Fun Flying from Tree to Tree

Today we had the wonderful opportunity to either take a canopy tour over the beautiful forests of Tortuguero or tour the Botanical Gardens.  While in the past the group would split up between the two, everyone decided to do the canopy tour together.  This not only allowed us to have a fun ziplining adventure, but it also showed how much we’ve grown as a group and how comfortable with each other we had gotten.  Even Dr. Attaran and Dr. Boyer joined us!  This company showed the ultimate ability in being sustainable, having all open-air buildings, a fully outdoor business, and little need for electricity (the ziplines close before dark), the company uses minimal resources to provide to its consumers.

With several of us being taken out of our comfort zone, it was a great bonding experience in learning to trust each other more and more.  There were seven long ziplines that we used as well as a practice one that started the course.  In addition, there was a “Tarzan swing” that we had the option to swing on.  Essentially we were hooked onto the rope and got pushed off the platform, swinging between the trees.  After a couple minutes of being pushed around on the swing, we were helped back up and continued on the course.  The guides liked to have some fun with us, too, and played jokes on us.  They would spin us on the swing and sometimes would act like they were going to catch us to bring us up and then “drop” us.  It was interesting experiencing that sort of culture, as I have never seen that happen when I’ve gone ziplining in the US. 

In addition to the zipline, the area was rooted into the forest with a small stream running through it.  In this stream we saw a crocodile, two small turtles, and several fish.  We saw the crocodile snapping at leaves that fell on top of his head with his mouth, anticipating that they were a predator.  However, for about ten minutes we watched one of the baby turtles swim straight to the crocodile.  Thinking that the crocodile would eat the turtle, we were all ready for an epic moment and several of us had cameras ready.  However, to the turtle’s and our relief (we like turtles), when he swam past the crocodile, it didn’t even move, despite the turtle being only about an inch in front of his mouth.  While none of us knew what crocodiles eat as part of their diet, we learned that it either didn’t eat turtles or wasn’t hungry, saving the turtle’s life.

While we didn’t get to go to the Botanical Garden, it is still a beautiful place that I plan to return to one day.  It is a garden that is set up to teach visitors the different species of plants and is actually set up in a way to help visitors identify the different species by highlighting their unique characteristics.  It also highlights plants that are used by humans for various things from food to medicinal uses and pharmaceutical products and describes their uses in the plant descriptions.   There is also a frog pond at the Botanical Garden that shows the stages of the life cycle of the red eyed frog (Agalychnis callidryas) and to help preserve it, as it is an endangered species due to global warming.

--Daniel DiNicola