tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67252861045481301052024-03-13T01:37:33.832-07:00Esta Cali-enteCat and Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02470326950739759311noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6725286104548130105.post-44322061957718841612016-07-22T08:28:00.000-07:002016-07-22T08:28:07.496-07:00Al Fin<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>14 July 2016</b></div>
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I had a very hard time going to sleep last night. I think
I just had so much running through my head (an uncomfortable belly filled with
pork) & an unexpected feeling of awkwardness coming back into civilization.
I really wasn’t expecting that, considering it was only 3 weeks. There’s also a
little bit of sadness that the field work is over for me now & I’ll be
heading back to “reality” soon. Though I realize all vacations end like that
& I’m not dreading going back home by any means, just trying to process
stuff, I suppose.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaxY8VP-uqb8F99n-O7gEw70_tQ8fyyedHyGX4dTq05c0EK03TeLtyHPRrz9mf3kg6_oYOEFf_vW5WI9JmY_kUMRvF0ircWoQ9uuTVZvVESQT7LR6RHHgU0cswSXEztlElxCn4mr-LnSg/s1600/Black-billed+peppershrike+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaxY8VP-uqb8F99n-O7gEw70_tQ8fyyedHyGX4dTq05c0EK03TeLtyHPRrz9mf3kg6_oYOEFf_vW5WI9JmY_kUMRvF0ircWoQ9uuTVZvVESQT7LR6RHHgU0cswSXEztlElxCn4mr-LnSg/s640/Black-billed+peppershrike+%25281%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Black-billed peppershrike</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9-1ffFu2lrAE9-ZDrHaXtiSns_vpT5ZpunR0Xq_-TOfcXoaK6mOtuFm-52m2ZFtNTfVJq9PM9xURSxiEt35-wwtNhmVMwt5XC3FQj3h8zs6Gopo_yjczXTzh_thspU3l4CMuI91KfB30/s1600/Black-billed+peppershrike+%25283%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9-1ffFu2lrAE9-ZDrHaXtiSns_vpT5ZpunR0Xq_-TOfcXoaK6mOtuFm-52m2ZFtNTfVJq9PM9xURSxiEt35-wwtNhmVMwt5XC3FQj3h8zs6Gopo_yjczXTzh_thspU3l4CMuI91KfB30/s640/Black-billed+peppershrike+%25283%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Black-billed peppershrike</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizv6sCUQTKF6REmLmQrQT-xZbJ4puCMzg7F6E2XR4bOIaXTCi30VBqvILNVtqVNsULfNkboAK9k4p7ggkj-BenmGvSbjIgdHQi27VgWtjHTuM2TnSwRHyBIg6D_QpBQwe4QGM3zvRMujE/s1600/Female+White-sided+flowerpiercer.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizv6sCUQTKF6REmLmQrQT-xZbJ4puCMzg7F6E2XR4bOIaXTCi30VBqvILNVtqVNsULfNkboAK9k4p7ggkj-BenmGvSbjIgdHQi27VgWtjHTuM2TnSwRHyBIg6D_QpBQwe4QGM3zvRMujE/s640/Female+White-sided+flowerpiercer.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Female White-sided flowerpiercer</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtVilj-LN6MLbOLiQKcLUIJ0d56RH0WCAxJ6QAZMrc-MiHDcofmRvCC_VRYNscBNzxzOoukNoG0roNBx0wYb3k1Qmn7_VjAigEy9IcIHRoP7pnyJGyyxQufnjgtBcjpXdnr-ZzMPFFNUw/s1600/Female+Green-and-black+fruiteater.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtVilj-LN6MLbOLiQKcLUIJ0d56RH0WCAxJ6QAZMrc-MiHDcofmRvCC_VRYNscBNzxzOoukNoG0roNBx0wYb3k1Qmn7_VjAigEy9IcIHRoP7pnyJGyyxQufnjgtBcjpXdnr-ZzMPFFNUw/s640/Female+Green-and-black+fruiteater.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Female Green-and-black fruiteater</td></tr>
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I will miss the birds, the cloud forest, Tatiana’s
arepas, & Loki a little bit too ;) I will NOT miss the damn rooster, being
awake before 7am, freezing cold water, biting insects, scrambled eggs or cold
rice & beans. I’m really looking forward to fresh vegetables, hot water
& sleeping in late (!), a washing machine, never eating eggs again, warm
weather & dry socks! :)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2ThTZQiw8YAs5QY4S4EPV3dEf6mKMse03V3WpZnCcwBvEyqiu0AHbgb0y66tpK19VHM2fXE6SEgnDxEYyrsl196jyJT-yPVLcrjepdjLyg_JdAbfBbMs6Yam8Oo21fGYTd7KRuxwXCsY/s1600/Streak-necked+flycatcher+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2ThTZQiw8YAs5QY4S4EPV3dEf6mKMse03V3WpZnCcwBvEyqiu0AHbgb0y66tpK19VHM2fXE6SEgnDxEYyrsl196jyJT-yPVLcrjepdjLyg_JdAbfBbMs6Yam8Oo21fGYTd7KRuxwXCsY/s640/Streak-necked+flycatcher+%25282%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Streak-necked flycatcher</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFlPXpuSoR4HVNZD2FoFK4HSj7P-UzyPgqn4F560MOrW7OOebn_Ct31tOWkfg2PVeJEwll2nlgyw70gyhn3C3IZ4daQf7EAr3lH7kTh8BjrXE_Nm3zk9rmXk86vv_mV-16HdJUSNS1AmY/s1600/Streak-necked+flycatcher+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFlPXpuSoR4HVNZD2FoFK4HSj7P-UzyPgqn4F560MOrW7OOebn_Ct31tOWkfg2PVeJEwll2nlgyw70gyhn3C3IZ4daQf7EAr3lH7kTh8BjrXE_Nm3zk9rmXk86vv_mV-16HdJUSNS1AmY/s640/Streak-necked+flycatcher+%25281%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These were my favorite & I will miss them</td></tr>
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<span style="text-align: left;">I had to laugh at myself that my body woke itself up
around 4am today, regardless of the fact that I didn’t need to – but was
thankful that I was able to go back to sleep for a full, glorious 10 hours of
sleep last night! Now I need to shower, charge my stuff, grab some food, &
head to the airport in order to meet Nick in Bogotá tonight, followed by a
quick week-long vacation in Colombia together. But not before playing for a
while the adorable new addition to the hostel!!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyebKiCbAbXpr-I4u1KFU4Sm-9RcoOWGkxa74lqGLzKNeNtrZ_exVvZArHEAdX_xWhBZyk-2JHVYdxPVqp-H4xvvPL3YEqYHh4Vu1LuYP1X8xMswPhymFM8KSQUjdZNXM5SNFTDTzuC6Q/s1600/Hostel+Kitten+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyebKiCbAbXpr-I4u1KFU4Sm-9RcoOWGkxa74lqGLzKNeNtrZ_exVvZArHEAdX_xWhBZyk-2JHVYdxPVqp-H4xvvPL3YEqYHh4Vu1LuYP1X8xMswPhymFM8KSQUjdZNXM5SNFTDTzuC6Q/s640/Hostel+Kitten+%25281%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE2n-AV7-ruV0zlcg4uwSTPKY2xJy-l6hVAS3X_up_kY2Lov_S3BNmM9_k5ux6RWHBaJ6Slh_RMouIhz138fNH7Ee9ymzyPfWxetxgyxv6eEPqGlog3KTGuffv9jTKUoroyx0JpWmcYyw/s1600/Hostel+Kitten+%25283%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE2n-AV7-ruV0zlcg4uwSTPKY2xJy-l6hVAS3X_up_kY2Lov_S3BNmM9_k5ux6RWHBaJ6Slh_RMouIhz138fNH7Ee9ymzyPfWxetxgyxv6eEPqGlog3KTGuffv9jTKUoroyx0JpWmcYyw/s640/Hostel+Kitten+%25283%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFhMc5AP-lB4nZo-GZtVZk9XGYU10V4onf4akZtTDvd7bcBNYhuLzbP_WxyMT2dfGm3JhSNC9a9IQRflwB2HJfUmoATg_g3aPlhh8q4MVg-5Jyv5lOsPE7JTyIu0kvhp-UixiiWpTvZlk/s1600/Hostel+Kitten+%25284%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFhMc5AP-lB4nZo-GZtVZk9XGYU10V4onf4akZtTDvd7bcBNYhuLzbP_WxyMT2dfGm3JhSNC9a9IQRflwB2HJfUmoATg_g3aPlhh8q4MVg-5Jyv5lOsPE7JTyIu0kvhp-UixiiWpTvZlk/s640/Hostel+Kitten+%25284%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Watch out Nick, this is gonna be our lives VERY soon!!!! ;)</td></tr>
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Cat and Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02470326950739759311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6725286104548130105.post-51133358722225435682016-07-22T08:21:00.001-07:002016-07-22T08:21:05.262-07:00Always Be Flexible<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>13 July 2016</b></div>
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My last day to wake up at 4am!! (…at least until I start
teaching at Pasadena next month, but at least that’s only 1 day a week.) I
joined Mario & Luke for a half-day of mist netting; sadly, Tatiana’s knee
was hurting her a lot & she decided to rest it for the day. Of course, we
didn’t catch much, being the 3<sup>rd</sup> day at this site, but it was
nonetheless eventful. I followed a large brown snake along the path for a
while. We finally had a brief respite of sun that I think even the snake was
trying to take advantage of (I was surprised that having gone without sun for
so long, hiking about 30 minutes in broad daylight already had my face slightly
sun burned). Not sure what species it was; didn’t get a good look at the head,
but don’t think it was venomous. I also had to disentangle a poor little streak-necked
flycatcher (probably my favorite bird here because they’re so common; cute
little guys that can’t tear your hands a part) that must have been struggling
in pretty badly because when I finally got it out, I noticed that its neck was
raw & bloody. Poor thing was quite entangled & must have been trying to
wiggle its way out for a while, severely rubbing against the net. I felt so bad
for it I wasn’t at all bothered when it frantically flew out of my hands once I
had freed it from the net (Shh, don’t tell Mario). There’s nothing we could
have done for it anyway – it would have just been kept it in captivity to be
processed for even more time – so at least it got to fly away without being
molested by humans any longer. Whether it lives or not, I have no idea, but it
might heal on its own. Fingers crossed.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF2-5QHB8ElCqGfgP3tKU0V2F0J46gIIi96lilvoq90zoZyYwyApcrL1uJRIO3TuVagy7jEpVfPzWezv5_AqCLtn1jlA25HWyyt8ouEYAbmE25yh0LezU99g5gGLloOxBSsjBOTWxxwgQ/s1600/Blue-winged+mountain+tanager+%25284%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF2-5QHB8ElCqGfgP3tKU0V2F0J46gIIi96lilvoq90zoZyYwyApcrL1uJRIO3TuVagy7jEpVfPzWezv5_AqCLtn1jlA25HWyyt8ouEYAbmE25yh0LezU99g5gGLloOxBSsjBOTWxxwgQ/s640/Blue-winged+mountain+tanager+%25284%2529.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blue-winged mountain tanager</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDOC9BaB-DNBI31OLUo5vK23LeSgMRysi-6M1F0NE0VKQ2RzgSjSPVXCgNqLhqixos2q0y4JthBqQ-euNeZBwk1ZX9RNhSW-TyckmhmbZUQACCqzfQZXZpkBnRVq8dychq8xh_mkBHgX4/s1600/Blue-winged+mountain+tanager+%25286%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDOC9BaB-DNBI31OLUo5vK23LeSgMRysi-6M1F0NE0VKQ2RzgSjSPVXCgNqLhqixos2q0y4JthBqQ-euNeZBwk1ZX9RNhSW-TyckmhmbZUQACCqzfQZXZpkBnRVq8dychq8xh_mkBHgX4/s640/Blue-winged+mountain+tanager+%25286%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blue-winged mountain tanager</td></tr>
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I kind of felt like the harbinger of death after that.
Since I was going back to Cali today, Mario decided this would be a good time
to collect some hummingbird species for the University of ICESI’s bird
collection. So after we captured 3 hummingbirds of a particular species that
the museum was lacking, Mario didn’t release them: he just left them hanging on
a tree in a bag so they would slowly freeze & starve to death (hummingbirds
have a very high, demanding metabolism to keeps their bodies really warm). I
realize museums have been collecting live species like this for centuries &
it’s all in the name of science, but it still felt bad to “kill” them (i.e. let
their body temp drop until they slowly fall asleep & never wake up). Harbinger
of death.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJi7hfA2KnExU-ccKpqQRCVskIZaUBFo-PVTHKqiZliZ_wzkpxNeQvZHQFYbwq75akiSYWXjBwM0iciWWcNT9vSkuKQ0fBTC-W89TbXj8qBEvxrzjaGtou68Q2weHvgfNHCAZ-iLhsulk/s1600/Female+Collared+Inca+hummingbird+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJi7hfA2KnExU-ccKpqQRCVskIZaUBFo-PVTHKqiZliZ_wzkpxNeQvZHQFYbwq75akiSYWXjBwM0iciWWcNT9vSkuKQ0fBTC-W89TbXj8qBEvxrzjaGtou68Q2weHvgfNHCAZ-iLhsulk/s640/Female+Collared+Inca+hummingbird+%25281%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Female Collared Inca hummingbird (already falling into death sleep)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXXDQ9e-CGWmz-sf0cLQn35CsxMd3lNxFHKGS2bqK5-xzjH0JW424dBuyyGvIkdIhnvO7LPKQHNGYZ2hBDFJFeYlUxo4giAIvrHxxEpU3fHxkGxwdoE4kIYkiDuqQZgXCcAFgmoVEsJKw/s1600/Female+Collared+Inca+hummingbird+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXXDQ9e-CGWmz-sf0cLQn35CsxMd3lNxFHKGS2bqK5-xzjH0JW424dBuyyGvIkdIhnvO7LPKQHNGYZ2hBDFJFeYlUxo4giAIvrHxxEpU3fHxkGxwdoE4kIYkiDuqQZgXCcAFgmoVEsJKw/s640/Female+Collared+Inca+hummingbird+%25282%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Female Collared Inca hummingbird</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Zxog7R9BdX2wQg6FuaVJeOGVq0PEKJz5SyoYUXl8uSMahb4XZHpZojkOMixNR_c98mwdT4l4V1JtrRhn9FuQK8-VvbUHgZhNU4gxpgLkK8jsfd2rIM9qSXWvkBQieHzBALr2GWGQ0Is/s1600/Female+Collared+Inca+hummingbird+%25283%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Zxog7R9BdX2wQg6FuaVJeOGVq0PEKJz5SyoYUXl8uSMahb4XZHpZojkOMixNR_c98mwdT4l4V1JtrRhn9FuQK8-VvbUHgZhNU4gxpgLkK8jsfd2rIM9qSXWvkBQieHzBALr2GWGQ0Is/s640/Female+Collared+Inca+hummingbird+%25283%2529.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">She'll make a very pretty museum specimen</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
When we closed up shop around midday & headed back to
the station for lunch, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Tatiana had
scored some chicken from the neighboring farmer. Real meat (not just canned
tuna or defrosted hotdogs – something the farmer brought to us before under the
guide of “salchichón”)! Sadly, however, the person coming to pick me up didn’t
arrive as planned around midday (of course); she arrived at around 2pm with an
Englishman who is now also joining the group. Just my luck that now that I’m
leaving, when I’m feeling more comfortable & really confident in the work,
we get more foreigners that I can talk to! Part of me is regretting leaving
early but arrangements have been made & either way, the timing works out
better for me & Nick anyway; so what’s done is done. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXlw77oKz1ThFbBH1_5tp1Ppkz01402JiXXrddqvxTlsrEoqdxZjEsIQ4oLSUOi0CagERTHik32Mixn0tJP4F5CRJQaC9M3YeUWGKBbKRTEpzbRw1zuD9heQniIH4pZZ0kEKkaZmSOtPU/s1600/Mountain+cacique+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXlw77oKz1ThFbBH1_5tp1Ppkz01402JiXXrddqvxTlsrEoqdxZjEsIQ4oLSUOi0CagERTHik32Mixn0tJP4F5CRJQaC9M3YeUWGKBbKRTEpzbRw1zuD9heQniIH4pZZ0kEKkaZmSOtPU/s640/Mountain+cacique+%25281%2529.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mountain cacique</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyLsZ0miciYozknodrDmkwWqTdO3MGjd3zjkw5nekpspguxtrbXyj-kUNzNkkhHD-hTtJERqifExxKC-tZ4RujL5aUi0LzYHLOKA8lHMu_7n5iV0dJGJXHEnkHVW4IkA39N_ddNj2ePFI/s1600/Mountain+cacique+%25283%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyLsZ0miciYozknodrDmkwWqTdO3MGjd3zjkw5nekpspguxtrbXyj-kUNzNkkhHD-hTtJERqifExxKC-tZ4RujL5aUi0LzYHLOKA8lHMu_7n5iV0dJGJXHEnkHVW4IkA39N_ddNj2ePFI/s640/Mountain+cacique+%25283%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mountain cacique</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
So as the Colombians went for a (2 hour!) stroll around
the place to catch up with old friends, Luke & I sat around & got to
know the English guy (who, I was surprised to learn knows even less Spanish
than I do – thank goodness he’s got Luke going into this!) & I got caught
up on a first-hand account of Britain leaving the E.U. When the Colombians
finally came back to the station, I was informed that we still wouldn’t be able
to leave until after 7pm now because the woman picking me up has a specific
license plate number that isn’t allowed to enter Cali between the weekday hours
of 5-8pm (I guess Cali has some regulations to try & control traffic
congestion). And since it takes an hour to get into Cali from here, we would
have to wait. Brilliant. Thanks.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaB3Q3OuCi2B_jqLouC_7HQZHIVat09ebeUESy3FkB-NQZnCinM-OftUbRxGUFuhcmqIY0_votQeI1iWGH307Yvnh9ypeeTPmAVrqzY1f1qMLU4Q4bzatFVzaGbgTOs73e4ro6bInax4U/s1600/Feeding+Hummingbird+Agua+de+Panela.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaB3Q3OuCi2B_jqLouC_7HQZHIVat09ebeUESy3FkB-NQZnCinM-OftUbRxGUFuhcmqIY0_votQeI1iWGH307Yvnh9ypeeTPmAVrqzY1f1qMLU4Q4bzatFVzaGbgTOs73e4ro6bInax4U/s640/Feeding+Hummingbird+Agua+de+Panela.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Feeding aqua de panela to (non-specimen) hummingbird</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifj3r-B9JujyBRxtvXoDN8yerPrh3EasT5QDwxiTSOr-mcbhQw05IQskDLca85DNt67_5zwvoIR1SQhODIGscJqtOR0cF4abEYA8-0CD2VwIUI6oeCuq4zuInbWjl5k7fnFt7cjVrcHFM/s1600/Speckled+hummingbird+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifj3r-B9JujyBRxtvXoDN8yerPrh3EasT5QDwxiTSOr-mcbhQw05IQskDLca85DNt67_5zwvoIR1SQhODIGscJqtOR0cF4abEYA8-0CD2VwIUI6oeCuq4zuInbWjl5k7fnFt7cjVrcHFM/s640/Speckled+hummingbird+%25281%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Speckled hummingbird</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
So everyone but me & Tatiana went off into the forest
for another 2.5 hours to help Mario track his bird nests. We stayed to process
some data & just hang out. There was no real reason for me to get back to
Cali early, other than to have some time to relax & check email, reconnect
to the outside world (i.e. call my mom so she doesn’t keep worrying
unnecessarily), but I have to laugh at the idea of “best laid plans…”. Just like
previous field work, everything has to be flexible; schedules, I’ve learned,
are really a nebulous thing in the field. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDxjTV-IwcuIFR7A4uTt5rtop-L0W9Yzv3vZtSNBvUIELidpWA-Nl08pyakldRYLpuziQn-PJjTsKc0dZ1lDyoxNdlt68yqZAtbwzO-spq3K4SA4m5dPujQsV7M-axoUqNmGt35zl47qA/s1600/Flavescent+flycatcher+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDxjTV-IwcuIFR7A4uTt5rtop-L0W9Yzv3vZtSNBvUIELidpWA-Nl08pyakldRYLpuziQn-PJjTsKc0dZ1lDyoxNdlt68yqZAtbwzO-spq3K4SA4m5dPujQsV7M-axoUqNmGt35zl47qA/s640/Flavescent+flycatcher+%25281%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flavescent flycatcher (so tiny & cute!!)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I finally got back to Cali around 9pm. It was kind of a
sad goodbye at the station. Mario & Tatiana seemed generally sad to see me
go, which was nice to think I had contributed something positive even if for
such a short time. (I also made a gift of my 1<sup>st</sup> aid kit to Mario
with the liquid bandage & alcohol swabs – he thought that was funny.) And I
too was a little reluctant to be leaving early, as mentioned before. I think,
too, Tatiana was not looking forward to now being the only girl in the group.
;) Although we did get a nice treat when the English guy just dropped trou (underwear
still one but enjoyable nonetheless) to change his pants in the middle of the
common room. So maybe there’ll be perks, after all ;)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSSkZ2xkFOB6QeRbIh84Xvj49IMRkhkjP44ujWCbn-DEAvdd8wkT5f29zfG6uFAfDVqZAbKlrdro7SeS4QaRO5bvsdpDvheQXz41i_ITjZ4qzHIDidQ4Lo3YG5KWlYIq9UDDfKQq7PDyg/s1600/Spotted+barbtail.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSSkZ2xkFOB6QeRbIh84Xvj49IMRkhkjP44ujWCbn-DEAvdd8wkT5f29zfG6uFAfDVqZAbKlrdro7SeS4QaRO5bvsdpDvheQXz41i_ITjZ4qzHIDidQ4Lo3YG5KWlYIq9UDDfKQq7PDyg/s640/Spotted+barbtail.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spotted barbtail</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I was exhausted upon arriving back at the hostel, having
been up since 4am, & was surprised to receive such a warm, familiar welcome
from the hostel staff. Very nice guys. There’s a lot more people at the hostel
right now (mostly, of course, young 20-something Europeans who quit their jobs
to travel in South American for a year or so), so I joined them when they ordered
some take out from a local BBQ place (eating a bunch of ribs after nearly a
month of vegetarianism did not turn out to be such a good digestive decision)
& got to hear about their travels. I don’t know if it was my sheltered
upbringing, my ignorance of the world at that age, or just the insular culture
of the U.S. (or a combination thereof), but it never occurred to me that I had
the ability to just leave everything behind & travel around the world for a
year as a single 20 year-old female with no agenda, no plan & very little
money, just willingness & a passport. My nearly 40 cranky old self is
definitely envious of their youth & cajones.<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Cat and Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02470326950739759311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6725286104548130105.post-89699527138875575152016-07-22T08:09:00.003-07:002016-07-22T08:09:49.286-07:00Penúltimo Dia<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>12 July 2016</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Got into an interesting conversation with Mario &
Tatiana this morning about what it was like growing up in Colombia the last 20
years during the guerilla wars & the drug cartels. They said they’re happy
about the recent peace accords in Cuba made between the Colombian government
& the FARC, but are still slightly skeptical that it will be lasting peace.
Fortunately for them, they grew up in a fairly largish city outside the capital
of Bogot<em><span style="background: white; color: #6a6a6a; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">á</span></em>, so there wasn’t too
much danger in their immediate vicinity. But they definitely recognize how much
better things are now. There’s no longer a curfew by which you have to be indoors
or you run the risk of being shot on site, no questions asked. People are now
able to travel around the country on vacation, rather than sticking close to
home. Pretty much the entire eastern half of the country (the Amazonian region,
where the indigenous tribes that were unlucky enough to be discovered by the
guerillas were enslaved to cultivate coca or killed if they refused to do so)
& the three Andean mountain regions (including Farallones!) was controlled
by either the FARC or the paramilitary when they were growing up. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtAaaDZc_PQNZ3Ub7CMVc8-76Pi5fwm9h6ySa_jD2j29g7aXOc8bNpV2d8UVfpT0xb9Fv1QDLxptF0ZCGJCXa7UIvzZaougNYePmbbrWv3LZ0FBRt3uKjeElh_aQNoPwCmeej4ijL-sOE/s1600/Rufous-breasted+flycatcher+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtAaaDZc_PQNZ3Ub7CMVc8-76Pi5fwm9h6ySa_jD2j29g7aXOc8bNpV2d8UVfpT0xb9Fv1QDLxptF0ZCGJCXa7UIvzZaougNYePmbbrWv3LZ0FBRt3uKjeElh_aQNoPwCmeej4ijL-sOE/s640/Rufous-breasted+flycatcher+%25281%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rufous-breasted flycatcher</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
It speaks a lot to how things have changed for the better
that we’re even here, able to do an ecological study in former guerilla
territory with no concern for the safety of the forest. Mario hopes this kind
of work will help get his country back on its feet & help build an
ecotourism industry (like Peru & Ecuador have). Colombia is blessed with
both the Amazon & the Andes, with tremendous potential to bring in tourist
& research dollars – but also contains tremendous natural resources &
minerals. The government just needs to take advantage of tourism, rather than
selling the country off piece by piece to foreign mining & drilling
companies – which so many of these tropical countries do, sadly.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6V3esoq57iBnMdp2NCS3dTw_D0OvVHAtDuX6kuip6HNwUpNhCk19sPbTnVWbLGgOley_0pNdfR-onqKCTkpaN4OjkoB_N3MTKerxlk75i9zHOV9PBfj7GvYjacn0-F4X-wN9aPiboQZ0/s1600/Blue-winged+mountain+tanager+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6V3esoq57iBnMdp2NCS3dTw_D0OvVHAtDuX6kuip6HNwUpNhCk19sPbTnVWbLGgOley_0pNdfR-onqKCTkpaN4OjkoB_N3MTKerxlk75i9zHOV9PBfj7GvYjacn0-F4X-wN9aPiboQZ0/s640/Blue-winged+mountain+tanager+%25281%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blue-winged mountain tanager</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitEOYfDUGDac4XGn4uEPK3sj57XGeGMSbSfHFtz6i067kd-sRAiutXx1FJTvIz-uUqkyR1AiyyQKXgPKkVQxDAt4x8eRd1uUz9ASTfBO_t3WzcDOF_Z7R7sw5oDX8NUQBNWMUJFETCJ9o/s1600/Blue-winged+mountain+tanager+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitEOYfDUGDac4XGn4uEPK3sj57XGeGMSbSfHFtz6i067kd-sRAiutXx1FJTvIz-uUqkyR1AiyyQKXgPKkVQxDAt4x8eRd1uUz9ASTfBO_t3WzcDOF_Z7R7sw5oDX8NUQBNWMUJFETCJ9o/s640/Blue-winged+mountain+tanager+%25282%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blue-winged mountain tanager</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji_LxygNWiF6JDPpvd8HoOt-mOfuawACZadw2fHN1SdtspdoLNb3uMLN7GvFKR7NpEVJQttnevnO7qTCROcebsuN4pUDl4WoEELC69PlyWkPcWWYc2wJjgslSurRhi0vvt7VAsLm3SmUI/s1600/Blue-winged+mountain+tanager+%25283%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji_LxygNWiF6JDPpvd8HoOt-mOfuawACZadw2fHN1SdtspdoLNb3uMLN7GvFKR7NpEVJQttnevnO7qTCROcebsuN4pUDl4WoEELC69PlyWkPcWWYc2wJjgslSurRhi0vvt7VAsLm3SmUI/s640/Blue-winged+mountain+tanager+%25283%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blue-winged mountain tanager</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Today was my last full day here – I leave (if all goes
well) tomorrow afternoon. I will most likely join the crew for half day of
field work, then head back to the station to be picked up at lunch time
(fingers crossed). So I was trying to take advantage of my time & enjoy the
forest, the sounds, the sights, (even the bird smells), the work, the birds.
These creatures are really amazing: such beautiful plumage & such vast evolutionary
diversity! It’s been really interesting learning about their different habitats
& behaviors. I will really miss working with them & am really thankful
I got the opportunity to do so. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrbT0My27O3b4VEZW-OqM7AwZBu8d6GOHTmeZp6mD0YGXox95cfbLObKDj8KEo4G57U-Of_Bso_SU84hhAU8kXQbLawQ4lXE6a15t9uir-2m1AwMBr6Kcwjyuy2pvK2AJAe8RKGnobvJU/s1600/Female+v.+Male+Glossy-black+thrush+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrbT0My27O3b4VEZW-OqM7AwZBu8d6GOHTmeZp6mD0YGXox95cfbLObKDj8KEo4G57U-Of_Bso_SU84hhAU8kXQbLawQ4lXE6a15t9uir-2m1AwMBr6Kcwjyuy2pvK2AJAe8RKGnobvJU/s640/Female+v.+Male+Glossy-black+thrush+%25282%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Female v. Male Glossy-black thrush</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
We had a little bit of a death-defying scare today, at
least for the birds (no humans were harmed). We had a rush of tanagers in the
nets midafternoon & couldn’t process them all quickly enough, so I think
their body temperatures started to drop (it’s very hard to keep your hands warm
the entire time, the ambient temperature is so cold). Normally we just keep
them in a cloth bag & stick the bag in our shirts so that our body heat
keeps them warm until we’re ready to handle them. But with so many birds coming
in, we had 3 that started to get really listless & wobbly; their eyes started
to close as if they were going to sleep & they refused to fly away when we
released them outside. All abnormal behaviors. We were afraid they might die on
us, so we kept them warm for about 30 minutes in our shirts. They were still
listless, so we perched them on some branches outside the tent to see if they
would rouse & take off. They didn’t. So we tried a hail mary & fed them
some agua de panela (sugar water is not something they would normally eat,
since they’re not hummingbirds). Surprisingly & thankfully, they started to
drink it, which we hoped would give them enough energy to revive. It didn’t
seem like it would, but an hour later, after backing off & just giving them
some rest on the branch, they finally flew off. Phew! No dead birds on our
hands!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwMS5sBpx9CLx1PL6wzXGZim50KyOUwhmTXsWMkPl2wAYA7FfDDa0-J8gCry2l9xfHTKzqKMH_KiWalSSec9dJ_bmZqtFmgJvxcrKOM4YW6lKhEzOkPyaUvS1_EsOWn00mAurg77G7Fmo/s1600/White-tipped+sicklebill+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwMS5sBpx9CLx1PL6wzXGZim50KyOUwhmTXsWMkPl2wAYA7FfDDa0-J8gCry2l9xfHTKzqKMH_KiWalSSec9dJ_bmZqtFmgJvxcrKOM4YW6lKhEzOkPyaUvS1_EsOWn00mAurg77G7Fmo/s640/White-tipped+sicklebill+%25281%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">White-tipped sicklebill</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Back at the station, after my first round of packing (I’m
sure there will more shuffling & leaving of things behind tomorrow to
lighten the load), Tatiana & I attempted to make a cross between arepas
& pupusas with the left overs that we had. We were missing key ingredients
to make either one, but thought a haphazard hybrid might be possible. Sadly, replacing
butter with oil created a rather hard arepa but one that didn’t stick together,
so we could stuff it with beans, like a pupusa. Not the greatest, but edible
& something different at least. (I’ll be glad when my diet consists of more
than just cold rice & beans) ;P<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Cat and Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02470326950739759311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6725286104548130105.post-47836952077038065622016-07-22T08:01:00.000-07:002016-07-22T08:08:29.700-07:00Wrapping Up<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>11 July 2016</b></div>
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The rapport of the group since Luke got here yesterday
has been very different for me – a lot better than before. I think having 3
native Spanish speakers, all close friends, was kind of hard for me. They spoke
fast (as a native speaker in any language would) & it was exhausting to try
& keep up with the conversations. But with Luke here, the conversations are
slower & since he is not a native speaker, he has a tendency to annunciate
everything in order to get the right words out – this is a HUGE help for me
& I can follow along with his conversations a lot better. It works out to
be kind of a nice trade: he knows more Spanish & can help me translate
things, while I know more about processing & handling the birds, so I help
him out with that (in English, of course). <o:p></o:p></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFlbfvuDuyJiVd0zfdNfOp5L4p9Oe-31qYPYNHInL81HtQZ3CleKflD1eg0rt9RAb01EsgLK42cHM_KZWx9F5xKgGQ8i53b4wPFj7OdHd9tbSaEfny51-8Rw6AzloCXTRIRCuUDIv8Nfw/s1600/Juvenile+Andean+Motmot+%252818%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFlbfvuDuyJiVd0zfdNfOp5L4p9Oe-31qYPYNHInL81HtQZ3CleKflD1eg0rt9RAb01EsgLK42cHM_KZWx9F5xKgGQ8i53b4wPFj7OdHd9tbSaEfny51-8Rw6AzloCXTRIRCuUDIv8Nfw/s640/Juvenile+Andean+Motmot+%252818%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Juvenile Andean motmot</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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It almost makes me wish I was staying a little longer
because the experience & camaraderie is a lot more comfortable &
enjoyable now. I understand new jobs/situations always have a learning curve
& growing pains in the beginning. I just wish it hadn’t taken so long to
really feel comfortable here. But it’s still been good & I’m glad I got the
experience. Last night, I was feeling kind of sad that I only have 2 more days
left because we were having a good time together & I’m really loving
working with the birds. But then I woke
up at 4am this morning & remembered: “oh yeah, I’m ready for this part to
be over”. ;P It didn’t help that last night Loki was going ape shit, barking
& crying for a really long time (poor little puppy, the farmer chains him
up outside at night). It was keeping everybody awake & we didn’t find out
until the morning the cause of the ruckus was a fox that had crept into the
chicken coop last night & eaten one of the chickens. Mario sadly informed
me that the rooster had not been the victim. >:(<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCp2YihmUdMvav44gpXPUeQjO0gObGbyWdrqlzUbQ-fqp4pstNKIRf2Jef3BXDOqMGwPOTHo9csjq-2Dy5pGH4R8uFBDd9iZa8gg5lL6UHEBrsNnhURp_j8zbqwSJTHxZMsFeRCNd0Cno/s1600/Masked+trogon+%25283%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCp2YihmUdMvav44gpXPUeQjO0gObGbyWdrqlzUbQ-fqp4pstNKIRf2Jef3BXDOqMGwPOTHo9csjq-2Dy5pGH4R8uFBDd9iZa8gg5lL6UHEBrsNnhURp_j8zbqwSJTHxZMsFeRCNd0Cno/s640/Masked+trogon+%25283%2529.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Female masked trogon</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIO266IdXJmTLwbpOb6qOYdgrfIu3kMWiTebr3DZo9V3GpYdOYGc4NpSIzaftstmNeg6AXfIf9O2dIxNJmZrngNsZTWfmappQAIBym0iUrMx2qUiNqX4c_lRA_T2IwYgItEvfjGs8-gEI/s1600/Masked+trogon+%25284%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIO266IdXJmTLwbpOb6qOYdgrfIu3kMWiTebr3DZo9V3GpYdOYGc4NpSIzaftstmNeg6AXfIf9O2dIxNJmZrngNsZTWfmappQAIBym0iUrMx2qUiNqX4c_lRA_T2IwYgItEvfjGs8-gEI/s640/Masked+trogon+%25284%2529.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Masked trogon</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8mzUNmn7gURUiay4n8qPrVfsHTyRSLBM06QP6RWrnjiMzj4eqmhyjkqo6EvgJwzRcr1jkWvy0t8f4yzKGB8cKAVUYruKH-dt0fCG8e7WGpy6SvfRNGk9ZIS5oW_mpzNFl3ftm3qG4P9c/s1600/Masked+trogon+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8mzUNmn7gURUiay4n8qPrVfsHTyRSLBM06QP6RWrnjiMzj4eqmhyjkqo6EvgJwzRcr1jkWvy0t8f4yzKGB8cKAVUYruKH-dt0fCG8e7WGpy6SvfRNGk9ZIS5oW_mpzNFl3ftm3qG4P9c/s640/Masked+trogon+%25282%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Masked trogon</span></td></tr>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiuugbnVbYIoNkbvxfgmQ6A7xgNU8rMO9BtwrlJW6d2Ma8EokxyEsaFl6e6I2MjDIHVzg36VfH7xl7Ab6RW2KJbvGO8lKy3dnR1y8MEL3IZIzIH_ewujMGLTqY1XqRngj8O-lCKy75UqY/s1600/Masked+trogon+%25285%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiuugbnVbYIoNkbvxfgmQ6A7xgNU8rMO9BtwrlJW6d2Ma8EokxyEsaFl6e6I2MjDIHVzg36VfH7xl7Ab6RW2KJbvGO8lKy3dnR1y8MEL3IZIzIH_ewujMGLTqY1XqRngj8O-lCKy75UqY/s640/Masked+trogon+%25285%2529.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Weighing the masked trogon</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Exhausting morning aside, today was an AMAZING day for
birding catching! The new site is a prime location because we caught over 30
birds today – more than any single day since I’ve been here! We estimate that
there must be quite a few nests in the area, as we keep recapturing some of the
same birds we’ve banded before. One of which was a woodpecker, which sadly
tried to tear my hands apart as if they were a tree; another was a beautiful
female trogon & one that I actually caught (she says triumphantly) was a
juvenile male Andean motmot!! (It hadn’t yet plucked its 2 central tail
feathers into a female-attracting pendulum.) The motmot was HUGE with such
BEAUTIFUL feathers of emerald green & iridescent blue! We ended up having
to tie its mouth shut with a ponytail holder, though, as it’s serrated beak
(normally used for eating large insects, lizards, frogs, small rodents) would
have torn apart my already scarred hands. But it was an amazing specimen &
I was so excited to see one so close up!! <o:p></o:p></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLEPoWikOjpQOufukVI9iGRukMmUleYYtJByP-94VzNSzNdLPTUe8dup7pKwsbmgX5bzoEdUJEPR7WgMOlTkCTgb26Gs6pc6ZhZaZ5wgSZyxfY2wOr5RmdpY03b-v3KprBcI8ZUQ62Fos/s1600/Juvenile+Andean+Motmot+%25284%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLEPoWikOjpQOufukVI9iGRukMmUleYYtJByP-94VzNSzNdLPTUe8dup7pKwsbmgX5bzoEdUJEPR7WgMOlTkCTgb26Gs6pc6ZhZaZ5wgSZyxfY2wOr5RmdpY03b-v3KprBcI8ZUQ62Fos/s640/Juvenile+Andean+Motmot+%25284%2529.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Andean motmot tail!</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGKOrLa7JHOsdEZEaNxbwn7Twcw9U101TnwkOW9UUrrOnSMDMilt4MWpWuzr4_OrFxXK6N7PckasgwVLUbq1PsLknyoLvNFpfxDQvT2mExE_eWFIRej6YvtS9GTLNWwgdrv-O59YB3VNg/s1600/Juvenile+Andean+Motmot+%25289%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGKOrLa7JHOsdEZEaNxbwn7Twcw9U101TnwkOW9UUrrOnSMDMilt4MWpWuzr4_OrFxXK6N7PckasgwVLUbq1PsLknyoLvNFpfxDQvT2mExE_eWFIRej6YvtS9GTLNWwgdrv-O59YB3VNg/s640/Juvenile+Andean+Motmot+%25289%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My motmot</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitFwCLCvjMP3I56e6Ud1KQ0VrTGt6KHpzyorOgRhEJq2BsvdHV_W5k6Q6Ncq7jy_LhFQv-2RZprFMuwkPCc7ImkAyCeiv5zfdSwmIAqBh27pgXRFFwwfZZoKClCrKfgcytEEjpko2S0Zw/s1600/Juvenile+Andean+Motmot+%252810%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitFwCLCvjMP3I56e6Ud1KQ0VrTGt6KHpzyorOgRhEJq2BsvdHV_W5k6Q6Ncq7jy_LhFQv-2RZprFMuwkPCc7ImkAyCeiv5zfdSwmIAqBh27pgXRFFwwfZZoKClCrKfgcytEEjpko2S0Zw/s640/Juvenile+Andean+Motmot+%252810%2529.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beautiful wings!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRlWJcM9WbuAxMUiiEyrI93Q-7_RIQadfcetUylXbrLsg2Ibb3XvFH1rXe4y5HpFFmztU4BToE4fw1MIQUtUELEnWnPDYn_Ofi7UqZaXYBThu_5vhB7OotOMR9kXRGyRfC0qgBssotaeE/s1600/Juvenile+Andean+Motmot+%252812%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRlWJcM9WbuAxMUiiEyrI93Q-7_RIQadfcetUylXbrLsg2Ibb3XvFH1rXe4y5HpFFmztU4BToE4fw1MIQUtUELEnWnPDYn_Ofi7UqZaXYBThu_5vhB7OotOMR9kXRGyRfC0qgBssotaeE/s640/Juvenile+Andean+Motmot+%252812%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Very string beak</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAQPxCceoUCt9zoRBQ8n9mOk5xSLIN96BgvVrHvlolkml8baGgQd-19a-Hqpxt6QCjG_fy4a6BFCTMyAF9xzX7oKBqsiUYZs9KpGEeEZLjs39QGlKnUN23LH7mqBFaid0TEMUKknvs3ZQ/s1600/Juvenile+Andean+Motmot+%252815%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAQPxCceoUCt9zoRBQ8n9mOk5xSLIN96BgvVrHvlolkml8baGgQd-19a-Hqpxt6QCjG_fy4a6BFCTMyAF9xzX7oKBqsiUYZs9KpGEeEZLjs39QGlKnUN23LH7mqBFaid0TEMUKknvs3ZQ/s640/Juvenile+Andean+Motmot+%252815%2529.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Andean motmot</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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I seriously need some pets in my life because working
with animals just reminds me how much they can add to your life & make you
so happy (even if they are trying to claw & bite their way away from you).
;P<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Cat and Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02470326950739759311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6725286104548130105.post-59128638971908824822016-07-22T07:50:00.003-07:002016-07-22T07:50:48.646-07:00Hike of the Navigator<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>10 July 2016</b></div>
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Every morning, Mario heads out before the rest of us – he
says he’s a fast walker & wants to make sure he gets there by 6am (we
usually get there at 6:30am) – which is fine with me because the hour-long hike
up the mountains is hard enough, I’m not trying to rush it. But he claims said
hike is only 1km & it takes him 25 minutes to get up there! Tatiana & I
told him there’s no way in hell it’s only a kilometer (just over half a mile)
& how on earth can it only take him 25 minutes to climb up & down 2
sheer cliffs in the mud?! But he swears that’s all it takes him. So Tatiana got
up early & tried to keep pace with him (which she wasn’t able to do), while
I stayed behind & waited for Luke. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmmIS_qNIN6xjh_A_L-7s-EjUp_rCCPkuMHPVOKIMdwWbW9c9q7bXGEGuZUEo7UNqVmgGEB_3jH6ibOKoqZ3kxY2sjiZEaITEKr4Rh5n_4zGBFUFdtpwPSUjv1Cv2UIhFNHPuOPR7Z_iE/s1600/Black+Solitaire.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmmIS_qNIN6xjh_A_L-7s-EjUp_rCCPkuMHPVOKIMdwWbW9c9q7bXGEGuZUEo7UNqVmgGEB_3jH6ibOKoqZ3kxY2sjiZEaITEKr4Rh5n_4zGBFUFdtpwPSUjv1Cv2UIhFNHPuOPR7Z_iE/s640/Black+Solitaire.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photographing a black solitaire</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuZ1dlbrrRToBDqntYIkQWW_dzsVfc1r6vA4IQPTJE8re0Q8O7rFWK5vYv2qMkHCpMay2EN_o9ddsxxcJjIIY7VhpxkGyGADS9B_kDQ4y3kvu7WAdSuTyVF_hAdR2p9I_gvjBxt0RmQY0/s1600/Tawny-bellied+hermit.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuZ1dlbrrRToBDqntYIkQWW_dzsVfc1r6vA4IQPTJE8re0Q8O7rFWK5vYv2qMkHCpMay2EN_o9ddsxxcJjIIY7VhpxkGyGADS9B_kDQ4y3kvu7WAdSuTyVF_hAdR2p9I_gvjBxt0RmQY0/s640/Tawny-bellied+hermit.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tawny-bellied hermit</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I was definitely nervous about leading him to the site,
as I’m not very good (or used to) navigating by landmarks. Plus, things like
big rock, bigger rock, fallen log, other fallen log, big tree, dead tree…they
all kind of look the same & it’s easy for me to get lost (which is why I’ve
been relying on Tatiana to lead the way each day – even though each time, I’m
making mental notes on the path & different landmarks). So I was really
nervous about leading Luke but feeling good that so far, I was doing well. I
passed this log & that boulder & this incline, until I realized I was
in a section of forest that didn’t look familiar (as odd as that sounds, since
it’s just a clutter of green & trees all around you). But fortunately I
didn’t lead us too far off the right path. We had about a 10 minute detour
& then I found the right trail (way to confuse the new guy!). Unbeknownst
to Mario, however, I had used my iPod’s pedometer to clock the distance to the
camp site. So minus the getting lost part, the hike took us 45 minutes (I guess
being nervous made me move a lot faster, which may account for why I got lost)
& turned out to be just over THREE kilometers form the station, not 1km.
Mario conceded the distance but emphasized that it wasn’t a competition…even
though he had to clarify that he reached the site in only 23 minutes today. ;P <o:p></o:p></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR8_fKbwkyiGeIjxOX2zlBCgB_7_oBPwg5nCTPIEgneJH-K7rzi45gjyDAWeIYcfZ8SHPnX26UwIB5TD3gfUQkHq-cqwnTFaiSMiktJv3Iw_KgI8P5YZwrKOroeikE66JU30b_5wUztfs/s1600/Male+Collared+Inca+hummingbird+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR8_fKbwkyiGeIjxOX2zlBCgB_7_oBPwg5nCTPIEgneJH-K7rzi45gjyDAWeIYcfZ8SHPnX26UwIB5TD3gfUQkHq-cqwnTFaiSMiktJv3Iw_KgI8P5YZwrKOroeikE66JU30b_5wUztfs/s640/Male+Collared+Inca+hummingbird+%25281%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Male Collared Inca hummingbird</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP6qF9t9zriVozD5UpE11nCTtQEd8EWA_qlkUuW156tuEZuuhZDFzsztOz_gmwoFsAAfUd2IjRiDNutS4tXCjcS8VIhV527ycxJsMMTmsFH5cxkbJt3rNKqCcSsPTXIp0j6IVLdOhGOO4/s1600/Male+Collared+Inca+hummingbird+%25284%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP6qF9t9zriVozD5UpE11nCTtQEd8EWA_qlkUuW156tuEZuuhZDFzsztOz_gmwoFsAAfUd2IjRiDNutS4tXCjcS8VIhV527ycxJsMMTmsFH5cxkbJt3rNKqCcSsPTXIp0j6IVLdOhGOO4/s640/Male+Collared+Inca+hummingbird+%25284%2529.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Male Collared Inca hummingbird</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I’ve finally run out of books to read (sorry, Melissa but
I won’t be returning the books I borrowed – they did not survive the conditions
– I can get you new ones!), so I’m just living off of podcasts right now. Which
is kind of good & bad. I love listening to the stories but have to admit
that the monotonous NPR voice does tend to put me to sleep. Hopefully what I
have will last the next 3 days, as I can’t download any new ones until I get
back to Cali. (Casi casi!!)</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis6hi8vB8Y54rVU6uVoRkUkiOf2wpqC-eY4cp2AkYhhOnEB-u8GLdMbtjwmFkrGVfjTr-W4QWYNe2NQMQ0X1RfNd53iyTl_UZ9db08T9mWJsoPiXFJXl_xcFMr9r_v6cdFkcdOVrGIpMc/s1600/Russet-crowned+warbler+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis6hi8vB8Y54rVU6uVoRkUkiOf2wpqC-eY4cp2AkYhhOnEB-u8GLdMbtjwmFkrGVfjTr-W4QWYNe2NQMQ0X1RfNd53iyTl_UZ9db08T9mWJsoPiXFJXl_xcFMr9r_v6cdFkcdOVrGIpMc/s640/Russet-crowned+warbler+%25282%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Russet-crowned warbler</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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My knee is doing better. Still really bruised and stiff
both at the start & at the end of the day, but I am able to hike without a
walking stick (which is nice, as I find those things really cumbersome when
they get stuck in the mud or in the vines above my head). Though I still have
to be careful, as a misstep & the slightest twist in my knee sends shards
of pain through my leg…so still not 100%, but way better.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi60A7eijaxFi5b-EEArvoYC4wgqmG78yLAZjO1FHEWyLsL8SIoUVuzxF6KuC3lcpzwJdYHcqK1ojyRgKHoRnG5uN37s8HzNnwGR78ettDXMbc-zQ0eN0j42De-SzJLAtv5rHJNLSTQxqk/s1600/Sepia-brown+wren+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi60A7eijaxFi5b-EEArvoYC4wgqmG78yLAZjO1FHEWyLsL8SIoUVuzxF6KuC3lcpzwJdYHcqK1ojyRgKHoRnG5uN37s8HzNnwGR78ettDXMbc-zQ0eN0j42De-SzJLAtv5rHJNLSTQxqk/s640/Sepia-brown+wren+%25281%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sepia-brown wren</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijTOigCGfIncRyx3iWDYqTmFpFl2_pknNZ0vy4DIzoKVtvKm1gO0KKm2E8povNKLsZhLPenljdOahyKXT07GMdJPv_RqstB5ybhpr3YgfPtHwYGKZcsDivFdEjH1h8Jxq9BTKKtdJr6wY/s1600/Sepia-brown+wren+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijTOigCGfIncRyx3iWDYqTmFpFl2_pknNZ0vy4DIzoKVtvKm1gO0KKm2E8povNKLsZhLPenljdOahyKXT07GMdJPv_RqstB5ybhpr3YgfPtHwYGKZcsDivFdEjH1h8Jxq9BTKKtdJr6wY/s640/Sepia-brown+wren+%25282%2529.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sepia-brown wren</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
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I was pleasantly surprised to learn that my improvised
cooking here isn’t too bad. Mario asked me to make the lentil-veggie burgers
again. He seems to like them a lot; says that they’re the closest thing he has
to meat around here. So that’s good, I guess :) What I have really enjoyed
eating, though, are Tatiana’s arepas con queso (yup, Nick, we have squeaky
cheese that does not get refrigerated). They’re little fried patties of masa (essentially
corn flour) heaven that I normally only get to eat once a year when I visit New
Jersey & force Javier to make them for me (Thanks, Javy!). But sadly, we
have finally run out of cheese & butter, so no more arepas. :(<o:p></o:p></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht7I9HkPSN1aX7lbp-WNCNymyTYAbjkWCYEKnMlGdb69QZ_6fl9A1R-_VU2VrFiEw7jkUi7ZdrwUO0zdeVTbDQ5bmzyBXT6veLNkSeRBxsF9z2WgRPIn3a-US8_tO2AopnaiOn8nLkouw/s1600/Sepia-brown+wren+%25283%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht7I9HkPSN1aX7lbp-WNCNymyTYAbjkWCYEKnMlGdb69QZ_6fl9A1R-_VU2VrFiEw7jkUi7ZdrwUO0zdeVTbDQ5bmzyBXT6veLNkSeRBxsF9z2WgRPIn3a-US8_tO2AopnaiOn8nLkouw/s640/Sepia-brown+wren+%25283%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Angry Bird</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
Cat and Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02470326950739759311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6725286104548130105.post-91221184659710730862016-07-22T07:34:00.005-07:002016-07-22T07:56:19.417-07:00Shredded to Bits<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<b>9 July 2016</b><br />
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I’m happy to report that Mario & Tatiana got over
their malaise today. They were a bit more relaxed & chatty with me, which
made me feel good. Feeling the odd man out, unable to communicate, is always a
terrible feeling. But we bonded over the struggle to handle 4 large & very
aggressive hooded mountain tanagers at once. I needed Mario’s help to get them
all out of the net; one of the poor guys had gotten the net tangled around the
grooves in its tongue & I was afraid it would writhe so much it would rip
its own tongue off – which I’ve seen happen & is terrible (fortunately,
with his help all tongues were in tact). It must have been a small flock of the
tanagers passing through because while we were trying to disentangle the 4 from
the net, there were 2 others screeching at us from nearby trees. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxIJ_QoroIZmqtu3OBb0cCqOgpFob9Ay2o8AmkOjs9cPzcTx02ae-9jrfilT4eVwxpugXcQYIW5UsUSpMoEHA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
A queue of waiting birds</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2KTw7IW10iMg6XUb97XVXfdh0wOfCtXRZTrrh_jSA4HxLJ6Iy5_msFuEzmqBG54Qo29H0Pq6yGi8VpPb6V6_hr_2L31vPmQtxKkPVZzJwLKMb40P4crkLNs2WFHziv3YSvgMhGLV6jrU/s1600/Hooded+mountain+tanager+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2KTw7IW10iMg6XUb97XVXfdh0wOfCtXRZTrrh_jSA4HxLJ6Iy5_msFuEzmqBG54Qo29H0Pq6yGi8VpPb6V6_hr_2L31vPmQtxKkPVZzJwLKMb40P4crkLNs2WFHziv3YSvgMhGLV6jrU/s640/Hooded+mountain+tanager+%25281%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hooded mountain tanager wings</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy4i32Lp3SNEws-FmZkRQKPQxmK3BHSkUo8f_0FBaFOojt3mYdQjBNr2ZGaMSCHY2FrXl6MCt5EFD1bfi5HxjG4d42IFl3bkLRtIx9vtGWLrEY45V6gJ6vdfe_g4NcYmBhu74dFi5TTWU/s1600/Hooded+mountain+tanager+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy4i32Lp3SNEws-FmZkRQKPQxmK3BHSkUo8f_0FBaFOojt3mYdQjBNr2ZGaMSCHY2FrXl6MCt5EFD1bfi5HxjG4d42IFl3bkLRtIx9vtGWLrEY45V6gJ6vdfe_g4NcYmBhu74dFi5TTWU/s640/Hooded+mountain+tanager+%25282%2529.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hooded mountain tanager</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
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While these are beautiful birds & a still photo makes
them appear quite calm, I assure you, they are anything but! They are
incredible strong & incredibly hostile in defending themselves against sudden
man-handling by large, strange, stinky mammals. We had to process them in an
assembly line so they wouldn’t shred any one person’s hands if we held them too
long (it took almost 2 hours to get all 4 done). As mainly fruit eaters, their
beaks are incredibly strong, not to mention their raptor like claws with
half-inch long daggers for nails & vice like grips. It. Was. Painful. So of
course we’re griping & arguing with these poor birds the whole time,
laughing at each other as we share our “dolor”.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzHAJ1V0RXQ49Og72DaLl1xDmDrfhYojhYEILjylWYxm1IaGWeL1HSAWdNC5kYdP-LaTG_llZOBJ8QEHxHsMg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<o:p>Hooded mountain tanager</o:p></div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6H7TrXklpbeCD3CDCT6WYnrxcRZgVtBtRwOJqaiEv5eBOvkBcnUSl1eNeyjDS0dgJYnpzWknOStIs1YTjyvEQ6USuelFpbxGK-oOkzerpbwWFJq1GH7CViavdtE8-_UV2euN9HBhJ3sI/s1600/Hooded+mountain+tanager+%25284%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6H7TrXklpbeCD3CDCT6WYnrxcRZgVtBtRwOJqaiEv5eBOvkBcnUSl1eNeyjDS0dgJYnpzWknOStIs1YTjyvEQ6USuelFpbxGK-oOkzerpbwWFJq1GH7CViavdtE8-_UV2euN9HBhJ3sI/s640/Hooded+mountain+tanager+%25284%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">To keep them from biting, we wrapped their beak w/1st aid tape</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV339qXGasOKFd78gG6bEnFIfK-RL8RJ6UePdN9bHTY6DHXgIv-TSFGT8yhlskNdw4q-dd02kHlHADL5aGx_a6xbUEpP6G30DxAhbA1Q6zJP6viOBS10nBx1KlALKD-pZexdy2fQB66ao/s1600/Cat%252C+Mario+%2526+Tatiana+with+Hooded+mountain+tanagers+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV339qXGasOKFd78gG6bEnFIfK-RL8RJ6UePdN9bHTY6DHXgIv-TSFGT8yhlskNdw4q-dd02kHlHADL5aGx_a6xbUEpP6G30DxAhbA1Q6zJP6viOBS10nBx1KlALKD-pZexdy2fQB66ao/s640/Cat%252C+Mario+%2526+Tatiana+with+Hooded+mountain+tanagers+%25282%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
There was a surprise when we got back to the station
tonight: Luke from the Netherlands. It makes me feel a little bit better about
the lack of info I got in coming here, knowing that I’m not the only one. Mario
was told that an American male would be coming to the station last Wed. &
that was all he knew (the male part was right), but it never happened. Then on
Friday, he got a call & was told that the guy would be coming on Sunday.
Surprise, surprise, he showed up on Saturday! Poor guy arrived around 9am to an
empty station (the farmer at least unlocked the house for him) and waited
around all day for us to come back around 6:30pm. I immediately switched to
English & was so relieved to be able to talk to someone again (his Spanish
is way better than mine, so he’ll have no problem here). I was also, as I said,
somewhat relieved to hear that he wasn’t given any info about conditions here
either. So I did my best to give him a bit of an orientation: explain the ways
of the station & what he should expect in the field tomorrow. He’s a recent
biology undergraduate from southern Holland, who has done lots of work with
birds & plans on spending the next 3 months in Colombia with this
organization working on the country-wide cataloguing project. He’ll move to the
next station with Mario & Tatiana next week, but they’ll only be there for
a month, so I’m not sure (& neither is he) where they’ll send him after
that.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Either way, it’ll be nice to have someone I can easily turn to for English translations over the next 4 days :) So thanks for coming, Luke!</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOKpCO_p6VS_r4JPs3chkJVDvJFzxuRAG_XnMxyMGY3eK_E6_N_-Vm2CKMQ-r0e0mB-q3fdB1krlThNBizggXkbr0S821Hda3eFLrGm4QaGcHcfBUoGWx6uDtrj_4hZ018Zj0UEcubbO4/s320/Cat%2527s+Shredded+Hands+%25281%2529.JPG" width="240" /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrmy_GLZGjhhFyke9DOm1gi10FQAWAcn9KNL32DjDM5vPlfHGpgaEEgpYXr0vNhj0tu_65bHKC1rilTz5ELyb4za_m7WSxONDRICfKaIMyh4bcFdUHjrYuczHcanbPbZknJH7q06gJ93k/s1600/Cat%2527s+Shredded+Hands+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrmy_GLZGjhhFyke9DOm1gi10FQAWAcn9KNL32DjDM5vPlfHGpgaEEgpYXr0vNhj0tu_65bHKC1rilTz5ELyb4za_m7WSxONDRICfKaIMyh4bcFdUHjrYuczHcanbPbZknJH7q06gJ93k/s320/Cat%2527s+Shredded+Hands+%25282%2529.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Cat and Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02470326950739759311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6725286104548130105.post-32396047414174381462016-07-22T07:17:00.000-07:002016-07-22T07:17:02.759-07:00Careful What You Wish For<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>8 July 2016</b></div>
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<br /></div>
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The bad thing about 3 straight days of rain is that all
of the footholds you’ve worn into the mud over the previous days gets washed
away & the trail literally becomes a slip & slide of mud, where you end
up on your ass or with a twisted knee (thank goodness for a walking stick!). I
still find myself reaching out for trees to catch my fall or find some balance.
But this is a cloud forest & you’re lucky if the branch you suddenly reach
out for isn’t covered in spikes or in such a far gone state of decay that, even
though it looks like a normal tree, it immediately crumbles in your grasp. It
has led to some very interesting “yoga” poses though, as we all try to keep our
balance while simultaneously sliding down the hill at different rates of speed,
trying not to careen into each other or off the cliff. Nice one, Pacha Mama.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwgXLT8p4VqPtc98x1POCCwOb5dclrjEUzdyosjIA4EbES3EL_wbX5ioWZjEH90EdTEN8PjpZ6zv1ztMkuj6g' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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Hiking thru cloud forest trail</div>
</div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Mafer left yesterday; she headed back to Cali to go on
vacation with her parents before she starts school again next month. It was
interesting to see the transition in Mario & Tatiana. Clearly I am not the
Spanish-speaking chatter box that Mafer was; my conversations are limited &
I’m not the long-time friend that she was. They were fairly quiet all day &
their demeanor was quite reserved. Then again, they’ve been out here for
exactly a month today; so it could just be that they’re exhausted &
anticipating the next 6 weeks ahead of them until the project is over. Either
way, it was all bird business & then napping or reading in between. Very
little conversation all day.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfHrCvpznxtww6knM182sa4rkjJowDZfsdhd0LKKhWZ2Ea8FBF8KAjQRfec6G75j8IUSury_-ftRjNe21fXm0Jb6OvPMrOOZHbINavZZKnXSfQ6nxqDrq9DGXJ_a5LPI0lJU1sjcij0MQ/s1600/Inside+View+of+Camp+Site.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfHrCvpznxtww6knM182sa4rkjJowDZfsdhd0LKKhWZ2Ea8FBF8KAjQRfec6G75j8IUSury_-ftRjNe21fXm0Jb6OvPMrOOZHbINavZZKnXSfQ6nxqDrq9DGXJ_a5LPI0lJU1sjcij0MQ/s640/Inside+View+of+Camp+Site.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View inside tent w/ no rain fly</td></tr>
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Fortunately, it hasn’t rained on us since the deluge, so
we are able to sit at the new site without the rain fly. Which is REALLY nice,
as we’re situated atop a peak overlooking the river. Not that we can SEE the
river from this high up, but we can see through the trees to the mountains on
the other side of the valley where there’s sun! And since we’re so high,
thankfully not at the base of the canyon anymore, we don’t have thick canopy up
above us and can actually see the sky above (not to mention the sparkling stars
at night when there are no clouds!). It sounds ridiculous, but not having seen the
sky for almost 3 weeks now, makes it a real treat! It’s also the farthest site
so far, which according to Mario is only 1km from the station but Tatiana &
I don’t really believe him since it takes us an hour to hike over 2 very steep
peaks to get there…which he claims he does in just 25 minutes when he heads out
ahead of us. Again, not sure we believe him on that one. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_CvUQPQnhF9UQ5oopmEt72Xkedg9l0PIRX902y_Wy1OOzkU8EG_iQHGoDzikt4MT19br6a5QZR5aL_-vyLBZrNT2CQYt8MQe09Lt3vP6kyRWZdj6QWD40FGBg7Oc2t-U3zbVBgZkj7SA/s1600/Yellow-bellied+chat-tyrant+nest+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_CvUQPQnhF9UQ5oopmEt72Xkedg9l0PIRX902y_Wy1OOzkU8EG_iQHGoDzikt4MT19br6a5QZR5aL_-vyLBZrNT2CQYt8MQe09Lt3vP6kyRWZdj6QWD40FGBg7Oc2t-U3zbVBgZkj7SA/s640/Yellow-bellied+chat-tyrant+nest+%25282%2529.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yellow-bellied chat-tyrant nest</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_li4EfV-kKknOQBh7BRKbHi3ibLoeMV6e2ZdhzA1p1BvyRwYHYy7kfiuMCM0cbzzS6VfLWZnekB-XIipai8DsDZlIb94dg2TouO4Vl8P-5TSpAOn49JWjpZGHx-nv6ZZHxeNR8P0uKRk/s1600/Yellow-bellied+chat-tyrant+nest+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_li4EfV-kKknOQBh7BRKbHi3ibLoeMV6e2ZdhzA1p1BvyRwYHYy7kfiuMCM0cbzzS6VfLWZnekB-XIipai8DsDZlIb94dg2TouO4Vl8P-5TSpAOn49JWjpZGHx-nv6ZZHxeNR8P0uKRk/s640/Yellow-bellied+chat-tyrant+nest+%25281%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yellow-bellied chat-tyrant chicks in nest</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy2GNXfdGpycqePoBpxfgNb42ncD8Iy1vUGyKSSszk3emvM1T2oGHt2NdVInCCjPTdLD2wufqsBMA89iFV3LOpoJcVzIBDdsxJq1N_vmygKuHGmDIzDiugbGdLmN_NXNq6wNadfnI67rw/s1600/Yellow-bellied+chat-tyrant+Chicks+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy2GNXfdGpycqePoBpxfgNb42ncD8Iy1vUGyKSSszk3emvM1T2oGHt2NdVInCCjPTdLD2wufqsBMA89iFV3LOpoJcVzIBDdsxJq1N_vmygKuHGmDIzDiugbGdLmN_NXNq6wNadfnI67rw/s640/Yellow-bellied+chat-tyrant+Chicks+%25281%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yellow-bellied chat-tyrant chick</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6AfV4IwFYxzk2AB2ePkWDMzP47Bdk1vGmbMBdWQ47tISKeBND9MzvinqG7rxEmSE0MUDFpNKYUfYLE3IHCvIw13cs6cgKo95I4pm4fNChZC_7DDcQEqkDcvH-sZB6II7VFBqd8pfHdY0/s1600/Yellow-bellied+chat-tyrant+Chicks+%25283%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6AfV4IwFYxzk2AB2ePkWDMzP47Bdk1vGmbMBdWQ47tISKeBND9MzvinqG7rxEmSE0MUDFpNKYUfYLE3IHCvIw13cs6cgKo95I4pm4fNChZC_7DDcQEqkDcvH-sZB6II7VFBqd8pfHdY0/s640/Yellow-bellied+chat-tyrant+Chicks+%25283%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yellow-bellied chat-tyrant chicks<span style="text-align: left;"> </span></td></tr>
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Cat and Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02470326950739759311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6725286104548130105.post-30125344562436548262016-07-21T08:27:00.001-07:002016-07-21T08:27:42.089-07:00Playing Hooky<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>6 July 2016</b></div>
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On the East Coast they have snow days; in the cloud
forest we have rain days. I have to admit that when I wake up in the wee hours
of the morning to the sound of rain, not only do I enjoy the sound but I take
great pleasure in the thought that if the rain lasts long enough, I can sleep
in late! ;) Which has happened the last 2 days. It’s rained in the early hours
of the morning, so instead of getting out at 4am, we have been heading out at
5am or 6am.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dy3-11MlWuH45HenAkUHmYGJ4YIeEU8Gi7ZYITbXDC-LRdHN9_13gzaFbmwJbFq_lOzXzAWQIBVQzrRufNsrw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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Clouds rolling in</div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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But not today! It rained from about 2am until 8am – even
during Houston’s 6 month rainy season I’ve never seen it rain this long!
(Though the thunder & lightning storms in Houston are a sight to see that I
sorely miss.) So the devious part of me smiled & snuggled deeper into my
sleeping bag, for I knew as long as it was raining, I didn’t have to wake up. ;P
I rolled out of bed around 9am to find Mario pacing the room & looking out
the window. He had already decided that we would just flip our dia descanso
from tomorrow to today. Today was supposed to be our 3<sup>rd</sup> & final
day at the current site, which would only be a half day anyway. So there’s no
love lost in skipping it, as no one really likes heading down into the
(treacherous) canyon anyway. So we’ve put off the inevitable for one more day. <o:p></o:p></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyQqBRTxmN6uC6bLNVxsxGApmQpINaOQKHoBU9GOFmpREdYYhtNqvSSccXO-_vNDwkIXQ0Ami0mfhQbl6_L6CWAJmQ7gpM-LWldVivWfFl1OuJeRTniuB4_apV216yWq5aooVGmXOO4q4/s1600/Epiphytes.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyQqBRTxmN6uC6bLNVxsxGApmQpINaOQKHoBU9GOFmpREdYYhtNqvSSccXO-_vNDwkIXQ0Ami0mfhQbl6_L6CWAJmQ7gpM-LWldVivWfFl1OuJeRTniuB4_apV216yWq5aooVGmXOO4q4/s640/Epiphytes.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Epiphytes</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Time for some laundry & a day of reading.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiorEn2PVwyLuP9YtAL9yUePARXXx8iikKTHJ7n19rvOcizJzSdEd8o2Q8ftYDhuKQhxVE_4zpb_IoGM_WnAeKnolK5kKAN_zFL3cVx4HhNdQSaw3OAqKJR3l887anyKyUii4NjPuazWDs/s1600/Caterpillar.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiorEn2PVwyLuP9YtAL9yUePARXXx8iikKTHJ7n19rvOcizJzSdEd8o2Q8ftYDhuKQhxVE_4zpb_IoGM_WnAeKnolK5kKAN_zFL3cVx4HhNdQSaw3OAqKJR3l887anyKyUii4NjPuazWDs/s640/Caterpillar.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Caterpillar</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilED7Iw10MBiUUaA6s3AqtFDYa1r8B55WuNRs9i3d5PU6JMMrHFxqV93hVQziLpOP6Y34hE4NVbDuxsReAFnH6GQVj0hWGljCivSkY0dyH7ykSpXvI-KAztLeL9jpELUP8pJTIb8IFYn4/s1600/Grasshopper.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilED7Iw10MBiUUaA6s3AqtFDYa1r8B55WuNRs9i3d5PU6JMMrHFxqV93hVQziLpOP6Y34hE4NVbDuxsReAFnH6GQVj0hWGljCivSkY0dyH7ykSpXvI-KAztLeL9jpELUP8pJTIb8IFYn4/s640/Grasshopper.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tiny grasshopper</td></tr>
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The farmer next door (who owns Loki – little rug rat
stole another sock & a bandana that I now can’t find…I think it’s under the
farmer’s house) recently celebrated his new daughter’s baptism this week. He
was kind enough to bring over some left over cake & pork chops for us.
MEAT! I was so excited to have pork chops!! Sadly, what constituted a pork chop
was very little meat & a LOT of thick, rubbery fat, which I had a hard time
finishing. But the sentiment was nice & the cake was tasty. I’ll just have
to wait to sink my teeth into some carne when I’m back in civilization, which
is only a week away!!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBEDhhnDFsV1zwiQKPWVcS1L5EyvHUqDrnng7L3iUXyazxlntTMnAnI4QkWYD_Z_0ey5TzvYY9iPieLtH4Jds0iFDbxknEqpD8Qw2PgTfwg8m1N7HRZE5WLsoPp159SX2mO4JWxUk3bwk/s1600/Loki+%25283%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBEDhhnDFsV1zwiQKPWVcS1L5EyvHUqDrnng7L3iUXyazxlntTMnAnI4QkWYD_Z_0ey5TzvYY9iPieLtH4Jds0iFDbxknEqpD8Qw2PgTfwg8m1N7HRZE5WLsoPp159SX2mO4JWxUk3bwk/s640/Loki+%25283%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Conejito</td></tr>
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Cat and Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02470326950739759311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6725286104548130105.post-50710170971209994902016-07-21T08:06:00.002-07:002016-07-21T08:06:31.293-07:00When It Rains…<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>5 July 2016</b></div>
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A day of rest seemed to help my knee, by the next day it
was still very sore but the range of motion was better & I decided not to
waste another day just sitting around in an isolated house. I think my fall had
concerned the others – or at least the difficulty of the trek did – as the 2
other girls had put on knee braces (apparently something they came armed with
from previous knee injuries – Tatiana is convinced that bad knees are a
requisite for field biologists) & Mario had made everyone bamboo walking
sticks. The sticks turned out to be a serious blessing as it had rained in the
early morning (which means we don’t go out until it stops, so we got a couple
hours extra sleep – woo hoo!) & the path was beyond muddy. Slipping &
sliding didn’t feel good but I took it slow & the others humored me, as it
took us about 1.5 hours to make it to the camp site this time (instead of the
usual hour). <o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXs3twpi94rSON126xy2yJ3NqQyuzEdMpBq1aPX5B2jt_PvjpkdaczxyCfkcQUIJULxnguZW6dPAok5XdTzg6_DamxvesYD5fieqdXqYM44kJ-gfGbDiAImZBPPSmXeityt2g91jedawM/s1600/Chestnut+Breasted+Wren+Chicks.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXs3twpi94rSON126xy2yJ3NqQyuzEdMpBq1aPX5B2jt_PvjpkdaczxyCfkcQUIJULxnguZW6dPAok5XdTzg6_DamxvesYD5fieqdXqYM44kJ-gfGbDiAImZBPPSmXeityt2g91jedawM/s640/Chestnut+Breasted+Wren+Chicks.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chestnut-breasted wren chicks hatched!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Once there, however, the sky opened up again & we
quickly rushed to set up the rain fly & mosquito net to huddle under during
the next 4 HOURS of downpour! We were already soaked & cold, so we just
huddled together on the plastic tarp floor & tried to sleep or read. I
didn’t realize my side of the tarp had a leak until I woke in a pool of water,
my entire right side & my feet completely sopping wet & freezing.
Sadly, my feet never dried or got warm, since the weather all day was overcast,
cold & damp. But the rain finally stopped & we managed several hours of
mist netting, though not even the birds really wanted to be out in this
weather. We ended up getting back to the station late, after dark, & I was
AMAZED that I was the only one who was using a headlamp (which means I was also
the only one who could see the paired reflection of spiders’ eyes in the dark).
I realize these guys have taken these trails many times before & I would
assume know their way, but in the mud & darkness, I wasn’t taking any
chances of tripping over logs or barbed wire, slipping on wet leaves, &
what have you without a light. They’re a lot braver or smarter, or both, than I
am. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-_QVcsFq_4D0Lu90KZxotvF007f9mVVaKq3sY5hGWhv-tWRlsMr-3NrDDmekztXH_nODa6JrFk4LIIVtIIwZdDV84DoFuI8wyAbVw-wbImInzUbh4j5ff36R2Fqhxb2AJmTsQfqStZ50/s1600/Andean+motmot+%25283%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-_QVcsFq_4D0Lu90KZxotvF007f9mVVaKq3sY5hGWhv-tWRlsMr-3NrDDmekztXH_nODa6JrFk4LIIVtIIwZdDV84DoFuI8wyAbVw-wbImInzUbh4j5ff36R2Fqhxb2AJmTsQfqStZ50/s640/Andean+motmot+%25283%2529.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Andean motmot</td></tr>
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My knee did okay; the walking stick helped. It’s still a
bit sore but the range of motion, while still limited, is better, which makes
me think I probably just bruised the hell out of it but (hopefully) didn’t tear
anything. If it’s still like this in a couple weeks, I’ll have it looked at
when I get home. Which, it turns out, will be sooner than anticipated. I’ve
decided that I will not be moving on to the next field station with this group.
Seeing as how I wasn’t told of the move before I got here & the work at the
next location will take them into mid-late August, before which I’d have to
leave early from anyway, I don’t really see the point in sticking around. Plus
I have to admit, while I’m really enjoying the work, the harsh conditions are
more than I expected (not to say that my expectations were correct by any
means) & I’m missing the creature comforts of home. So we’ve decided (via
Tatiana’s much appreciated What’sApp) that I’ll leave next week before they
move on to the next station. I’ll have one night in Cali to check email &
get all the travel details Nick has organized State-side, then I’ll meet him in
Bogotá the next day for a quick 10 day vacation in Bogotá & Cartagena
before we head back to CA to take another week of vacation hosting his 10 year
old nephew, Tomás (both Nick & I are happy now that I won’t be missing
that). It’s not the 2 week vacation across Colombia we were hoping for in early
August, which was when I thought I was finishing this program, but I think
it’ll work out for the best, as a month of this work & a fucked up knee
seems to be just about the right amount ;) It makes me feel old to think that I
miss my creature comforts so much but I’m gonna justify it by the fact that
I’ll get to be home with Nick & Tomas a little sooner & won’t have to
cram my school year preparations into just 2 weeks before class starts (…while
a in the back of my heads says: “yeah, keep telling yourself that, Catherine)
;P<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwvkz6YeaCxerr6QYo7iegl2n38XFCamamrAzCtpjkVn6n1EEUk83mteAxndNerjo6rQgIv-5wqyLeOrKsCBOgRxPbGlXNk7vUVoOdrNt_jGR3G2uQhu3TUAmnw1RKGaOWnSCOaNE_Buo/s1600/Male+Green-and-black+fruiteater+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwvkz6YeaCxerr6QYo7iegl2n38XFCamamrAzCtpjkVn6n1EEUk83mteAxndNerjo6rQgIv-5wqyLeOrKsCBOgRxPbGlXNk7vUVoOdrNt_jGR3G2uQhu3TUAmnw1RKGaOWnSCOaNE_Buo/s640/Male+Green-and-black+fruiteater+%25282%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Male Green-and-black fruiteater</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR1KkHg8IRHcS6iSz7TaUnAU9ARMn0lERIR0WB3o3ev7eqb5Dy_aFzRXu6NgvZjmAigldNIrnGy-dR_pk0P9PerU7wDlkDgccgftTE40Epxy8X4uDlpPgZ2QlV-9JXBBBgwZwi8uSrRuQ/s1600/Streak-necked+flycatcher.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR1KkHg8IRHcS6iSz7TaUnAU9ARMn0lERIR0WB3o3ev7eqb5Dy_aFzRXu6NgvZjmAigldNIrnGy-dR_pk0P9PerU7wDlkDgccgftTE40Epxy8X4uDlpPgZ2QlV-9JXBBBgwZwi8uSrRuQ/s640/Streak-necked+flycatcher.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Streak-necked flycatcher - these ended up being my favorite birds: we caught them almost everyday @ every location & they were too small to rip your hands apart. The photo doesn't do it justice, but they had beautiful grey, green & yellow plumage.</td></tr>
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Cat and Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02470326950739759311noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6725286104548130105.post-69248787863245254572016-07-21T07:59:00.004-07:002016-07-21T07:59:26.358-07:00A Day of Rest<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>4 July 2016</b></div>
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Needless to say, I didn’t think I’d be able to make the
trek again on my sore knee to fulfill a day of mist netting. So when Mario got
up at 4am to make breakfast, I apologized that I was going to need to take the
day off & let my knee rest. It was hard to bend it at all & putting my
full weight on it or trying to lift it, as in taking a step up, was pretty
painful as well. He was kind about it & told me not to worry, although I
felt completely foolish (for having fallen in the first place) for getting
myself hurt & not participating as a team member. But I didn’t want to make
it worse.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So I took the day off & slept in late, read some
& did laundry. Hopefully more successfully this time, as I took a good 45
minutes with a hearty bar of soap to scrub the muck out of my clothes &
used up an obscene amount of water (CA drought guilt) in the process to try
& get everything clean. I ended up spending most of the day trying to
figure out what to cook with the supplies on hand. I went through almost an
entire bag of flour trying to haphazardly make tortillas, naan & roti –
none of which turned out edible due to lacking ingredients. </div>
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I came to the conclusion that the most decent thing I
could do for the others was to having dinner ready for them when they got back.
It turned out to be a very rainy day – pouring on & off all through the
afternoon (kind of glad I wasn’t there, as it would have been miserable w/very
little bird action). It was no surprise when they showed up a little earlier
than normal (seeing as how birds won’t fly in the rain, it turned out to be a
very slow day for them), draped in ponchos & dripping wet. Fortunately, I
had some hot chocolate waiting for them, which they were pleased about, &
had decided to prepare a version of veggie burgers from some left over lentils
& rice we had, along with some fried potatoes. Seriously though, I could do
a lot more if they just had a decent collection of spices & sauces around!</div>
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Cat and Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02470326950739759311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6725286104548130105.post-70328120319694144182016-07-21T07:52:00.006-07:002016-07-21T07:52:49.355-07:00Things Were Going So Well<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>3 July 2016</b></div>
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We moved sites, deeper into the forest, today. It was
about an hour-long trek ascending 2 peaks & descending into their
corresponding canyons. It says something about the restoration of this cloud
forest, now in its 15<sup>th</sup> year of secondary forest growth (after being
converted back from a cattle ranch, with some barbed wire still visible) that
even as we passed over these peaks, you could see open sky and sunlight above
you, but could not see through the trees (the vegetation has come back nicely
on its own) to the horizon or to the river below, though you could hear it,
which was nice. There are no vastly large trees yet (not enough time for their
growth just yet) but the forest has rebounded back to a decent extent. And while
the larger cloud forest animals have yet to really move in & repopulate the
area (tapirs, spectacled bears, pumas, ocelots & sloths – though I’m told
there are a few here somewhere, not that we’ll have the luck/opportunity to see
any of them), the vast diversity of vegetation growth & the myriad of
insects & birds is a good sign (though I could do without the diversity of
parasitic invertebrates).<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVyuVLh-Csw2nr9KF_2CN17XNqgc3M2V4sNGgwurVIF7rL2CCkhZ-hw5rhxe8tK0UZg1ggYV2S_ygbLVFVl_510Ee9eEmFW2X1F5MVAKrqNClIEF18aMy38R-qfOsq3V7zqp0UnO94zKA/s1600/Sunrise.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVyuVLh-Csw2nr9KF_2CN17XNqgc3M2V4sNGgwurVIF7rL2CCkhZ-hw5rhxe8tK0UZg1ggYV2S_ygbLVFVl_510Ee9eEmFW2X1F5MVAKrqNClIEF18aMy38R-qfOsq3V7zqp0UnO94zKA/s640/Sunrise.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunrise over Valle del Cauca</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq_cGOe-ljFFeyuprSs-rGvgsZ-vGEOCBNdWIy7ZnUWkkWE7HS83BCnM_tsE3WS8cu_pIo1XWM20F5p3CbVD7oBR616idXB-1icmTuuyisuzjWB4iOmrqPNLEtGY4CMRxyIriWRq_87oU/s1600/Cliffside+Site+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq_cGOe-ljFFeyuprSs-rGvgsZ-vGEOCBNdWIy7ZnUWkkWE7HS83BCnM_tsE3WS8cu_pIo1XWM20F5p3CbVD7oBR616idXB-1icmTuuyisuzjWB4iOmrqPNLEtGY4CMRxyIriWRq_87oU/s640/Cliffside+Site+%25281%2529.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from cliff-top station</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZiP6szEbnZdGNRIZ6TLP_Ni24Nbk-_rfR9Ytv9UudRvG58d-1bIpy5Dd-okOBAoYRIcry0YxeDWJIr_yDtvbKzWt016iUkdaAB1WD-4cG1xNqvsJcbTVL-L33dZm83HzM4kXBsc1O09w/s1600/Cliffside+Site+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZiP6szEbnZdGNRIZ6TLP_Ni24Nbk-_rfR9Ytv9UudRvG58d-1bIpy5Dd-okOBAoYRIcry0YxeDWJIr_yDtvbKzWt016iUkdaAB1WD-4cG1xNqvsJcbTVL-L33dZm83HzM4kXBsc1O09w/s640/Cliffside+Site+%25282%2529.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Station on the cliff</td></tr>
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However, as we were descending into the second canyons to
set up camp, we had to climb over a rather large, smooth, slick boulder. And if
you can’t guess where I’m going with this, I fell off the cliff. Not sure how
it happened but being smooth & wet, I was having a hard time finding my
footing over the boulder (not that anyone else had problems, as I was the last
one to cross & everyone else had made it over just fine) & lost (or
never really had) my footing. I was lucky that Mario was on top of the boulder
having just received the supplies I handed up to him & quickly grabbed my
arm while I was frantically trying to find a hand hold on the rock. So Mario
saved me. I’m not sure how far I would have fallen, as you couldn’t really see
what was off the edge of the cliff other than more trees. I can only hope some
vegetation would have broken my fall or that the canyon wasn’t that deep in
that spot… But as it is, I was able to grab Mario’s hands in the melee & we
slowly swung my lower half off to the side, where I was able to find a foothold
on a tree limb & scramble back up onto the trail on the other side of the
boulder. Of course the first thought that went through my mind was “well,
shit”, quickly followed by “how is Mario going to be able to hold my weight,
he’s half my size!” I really was concerned about pulling him over the edge with
me but thankfully didn’t & all is well.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcDyt6cMKHj77ri3o3d8irlpQJyiBVbEQwt0TdpnC_C29_4uPAnw835w-m0X0HAA355f8-QYbUolJvSQloIqprbJIIzMTarGErVce_BspOeFvD9LcfW0fTKgKDxj675ukbhQPp6Adh98o/s1600/White-sided+flowerpiercer+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcDyt6cMKHj77ri3o3d8irlpQJyiBVbEQwt0TdpnC_C29_4uPAnw835w-m0X0HAA355f8-QYbUolJvSQloIqprbJIIzMTarGErVce_BspOeFvD9LcfW0fTKgKDxj675ukbhQPp6Adh98o/s640/White-sided+flowerpiercer+%25281%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">White-sided flowerpiercer</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsFSz7fsoswziuQARpWk2JjxtZnUDIm-U5ly7WmPVJataMino4PVDDrGXfBqc3X2oIaWuia9QXlXCfrmqOYrnDqozHcZFO7MD-2s8Sqe6LLJwrlTfAitgWKDhK_kqearqtIj3DQcuTgzU/s1600/White-sided+flowerpiercer+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsFSz7fsoswziuQARpWk2JjxtZnUDIm-U5ly7WmPVJataMino4PVDDrGXfBqc3X2oIaWuia9QXlXCfrmqOYrnDqozHcZFO7MD-2s8Sqe6LLJwrlTfAitgWKDhK_kqearqtIj3DQcuTgzU/s640/White-sided+flowerpiercer+%25282%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">White-sided flowerpierce</span></td></tr>
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Or almost. Other than nearly giving Mario a heart attack,
I somehow twisted & slammed my left leg against the rock & seriously
bruised it. I’m not sure what a bone bruise feels like but it was pretty hard
to move my leg after that. But there’s
bugger all I could do about it since we still had a ways to go to make it down to
the camp, get everything set up for the next day & then climb back up over
the 2 peaks (crossing the infamous boulder once again, albeit WAY more
carefully) for the hour-long trek back to the station. Thank goodness I didn’t
break anything because I would have been shit out of luck that far away &
with only a first aid kit to hand. But it was a pretty brutal trek back to the
station that night. Being muddy just made things worse as each time I would
slip, my knee would get twisted in a different direction, immediately followed
by a searing pain & English cuss words (oddly enough, the most English I’ve
spoken here so far). But I hobbled & made it back to the station – not much
else I could do – & proceeded to assess the damage. I can’t tell if I’ve
torn anything on the inside, it definitely feels painful to the touch but that
may just be a serious bruise. The knee is very stiff & hard to move in any
direction but that may just be from the swelling. Sadly, ice is a luxury we
don’t have here without electricity (though, I learned that if I leave my hand
outside my sleeping bag long enough, I can use it as a temporary ice pack) but
I did have some ibuprofen. So I took that & made my way into the shower,
which turned out not to be the smartest idea. With my rickety knee shivering from
the freezing cold water, I (perhaps expectedly) slipped in the shower &
totally ate it – it was a full on body slam, slip & slide onto the soapy
tile floor. Thank goodness I didn’t hit my head but I didn’t help my bruised
knee any. Peeved at myself & beyond embarrassed, I quickly replied to my
roommate’s inquiry through the door as to my safety by saying I was fine, I had
just dropped the shampoo. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8QIDiUcRn-HdeMZ7blNKYG7RIoWUJPcwNAkrlzPSjNMjMEpTh7JGPUkew98inXiERTWqTbCCCzqfDo9r1Fcw4Ji_RVHjrXtDcWg6bIxFtxDywHQzmpRzweYeNDXY93DoW9eSDFNwbdjM/s1600/Yellow-headed+manakin+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8QIDiUcRn-HdeMZ7blNKYG7RIoWUJPcwNAkrlzPSjNMjMEpTh7JGPUkew98inXiERTWqTbCCCzqfDo9r1Fcw4Ji_RVHjrXtDcWg6bIxFtxDywHQzmpRzweYeNDXY93DoW9eSDFNwbdjM/s640/Yellow-headed+manakin+%25281%2529.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photographing y-headed manakin's beak</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuA88zMWpeiXKYocQKj45lZPY8adLz7Tgenn6HhhHE-5LhqtXT08POQrgP3CnCKPLdB9btHk7hBtS8X-zLZ8Vk7GS2ygrs_BNK8HRJPCUgqLld8-sUNLbwYAG_8-Hqwupuq3YQacZiqjc/s1600/Yellow-headed+manakin+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuA88zMWpeiXKYocQKj45lZPY8adLz7Tgenn6HhhHE-5LhqtXT08POQrgP3CnCKPLdB9btHk7hBtS8X-zLZ8Vk7GS2ygrs_BNK8HRJPCUgqLld8-sUNLbwYAG_8-Hqwupuq3YQacZiqjc/s640/Yellow-headed+manakin+%25282%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taking blood sample from yellow-headed manakin</td></tr>
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And that was my fucking day.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFkzJY74NjeGbr7Yfy2mDocTZpxyoJLBbSPd94w9pAMVxU17NiCKvrIjd9OSaqYtm3NyWnbhU12TdgZ_Aov0uCSkkQ9zPW1OkWR4JYyESciGuE4RFT5Og37YkOfqVEPgYq2XWqTZALgzU/s1600/Yellow-headed+manakin+%25283%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFkzJY74NjeGbr7Yfy2mDocTZpxyoJLBbSPd94w9pAMVxU17NiCKvrIjd9OSaqYtm3NyWnbhU12TdgZ_Aov0uCSkkQ9zPW1OkWR4JYyESciGuE4RFT5Og37YkOfqVEPgYq2XWqTZALgzU/s640/Yellow-headed+manakin+%25283%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yellow-headed manakin</td></tr>
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Cat and Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02470326950739759311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6725286104548130105.post-3069024879064457932016-07-21T07:41:00.002-07:002016-07-21T07:41:20.822-07:00Feeling a Bit More Relaxed<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>2 July 2016</b></div>
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Unfortunately, I didn’t get to sleep in too late today,
thanks to the rooster & everyone else getting up around 4am. It appears
almost no one got sleep as the mosquitoes were pretty vicious during the night.
Thanks to my mosquito net, I didn’t suffer as the others did, but my feet did
get eaten up by something that was either in my socks or in my sleeping bag,
I’m not sure which, never found the culprit. The bug situation here is pretty
horrific; I could be a one-person entomological study with all the critters
that have parasitized my body.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA39MgmgGapeygN-2MBHQTSPzGbOae70goJKgMeFkWmDXPITDkLVIbz7ZUb93GbVDpK64dYA0Q6F7EhAX_ok43Gft2R5AuCxirKu7G3lp-VYwO8uwKr_8sP1GvS3s9DDI_Hwoj2sv_Yl0/s1600/Female+Green-and-black+fruiteater+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA39MgmgGapeygN-2MBHQTSPzGbOae70goJKgMeFkWmDXPITDkLVIbz7ZUb93GbVDpK64dYA0Q6F7EhAX_ok43Gft2R5AuCxirKu7G3lp-VYwO8uwKr_8sP1GvS3s9DDI_Hwoj2sv_Yl0/s640/Female+Green-and-black+fruiteater+%25281%2529.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Female Green-and-black fruiteater</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzQkJGiNkLyYOXkD80kys_QFtrmg1OEfXhSzXivi1x4ACT0WyDbQwhJN4SYK5tCTDsdzlVoOyhQNejIRK87yYeO-u9Yhq4QqYXWx7Fk4zVqulFJG4mc3b_LsG_uhzkkjT5gGMyOEn5wMQ/s1600/Male+Green-and-black+fruiteater+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzQkJGiNkLyYOXkD80kys_QFtrmg1OEfXhSzXivi1x4ACT0WyDbQwhJN4SYK5tCTDsdzlVoOyhQNejIRK87yYeO-u9Yhq4QqYXWx7Fk4zVqulFJG4mc3b_LsG_uhzkkjT5gGMyOEn5wMQ/s640/Male+Green-and-black+fruiteater+%25281%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Male Green-and-black fruiteater</td></tr>
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I was able to go back to sleep for a little bit once
everyone left at 5am, but Loki had other ideas, sneaking in just after 7am
& trying to steal socks again. (The farmer seriously needs to get that poor
pup some toys!) I got the data entered & tried my hand at using the
pressure cooker with the beans. (I threw away 2 bags of beans before I found
one I could use, as I realized while rinsing them that the little black bugs I
assumed had just fallen into my lunch on previous days were actually weevils
devouring the bags of beans from the inside out.) I overcooked them a bit
though & they came out more like bland refried beans. I dumped a bunch of
salt, pepper, oregano & garlic powder in them – whatever I could find to
add some seasoning (what I wouldn’t give for some Salsa Lizano!). I trudged up
the mountain & delivered my first cooked meal to the group, a little
terrified of how it would come out. I shouldn’t have worried though – since
they cover everything in mayonnaise, including the cabbage & carrot salad I
made – I don’t think they noticed the lack of flavor. They did notice the
refried bean consistency, which I was surprised they were happy about. They
said it reminded them of Mexican food, which they said is not a common cuisine
in this part of Colombia (so now I understand why nachos is the price for 400
birds). So of course the conversation immediately turned to all the Mexican
dishes they wished they were eating. For once a conversation I am knowledgeable
about & can actually contribute to!! (It also helps that the food names are
already in Spanish ;P <o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCUGgLdH1c0oHjMkk89FhyphenhyphentuaW7z_ikPVtd38mu4vupluKAvcu2YuK9V1-o6ebjtNmnqzSuxDh_9gWRn08iBQTBKJJvfHWkx3VrBcYyLO70RzTGQ9DvQCxVEKYZXBXnfphtbn6ULlhcEY/s1600/Scarab+Beetle.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCUGgLdH1c0oHjMkk89FhyphenhyphentuaW7z_ikPVtd38mu4vupluKAvcu2YuK9V1-o6ebjtNmnqzSuxDh_9gWRn08iBQTBKJJvfHWkx3VrBcYyLO70RzTGQ9DvQCxVEKYZXBXnfphtbn6ULlhcEY/s640/Scarab+Beetle.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scarab beetle</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK3pPu_CUtTqQgV2OwNtDgb9J5NxuFuD7GjqJPROSjSUxOH9NOvyM4rbyUHJcO5vkmNj04JsnVU3Oxmr0XFdudi2MaMloD7EQD0EhUNmvMWpcxhcDE8gZynywFfXF851qCjpASDNa5JQM/s1600/Moth.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK3pPu_CUtTqQgV2OwNtDgb9J5NxuFuD7GjqJPROSjSUxOH9NOvyM4rbyUHJcO5vkmNj04JsnVU3Oxmr0XFdudi2MaMloD7EQD0EhUNmvMWpcxhcDE8gZynywFfXF851qCjpASDNa5JQM/s640/Moth.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Huge moth</td></tr>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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I was disappointed to learn that the one morning I don’t
arrive at camp first thing in the morning they caught bats in the nets!! Ugh,
sooo disappointing not to get to see them. :( There was one bat still hanging
around, though; it had made a tent out of some large leaves near camp & was
huddled under its makeshift shelter against the cold. Poor thing. It was
sleeping with its wings over its face for warmth, so I had no idea what species
it was.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLeI_31jWj1m0_b8GknUYB8eMYmKZduf9wbUvEmVZpvugsf_oW_qYoiHsomwUCci-eKely1940N0zV2x2dsvOfg0Hag35UxOsVlGDSQKpgXNRlkB4e3A6dBDLqtMu9w8sQrxT3f51ikbc/s1600/Bat.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLeI_31jWj1m0_b8GknUYB8eMYmKZduf9wbUvEmVZpvugsf_oW_qYoiHsomwUCci-eKely1940N0zV2x2dsvOfg0Hag35UxOsVlGDSQKpgXNRlkB4e3A6dBDLqtMu9w8sQrxT3f51ikbc/s640/Bat.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sleeping Bat</td></tr>
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By the end of the day, I was in a pretty good mood. It’s
been a little over a week since I started working here. I have to admit, the
first week was rough & my Spanish comprehension skills are still rather
lacking, but I do feel a little more settled & comfortable with the
experience (rustic living conditions aside). I’ve got the bird thing down &
am starting to learn to recognize different species names. I know what I’m
doing in the field & I’m enjoying it immensely. The birds (while terrified
& fighting you beak & rapter-like-nail) are so cute & soft! We all
talk to them as if they were pets; it’s kind of ridiculous, but it’s a lot of
fun & the animals are really cool – such diversity, it’s amazing! And I
love being in the forest, even though it’s cold & muddy, it’s an incredibly
beautiful place! I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to be here.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSqBlDl9TloJd-wHRuDRU5mTX2LX2JcRfB4FbIPIz17sTohghW-Xh9TJbRi265mN26jI7_v0vusOT1tlhyphenhyphenJxJSyroVgvFVB9yE17GJHzbpiqVowJL9DZDXI5_avToaaRRXeRy2FWH52F4/s1600/Chestnut+Breasted+Wren+Nest.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSqBlDl9TloJd-wHRuDRU5mTX2LX2JcRfB4FbIPIz17sTohghW-Xh9TJbRi265mN26jI7_v0vusOT1tlhyphenhyphenJxJSyroVgvFVB9yE17GJHzbpiqVowJL9DZDXI5_avToaaRRXeRy2FWH52F4/s640/Chestnut+Breasted+Wren+Nest.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chestnut-breasted wren nest</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHXftC_05-FrimTDrKFg5m_HP2haZGmEb-l6M3pM2og5f7nux0SL4p07uvsjR-7Zigdhu01KedlWcjKSIlZpc0SYNtB6umcgNF7HcG7ixKgVuY7MS1ordCL7s0vNfFEQqGxBLaUY-UqY4/s1600/Chestnut+Breasted+Wren+Eggs.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHXftC_05-FrimTDrKFg5m_HP2haZGmEb-l6M3pM2og5f7nux0SL4p07uvsjR-7Zigdhu01KedlWcjKSIlZpc0SYNtB6umcgNF7HcG7ixKgVuY7MS1ordCL7s0vNfFEQqGxBLaUY-UqY4/s640/Chestnut+Breasted+Wren+Eggs.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Chestnut-breasted wren eggs</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiuu88-2uvooMxo3-KMaU434ZsH9qaohrsXPBMLlNrfypMSKJAoR0DCL2IJIdhdVsNfoaxZP1hvj376rBhrknBdbFBjCE_vPOvCak8_hgSeum1n8ar4qe-OV4zbr00UORl3IPIq4iBQU4/s1600/Mario+setting+up+camera+trap+for+wren%2527s+nest+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiuu88-2uvooMxo3-KMaU434ZsH9qaohrsXPBMLlNrfypMSKJAoR0DCL2IJIdhdVsNfoaxZP1hvj376rBhrknBdbFBjCE_vPOvCak8_hgSeum1n8ar4qe-OV4zbr00UORl3IPIq4iBQU4/s640/Mario+setting+up+camera+trap+for+wren%2527s+nest+%25281%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mario installing camera trap @ nest</td></tr>
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Cat and Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02470326950739759311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6725286104548130105.post-66421992617457589932016-07-21T07:31:00.005-07:002016-07-21T07:31:36.799-07:00Touché<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>1 July 2016</b></div>
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I am now paying penance for having complained about
5:30am wake up calls before, as the new site this week is further up the
mountain & requires us to rise & shine at 4am! Fortunately, I’m not the
only one who is not a morning person; frankly no one here but Mario is, so we
worked out a new schedule of sorts. Mario & 2 others get up at 4am to get
ready; Mario makes breakfast; we quickly eat then head out to set up camp &
open the nets by 5am. (Good lord it’s a haul up that mountain! 30 minutes
almost strait incline & I can barely talk through gasps of air when we
arrive at camp). The 4<sup>th</sup> person gets to sleep in; enter the previous
day’s data & catalogue photographs in the morning; make & pack
everyone’s lunch; then meet the rest of us at camp at noon for lunch & an
afternoon of mist netting. At 4:30pm, one of the early risers (not Mario) heads
back to the station to make dinner. The rest of us close up camp & head
back down the mountain at 5:30pm for a 7pm dinner & then in bed around 8:30pm
for the next day’s early morning. We are to rotate like this every day so that
each person cooks something 2 days in a row, 1 day off & each person gets
to sleep in every 3 days.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We’ll see how this goes. Getting up at 4am today wasn’t
too bad, as I couldn’t sleep well in anticipation of such an early morning
& the “pincha” rooster crowing at 3am didn’t help either – I’d be very
happy for some fresh pollo right about now. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHPT69VKCTZn2cjV-bnC_XNcWBT97RmXJcjHRjyW-8qfR-VirIl__lqPnXRGVXGcndB-5RRsB9SpVTOM5sj1YPKO9yQalYKniJDW42eQPPGXcLfUdEOLMTWt-h6NFVek7kJ5QLRVXt9yk/s1600/Unknown+Birds+%25283%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHPT69VKCTZn2cjV-bnC_XNcWBT97RmXJcjHRjyW-8qfR-VirIl__lqPnXRGVXGcndB-5RRsB9SpVTOM5sj1YPKO9yQalYKniJDW42eQPPGXcLfUdEOLMTWt-h6NFVek7kJ5QLRVXt9yk/s640/Unknown+Birds+%25283%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Our downtime in camp now includes several rounds of
Rummikub & Spanish/English dictionary games. This time it was a practice in
English pronunciation, as the “th-“ and “ph-“ sounds are somewhat hard to make
in the Spanish language. Though, oddly, enough, they have no problem making the
equivalent “f” sound in “fucking”. This is a favorite cussword of theirs when
trying to swat away flies, as in “fucking moscas”. I find it interesting that
they have no problem cussing in another language, but when they want to say
“shit” in Spanish, which is “mierda”, they say “miercoles” (Wednesday). I guess
it would be like when someone in English says “fudge” as a cussword. They were
also intrigued by the letter “w”, as there are no Spanish-derived words that
start with this letter; they’re all Anglicisms like “wow” & “whisky”. But
likewise, my companions enjoyed teasing me that I can’t roll my R’s to save my
life, so they decided to show off with some Spanish-language tongue twisters. I
literally could not make out a single word they were saying. Not to be outdone,
however, I had them in stitches when I gave them a taste of Suzy selling
seashells & a woodchuck chucking wood. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqz5X4HF4EMtpfQQpARdRmaQ-HeCW353Tc__SibsMiMuC0vVM6mRq7KG1MzON_ruBnp0r6CFBGKO75Ne4W94a5WB34pMAgLNXbcb9ojQz777g7R4P-sWEq-gdvo89M6g13ljduW_onp-8/s1600/Weighing+a+Bird.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqz5X4HF4EMtpfQQpARdRmaQ-HeCW353Tc__SibsMiMuC0vVM6mRq7KG1MzON_ruBnp0r6CFBGKO75Ne4W94a5WB34pMAgLNXbcb9ojQz777g7R4P-sWEq-gdvo89M6g13ljduW_onp-8/s640/Weighing+a+Bird.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Weighing the birds</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Tomorrow will be my turn to sleep in, enter data &
make lunch. The menu: rice & beans with cabbage & carrot salad. Two out
of 3 of those I have no problem with; however, I’ve never used a pressure
cooker to cook beans before so I had Mario show me after dinner. I’m very
nervous about the quality of my cooking skills (& my ability to understand
all of his instructions in Spanish) &/or possibly blowing up the
beans/myself. Veremos…<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Cat and Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02470326950739759311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6725286104548130105.post-33553499426962152852016-07-21T07:23:00.000-07:002016-07-21T07:23:00.263-07:00Dia Descanso<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>30 June 2016</b></div>
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The phrase “day off” is very confusing to my Colombian
counterparts. They tell me there’s no such thing as a “day on”, so why do we
call it “day off’ in English? To them, the literal translation seems very
weird; they prefer to call it “dia descanso” or day of rest, which I suppose
does make more sense. Whatever you want to call it, I was surprised that we get
an entire day off – again, not much is explained until it happens & I ask
questions. ;P There’s honestly not too much to do around here. We’re a 3 hour
walk from the nearest town, which itself is very small. I already showered
& did laundry yesterday, so what to do? I read a lot, napped some, bird
watched some, went on a short walk to a nearby lookout over the valley of Cali,
played with Loki (until his habit of bite-playing gets to be too much – he’s an
adorable 4 month old puppy, looks like a little white rabbit bouncing around,
but doesn’t quite yet know how to play nicely)…it was a slow day. Looks like
we’ll have every Thursday off: 6 days on (covering 2 sites, 3 days each), then
1 day off. I miss movies & tv very much right now ;)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEq6NXB7DlIOjGRodes-X3BG3AKueYaLMDcMV97VyiE6Fg9hHwkpPFw8FbNRhnQ1sw2Qc_infZLyRTzeWTMin5HQCrEy6V8GrJI6ZnDgFOSB2rCHuKB0JtFyvSYCqP81hdCYxKvHiGiYE/s1600/Loki+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEq6NXB7DlIOjGRodes-X3BG3AKueYaLMDcMV97VyiE6Fg9hHwkpPFw8FbNRhnQ1sw2Qc_infZLyRTzeWTMin5HQCrEy6V8GrJI6ZnDgFOSB2rCHuKB0JtFyvSYCqP81hdCYxKvHiGiYE/s640/Loki+%25281%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Loki</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7iY39JHUDheRIq3NJ1xEeitBLNuiTsvRtDO2l0EnKElBaWR7vNCLUbIS72x3NNmj95yhC4ussJaUP44pPZ5e59JEa-bsdUStFqpigrm5eHNNWFL4zw7CIEf0gFrvQxVgMIn2bsTZxTSI/s1600/Clouds+Rolling+In+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7iY39JHUDheRIq3NJ1xEeitBLNuiTsvRtDO2l0EnKElBaWR7vNCLUbIS72x3NNmj95yhC4ussJaUP44pPZ5e59JEa-bsdUStFqpigrm5eHNNWFL4zw7CIEf0gFrvQxVgMIn2bsTZxTSI/s640/Clouds+Rolling+In+%25281%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clouds rolling in over the Cauca Valley</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLp6629Y922vDWW-xyWluU_MtI05K89DozZ11oVAUAEm0WhXjYjFuKRFy5Y0YiGUxtsMFlTaKnHui_k-qkjh_M7T46_pB47LQqddoUDnYmAbiLb4umLWk-De56JgYB16pmO75V9GoV4-E/s1600/Clouds+Rolling+In+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLp6629Y922vDWW-xyWluU_MtI05K89DozZ11oVAUAEm0WhXjYjFuKRFy5Y0YiGUxtsMFlTaKnHui_k-qkjh_M7T46_pB47LQqddoUDnYmAbiLb4umLWk-De56JgYB16pmO75V9GoV4-E/s640/Clouds+Rolling+In+%25282%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of the farm from ridge above the farm</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjntPcc8qHQXLTulvhPUrm0-nwg0cH9Pr_lZmR3T6PdgLhJgl_TE9BBNYtuQDROkp66zjeAhuCBCs94N7sUaebXDYB2bsj7XyNOxfgFxEzIiAbim0yZQCyh7fjmYPXxInP46iOgzu75dA/s1600/Clouds+Rolling+In+%25283%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjntPcc8qHQXLTulvhPUrm0-nwg0cH9Pr_lZmR3T6PdgLhJgl_TE9BBNYtuQDROkp66zjeAhuCBCs94N7sUaebXDYB2bsj7XyNOxfgFxEzIiAbim0yZQCyh7fjmYPXxInP46iOgzu75dA/s640/Clouds+Rolling+In+%25283%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clouds above the cloud forest</td></tr>
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Cat and Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02470326950739759311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6725286104548130105.post-49799344839950497082016-07-21T07:08:00.000-07:002016-07-21T07:08:01.125-07:00New Discoveries<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>29 June 2016</b></div>
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We caught an emerald toucanet today! It was such a
beautiful bird & such a defensive/aggressive one. They don’t use &
don’t have gloves when working with the birds here, as most of them are so
small that trying to get them out of the mist nets with thick gloves on would
be really cumbersome & hard on the birds. So Mario had to handle the
toucanet with bare hands. Toucans (& their relations), if you don’t know,
have serrated beaks to shred their food (mostly fruits & the occasional
small reptile or bird). So their main defense mechanism is to use that same
beak against giant mammals man-handling them all of a sudden. Mario’s hand got
pretty shredded. I packed a first aid kit in my backpack & pulled out some
alcohol swabs & liquid bandage. Everyone was amazed at both of these
things, which surprised me. It’s not like Colombia is a 3<sup>rd</sup> world
country; they have medical advances & supplies. But none of the crew had
ever seen either of these products. Mario was most excited about the liquid
bandage – he even took pictures of the bottle to look for it online. He got
even more excited later when it didn’t wash off with soap & water. (He is
the director of this station, very intelligent & more than capable, but
about 10+ years younger than me & sometimes it shows :) <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpq2uJTzyRGtBdgET_B7_XzcmxVaCeaCZto7tIIJYNho01ctuFToVn2qjEapZ_akcooLvGMA_lBPPArjusJr_ubuiuqBEDJp1pfcatqWokDb4K85hGKmhJ3hQd6lwYc2cXsaU-p4ETZMQ/s1600/Emerald+toucanet+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpq2uJTzyRGtBdgET_B7_XzcmxVaCeaCZto7tIIJYNho01ctuFToVn2qjEapZ_akcooLvGMA_lBPPArjusJr_ubuiuqBEDJp1pfcatqWokDb4K85hGKmhJ3hQd6lwYc2cXsaU-p4ETZMQ/s640/Emerald+toucanet+%25282%2529.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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The liquid bandage prompted an interrogation of what
other technologies & gadgets we had in the U.S. that are used for camps
& research. They now want to write into their next grant hand warming
sachets, a backpacking stove, battery powered socks, & liquid bandage.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcvqnVlvL5HUne9vQXV4n5IKhrr-W2BYn9kUbkdDbLbjNvyjDjbZfnjDq4nXPRtO0AKRcQ9Q_GXlWhjECfUeO5ri0N78BXcQhvgsVW4Fdt6B2nb4GNXt2y8k8e_j9pFGjT43Am3YS2r98/s1600/Emerald+toucanet+%25283%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcvqnVlvL5HUne9vQXV4n5IKhrr-W2BYn9kUbkdDbLbjNvyjDjbZfnjDq4nXPRtO0AKRcQ9Q_GXlWhjECfUeO5ri0N78BXcQhvgsVW4Fdt6B2nb4GNXt2y8k8e_j9pFGjT43Am3YS2r98/s640/Emerald+toucanet+%25283%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taking measurements</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXbuSG2YX9P2rBt9EkCEH_Cv4rUa2bUsoINLYURPpEA1hUcLP5s8mZ8dqtpwrjqEcVSDMiKmfyFdlcvhW_JiYrUqHI1xqisdWtdcjBZy5Ykee8ss2z8yq4PtKnwLAUHoAbZAX681ulLhI/s1600/Emerald+toucanet+%25284%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXbuSG2YX9P2rBt9EkCEH_Cv4rUa2bUsoINLYURPpEA1hUcLP5s8mZ8dqtpwrjqEcVSDMiKmfyFdlcvhW_JiYrUqHI1xqisdWtdcjBZy5Ykee8ss2z8yq4PtKnwLAUHoAbZAX681ulLhI/s640/Emerald+toucanet+%25284%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Banding the bird</td></tr>
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We also had sad news today (though not really), as one of
the hummingbirds we had caught died while we were processing it. It’s an
occupational hazard with this kind of work, as birds naturally run at very high
temperatures (over 100<sup>o</sup>F on average) and when you’re working in a
cold cloud forest, your own body temperature starts to drop. So handling the
birds with cold hands can be very dangerous by rapidly lowering their own body
temperature, since they’re not able to move or fly, which is how they normally
would generate their own heat. Which is why there’s an emphasis on processing
the birds as quickly & as efficiently as possible. Since we only check the
nets once every hour, there’s also no telling how long a birds has been trapped
in a net within that hour, with its body temp already starting to drop. So
sadly, a hummingbird must have gotten too cold & slowly died. It’s a very
quiet process: they just start to close their eyes & go to sleep in your
hands. (So it’s a good sign when the bird is fighting your grip, biting &
scratching at you – it tells you they’re still very much alive. Which is how I
got my lip split open by leaning in to close to a bird to read its band number.
New scar added to the list.) So anyway, a hummingbird passed away in Mario’s
hands but will not go to waste: it was in perfect condition & will get
preserved until the project is over, then sent to the university to get stuffed
& turned into a museum specimen. In scientific studies, death can be put to
good use.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We’re no longer working on an incline (gracias a dios!)
so they brought out a game of Rummikub. They get very competitive with each
other, so it’s a good thing no one’s keeping score ;) The presence of the
Spanish-English dictionary has also created a new fun game: What does this mean
in English? The dictionary has become essential for me to quickly find what the
hell I’m trying to say in Spanish, but it’s also become a way to pass the time
in between checking the nets for birds. They randomly flip to a page &
learn a new word in English, then try to quiz each other on it later, or they
find definitions & idioms in English that make no sense in Spanish. Trying
to explain “almighty”, “urchin”, “what on earth”, “down to earth”, &
“hedgehog” (they don’t understand how this animal is different from a porcupine
& I don’t have the language skills to remedy that) was an interesting
challenge.<br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuuGmsaxdT_V3UP379-RrAFtqxn2w7zC2wQEoLnTVi8HAeB9u6rnp22SnOMwShv0KbYEpnViOJUY0ItqVLLaYvbnCQrn_aV-EoDO47XvWXf1w_rsPzoz_05q8-fOua1EGbS9qp4jAI3n0/s1600/View+from+inside+camp+tent+%25283%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuuGmsaxdT_V3UP379-RrAFtqxn2w7zC2wQEoLnTVi8HAeB9u6rnp22SnOMwShv0KbYEpnViOJUY0ItqVLLaYvbnCQrn_aV-EoDO47XvWXf1w_rsPzoz_05q8-fOua1EGbS9qp4jAI3n0/s640/View+from+inside+camp+tent+%25283%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My view from inside the camp tent</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqoirAM9tE-WHPaa1fRm7BOIbr8WAaEn7kEzsuilu_PDtJCs342fBioAsyIUgzDSnR-9Pmiam_1ool0MjkoyqW8SJ4b6FuWlIWAkZwoBPBudmODB3gUWxjHb9S_z1dQPfBn6OVOgFBhN8/s1600/View+from+inside+camp+tent+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqoirAM9tE-WHPaa1fRm7BOIbr8WAaEn7kEzsuilu_PDtJCs342fBioAsyIUgzDSnR-9Pmiam_1ool0MjkoyqW8SJ4b6FuWlIWAkZwoBPBudmODB3gUWxjHb9S_z1dQPfBn6OVOgFBhN8/s640/View+from+inside+camp+tent+%25281%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from inside tent</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="text-align: left;">The day ended with picking fresh mora (blackberry/raspberry-like
fruits & SUPER sour) & listening to quetzals calling (though we
couldn’t see them) along the trail home.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpM2FNfkLgX6F7gDh5paQee3odqqZRAkDb6S1kVqd7TVNe5ZClo84GCw6YVlP8ld1CDxCla1KlgTq9FC409N7amooc157qquezz8iQs6Rn2iZC6f-KdvZHwfoFn0rxOOKYIfSrDglTmMM/s1600/Edible+Berries.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpM2FNfkLgX6F7gDh5paQee3odqqZRAkDb6S1kVqd7TVNe5ZClo84GCw6YVlP8ld1CDxCla1KlgTq9FC409N7amooc157qquezz8iQs6Rn2iZC6f-KdvZHwfoFn0rxOOKYIfSrDglTmMM/s640/Edible+Berries.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Edible berries (don't know the name)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn67nkejVuBXZMbFVANU4BFSh_t0UKjUISvcE16N3X9RNVrLj54WgbyKdujBh6frzljbbb0sEY-O1NupXBVLB_Ld8IG6ZKmNQ6F0UVX7j5fF02NG73YcL1nssjAMKpL9iV1HySfpORWuk/s1600/Wild+Mora.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn67nkejVuBXZMbFVANU4BFSh_t0UKjUISvcE16N3X9RNVrLj54WgbyKdujBh6frzljbbb0sEY-O1NupXBVLB_Ld8IG6ZKmNQ6F0UVX7j5fF02NG73YcL1nssjAMKpL9iV1HySfpORWuk/s640/Wild+Mora.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mora</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Cat and Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02470326950739759311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6725286104548130105.post-47330821267054672532016-07-18T16:06:00.005-07:002016-07-18T16:06:59.112-07:00Cleaning Day<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>28 June 2016</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBKHLD_-SRIhbKoanOPSIL5tGvSsmAE2g9LqeA2CICD_6_hFWY5owW9D7C5CHFhQmxlPObgW40rLyf5wx9sWF6oP-4MguD3fIsI9SPxHbfpNWlAhnVwdqOOv0sZHVcXsxzTC3lWdS9BVk/s1600/Pretty+Plants+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBKHLD_-SRIhbKoanOPSIL5tGvSsmAE2g9LqeA2CICD_6_hFWY5owW9D7C5CHFhQmxlPObgW40rLyf5wx9sWF6oP-4MguD3fIsI9SPxHbfpNWlAhnVwdqOOv0sZHVcXsxzTC3lWdS9BVk/s640/Pretty+Plants+%25282%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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I’ve decided laundry needs to be done more than once a
week because I get beyond filthy: slipping in the mud, wiping dead bugs on my
pants, having birds poop on me & sweating under 3 layers of insulation
& insect repellant (Nick would not be able to stand my presence right now).
Plus I only have 2 pairs of pants, so every 3 days (when we shift sites &
come back a little early) has become my shower & laundry day. I’ve learned
it takes about 3 days for clothes to dry in this weather, so I suppose that
works out. (I’ve also learned that I cannot leave my clothes out to dry too low
to the ground, as the neighboring farmer’s puppy, Loki, who comes in & out of
our cabin has taken 2 of my socks as chew toys…only one of which has so far
been found.) Although with just an outdoor sink & some Dr. Bronner’s, my
clothes still smell pretty raunchy even when they’re “clean” & dry. I will
most likely need to find a laundromat in Cali to thoroughly wash my clothes
before Nick joins me for vacation ;)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf_xhUbrDpVqFiPJiCbIpX7qgJDteaekquVJ1ECvwzSi6nGF3YIGGdV5FBlkCjy6Uy1mPnCLofre9puCT8JomqTntdNgTBpL8st6d9KD10ZNqSVne6ETa5yxJdxclA_Ee2Ro61U_BI6-U/s1600/Pretty+Plants+%25283%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf_xhUbrDpVqFiPJiCbIpX7qgJDteaekquVJ1ECvwzSi6nGF3YIGGdV5FBlkCjy6Uy1mPnCLofre9puCT8JomqTntdNgTBpL8st6d9KD10ZNqSVne6ETa5yxJdxclA_Ee2Ro61U_BI6-U/s640/Pretty+Plants+%25283%2529.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMdPXqKhUlUntrMxtZTfjvjeczf78vMhsy4CO52kI9034iRLpQTQNm7Im2SWbcAAS1vUJULmBQvQOxBQMn402u-bq5diiMO9fI2mIdGI4oSKtTq0KkU0jcg7EI615Pta0GsjW9uz9fOk8/s1600/Pretty+Plants+%25288%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMdPXqKhUlUntrMxtZTfjvjeczf78vMhsy4CO52kI9034iRLpQTQNm7Im2SWbcAAS1vUJULmBQvQOxBQMn402u-bq5diiMO9fI2mIdGI4oSKtTq0KkU0jcg7EI615Pta0GsjW9uz9fOk8/s640/Pretty+Plants+%25288%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Showers are FREEZING cold, as the water comes straight
down the mountain, but it does feel good to be bathed afterwards…even if I am
stepping into smelly clothes again :P I feel comfortable enough to help with
food prep now, although I always leave it up to them as to what to make, since
they’re more familiar with what to do with the limited food supplies & make
the most of it. But I’m capable of prepping vegetables or frying stuff up, so
at least I’m contributing somewhat ;) Other than that, I try to make sure I
work on the day’s data entry while they do the bulk of the cooking (especially
since dinner & next day’s lunch are made at the same time) & then I
wash up afterwards, so hopefully it’s a far contribution.</div>
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Tonight’s dinner was a true “only at camp” kind of thing
– something no mother would approve: popcorn & arroz con leche (made powdered
milk but not bad). :)</div>
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Cat and Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02470326950739759311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6725286104548130105.post-17054287420705814502016-07-18T14:56:00.001-07:002016-07-18T14:56:16.774-07:00Hard Day’s Night<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>27 June 2016</b></div>
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Almost a week of bird catching & I’m starting to get
the hang of things. We left the 1st site I was at to start banding at the next
location. This one is a little bit more treacherous as far as the trail goes
& placing the nets along the cliff edges (it didn’t take long for me to
trip over some vines & fall face first down the trail). But the camp is on
a completely flat surface this time – woo hoo, no incline! – & so far it’s
a little warmer with no pounding rain (fingers crossed).<o:p></o:p></div>
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The days don’t differ much, so there’s not really much to
tell. My back is doing a number on me sitting on the ground for 12 hours a day.
I would say this research group needs a bigger tent (so it can fit camping
chairs!) so that it can more comfortably fit the 4 bodies, but then there’s
really not that much room in the forest to set up anything bigger. The 4th
person to join the group, Maria Fernanda (Mafer), an undergraduate at the
university doing her thesis on hummingbirds, joined us today. It makes for a
tight working space with very little leg room & somewhat awkward
conversation – or rather the lack thereof on my part – as the 3 of them have
all worked together before & have a rapport, inside jokes, people they know
(oh yeah, & it’s all in rapid Spanish), so I’m very much the odd man out. I
try to follow the conversations as best I can but my comprehension is somewhat
lacking.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The field crew</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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My new roommate, Mafer, seems very nice & she won me
over by bringing us a few requested supplies. Since the other researchers get
reception on their cell phones, they are able to communicate to the outside
world. Thank goodness for WhatsApp! (Screw Skype & Apple-Only-FaceTime, why
the hell don’t more Americans use WhatsApp?!) It’s enabled me to send messages
to Nick (which was a HUGE feel good moment – being this isolated, from that
which is familiar as well as from being able to communicate freely, is somewhat
of a mental mind fuck. I would not make a good monk.) & enabled us to
contact Mafer before she got here. So I asked for a Spanish-English dictionary
& a mosquito net for my bed, as I have become a veritable mosquito pin
cushion, in some very unpleasant places. I have two huge bites on my stomach –
not sure they’re mosquito-related actually – that are so large & swollen it
looks like I’ve sprouted 2 new nipples on my belly. I can’t see any air holes,
so hopefully I’m just having a bad reaction & nothing’s living in there.
But I guess I’ll find out in the next couple weeks if anything hatches – stay
tuned!! Mafer also brought some more food (squeaky cheese!) & a butt load
more candy (these guys have a sweet tooth the likes of which I cannot keep up
with).<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxMWFIJhAZpWiRPMy00VjAX64QQMy8tMmEGiBUnvjoGW1GDa4muVucLHeZ7CbWbp_q-ijf-XrX_qGAv8snUhW1YSoX5h7QG-Zp5aisdyt_wXmw08IKC_ir1WrPSDq6k5nqe2u4HCktmpA/s1600/Camp+Downtime+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxMWFIJhAZpWiRPMy00VjAX64QQMy8tMmEGiBUnvjoGW1GDa4muVucLHeZ7CbWbp_q-ijf-XrX_qGAv8snUhW1YSoX5h7QG-Zp5aisdyt_wXmw08IKC_ir1WrPSDq6k5nqe2u4HCktmpA/s640/Camp+Downtime+%25281%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cramped quarters in the field camp</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Cat and Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02470326950739759311noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6725286104548130105.post-10415555392427012932016-07-18T14:47:00.004-07:002016-07-18T14:47:41.654-07:00La Comida<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>26 June 2016</b></div>
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I feel bad that I can’t really contribute much to the
menu around here. Part of my pre-arrival instructions were to “bring recipes to
share & make food”, which I did. But I was not prepared for the lack of
supplies & ingredients available to work with. Here is our entire stock of
food: <o:p></o:p></div>
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Non-perishables: rice, different kinds of dried beans,
canned corn, canned tuna, canned sardines (they seem to be really put off by
the idea of eating canned vegetables, not sure why), “carba” which is some sort
of crumbled soy protein but not at all like tofu – more like ground chicken,
dehydrated soup packets, saltines, “crusty bread” which is like a giant
crouton, flour, masa, pasta, tea packets, iced tea mix, hot chocolate mix, coffee,
powdered milk, condensed milk, butter, jam, mayonnaise, catchup, salt, pepper, sugar,
popcorn kernels, & a shit load of candy.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Perishables: LOTS of eggs, white bread, bananas, oranges,
limes, plantains, onions, green beans, beets, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes,
& cabbage.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I offer you the above lists and ask you: what the hell
would you do with all that? So far we haven’t cracked open the sardines…though
we did have pasta with tuna one day (tasted like a tuna casserole minus the
bread crumbs & seasonings). There is only a large camping stove to work
with & I have been introduced to a pressure cooker for the first time.
There is a refrigerator, but with no electricity, it’s just being used as a
pantry for bread. Why they have it, I’m not sure; maybe they had plans to add
electricity that never materialized? <o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrwTe06vfSywPniQ1yQbr4OdMyC5DRpiUl4p6sDzZ4RTY3Yipi8CCfm9weM1O8EmyRhEuvKi2ojTSfFTQvM4q2AeoIAhcnIMg4wBrF9S-Z3M6cYKpSDtAIbt42vaR5njVIfmUQwICDDPo/s1600/Carba+Pasta+Lunch.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrwTe06vfSywPniQ1yQbr4OdMyC5DRpiUl4p6sDzZ4RTY3Yipi8CCfm9weM1O8EmyRhEuvKi2ojTSfFTQvM4q2AeoIAhcnIMg4wBrF9S-Z3M6cYKpSDtAIbt42vaR5njVIfmUQwICDDPo/s640/Carba+Pasta+Lunch.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lunch of pasta con carba & rice</td></tr>
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Meals are small except for lunch, which we make the night
before & pack with us to eat at the camp during the day. It’s funny that talk
during meals almost always centers around what “real” foods they miss from home
– which is to be expected at field sites, I find. It sounds like whatever
budget they have for this project is pretty slim on the food line items. No
one’s starving of course; meals are just small, fairly plain and quite often
repetitive – you can’t really expect much more at such a limited field site.
Breakfast is always a small serving of scrambled eggs with onion & tomatoes,
plus toast. Lunch is usually rice & beans or pasta (the latter being a
better choice for cold lunch), though on occasion we’ve made been a cabbage
salad or fried plantains as a side dish. (I bring along a banana or an orange
for a snack & there’s always candy in someone’s pocket). Dinner is either a
bowl of soup or rice with beans or eggs. Essentially, you work with what you’ve
got. However, I don’t understand how any self-respecting remote location
doesn’t have any peanut butter! How is that not an inexpensive, minimalist,
essential staple?! (It’s clearly just an American thing ;)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOkPLkHe02HW9iWIWB79IsrlCttYiAWHW-OY89jH8sMtUWo6CtvfdCN8-skIu0Y-hzheIgOw8rg0cPnbe6FhSTjTDBW01XU7Iro0y-X9RF9WOV0uH0y3yXAQ0G5g9nhSueDEGAGLbF8DM/s1600/Male+Collared+Inca+hummingbird+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOkPLkHe02HW9iWIWB79IsrlCttYiAWHW-OY89jH8sMtUWo6CtvfdCN8-skIu0Y-hzheIgOw8rg0cPnbe6FhSTjTDBW01XU7Iro0y-X9RF9WOV0uH0y3yXAQ0G5g9nhSueDEGAGLbF8DM/s640/Male+Collared+Inca+hummingbird+%25282%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sometimes we give agua de panela to the hummingbirds to help revive them</td></tr>
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The one thing I’ve been introduced to here is what I have
been told is more or less the national drink called agua de panela. It’s
essentially a super concentrated chunk of processed sugar cane that is boiled
in water to make a hot drink. It’s pure sugar water; we are de facto human
hummingbirds. The first couple days I thought it was really good: like a nice
warm cup of hot water mixed with honey & some lime squeezed in – it was really
comforting to imbibe after 12 hours of sitting in the damp cold. But too much
of it & it’s just a super sweet liquid that leaves your mouth all sugary.
Though, I’ve found mixing it with powdered milk helps cut the sweetness a bit
if you can get past the pasty chunks of dairy ;P I can see why they talk about
food so much. Mario has promised the team that if we catch 400 birds this
season, he will treat everyone to nachos! (So far we’re at just under 300.)
While an enticing prospect, those nachos won’t be happening until the team
returns to Cali in mid/late August, so sadly I’ll miss out on the wager ;)<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Cat and Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02470326950739759311noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6725286104548130105.post-48283334076089207622016-07-18T14:39:00.000-07:002016-07-18T14:39:07.305-07:00And So It Begins<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>25 June 2016</b></div>
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Tropical bird research is hard! Working with giant
albatross & boobies in Hawaii was a cinch compared to this! First off, we
have to get up at 5:30am – which is somewhat late, as Mario gets up even
earlier (since he’s an early riser & his girlfriend isn’t – thank goodness
I can be on her team) to head out to the research site, set up camp & put
up the mist nets. (Mist nets are like a wall of very fine chain link fence made
out of thin black thread so the birds can’t see it & are harmlessly tangled
when they fly into them. We can then gently untangle them for analysis.) While
he’s already up & out, Tatiana & I get ourselves ready, make breakfast
& pack lunches for everyone, heading out around 6am. The mornings are a
struggle for me without a doubt. We hike about a mile up into the mountain from
the field station into the woods. If I’m not awake by then, which I’m not, a 30
minute vertical climb at high altitude does the trick! The hike up is about all
the exercise we get though, which I wasn’t expecting. I thought we would be
doing more hikes through the forest, hitting up different sites or searching
for birds (again, lack of communication) but no, we wait for the birds to come
to us. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhbT8o7lEERvwPADlC1Sg_HsDaO3Bhc-2I0y-rv768nTqKC0-f21RfB9VIeLN4uqWsgwKwkPaZ4TerV1FB8u1Uzy8m1ctrI7Mwlm9q5ZyfQhi7to2_UpXkIbNDW8AWYnWez5ktiQYdGSY/s1600/Mist+Net.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhbT8o7lEERvwPADlC1Sg_HsDaO3Bhc-2I0y-rv768nTqKC0-f21RfB9VIeLN4uqWsgwKwkPaZ4TerV1FB8u1Uzy8m1ctrI7Mwlm9q5ZyfQhi7to2_UpXkIbNDW8AWYnWez5ktiQYdGSY/s640/Mist+Net.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mist net</td></tr>
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Once installed in a specific site for 2.5 days, we spend
each day sitting on top of a plastic tarp, under a 5ft<sup>3</sup> mosquito
net, covered in a plastic rain fly. Very high tech ;P (Unfortunately, my old
dilapidated body is not comfortable sitting on the ground for 12 hours a day.)
Each hour, we head out to the nets (usually there are 8 or more set up around
the site) & bag any birds that are entangled. Some of the birds freak out
& thrash around, so it can take a while to untangle them; I’m still getting
the hang of it & often need Mario’s help. Either that or the bird bites so
viciously it takes 2 people to handle it: one to get bit & hold the beak
while the other does the untangling.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI26oyVO0PDYrsI9443J8rekZ3W8kAVJpGf0pAkFBbRzKDLdD4rSO4RVLjQV4ryJguL53RFgQ9NlzQBt3P5NcCZmkOoR_C_65xxBOMSKSFvF9hT7yhkxLRijPVjBFfZlZEWlLA78oGRHw/s1600/Research+Camp+%25283%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI26oyVO0PDYrsI9443J8rekZ3W8kAVJpGf0pAkFBbRzKDLdD4rSO4RVLjQV4ryJguL53RFgQ9NlzQBt3P5NcCZmkOoR_C_65xxBOMSKSFvF9hT7yhkxLRijPVjBFfZlZEWlLA78oGRHw/s640/Research+Camp+%25283%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mario & Tatiana in camp set up</td></tr>
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We bring them back to the camp & process them before
releasing them away from the nets. We identify them (or rather Mario &
Tatiana do – there are SO many different birds & I have very little
knowledge of how to tell them apart…this must be what it feels like to sit in
my marine biology class: What do you mean you can’t tell the difference between
a blue whale & a gray whale? Just look at them!). We then record a series
of about a dozen measurements of the bird’s body & state of health, take
photos of it at different angles, search for & collect any ectoparasites,
take a blood sample, & apply an identification band in case the bird is
recaptured. In all, if you’re practiced like these guys are, it takes about 15
minutes to process a bird. I’m learning.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzzUksd7zUgvpwC5Uk82NtNCbkmALyDOFJJUgVRjFnFJ0lFuGzkXcutDKdDWh9v666hmKSAjkfAEtit6_wMi-fBkgbcsm7f8KzlLSFZInfons9fByVedW0TCxLVNC9r9Zsf3MRwGT_Uow/s1600/Research+Camp+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzzUksd7zUgvpwC5Uk82NtNCbkmALyDOFJJUgVRjFnFJ0lFuGzkXcutDKdDWh9v666hmKSAjkfAEtit6_wMi-fBkgbcsm7f8KzlLSFZInfons9fByVedW0TCxLVNC9r9Zsf3MRwGT_Uow/s640/Research+Camp+%25282%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Set up inside camp tent</td></tr>
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Most forest birds anywhere in the world are early risers
(hence the 5:30am alarm) to avoid the heat, any possible predation, & to
find food. So we will process quite a few birds in the morning & that makes
the time pass. However, after 10am, their numbers dwindle significantly and
we’re lucky of we get 1-2 birds an hour…most of the time there are zero birds
until close to 3pm (again, to avoid the heat & possible predators). So it’s
a VERY long, kind of boring day with nothing to do in between if there are no
birds. On the first day, I didn’t know exactly what we would be doing (again,
this group is not good at communication – very different from Tern, where there
was a distinct schedule, with personal chores & assignments. Here I’m never
quite sure what to expect), so I just sat there, on the tiny tarp with 2 other
people, underneath the mosquito net, for 12 hours. Sometimes processing birds,
but most of the time trying not to fall asleep or slide off the tarp (which,
sadly, was set up on an incline). The second day I was a bit smarter &
brought a book to read but nearly finished it in the amount of downtime we had
& I only brought 7 books with me, thinking I could just download some more
on my Kindle as needed…stupid, internet-privileged me. I have a feeling the
days are going to go by very slowly. Hopefully the other camp sites won’t be on
an incline, as that is painfully uncomfortable to sit on all day. Mario &
Tatiana, being a couple & this being their project, are very comfortable
just laying down next to each & going to sleep on the tarp. Did I mention
that the tarp is 5ft<sup>3</sup>? And in addition to 3 bodies, there are lots
of tools, bags & equipment also set up on the tarp, taking up space. It’s.
Very. Uncomfortable.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1-TYM8hPdM1RundvUsTPFUhXm3TvclS482vdagC9obc1rGjwIAIHeWcTHY4rZwv-1bV2JNVCbAakEyJlloWGjE_EqQiyXRobT-qiXVErWZBk6i3PF6PTdn3o7e7xZ4Lwzy7P1W_EcJrM/s1600/Andean+pygmy+owl.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1-TYM8hPdM1RundvUsTPFUhXm3TvclS482vdagC9obc1rGjwIAIHeWcTHY4rZwv-1bV2JNVCbAakEyJlloWGjE_EqQiyXRobT-qiXVErWZBk6i3PF6PTdn3o7e7xZ4Lwzy7P1W_EcJrM/s640/Andean+pygmy+owl.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Juvenile Andean pigmy owl</td></tr>
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But the birds are fun. The first day we caught a baby Andean
pygmy owl. A BABY OWL!!!!! We catch lots of hummingbirds – they are so TINY!!!!
LOTS of different kinds of hummingbirds with beautiful colors & all
different sized tails & beaks. Their little legs are so small it’s very
hard to hold them. There are also a myriad of other birds that I have no idea
how to describe other than medium-sized birds of varying colors & ornate
feathers. All very striking & unique. It’s funny, I can go on & on
about how to distinguish the different classes of fish, invertebrates, mammals
or even sea birds, but I have no idea how to recognize different categories of
these birds. I hope that improves over time :) <o:p></o:p></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb8FXVBVGsYEi3NGMJQUKcDDQT224SLvrV59s4xwdEscPjYDKfH8AOqRQdcTv10ifC-oP9Y3tEeuKGuG_vnJOgHLYMjAmcNjXWhd8EJH1v0lE56JWEdGF2DW4X9kAWjLhx9MGMW1K04uo/s1600/Male+Collared+Inca+hummingbird+%25283%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb8FXVBVGsYEi3NGMJQUKcDDQT224SLvrV59s4xwdEscPjYDKfH8AOqRQdcTv10ifC-oP9Y3tEeuKGuG_vnJOgHLYMjAmcNjXWhd8EJH1v0lE56JWEdGF2DW4X9kAWjLhx9MGMW1K04uo/s640/Male+Collared+Inca+hummingbird+%25283%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Male collared Inca hummingbird</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie3kcpUavsN_kr-I_QT_tQKZxjKJFqdNc2fjG_4GIfgAth5DhKTDfHTKMLFP0QeHqNh58YYzsPfzgb5zmoKv7R2N9MZqgqqvWDhdPyAcbFEuxZWymhUFST9tTdy1qXourLffOsXpMQk-M/s1600/Tawny-bellied+hermit.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie3kcpUavsN_kr-I_QT_tQKZxjKJFqdNc2fjG_4GIfgAth5DhKTDfHTKMLFP0QeHqNh58YYzsPfzgb5zmoKv7R2N9MZqgqqvWDhdPyAcbFEuxZWymhUFST9tTdy1qXourLffOsXpMQk-M/s640/Tawny-bellied+hermit.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tawny-bellied hermit</td></tr>
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At 5:30pm, we check the nets one last time, process any
remaining birds & then close up the nets for the night so we don’t
accidentally catch anything overnight. We break down camp & head back down
the mountain. Mario & Tatiana start making dinner at around 7pm (the food
& cooking situation is a whole other ball of wax I’m not quite sure how to
figure out – more on that later), we finish eating around 8pm, they input the
days data, some of which I can help with (I’m still at the stage where I have
to translate words in my head from English to Spanish, so I’m a bit slow on
reading off numbers, but I can bang out an Excel spreadsheet like nobody’s
business!). I wash dishes (since they do the cooking & I’m not contributing
much else just yet, I figured it’s the least I can do) & then I try to be
in bed around 9pm since I have to drag my ass out of bed at 5:30am & start
all over again. And so far, that’s my summer vacation for the next 30+ days ;P<o:p></o:p></div>
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Cat and Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02470326950739759311noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6725286104548130105.post-35085486027639238832016-07-18T14:22:00.002-07:002016-07-18T14:22:26.881-07:00Day 1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>24 June 2016</b></div>
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So here I am, typing in the dark, with a headlamp that is
attracting an exorbitant amount of mosquitos, wrapped up in 2 sleeping bags (it
drops below 40 at night on top of this mountain) and shaking my head in ironic
wonderment at the gig I got myself into this summer. Curse the people who are
in charge of these volunteer applications (she exclaims, shaking her fist in
the air). I was told I would be going to a completely different camp – one that
was in the rainforest, which denotes hot weather & completely different
living conditions – so I brought a horribly heavy bag with way too much stuff:
most of which I don’t need and not enough of the things I do. I brought a
week’s worth of clothes so I only have to do laundry once a week: half of which
are shorts & tank tops (again: for hot weather). But I have been brought to
the CLOUD forest instead, which – as the name denotes – is covered in clouds
& rarely receives the sun’s warmth during the day. It’s humid from all the
condensation & rains a lot but it’s at a higher altitude than a rainforest
so it gets frickin cold. Essentially I have 4 shirts, 2 pairs of pants, a
jacket, a long sleeve shirt (plenty of socks & underwear, thank goodness),
shorts & a tshirt for PJS – definitely not enough warmth & definitely
not enough to last me through a week, considering I get covered in mud, dead
bugs (I’m getting very good at killing mosquitos – Mr. Miyagi would be proud),
bird poop & all other forms of avian bodily fluids each day, & there’s
no dryer, so in humid weather, clothes will take longer to air dry. (My mother
is terrified right now.)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHMGqvNSU_OVeNy6tXaFFgOvJrr_eqXDy05ePccytlNDh4D3w_U7qQyMPnPxQ-ltJ2Qj2HWPfZZPwuDYe3938n8Jrk2V71xHAXfm28EhEWUUuoUDJgWy0D6czMB2O_1sMEUISmKdS0JKo/s1600/Station+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHMGqvNSU_OVeNy6tXaFFgOvJrr_eqXDy05ePccytlNDh4D3w_U7qQyMPnPxQ-ltJ2Qj2HWPfZZPwuDYe3938n8Jrk2V71xHAXfm28EhEWUUuoUDJgWy0D6czMB2O_1sMEUISmKdS0JKo/s640/Station+%25281%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Laundry room out back</td></tr>
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But it did start out with a bang! Shortly after getting
here (which took 3 different forms of transportation, the last 2 of which I was
amazed made it up the narrow, rocky, one-lane, cliff-side road up the mountain)
we headed straight into the cloud forest to install a camera trap at the nest
of a grass-green tanager (every time I see a bird, I wonder if Larry has seen
it!). Within 5 minutes, I already felt so out of shape huffing & puffing up
the muddy trail, but I’m gonna blame that on the altitude ;P Mario took out the
tanager chick to install the camera, while Tatiana & I catalogued the
little guy taking its weight, feet, wing & beak measurements before the
parents came back. We sat around for a bit to watch the parents return to the
nest; they had been screaming & dancing around us the whole time. Poor little
chick was no doubt terrified. But I was elated to be working with animals again
(& such cute ones!) and the cloud forest itself is just a sight to behold! Every
shade of brown at your feet & an impossibly variety of greens all around
you.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN6oJZVxNN6KGihHZTG60G5hL_WxMURcxR-1gc5jq0s4dc3N9rFJZkjRXCvHt1Rw_znb-huOvmgL9yDxNAzsetG8y97jyetKdCBy-J0VhRIYktd7gb6viMUGnMZUZFsWfVuxSYdw9ryqQ/s1600/Grass-green+tanager.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN6oJZVxNN6KGihHZTG60G5hL_WxMURcxR-1gc5jq0s4dc3N9rFJZkjRXCvHt1Rw_znb-huOvmgL9yDxNAzsetG8y97jyetKdCBy-J0VhRIYktd7gb6viMUGnMZUZFsWfVuxSYdw9ryqQ/s640/Grass-green+tanager.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Adult grass-green tanager</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
In short: I’m glad I’m here; I’m very nervous about my
rudimentary Spanish & how I’m gonna coordinate my return home w/o a solid
end date or means of communication to the outside world (though I did try to
prepare my mother & Nick for this). The project consists of 11 nest sites
that are supposed to be monitored for a total of 2.5 days each before moving on
to the next one (By the time I got here, they had already completed the 1<sup>st</sup>
4 sites). So the project can’t end until all nests are done. Rain may cause
delays or we might be done in late-July (keep in mind my, thankfully
refundable, flight is Aug. 3rd). There’s no definitive answer as to when we’re
done here & once the research crew is finished here, they will move on to
another site on the other side of the mountain. They are assuming I will go
with them, but like a lot of things in this project, this was never
communicated to me & they don’t have a definitive end date as to when the
second research project will be over either. So I’m gonna need to find a way to
communicate this with Nick and readjust my return flight home or cut out early
(i.e. not go to the second site) & maybe get Nick to come join me here for
a brief vacation. UGH – my OCD brain is kind of freaking out about such loose
details. But it’ll be fine; I have some time to figure it out while I get used
to the living situation & practice my Spanglish.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge2DxomxzQ0ThYGWlxLwfHzoe9Zsng2Jx4V7JQ-dWG3-nl1AmhzdtzOYv90jETXI2yaev4KYGafNlP78wkSxbtYA3J6cJp6cT1wHrRtlz66sUpuF9wWQ3YVOYWaTQIiFY8k1fTK63T4lw/s1600/Farallones+Cliffs+%25283%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge2DxomxzQ0ThYGWlxLwfHzoe9Zsng2Jx4V7JQ-dWG3-nl1AmhzdtzOYv90jETXI2yaev4KYGafNlP78wkSxbtYA3J6cJp6cT1wHrRtlz66sUpuF9wWQ3YVOYWaTQIiFY8k1fTK63T4lw/s640/Farallones+Cliffs+%25283%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Farallones National Park</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFCIkn6ISGty3pjeIed2fa9JhKj1wR6YJeWVfrDSsQf0CCuGN04GFJAGY3k0DODGQph7VFeiDVij99PFtigB6xZTJU8f8lkx_thgN3tgFWXL25-h8Fi5dmM887XP4k6rhsewPubY0Hn6g/s1600/Farallones+Cliffs+%25284%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFCIkn6ISGty3pjeIed2fa9JhKj1wR6YJeWVfrDSsQf0CCuGN04GFJAGY3k0DODGQph7VFeiDVij99PFtigB6xZTJU8f8lkx_thgN3tgFWXL25-h8Fi5dmM887XP4k6rhsewPubY0Hn6g/s640/Farallones+Cliffs+%25284%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cloud Forest</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Cat and Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02470326950739759311noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6725286104548130105.post-88190160340070388242016-07-18T14:10:00.002-07:002016-07-18T14:13:05.826-07:00Into the Woods<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>23 June 2016</b></div>
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<br /></div>
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After 2 days of calls back & forth, I was happy to be
picked up from Cali & taken to the field station on Thursday (rather than
waiting around until next Monday)…just long enough to watch Colombia’s odd
delay & sad defeat against Chile. :( But clearly there was no hurry to get
here, other than me just wanting to get started. The researchers were already 2
weeks into the project & don’t expect to be finished here for another 4. The
field station manager is a young guy (Mario) who’s been working at the station for
2 years now; his girlfriend (Tatiana) is spending the summer volunteering with
him (they both seem very nice). He works at other stations (both in Colombia
& Peru) during the year as well (all through a research program at the
University if ICESI in Cali), but is working here in Farallones right now. The
project is to capture & catalogue the bird species (taking lots of
different body measurements), banding them for identification, following their
nests if we find them, then taking blood & ectoparasite samples from each
adult to do an evolutionary study on the parasites. Mario had to run into town earlier
today to pick up supplies & do a grocery run, so he was able to come get me
on his way back to the station.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikodRbM5WqmKWU3xM9gpmPFcMu0mtj6NmQ3mZkJZYU-YIkuTJreWYH3AqGFISXG5YSN9DmHnpTcXAK-6xAe8AGVH-JzfcGdXHxf3XHLKlU1gonRDomvYms0UTprxUf8wsNaAGsbRcQC_8/s1600/Chiva+to+Farallones.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikodRbM5WqmKWU3xM9gpmPFcMu0mtj6NmQ3mZkJZYU-YIkuTJreWYH3AqGFISXG5YSN9DmHnpTcXAK-6xAe8AGVH-JzfcGdXHxf3XHLKlU1gonRDomvYms0UTprxUf8wsNaAGsbRcQC_8/s640/Chiva+to+Farallones.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">La Chiva - open shuttle bus - from Cali to Farallones </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The project seems like a pretty big venture, actually. Now
that the parks are open (no longer occupied by paramilitary or FARC), a
professor at the University of ICESI has an NSF grant to build a database of
the birds across the various parks within Colombia. He recruits former students
to run the projects at various parks, as well as volunteers (some
international), to do the grunt work of capturing & cataloguing bird species
to get an idea of the species distribution & DNA samples from each to
determine any variation or relatedness in species. (Part of which has resulted
in this: <a href="http://www.icesi.edu.co/wiki_aves_colombia/tiki-index.php?page=Introduccion">http://www.icesi.edu.co/wiki_aves_colombia/tiki-index.php?page=Introduccion</a>)
This is the last year (out of 3) for the grant. The professor (who created the
protocols & coordinates all the volunteers) is hoping to get a larger grant
next year to continue the project as a partnership among 4 other international
universities.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT4-KaeYAkg8D5lqTUWi-vBpgLMrFjb5SN_Y9tuRS2kgS8WM2Bdaxqn-kHVE2cn2aStIkmK71ZzG1vh-xMeaBIXqEDncAThXRAuDjYy8SpSThuBtvmv63F_qUXF1PwXbY5W40gY3qpVXs/s1600/Station+in+the+Wods.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT4-KaeYAkg8D5lqTUWi-vBpgLMrFjb5SN_Y9tuRS2kgS8WM2Bdaxqn-kHVE2cn2aStIkmK71ZzG1vh-xMeaBIXqEDncAThXRAuDjYy8SpSThuBtvmv63F_qUXF1PwXbY5W40gY3qpVXs/s640/Station+in+the+Wods.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cabin in the woods</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4FHOwWfI1jbKC9GS01eyNjzPOV6hun-h9CYVOFShO56bGV70L-m-r7rLljcTthJEhk2Q24fuH6AAtIYRrrshwgPpAmkornlmFsbxdYgj1DlsRFUN4BFa-Q3lZDKgW0uk5Aj9nOj_tVR4/s1600/Field+Station.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4FHOwWfI1jbKC9GS01eyNjzPOV6hun-h9CYVOFShO56bGV70L-m-r7rLljcTthJEhk2Q24fuH6AAtIYRrrshwgPpAmkornlmFsbxdYgj1DlsRFUN4BFa-Q3lZDKgW0uk5Aj9nOj_tVR4/s640/Field+Station.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Field station up close</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I see now that the lack of information from the
coordinators leading up to my arrival was not just an inconvenience but a HUUUGE
oversight. For those who thought that Tern Island was remote & rustic, let
me tell you: I was in the fucking lap of luxury there! We have running water,
thanks to the cloud forest we are nestled in – so nice fresh, cold mountain/rain
water to drink, cook, clean & bath in. And we have 4 brick walls (covered
in a fiberglass roof that is not sealed & does let bugs in) encompassing 2
rooms of bunk beds, 2 bathrooms & a communal area that serves as a dining/small
kitchen/work area. Aaaand that’s it. There’s very little cell reception up
here; no wifi (not sure how I’m supposed to coordinate my return flight with
Nick…I’ll have to figure something out later), and no electricity. Thank
goodness for gas stoves & a generator that provides 3 hours of electricity
at night so we can see to make dinner & charge any electronics we may have.
Other than that, we rely on headlamps. As I said: rustic. I’m laughing to
myself at how MANY amenities we had on Tern, even though it was a more isolated
location than this is. We had fridges & freezers for food, a huge pantry,
solar panels for electricity, satellite internet, our own rooms, a huge kitchen
& space (although it seemed so small at the time) to get away from each
other. None of that here. Although for now, I’ve got one of the bunk rooms
& a bathroom to myself, while the couple running the station has the other.
That may change when another Colombian student arrives on Monday. Mario said
that last year they had 15 international volunteers here – not sure how they
all fit. I’m guessing they weren’t here all at the same time. For some reason,
it’s just me now. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMQnUbhkoUKCxLrbfjR3w6ll_dE97_TWCgo3l_WFKMaJWf4xT7ZhGqah0EXi4o-6rhVjobOcAJEjoqldP9JEwHMD-5O3uiocpt49mqpLfegX4SAPpKNkLVJE1zVE9P6YfopIDz-aErg54/s1600/Station+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMQnUbhkoUKCxLrbfjR3w6ll_dE97_TWCgo3l_WFKMaJWf4xT7ZhGqah0EXi4o-6rhVjobOcAJEjoqldP9JEwHMD-5O3uiocpt49mqpLfegX4SAPpKNkLVJE1zVE9P6YfopIDz-aErg54/s640/Station+%25282%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking into common room</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFSyUoKIk7xkTSrrioSljwiCsfcvLOoxVH-vCQBfNvZQqVnadX3rT9p0ptohXL89TaYCpBhOfantrkULNsDc0vOjqmDpAetYowtR4yvAAwZXln1uLS4J8D_OtFMu6OEusMWrFTRZd87Sw/s1600/Station+%25285%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFSyUoKIk7xkTSrrioSljwiCsfcvLOoxVH-vCQBfNvZQqVnadX3rT9p0ptohXL89TaYCpBhOfantrkULNsDc0vOjqmDpAetYowtR4yvAAwZXln1uLS4J8D_OtFMu6OEusMWrFTRZd87Sw/s640/Station+%25285%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking to the front door</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcGhikgPNzqUyqcInbi2eGkJEbJFNflb03RLXaRd82z6ObBFkv9bV1_AcPFuagjrp2HpH_5RV_buvMJDpGy-yuoB0Bel4Y3XPlFlmR6o4cB499fIRsOwJfcg3LAcWqY2DeEKILWgkCBV4/s1600/Station+%25283%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcGhikgPNzqUyqcInbi2eGkJEbJFNflb03RLXaRd82z6ObBFkv9bV1_AcPFuagjrp2HpH_5RV_buvMJDpGy-yuoB0Bel4Y3XPlFlmR6o4cB499fIRsOwJfcg3LAcWqY2DeEKILWgkCBV4/s640/Station+%25283%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My bunk room</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGygwNdkUzXi6xceGvVFedQIJAsdr4esxk1ojtLnQhPSXG5GkC-c5knlKpeyvddM8E2Wamc8voETWPFZ9JLSeoIvOSFiftHxapPqP3Xw7psv21e7KtwAaUocB7Mh4qXJGmGa6LYIPFUPI/s1600/Station+%25284%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGygwNdkUzXi6xceGvVFedQIJAsdr4esxk1ojtLnQhPSXG5GkC-c5knlKpeyvddM8E2Wamc8voETWPFZ9JLSeoIvOSFiftHxapPqP3Xw7psv21e7KtwAaUocB7Mh4qXJGmGa6LYIPFUPI/s640/Station+%25284%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kitchen corner of common room</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
It’s not horrible by any means; it’s just not at all what
I expected. I was communicating with other English-speaking volunteers before
coming here – we were all on the same email list – but clearly they must have
gone to a different station b/c it’s just me & the Colombians here. And I
could kick myself for not bringing a Spanish-English dictionary with me!! They
speak a little bit of English but they are communicating with each other all in
Spanish – they help me out when I look completely lost (which is a lot –
imagine going to work one day & having to do your job in a foreign
language: you know what you’re doing & have thoughts/comments/questions but
are completely unable to communicate them. My tourist-grade Spanish skills are
not cut out for this!) Clearly, this is gonna be a trial by fire as far as
being able to understand and communicate everything that’s going on. (I can
hear Nick smiling & shaking his head at me right now…) The conversations
are slow & labored; I have to ask them to repeat things a lot or explain
different words but I’m working thru it (no other way to do it). I wish I had
made myself bird-related Spanish flashcards!<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Cat and Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02470326950739759311noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6725286104548130105.post-12981740191651830362016-06-21T21:12:00.002-07:002016-06-21T21:12:52.362-07:00Caliente, indeed<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
21 June 2016<br />
<br />
The heat has been pretty stifling but it’s rained a couple times the last few days & that helps cool things off for a while. (I forgot how excruciating a cold shower is at first & then how quickly it turns into something so exquisitely refreshing in 90 degree heat.) It’s been so nice to hear the sound of heavy rain on the roof & thunder in the distance. I haven’t heard it in so long! The air smells so much sweeter after the rain & all the old grannies are outside in the streets, seated in their plastic chairs, chatting through the night once it cools off. It’s great. I miss rain storms.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEichkZpH6-slEecLDIyEQx1AKZ3DT8UCVb63M_90KhmXpse3XnwS_lIINR-ZBGtmAuZ1xPZy-lmsswH6KJkyRJXjmmnpsqSlerZBlWyhslKYTQNyNCfqVHWt6fC08-YhFdCqAd5ZDGD4xA/s1600/Rainy+NIght.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEichkZpH6-slEecLDIyEQx1AKZ3DT8UCVb63M_90KhmXpse3XnwS_lIINR-ZBGtmAuZ1xPZy-lmsswH6KJkyRJXjmmnpsqSlerZBlWyhslKYTQNyNCfqVHWt6fC08-YhFdCqAd5ZDGD4xA/s640/Rainy+NIght.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The picture doesn't do it justice but this was about a 2 hour rainstorm that woke me up in the middle of the night.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
As I said, I’ve walked around a lot. Cali is a very pretty town (at least the safe parts I’ve been told are okay to walk around in alone). Some colonial Spanish style buildings and central plazas with fairly modest churches. There’s quite a lot of murals around town, which is cool. I think after the drug wars a couple decades ago & the current economic boom it’s having, the city is trying to rebuild itself & I just so happen to be staying in a very trendy, artistic part of town. Not very touristy, though – or maybe I just came in the off season. There are quite a lot of hostels around but I have really only seen 2 other white couples roaming around, & a couple European guys who are staying at my same hostel; not very many international travelers around, or at least not at the moment. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZqYRo62icR9p3T2nBAiFNdIuA-YHsiIShYpXAGv-kptU7IwnbtxqA7T4Xi5jjJbRNk5h-J3RCwmCqIiT6Bf5zdImisG63nSjFHOHLLMh59Q6XklDdrdhOHi8I1FTPe-VXW8jSe99kRf4/s1600/Cat+in+Parque+San+Antonio.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZqYRo62icR9p3T2nBAiFNdIuA-YHsiIShYpXAGv-kptU7IwnbtxqA7T4Xi5jjJbRNk5h-J3RCwmCqIiT6Bf5zdImisG63nSjFHOHLLMh59Q6XklDdrdhOHi8I1FTPe-VXW8jSe99kRf4/s640/Cat+in+Parque+San+Antonio.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me atop Parque San Antionio</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgESDcUaon5C8KhlhWKWDHL_2VFKnY_cK6C29abAbZVMeDTftMHxvdrIpPOFm2mzNvOlMu6OJI-VQ8Mcj_bYWBI04_xQtniHX0yktwKTLd3tbdLiJvM4BTRxx9nu8R4OSI41nkePDroZGw/s1600/Catedral+de+San+Pedro+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgESDcUaon5C8KhlhWKWDHL_2VFKnY_cK6C29abAbZVMeDTftMHxvdrIpPOFm2mzNvOlMu6OJI-VQ8Mcj_bYWBI04_xQtniHX0yktwKTLd3tbdLiJvM4BTRxx9nu8R4OSI41nkePDroZGw/s640/Catedral+de+San+Pedro+%25281%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Catedral de San Pedro</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYoHt3WdNXke6sD1uxYiAawxE8PTT3kpV_PR-OWEBNXc169ZCOFTqpp99sf9sGnndp24r1A2DkbAU8ohB4ept09vMakE1YyvD5DMe9nRexx5EHigh14UgSAL80vS5Tux_6j8UF2Dx4fws/s1600/Catedral+de+San+Pedro+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYoHt3WdNXke6sD1uxYiAawxE8PTT3kpV_PR-OWEBNXc169ZCOFTqpp99sf9sGnndp24r1A2DkbAU8ohB4ept09vMakE1YyvD5DMe9nRexx5EHigh14UgSAL80vS5Tux_6j8UF2Dx4fws/s640/Catedral+de+San+Pedro+%25282%2529.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Catedral de San Pedro</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmV6YybpXOAX05xO0BSXIkAFawikKIcLDBcttYRTbvdw88Q-Ljo8cIfcXyjGGcva7kQZ3hM1ZjIcl1ZT7iQAeRMm4Te9MxAgdqMw2zpbGbGgmdY4FYgf4MvYMYPYqlp0yCz6AU1eY1hyphenhyphenI/s1600/Convento+de+las+Mercedes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmV6YybpXOAX05xO0BSXIkAFawikKIcLDBcttYRTbvdw88Q-Ljo8cIfcXyjGGcva7kQZ3hM1ZjIcl1ZT7iQAeRMm4Te9MxAgdqMw2zpbGbGgmdY4FYgf4MvYMYPYqlp0yCz6AU1eY1hyphenhyphenI/s640/Convento+de+las+Mercedes.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Convento de las Mercedes</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgASTnwhyT_M6SB8n1rsJ7CkRuq_WvOl4OoK0snxEzMcdN9k6yVxuTbEVTam5awQv5PpC9Pig_qDdhPjCGXPNuWCPspVBH18C-5KBgG5hrzaZ0QE_F95uns3yUa_4s7EWkKd1EQuaiYvL0/s1600/Iglesia+de+San+Francisco+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgASTnwhyT_M6SB8n1rsJ7CkRuq_WvOl4OoK0snxEzMcdN9k6yVxuTbEVTam5awQv5PpC9Pig_qDdhPjCGXPNuWCPspVBH18C-5KBgG5hrzaZ0QE_F95uns3yUa_4s7EWkKd1EQuaiYvL0/s640/Iglesia+de+San+Francisco+%25281%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Iglesia de San Francisco</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg04im_yEulkyyTKLK4S0fdTxJvoDSBU0MFPdRrMczvEbIH7lC2PEeMni5ksFaV31f33UT-adntuTFwbYDWeOspMQPHHQ35-sTLkNxj11ifadqNkwP70g1R_XivDGSSKtoSjt8EHsE8B4o/s1600/Iglesia+La+Ermita+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg04im_yEulkyyTKLK4S0fdTxJvoDSBU0MFPdRrMczvEbIH7lC2PEeMni5ksFaV31f33UT-adntuTFwbYDWeOspMQPHHQ35-sTLkNxj11ifadqNkwP70g1R_XivDGSSKtoSjt8EHsE8B4o/s640/Iglesia+La+Ermita+%25281%2529.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Iglesia La Ermita</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSgh26dq3RWLzRhV3sf0b18Lzg9qq45MiIYP8cD-M9WzNhD47ItkMEue79SNXUloJUQ2raoT8OPnASWOva0JWeTZ3nf88lijnI7lVWy86B7kBAJB9v9Lfo7C3c-hawt8rHyou4AGeODsI/s1600/Iglesia+La+Ermita+%25283%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSgh26dq3RWLzRhV3sf0b18Lzg9qq45MiIYP8cD-M9WzNhD47ItkMEue79SNXUloJUQ2raoT8OPnASWOva0JWeTZ3nf88lijnI7lVWy86B7kBAJB9v9Lfo7C3c-hawt8rHyou4AGeODsI/s640/Iglesia+La+Ermita+%25283%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Iglesia La Ermita</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWQTEZcH_ZZL2CgNal2_ljGGUHl-ZzCcDsu4yMe5_8WK8qKzH7ndK4ayAMpVB7wSiu-6JojQ6Yc10RsfSeQ319qL42fEWKj6JgpgJYG_uRJFaWe1ZonHRV7V9MaA7PO79TBQLdMDtYkEs/s1600/Palacio+Nacional+%2526+Otero+Building.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWQTEZcH_ZZL2CgNal2_ljGGUHl-ZzCcDsu4yMe5_8WK8qKzH7ndK4ayAMpVB7wSiu-6JojQ6Yc10RsfSeQ319qL42fEWKj6JgpgJYG_uRJFaWe1ZonHRV7V9MaA7PO79TBQLdMDtYkEs/s640/Palacio+Nacional+%2526+Otero+Building.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Palacio Nacional & Edeficio Otero</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-hnFIJ58pT434sINNWjp7l4G7khKeJaDrkx8VFUOyX3VQZipgJa9ugsNUbyvyG6UkhCvEyTcd6JG0XTcgIYkGQgfzrr5l5au4zOs1yhz5Fq5hatiTlYSOzyyLiYVDCIBqFe3piWMMRdo/s1600/Plaza+de+Caicedo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-hnFIJ58pT434sINNWjp7l4G7khKeJaDrkx8VFUOyX3VQZipgJa9ugsNUbyvyG6UkhCvEyTcd6JG0XTcgIYkGQgfzrr5l5au4zOs1yhz5Fq5hatiTlYSOzyyLiYVDCIBqFe3piWMMRdo/s640/Plaza+de+Caicedo.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Plaza Caicedo</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx0Pa_GngqHBWd7C2GSuabpgKX6KmN8jreJ679M7d_CTyvR3jSbXAP112QgqQZt4fdA84gjvh0Uy3KnYxSFNjzbsAsmWp1NaWYJ5-AqdRCAA5QCmGL15xet_rAUyRCr-yJ11TeXxLk_QU/s1600/Teatro+Municipal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx0Pa_GngqHBWd7C2GSuabpgKX6KmN8jreJ679M7d_CTyvR3jSbXAP112QgqQZt4fdA84gjvh0Uy3KnYxSFNjzbsAsmWp1NaWYJ5-AqdRCAA5QCmGL15xet_rAUyRCr-yJ11TeXxLk_QU/s640/Teatro+Municipal.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Teatro Nacional</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Speaking of which, I really have to recommend the Kingbird Hostel. The owner has been very understanding about changing my reservations several times. He’s worked with his research group before – he himself loves birds & has beautiful tropical bird paintings all over the hostel. He’s been very friendly & helpful as far as what to do while I’m waiting around. He even gave me his rubber boots (for hiking in the rain forest) when I couldn’t find any at the central market to buy for myself. I know globalization has its problems, but I would really appreciate a Home Depot around here ;P So if you ever find yourself in Cali & don’t mind a stiff bunk bed or a shared bathroom, I highly recommend this place ;)<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLiXqDEljjfAtF1qYDj0B0GW0TuMVfnhF-azR-wfdQ3Dwjg5Y_4MlgSpPT5Y3_MOJdjMNYUI1K5H9VtonmnRVtF9wg9AJhA0NjzcB150Yxk6KgQr0QQWq_r5Itp7Y2hd_7fd2iFbENLLA/s1600/Cali+Graffiti+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLiXqDEljjfAtF1qYDj0B0GW0TuMVfnhF-azR-wfdQ3Dwjg5Y_4MlgSpPT5Y3_MOJdjMNYUI1K5H9VtonmnRVtF9wg9AJhA0NjzcB150Yxk6KgQr0QQWq_r5Itp7Y2hd_7fd2iFbENLLA/s640/Cali+Graffiti+%25282%2529.jpg" width="360" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimkibQNRGwWftvtG7eRV3fZQvhXvI6c_gtZ0zPNcKAIXFhzyF9cwWwOtHj61q3boz9C6-j5PF9tjkc1NpUxqD-T8EVJjxmKQPeyr3gPudj9oHrZVwz61DamfPSR9pGZBIB9pPqMXr2XWI/s1600/Cali+Graffiti+%25283%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimkibQNRGwWftvtG7eRV3fZQvhXvI6c_gtZ0zPNcKAIXFhzyF9cwWwOtHj61q3boz9C6-j5PF9tjkc1NpUxqD-T8EVJjxmKQPeyr3gPudj9oHrZVwz61DamfPSR9pGZBIB9pPqMXr2XWI/s640/Cali+Graffiti+%25283%2529.jpg" width="360" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj_rTf57MLLzR2wLR0voWMnFbtS1XrCzGuLHaexaOIXVUTYrRFnGmCxGckp61EAznr5bTiLQVEbGhq_Yc_qKh_Tgjw-OjeVzDMdfhw7tMBEHs5PGmLvDJ1TtnkDNpwAVVlxVKT4sjn6Zc/s1600/Calle+de+la+Escopeta+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj_rTf57MLLzR2wLR0voWMnFbtS1XrCzGuLHaexaOIXVUTYrRFnGmCxGckp61EAznr5bTiLQVEbGhq_Yc_qKh_Tgjw-OjeVzDMdfhw7tMBEHs5PGmLvDJ1TtnkDNpwAVVlxVKT4sjn6Zc/s640/Calle+de+la+Escopeta+%25282%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_RdWmsIundVrzxznTLHoE9y80k4PJhZidMtsCa3YCNuBQ1Vwqin279rkIVkYVfPhUwTEbnKaRics0Xkp1HGm8y9gqBsw7yDMeH2dd7pZQjiXYluOBL4yBSD4orIyNQYDoL-YLDDx9tsw/s1600/Calle+de+la+Escopeta+%25283%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_RdWmsIundVrzxznTLHoE9y80k4PJhZidMtsCa3YCNuBQ1Vwqin279rkIVkYVfPhUwTEbnKaRics0Xkp1HGm8y9gqBsw7yDMeH2dd7pZQjiXYluOBL4yBSD4orIyNQYDoL-YLDDx9tsw/s640/Calle+de+la+Escopeta+%25283%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTEEcjiiDw9l1jJ8CW7HK4lDLWoYnSQNHnW9u8ByXmOcmtXcZo8sdZM_2VwXW0dZdd8tM6qnsEBquor8qa8VuCEVm2TV_yawMQtVw2ubarzzLQvdm39VM-nGzntLdiS0YH0tMCJszmrNI/s1600/Calle+de+la+Escopeta+%25284%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTEEcjiiDw9l1jJ8CW7HK4lDLWoYnSQNHnW9u8ByXmOcmtXcZo8sdZM_2VwXW0dZdd8tM6qnsEBquor8qa8VuCEVm2TV_yawMQtVw2ubarzzLQvdm39VM-nGzntLdiS0YH0tMCJszmrNI/s640/Calle+de+la+Escopeta+%25284%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRe3xPIbjGbY37RIG20tyB-Dx2oVD_adDMOKobVrEA_NebWst77Sgm3mL0oN10QeHKPYrQXxwWAxGM2sDRd6-tLkL1Cb1QFiutQNhZza7nGgs_-VRF-OHhOnwbqLjckEGcd5dG2tz4Ttk/s1600/Calle+de+la+Escopeta+%25285%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRe3xPIbjGbY37RIG20tyB-Dx2oVD_adDMOKobVrEA_NebWst77Sgm3mL0oN10QeHKPYrQXxwWAxGM2sDRd6-tLkL1Cb1QFiutQNhZza7nGgs_-VRF-OHhOnwbqLjckEGcd5dG2tz4Ttk/s640/Calle+de+la+Escopeta+%25285%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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So now it’s Tuesday night & I find myself sitting alone in the hostel watching Argentina trounce the U.S. in the Copa America semi-finals. It started out with me & the rest of the hostel staff…but after the 3-0 lead, they all left to go get something to eat, no longer interested in a game who’s outcome was already set. Their loss: Messi just made an AMAZING assist for the 4<sup>th</sup> & final goal ;) Should be fun to watch the Colombia match tomorrow night in Colombia…since I assume I will still here to do so :P (I look forward to Colombia defeating Chile!) ;)<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDxsaB3Q0h7fJcDw8b0EhwF8hcQEtO_-582PULYRYe5eqIHbidT33z-kcN8lMKxYFcqKXGr_Tr6gQrhVLKB3a1n3Nl2TN_oogU7aFybxqm-lhruH8FeDuS-1IWkBQwkHBe2wwMTNfondE/s1600/Copa+Cake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="530" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDxsaB3Q0h7fJcDw8b0EhwF8hcQEtO_-582PULYRYe5eqIHbidT33z-kcN8lMKxYFcqKXGr_Tr6gQrhVLKB3a1n3Nl2TN_oogU7aFybxqm-lhruH8FeDuS-1IWkBQwkHBe2wwMTNfondE/s640/Copa+Cake.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clearly this town is ready for Colombia to make it to the finals!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Cat and Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02470326950739759311noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6725286104548130105.post-68364221053217420112016-06-21T20:54:00.000-07:002016-06-21T20:54:57.386-07:00Stranded<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
20 June 2016<o:p></o:p></div>
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Before coming here I was a little worried about the lack
of communication and details that I was able to get from the program
coordinator. But I told myself this was not a big deal – that there was no need
for me to worry; I’m sure they’ve organized tons of volunteers over the years; other
cultures aren’t as concerned with instant responses like the U.S. is; and I
just needed to relax and realize others aren’t as uber organized as I am. It’s
okay if things move at a slower pace than I’m used to and no big deal – it’ll
work itself out. Some of that may be true but I should pay attention to red
flags.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Having arrived on a Sunday, I was told I would be picked
up and taken to the national park on Monday. Then the date changed to Tuesday
or Wednesday (they weren’t sure yet) and I quickly extended my hostel
reservations before my flight out. Then, once I got here, I am unable to
communicate with anyone in the program because they all seem to be in the
field, so I have no idea what day or time I will be picked up. It’s now Tuesday
afternoon and I have been told that I should expect someone to come get me NEXT
Monday. Are you fucking kidding me?! I realize there’s no point in stressing
out about this or getting angry – there’s very little I can do about it &
it’s not like there’s some customer service manager I can chew out over the
phone here (privileged American problems). So I make as many Skype calls and
leave voice messages and emails with whatever contact info I have and we’ll see
if I can get out there any earlier. I’d hate to waste a week roaming around
Cali. It’s a small town. Half of its 4 museums are closed for renovations and
after spending about 4 hours each day walking around town, I think I’ve seen a
pretty good portion of it. So I wait. And hope to hear back from all the messages
I left.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLiMZHwNqpAYWGSWWh8nij_2PSxhdT2fEuidrqyCjnK98kKzsWMq2R2osD2hNVJlk-jlg3DObJKKulauXlK9SX-VgC9IQcuLkRgCjQ7hYYrHzNUBMCfU-34TMBkIkIHsFqSbeiWgJ1KSg/s1600/Jos%25C3%25A9+Horacio+Mart%25C3%25ADnez+Exhibit+at+Museo+La+Tertulia+%25283%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="display: inline !important; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLiMZHwNqpAYWGSWWh8nij_2PSxhdT2fEuidrqyCjnK98kKzsWMq2R2osD2hNVJlk-jlg3DObJKKulauXlK9SX-VgC9IQcuLkRgCjQ7hYYrHzNUBMCfU-34TMBkIkIHsFqSbeiWgJ1KSg/s640/Jos%25C3%25A9+Horacio+Mart%25C3%25ADnez+Exhibit+at+Museo+La+Tertulia+%25283%2529.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">José Horacio Martínez Exhibit at Museo La Tertulia</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnnloAu7vHk1im3x78x7CI1LvF-MZ2lJrueSco-wYfE87dnix-p6U-VzhHyx_wjgZJzGDXGi_S6Y7OC6xJf9MDQNiYR7TkzaTsp0UjJEeRQtsgjf6lm4rgBgHEcZvuCWG9GMUyP4Y4uuE/s1600/Jos%25C3%25A9+Horacio+Mart%25C3%25ADnez+Exhibit+at+Museo+La+Tertulia+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnnloAu7vHk1im3x78x7CI1LvF-MZ2lJrueSco-wYfE87dnix-p6U-VzhHyx_wjgZJzGDXGi_S6Y7OC6xJf9MDQNiYR7TkzaTsp0UjJEeRQtsgjf6lm4rgBgHEcZvuCWG9GMUyP4Y4uuE/s640/Jos%25C3%25A9+Horacio+Mart%25C3%25ADnez+Exhibit+at+Museo+La+Tertulia+%25281%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">José Horacio Martínez Exhibit at Museo La Tertulia</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyCnGt_1Y02jzt6_RTp2YPdTvXmT-UfTj0s4SfW2XL_527ctOjNZT9ssz3Dso6BzZ3LZ6Ojc6dQGEJ0mTBp9KGvW1mp530aja9x79B7Sv1rjs_kbcCvIs__nhTwULWRiUz9kH_6eRH9bc/s1600/Jos%25C3%25A9+Horacio+Mart%25C3%25ADnez+Exhibit+at+Museo+La+Tertulia+%25284%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyCnGt_1Y02jzt6_RTp2YPdTvXmT-UfTj0s4SfW2XL_527ctOjNZT9ssz3Dso6BzZ3LZ6Ojc6dQGEJ0mTBp9KGvW1mp530aja9x79B7Sv1rjs_kbcCvIs__nhTwULWRiUz9kH_6eRH9bc/s640/Jos%25C3%25A9+Horacio+Mart%25C3%25ADnez+Exhibit+at+Museo+La+Tertulia+%25284%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Puff paint gets its day in a fine art museum!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeaqx_t5A7RRCxa9THz2Uv6W7F_Wif4hGUoGgTPcmMpDu0nzYYy843l7CclKa_qTCP0hG4CvS_m_BgHF3QwCuPCzuwXZmhy_W1YEMt0AUK2ZM6gR4-u0B39c48k5voKGZl7-xPwqXVd8w/s1600/Beatriz+Gonz%25C3%25A1lez+Exhibit+at+Museo+La+Tertulia+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeaqx_t5A7RRCxa9THz2Uv6W7F_Wif4hGUoGgTPcmMpDu0nzYYy843l7CclKa_qTCP0hG4CvS_m_BgHF3QwCuPCzuwXZmhy_W1YEMt0AUK2ZM6gR4-u0B39c48k5voKGZl7-xPwqXVd8w/s640/Beatriz+Gonz%25C3%25A1lez+Exhibit+at+Museo+La+Tertulia+%25281%2529.jpg" width="488" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beatriz González Exhibit at Museo La Tertulia</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaqmAE1vp_unLLont-F1U3JCHucFsjWbZNFKcjyBcpl1CqkGSZI9lB7jb2Rqu6Ks0O2uuLWjkBmfxqdfHA-pp3TAaQLeeknVXfygt8QMxyqjoLQ_8ZGSDqC6G2PSeNcweQBgv7kNG2Yps/s1600/Beatriz+Gonz%25C3%25A1lez+Exhibit+at+Museo+La+Tertulia+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaqmAE1vp_unLLont-F1U3JCHucFsjWbZNFKcjyBcpl1CqkGSZI9lB7jb2Rqu6Ks0O2uuLWjkBmfxqdfHA-pp3TAaQLeeknVXfygt8QMxyqjoLQ_8ZGSDqC6G2PSeNcweQBgv7kNG2Yps/s640/Beatriz+Gonz%25C3%25A1lez+Exhibit+at+Museo+La+Tertulia+%25282%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beatriz González Exhibit at Museo La Tertulia</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt4ooGyIAr7JCTk2vc_psrMyG70t1xweI5IdI9lOVgaApn4gIdnXsMfCmLMBgAvtuzpjN3r8Fb4Iyv_SiFizN7Pg81OOhX8T8jlwMYT3XfO9YuufPbFLV7p2bda8NR-frxkSI-sDuteNQ/s1600/Fence+along+Rio+Cali.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt4ooGyIAr7JCTk2vc_psrMyG70t1xweI5IdI9lOVgaApn4gIdnXsMfCmLMBgAvtuzpjN3r8Fb4Iyv_SiFizN7Pg81OOhX8T8jlwMYT3XfO9YuufPbFLV7p2bda8NR-frxkSI-sDuteNQ/s640/Fence+along+Rio+Cali.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fence along the Rio Cali</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimTno5I6JlJCB9ToWaCAktlWXaN4Bi1w4xsGkU1i5kwYKpM4oR2-5jELQX67AjlrNBXwYtD9CAOI-TuIYF1bEVn4kFLzuuoPsKhPR_rFK5qmRrWpgfGYIOTIb8Vbr7NW7kQ7zxnY9-o6E/s1600/Lulada.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimTno5I6JlJCB9ToWaCAktlWXaN4Bi1w4xsGkU1i5kwYKpM4oR2-5jELQX67AjlrNBXwYtD9CAOI-TuIYF1bEVn4kFLzuuoPsKhPR_rFK5qmRrWpgfGYIOTIb8Vbr7NW7kQ7zxnY9-o6E/s640/Lulada.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just discovered lulada: a deliciously sour tropical fruit that tastes like passion fruit & kiwi got together & had a baby! </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxW5dUFr4Fl7wV2uLSAPDkz6EndBEMV6sak92eoRBLDr5FJg_LbVW3SeIfTrwQaQVYp7v3AQMALrKGwMOzN8XwoUjVw3XaT6DasVS78i68xj0TOdMMkFLbqyAj0SynFcEjV1I2m5cOTws/s1600/Puente+Ortiz+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxW5dUFr4Fl7wV2uLSAPDkz6EndBEMV6sak92eoRBLDr5FJg_LbVW3SeIfTrwQaQVYp7v3AQMALrKGwMOzN8XwoUjVw3XaT6DasVS78i68xj0TOdMMkFLbqyAj0SynFcEjV1I2m5cOTws/s640/Puente+Ortiz+%25281%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Puente Ortiz over the Rio Cali</td></tr>
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</div>
Cat and Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02470326950739759311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6725286104548130105.post-48868918600555646772016-06-19T19:57:00.001-07:002016-06-21T21:02:05.014-07:00Primeras Impresiones<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
19 June 2016<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Trying to sleep on a plane sucks but red eyes help you
not waste a day traveling, right? Ugh, saying goodbye to Nick was harder than I
thought. I keep telling myself it’s only 6 weeks, not 6 months…wouldn’t this
get easier over (less) time? But while I’m very sad to leave him for the
summer, this is something I need and want to do for myself and it’s about
fucking time that I did. So thanks for the support, amor ;)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
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I arrived in Cali and immediately realized that this a
city undergoing transformation. The airport is small and a good portion of it
is all under construction – as is a lot of the city. From what I understand, after
the cartels and the FARC had their way with the city from the 80s-90s, Cali
started to build itself back up around 2010 as the country’s 3<sup>rd</sup>
largest city & a growing economic metropolis. It has been pointed out to me
by several people I just met that Cali is the country’s sports capital &
the world capital of salsa. (Hopefully I’ll get to take in a show or peak my
head into a studio).<o:p></o:p><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibJhwfslhZd50TV-BL4hbtQyMu7bPa6VoAE8zfHIGWKnFvRsDVwweYQZf-Sjzih-mdeByvG1nN9vWZtH_nIOgv5IkkTo0L4aJKTzanUY6Wk1JuVryzD1QhyZlypOc_bT9tDI_c8ys6KsY/s1600/Iglesia+de+San+Antonio.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibJhwfslhZd50TV-BL4hbtQyMu7bPa6VoAE8zfHIGWKnFvRsDVwweYQZf-Sjzih-mdeByvG1nN9vWZtH_nIOgv5IkkTo0L4aJKTzanUY6Wk1JuVryzD1QhyZlypOc_bT9tDI_c8ys6KsY/s640/Iglesia+de+San+Antonio.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Iglesia de San Antonio</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-BlABMRs_BUeE9G_rcdoPe0chC3SvBqMbEJCc7ukSDqhUub82DUpAQk3lnPw0FrHWxwtBtLRsU066-ayNUExqtku0uUzu_BkKCnWefdV2BNova7e54q7yPmxVEfjZasxcFcSSg_8vTv4/s1600/20160619_171152.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-BlABMRs_BUeE9G_rcdoPe0chC3SvBqMbEJCc7ukSDqhUub82DUpAQk3lnPw0FrHWxwtBtLRsU066-ayNUExqtku0uUzu_BkKCnWefdV2BNova7e54q7yPmxVEfjZasxcFcSSg_8vTv4/s640/20160619_171152.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Parque San Antotnio</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEishUIQ60s3ERyHKutHyMxB1fnGh2hj7xh8IvPDE0pDN-1J0INvXCLNCTXgm0a7eAT-F3ijjLgC9Fwr6lYeseb2ibqwePNBsXPqXy-7DQJjbeRQ7Ha4udlyNqjFWmOn-ZJ2CDWuQ1eDXIc/s1600/20160619_154138_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEishUIQ60s3ERyHKutHyMxB1fnGh2hj7xh8IvPDE0pDN-1J0INvXCLNCTXgm0a7eAT-F3ijjLgC9Fwr6lYeseb2ibqwePNBsXPqXy-7DQJjbeRQ7Ha4udlyNqjFWmOn-ZJ2CDWuQ1eDXIc/s640/20160619_154138_HDR.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cali is also known for its birding, thanks to near by Farallones</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitysw4FiHv1vCtpvCiHBSAHHQeJHBBvxlPPBoQA8WwkUyHAE-uztiK_X9pwcexVU-SArtu2wj2q5z6-X9y0f-QozPmeyIBbqLuyffrz7m1T2a-qu6Oi-GKM3y6JYWQHPFj0wAZ4om3GpY/s1600/20160619_171116.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitysw4FiHv1vCtpvCiHBSAHHQeJHBBvxlPPBoQA8WwkUyHAE-uztiK_X9pwcexVU-SArtu2wj2q5z6-X9y0f-QozPmeyIBbqLuyffrz7m1T2a-qu6Oi-GKM3y6JYWQHPFj0wAZ4om3GpY/s640/20160619_171116.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I can't wait to see some of these birds in real life!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEile1IoJyez5zzsP4tq-x4cRXPvqvdokqSTAepphb8QjnRA10h59cQ7yhyphenhyphenk6OQ_tQer8jNIFcmqcNnjpMr0IMOBsIdTHoUxu8eGMr2ASzfBRdzqqa0NaLGleyUD_kZc0tx6aWf5IcW2NmY/s1600/20160619_161556.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEile1IoJyez5zzsP4tq-x4cRXPvqvdokqSTAepphb8QjnRA10h59cQ7yhyphenhyphenk6OQ_tQer8jNIFcmqcNnjpMr0IMOBsIdTHoUxu8eGMr2ASzfBRdzqqa0NaLGleyUD_kZc0tx6aWf5IcW2NmY/s640/20160619_161556.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of Cali from Parque San Antonio</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlSYs0PHtrM0je4stisZB682cE2kfPwIpg2nRRxMcuM0AMnS5g1QrrRP8tXxH0zw1qiuXogDm8cxKg9RU_09xokMlSjdrjMO75Z6B2HzIrxmF8H7XF7TxcOuszvqHtCGNnPCQXbOwHM28/s1600/20160619_155328_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlSYs0PHtrM0je4stisZB682cE2kfPwIpg2nRRxMcuM0AMnS5g1QrrRP8tXxH0zw1qiuXogDm8cxKg9RU_09xokMlSjdrjMO75Z6B2HzIrxmF8H7XF7TxcOuszvqHtCGNnPCQXbOwHM28/s640/20160619_155328_HDR.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cerro de las Tres Cruces</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNAGikAFg5iNZRDyoB_pTtqxR4oDiU5e9hJj_hSW8qsR6fRd2jBXMsk3tWGjX3E9Tj6r928RKh5r4lX_1Sqb7IghLtr_9ajMF2q5k2UZrR5tiKUqEk31nATl0JKH4QP5284CtLUr2JjMI/s1600/20160619_154802.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNAGikAFg5iNZRDyoB_pTtqxR4oDiU5e9hJj_hSW8qsR6fRd2jBXMsk3tWGjX3E9Tj6r928RKh5r4lX_1Sqb7IghLtr_9ajMF2q5k2UZrR5tiKUqEk31nATl0JKH4QP5284CtLUr2JjMI/s640/20160619_154802.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Garden median down the sidewalk</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4ory-ZSvpdtdrtIz3YXhV3xHyPdB2cAmJWi5IhZBOMiNRFuCdKmDcsPp2S32jgiN8BEoQA2bBtvoWa5_ZEKe_qglKgbX3ixmnRsND8reElIqAtO3HPXROBK1rQtXBiQc1DRyBhc6BIJQ/s1600/20160619_160038.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4ory-ZSvpdtdrtIz3YXhV3xHyPdB2cAmJWi5IhZBOMiNRFuCdKmDcsPp2S32jgiN8BEoQA2bBtvoWa5_ZEKe_qglKgbX3ixmnRsND8reElIqAtO3HPXROBK1rQtXBiQc1DRyBhc6BIJQ/s640/20160619_160038.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting my bird watching started already!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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I didn’t think I would have much time to see Cali, as I only had plans to stay a single night, but plans change and I am not able to get to Parque Nacional Natural Farallones de Cali (I’m just gonna call it Farallones from now on) for another few days. However, having arrived on a Sunday afternoon, almost everything is closed. So after a brief nap and vigorously studying the city map so I don’t look the fool walking around with my nose in a fold out hotel map (thanks for helping me download the Cali map, Tico!), I wandered around the San Antonio neighborhood. I was told this is a very old, colonial part of town but it seems to have been renovated over the years and doesn’t really seem like much of a barrio antiguo – pretty much looks like every other normal Latin American neighborhood with some Spanish colonial style to it. But still a very pretty neighborhood with winding tree-lined streets, some colorful buildings with creeping bougainvilleas and artistic ironworks, alongside a river that runs through the city. I haven’t traveled solo since I was in college, so it’s a bit lonely without Nick to talk to, point things out to, or force to stop at any delicious food stand I so desire ;) But it’s only day one & I’ll make do :)<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb-ibfnF_4RXt-cC5jhPcJwgYl5GqxPLja56AaQ4jhZo_2MqnoldjZ3s2R7NaHnwY5qYtwbmJUayIiQzFuqVutGqKcPaHEXNkTRt_te6GGheuHRzI8fixCRXFWwnL8LgfF6s3jsaA5xSI/s1600/20160619_162428.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb-ibfnF_4RXt-cC5jhPcJwgYl5GqxPLja56AaQ4jhZo_2MqnoldjZ3s2R7NaHnwY5qYtwbmJUayIiQzFuqVutGqKcPaHEXNkTRt_te6GGheuHRzI8fixCRXFWwnL8LgfF6s3jsaA5xSI/s640/20160619_162428.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sidewalk tree planter</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZLXvvJWwv2d1rTWXK9BC1Hwu-VwQfAazZM8VzVoIrQUe5kExuLhwSkhUIl2IkUa0GbTSQc0Sr8Wq839hz2dS1JoLichL-yLWqIw5Y_vAjBxsikzanhvw_4d2dIEiyPL6frKqHtizFTgk/s1600/20160619_162750.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZLXvvJWwv2d1rTWXK9BC1Hwu-VwQfAazZM8VzVoIrQUe5kExuLhwSkhUIl2IkUa0GbTSQc0Sr8Wq839hz2dS1JoLichL-yLWqIw5Y_vAjBxsikzanhvw_4d2dIEiyPL6frKqHtizFTgk/s640/20160619_162750.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Río Cali looking east</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9L8aL51Dg0_xx7hBVCko1hlQcvdmFoAF823sDhQ9hX31_wuBIBXopx3FKm7HUwP2iBi21LN8uDndtCKjniBejBxrKR8cMBctowNy3bqk3HwumSQfgO2ZeJjhKc6L3wNW1fKAi_CLDsgA/s1600/20160619_162838.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9L8aL51Dg0_xx7hBVCko1hlQcvdmFoAF823sDhQ9hX31_wuBIBXopx3FKm7HUwP2iBi21LN8uDndtCKjniBejBxrKR8cMBctowNy3bqk3HwumSQfgO2ZeJjhKc6L3wNW1fKAi_CLDsgA/s640/20160619_162838.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Río Cali looking west</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6vD_wsc_YYgiufnSTcuEiagiTs3EIJGUkIXyD730ulcjeSJSPOisvEblsqOC1PXz_g9KoW2iU-pkNU4eLt6H5on5IVzTDvA9Hc9-Nw62ISF5IaxBCAvXHjYODjAvfTM6s3g7pQAKQIXk/s1600/20160619_163028.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6vD_wsc_YYgiufnSTcuEiagiTs3EIJGUkIXyD730ulcjeSJSPOisvEblsqOC1PXz_g9KoW2iU-pkNU4eLt6H5on5IVzTDvA9Hc9-Nw62ISF5IaxBCAvXHjYODjAvfTM6s3g7pQAKQIXk/s640/20160619_163028.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Random park known as the River Cat Park...maybe there used to be lots of feral cats here?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCC_YM7SzB3NbEi6b8b6xJRro649YhO-0dSPYybB9UsX6FyMPK1nkHZlWWTGhBR8cRfz6FU3lzgtXXg_epKoltzHH9xPXJ9r3HwSX0vSo9uuTDEkNXDByje6nGAZYAama79YKnMmdjj0o/s1600/20160619_163103.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCC_YM7SzB3NbEi6b8b6xJRro649YhO-0dSPYybB9UsX6FyMPK1nkHZlWWTGhBR8cRfz6FU3lzgtXXg_epKoltzHH9xPXJ9r3HwSX0vSo9uuTDEkNXDByje6nGAZYAama79YKnMmdjj0o/s640/20160619_163103.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Parque del Gato statues</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeMKl0qTvW5kSLyah8OsegtMM-1te2cE4zvUW1270BXSI1ntrkxfzWo-sGLg04ftJkMYw0W2efR4rFOHUkvqIJ0-f5dxvaijkW1NKZfwITstd2ZoZDMtRGRSmSJUYmNMN8TWZmLk8aW4I/s1600/20160619_163148.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeMKl0qTvW5kSLyah8OsegtMM-1te2cE4zvUW1270BXSI1ntrkxfzWo-sGLg04ftJkMYw0W2efR4rFOHUkvqIJ0-f5dxvaijkW1NKZfwITstd2ZoZDMtRGRSmSJUYmNMN8TWZmLk8aW4I/s640/20160619_163148.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Parque del Gato statues</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8OlLZ47PZ1_YmrQbW9uDGiGgDkJmZfGcCHs4ubQRo6X7FtYS1S8IPnTRVQSDVQm_AISqMItl0QN3PeICf54nUDV40xAB8xbRvixKT8OSmcdHM0inHC3WM424Rhf8y0U5TpB-LvJGXqQc/s1600/20160619_163322.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8OlLZ47PZ1_YmrQbW9uDGiGgDkJmZfGcCHs4ubQRo6X7FtYS1S8IPnTRVQSDVQm_AISqMItl0QN3PeICf54nUDV40xAB8xbRvixKT8OSmcdHM0inHC3WM424Rhf8y0U5TpB-LvJGXqQc/s640/20160619_163322.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Parque del Gato statues</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ-nmwZWgct2ejEYdNdjCmWv9nI4aQHInw6baqJwt3QtaT4QsWB1h9_YWWJhEhGR248TZ7COBh0eNBKE9yVL-VuPQWTtWAq0zD9zj88VOdwWrmX2agxEYdRBKGcIESTV_b0kMW1MPULew/s1600/20160619_163342.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ-nmwZWgct2ejEYdNdjCmWv9nI4aQHInw6baqJwt3QtaT4QsWB1h9_YWWJhEhGR248TZ7COBh0eNBKE9yVL-VuPQWTtWAq0zD9zj88VOdwWrmX2agxEYdRBKGcIESTV_b0kMW1MPULew/s640/20160619_163342.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Parque del Gato statues</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih9cfFZXNaBTLxCpoGExXQDliuOapkq4MQrTgFU706enQnvwHkjGPjKakZDopjkRcIRVqjKR68tBQLJirJqaNMwAcGAnAnBVSKDeaZ2tEQWBvkLEFG-KtPEBYJmwmQTSSTWRLSKvVZVfE/s1600/20160619_163506.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih9cfFZXNaBTLxCpoGExXQDliuOapkq4MQrTgFU706enQnvwHkjGPjKakZDopjkRcIRVqjKR68tBQLJirJqaNMwAcGAnAnBVSKDeaZ2tEQWBvkLEFG-KtPEBYJmwmQTSSTWRLSKvVZVfE/s640/20160619_163506.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Parque del Gato statues</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0CviVDMUP7cXuoInV5tUKWQZJiaI-zSJCHHCZMjMd5PSPAQ1ZwxApUUsWTGxM8MsjogEPQpSvllCFiQr-K_AGl6ADQFrbCf_IqmJF6E67zb2S_cUAc2DTLJDtDTSaWy-X-sciCYhd610/s1600/20160619_163650_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0CviVDMUP7cXuoInV5tUKWQZJiaI-zSJCHHCZMjMd5PSPAQ1ZwxApUUsWTGxM8MsjogEPQpSvllCFiQr-K_AGl6ADQFrbCf_IqmJF6E67zb2S_cUAc2DTLJDtDTSaWy-X-sciCYhd610/s640/20160619_163650_HDR.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is my favorite ;)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQGCWQnmOAOZvdK_IvErVTBQ2VzS_sQw5c19eXp3w3LTDdTpe8BMMvHG3Gptl42_VmVIgNk0Wh7niA4ojlPiwm5S7ruH35nLK5C90VnKuoWDAjjJmfh7ZCTbMrawSTUsHVNtKgL3vQTAE/s1600/20160619_163616.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQGCWQnmOAOZvdK_IvErVTBQ2VzS_sQw5c19eXp3w3LTDdTpe8BMMvHG3Gptl42_VmVIgNk0Wh7niA4ojlPiwm5S7ruH35nLK5C90VnKuoWDAjjJmfh7ZCTbMrawSTUsHVNtKgL3vQTAE/s640/20160619_163616.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Parque del Gato statues</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7em_iiCn5K3Cu5dMY89ZyuOZ4PRhbmxOfFvcGWRaipQbr7ThYobIQgZxryhAwo0HBBoieNYtFZaKhI8EH3sIlodPJTngi3ysf_uNxDAgie2TBemSHFvCSXiz3EZiDc6-W61NQ5zcOJIw/s1600/20160619_163527.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7em_iiCn5K3Cu5dMY89ZyuOZ4PRhbmxOfFvcGWRaipQbr7ThYobIQgZxryhAwo0HBBoieNYtFZaKhI8EH3sIlodPJTngi3ysf_uNxDAgie2TBemSHFvCSXiz3EZiDc6-W61NQ5zcOJIw/s640/20160619_163527.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Parque del Gato statues</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I only walked around for a few hours before heading back to the hostel with some empanadas para llevar for dinner…as I’m told walking around at night is not a smart option for solo female tourists. Which means nights will be kind of boring unless I join my hostel-mates in their activities. So far, watching a basketball game, smoking a bowl, & playing an acoustic guitar don’t seem very appealing. Netflix it is!!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr93_niCp59lIVzu8rObf1-xWeLGZght74ZzaZG2UHfq2-3K3kwzicUVWm3bRmQVLZKqtEnDqx1JyPO1DXtZxwSiSj8f2OmP85dkTcAfP_bDpTUd_WcaQiR1aDf1ET3pQ5gwAYCWZRM-c/s1600/20160619_165934_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr93_niCp59lIVzu8rObf1-xWeLGZght74ZzaZG2UHfq2-3K3kwzicUVWm3bRmQVLZKqtEnDqx1JyPO1DXtZxwSiSj8f2OmP85dkTcAfP_bDpTUd_WcaQiR1aDf1ET3pQ5gwAYCWZRM-c/s640/20160619_165934_HDR.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cali graffiti </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjinzu_qmCEbIb4Nj2FyicBAnLah34eoIBfgdroneSK52ChaAHd2G5iDqwZv2LMJnFf1QP-iCO1XCCxU9IK1Fus5TARElO6w0SWRE1RhKQDm-7-fuVUwaNah8rtI0E5f9iSerLCPCo41Yo/s1600/20160619_165940_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjinzu_qmCEbIb4Nj2FyicBAnLah34eoIBfgdroneSK52ChaAHd2G5iDqwZv2LMJnFf1QP-iCO1XCCxU9IK1Fus5TARElO6w0SWRE1RhKQDm-7-fuVUwaNah8rtI0E5f9iSerLCPCo41Yo/s640/20160619_165940_HDR.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Cali graffiti </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG8FDi_BesWljM_549x741IXBXe8OwXjGhxsHt9pBiAeoHb4SPHvnvtG4CIerZUh4THAzIoeBTkFESDvvkFI67bWeW9mWUCkr3Nhq1pWWoxEr_mwf9avKvIJnMY6q9VAtx-cOcBgJEF8g/s1600/20160619_170657.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG8FDi_BesWljM_549x741IXBXe8OwXjGhxsHt9pBiAeoHb4SPHvnvtG4CIerZUh4THAzIoeBTkFESDvvkFI67bWeW9mWUCkr3Nhq1pWWoxEr_mwf9avKvIJnMY6q9VAtx-cOcBgJEF8g/s640/20160619_170657.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Glass mosaic doorway</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi8l1SnHlLa7UiW12l_T1aFHEu6x3pd2wXJh39ibXPwOf_8odIn_2eOGo39DFevh5NrohuZk2WwKzv4iMEurGhhxJ4uhfTinqHNZBhNjmu3Z_DVU614ddaZsS9ysUjzbGCImykMm4Hgo4/s1600/20160619_170809_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi8l1SnHlLa7UiW12l_T1aFHEu6x3pd2wXJh39ibXPwOf_8odIn_2eOGo39DFevh5NrohuZk2WwKzv4iMEurGhhxJ4uhfTinqHNZBhNjmu3Z_DVU614ddaZsS9ysUjzbGCImykMm4Hgo4/s640/20160619_170809_HDR.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pretty street corner</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglpisKxJj6i-QeeIgCRvm1J271q4AQLArO9vHn1S1E4ZuicolmppBxHuK9VYLM0vqhGiNxdb_f2Gd3_sOeAgLGcm_GIg-a7-NYwFCHlwDJo0OtUU3AXXydaMAdo0gHZPXub24T5uxYoD0/s1600/20160619_175519.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglpisKxJj6i-QeeIgCRvm1J271q4AQLArO9vHn1S1E4ZuicolmppBxHuK9VYLM0vqhGiNxdb_f2Gd3_sOeAgLGcm_GIg-a7-NYwFCHlwDJo0OtUU3AXXydaMAdo0gHZPXub24T5uxYoD0/s640/20160619_175519.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">La primera cena</td></tr>
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Cat and Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02470326950739759311noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6725286104548130105.post-58389582851049031422016-06-18T14:55:00.000-07:002016-06-18T14:55:13.233-07:00Buen Viaje<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Here we go!<br />
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I'm heading down to Cali, Colombia today to start a six-week volunteer project with the University of British Colombia (the Canada kind) to study tropical bird ecology in Farallones de Cali National Park. We will be mist-netting (humanely capturing) different species of birds and assessing the status of their populations at different elevations within the forest. You can learn a little but more about the project <a href="http://www.zoology.ubc.ca/~jankowsk/" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX52nGux171BRUjj1KgdXOtQ-als60eIm0zQyLxZVTQrWft92LwCEf3M36X5OozAbDPkJugVfUuhaaKScOVQWwQjzIRf7VqCSm1pzko2L3NJl0JUnpl2sKwQozJEBbS4qIGgQl0wE1uSU/s1600/Colombia_-_Location_Map_%25282013%2529_-_COL_-_UNOCHA.svg.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX52nGux171BRUjj1KgdXOtQ-als60eIm0zQyLxZVTQrWft92LwCEf3M36X5OozAbDPkJugVfUuhaaKScOVQWwQjzIRf7VqCSm1pzko2L3NJl0JUnpl2sKwQozJEBbS4qIGgQl0wE1uSU/s400/Colombia_-_Location_Map_%25282013%2529_-_COL_-_UNOCHA.svg.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Wikimedia Commons)</td></tr>
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I'm not quite sure what the day-to-day will be like but I'm excited to get back out in the field assisting with wildlife conservation projects (one that won't be as remote this time & surrounded by tropical forest!). Internet access will be intermittent, so I'm not sure how much of this blog will be accessible over the summer. But I'll do my best. :)<br />
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If it doesn't work out, I'll see ya in mid-August! ;)<br />
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Cat and Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02470326950739759311noreply@blogger.com2