Day 3: Phenological Studies

I'm at dinner! :D


So hello, let's rush to the jist cause I got lecture right after dinner.

Mandatory up by 5:45 so that we are up and ready at 6:00 to eat and get out of there. Breakfast was essentially plain bow tie and penne pasta, hard a boiled egg, and some vinegar coleslaw thing....not the best but you can't be picky.

We immediately took off for our phenological study day, which is essentially trying to identify the different trees around the area to understand what the primates eat, and we also took samples which we could take back to identify. Mainly we took notes on the amount of leave and if there were any fruits or flowers....which there weren't -_-" Dry season is boring for that.

Anyway on the way we spotted Capuchin monkeys traveling through the canopy and got to practice focal point studying. Essentially pick one of the monkeys and every 2 min. or some interval right down what they are doing. there were two adults and a juvenile, the others weren't visible but they rocketed through the forest. So essentially our notes were "Monkey!" "out of sight ...out of sight....out of sight.....welp" lol

We spent the better part of that day doing the tree stuff and then continued a hike back to camp but it was all uneventful....meaning no monkeys.

We found a centipede....which by the way I was up in its face trying to get a good picture.....didn't but eh I have another good one of it. Yeah centipede shoot cyanide out of their face.....that would not have been fun -_-

We also saw two bullet ants trying to kill each other, but it was a slow battle :(

Otherwise it was uneventful :/ but we saw monkeys :D Monkeys make everything worth it even the fifteen (not really more like three) steep up and down slopes we had to climb....when I say steep I mean vertical lol WHICH BY THE WAY......we all understand I am not the healthiest monkey in the barrel right? Got more to love? .......catchin' my drift? Yeah I'm like running laps around these guys....they keep stopping and chatting small talk and I'm like "I'm missing valuable monkey hunting time people!!" ugh but its fun being in a group

So anyway, we get back for lunch which is this REALLY good like shredded chicken curry thing but MAN they gave a huge portion O.o Usually they're pretty small but I was even getting full at the end.....still pushed through I mean by 3 hours later it's all digested haha I'm not joking...yesterday I walked 10 miles.....today only like 5 but you hear that Yassi.....can you see me through the dust cloud? :P

Anyway after lunch we had lab, took notes on the reasons for phenological studies and such, and will continue with the lecture tonight.

Otherwise it was relaxing time, revising our project proposals, and such. I mainly caught up on reading and finally did laundry :D which means i filled a bucket dumped clothes in and threw detergent in there......squish squish...the water turned black -_-

And of course I forgot my sunglass were on my head and at some point, which means when I went to hang up the laundry some hours later they fell and crunch -_- Still functions just needs glue. I haven't used them anyway....I'm blind without my glasses now my eyes are so used to it and you NEED great eyesight to find monkeys especially when you start chasing through the forest to follow them like I'll be doing on my own soon. But no excuses, but it is fixable. I also stood on an ant hill and got bite on my legs......ants here aren't nice ants....they all hate you.

The biggest news was when we found squirrel monkeys near the camp. Linda came and grabbed me cause we've been hunting for them (they're pretty rare) and she found a big family. So I ran out in what are my pj's with rubber boots...ya know proper jungle excursion attire......cotton doesn't fix with plants that grip to you.... -sigh-

Anyway it was amazing, so many of them jumping through the forest. and THESE....as my dad would say "these are monkeys you want to study" Squirrel monkeys are by far the most adorable monkeys, look 'em up if you don't believe....go on I dare you *viewer discretion is advised: prepare for cuteness*

Haha but it was amazing, and I got pretty good photos. Totally still wish I had that other lens :/ But I ain't complaining.....yes I said ain't :)

Not only did we see squirrel monkeys and by see I mean we watched them for over 20 minutes it was that amazing! There were emperor tamarins around there too! Essentially little monkeys with very outrageous mustaches......no seriously they have mustaches :)

BEST monkey sighting by far....almost made me change my project to comparing how different species run through the forest, but eh aside from there's no point to that I am not going to give myself more work to write a whole new proposal.

Essentially, it got further widdled down with the help of Fo, that I am studying how Brown Capuchin monkeys travel through the forest, at what levels, and if its for foraging or traveling or resting, what types of branches they normally travel on and such and how the young travel compared to the adults. .......Still more widdling, but I'm meeting with the professor tomorrow.

But some of these projects are fascinating. This one guy, Gideon, is here for his 4th year in a row conducting more studying on the parasites in Tamarin poop and a bunch of more technical aspects of such. For example, does parasite A infect the same host as Parasite B and coexist with one another? It gets even more technical with testing hormones and such, but it's all for his dissertation :) More exciting than mine haha but for a first behavioral study I think simple is great :D

Anywho down to the nitty gritty....

Lessons learned:

#1: When walking down steep slopes walk sideways, you get better traction and it also helps  to not have your toes jam into the front of the boot lol

#2: As I've stated many times....there are bugs here. Get in before power turns off if it bothers you, while your lights are still on and as long as you don't have to get up and pee or something to deal with them they are gone by morning........like the cockroach that scurried under my bag when I came back from star gazing last night. Extra gross but shrug it off and no they scurry off before bed

Altho Seamus has a couple still in his drawer xD I also totally had one on its back in the bathroom this morning and when I said I had one it was frikkin;' HUGE! and of course I took a picture! I also smashed it with my shoe....which freaked me out cause it exploded but it was just the mud off my shoe xD

Oh we saw a shooting star last night :D They have alot here. Also the constellations are completely different on the southern hemisphere then they are back home, which makes me sad cause I don't know any. Yes, I am brushing up on it. Found the Southern cross, it's the only one i know xD Looks like a kite in the sky :)

Anyway I'm off. Injury wise, woke up with a sore throat so usually that means something is starting, my guess, Also got a small irritation yesterday on my right shoulder like small and wasnt bothering me. (from me wearing no sleeves :D ) But after todays hike I think with the long sleeves rubbing with the sweat it got more irritated and rashy but it's disappearing now.

Hit my hand on something while hiking alone yesterday I forgot to mention, don't know what the HELL happened but I had a bump on my right thumb and pinky that if you touched it was like knee-buckling painful.......went away after a few hours.

Completely fascinating, weird/strange, and scary all at the same time :D

But I'm still in one piece! Which may or may not stay true when I start running through the forests lol

I'm kinda bummed I'm not bruised up and scratched like everyone else............you know that's  something only I would be upset about xD

Haha until tomorrow,
REN