveler (mostly birdwatchers) from around the world.

Jamil, Amy, Phia, and myself.   Jamil is the only guy in the picture.  And in the program.  Brave man.

  Although the botanists would disagree, the wildlife around definitely steals the show.  The coati below was wandering near the soccer field with a friend, and agouti, which look like long-legged guinea pigs, wander around the garden.  Allegedly, one of the stations we will be at has been seeing some ocelots recently....

Mr. Coati would probably be less excited about meeting an ocelot than I would be.