When It Rains…

5 July 2016

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).

Chestnut-breasted wren chicks hatched!

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.

Andean motmot

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

Male Green-and-black fruiteater

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.