Day 4- Sunday July 8

Today we began the science heavy days of our trip. In the morning, we did a lab on escovopsis, the malignant fungus that parasitizes the fungus garden of the leaf cutter ants. We took samples from different areas of the colonies to and placed them in petri dishes to see which areas harbor the most of the escovopsis spores. We will check back in a day to monitor their growth.

For lunch we had a salad, chicken and rice with refried beans and plantain chips, a hearty Costa Rican meal for our valiant crew. We began to place chocolate orders today, which are worth the price for their rich sweet flavor.

After lunch, we began to work on our experiments and project proposals. We researched the ants using the laptops provided. During this time, we also saw a parrot fly fast and directly into a wall. After a brief period of time it got back up and flew away unscathed. Andy, one of our instructors, told us that the parrot was likely drunk after eating fermented fruit, crazy huh? We were also fortunate enough to watch our instructor Andy bark at some howler monkeys, and continued to get closer barking and clapping to enrage the beasts to react. Fortunately, the dogs began to bark and it helped the cause the monkeys to howl back in a similar fashion.

Right after we had a coffee break at 3:45, during which students drank up to four cups of coffee and we went through multiple rounds of pastries provided by the chefs. These delicacies were a favorite amongst all involved. After this we worked for another hour fine tuning our experiments and developing presentations to share with our peers and advisors, which were overseen by Allen and Andy.

 After this we broke for dinner, a steak and gravy with sweet potatoes, baby corn, and a soup. Dessert was a coconut ball that had a consistency of warm cookie dough, served on a leaf and covered in chocolate nibs. It was exquisite. Following our meal, we presented our projects ideas to the group and received constructive criticism which we will use to further improve our experiments. After the end of we headed back to our rooms to play a game of cards. We had an early night because we need energy for an early day. Breakfast is at 6 am on Monday!  We are really looking forward to the trip ahead and we are hoping for the end of nuptial flight season of the bullet ants. We will keep you all posted about the full day of fun tomorrow.

Lucas and Jack