I’m back yo!

there’s nothing like coming back on a delayed flight…and having FBI interrogate you at the dallas-fortworth airport

i love american airlines (not).

i’ll be posting more pictures soon…so stay tuned!

Super Psyched!!!

So before I delve into anything else…there’s another big birthday shout out to none other than my MOM!



Whooo!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!  Now…the question is…should I disclose her age. Hahaha.

Oh and another thing – HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATIE MARTINEAU CHAVES!
Yep..she’s one of the girls who’s (awesome) on this field season with us. I hope she enjoys her bday with us.  At midnight she was the guest of honor and we drank a bit.

So yeah. Kudos to mom and Katie!

And for more exciting news –  Las Cuevas OLYMPICS! That’s right. In the spirit of competitive games and gold medals, we here in Cuevas, as desolate as we are in midst of the rainforest, have finally formed the day of champions!  It will be tomorrow. And it shall be GLORIOUS!
**
Here’s a list of some of our actiivites: (may change & in no particular order)
-    Relay Race (dress up in field clothes, spin around a shovel, and then carry a lime on a spoon….rinse and repeat)
-    Water Balloon toss
-    Slip and Slide (points awarded to the best pose AND landing
-    Cabbage Neck Pass
-    Bungee Shot Catch
-    Ring Toss
-    3 legged race
-    And MORE!

AND we have an official torch runner…(yes we are that hardcore!)
Man..it’s going to be awesome! So yeah. Super psyched.

Soon to be olympic gold medalist. (hahaha)

Mark

Snake day and Punta party!

Okay..so this post has been waiting to be blogged about for a few days now, but it’s going to be WAYYY worth it…if you stick around.

So basically just a few days ago, a group of 3 came to Las Cuevas – they were trapping/studying small mammals. Except one of them was heavily into herps (reptiles and amphibians – more so reptiles)

So I find out that the morning after they get here, Matt, the “herps”guy that came w/ the mammal people, had found a freakin Fer de lance the night before. A FREAKING FER DE LANCE!
Let me give you a background about these guys if you haven’t wiki’d it yet. Fur de lance or Bothrops asper, is one of the most deadliest snakes in Central America. This is the snake most responsible for the majority of the snake bites that have ever occurred down here – and they’re venom is well…can be lethal (most likely). Just wiki it and see the picture of the 11 yo boy who got bit on his leg and didn’t receive proper treatment (picture is of a two weeks lapse after getting bitten) it’s pretty freakin insane. Or as the Brits say, “mental.”

Anyway, they caught that and so there was a “photoshoot” with it the next day! It was only a baby, however I’m sure you’ve heard how much more potent a baby venomous snake is since it doesn’t know how much venom to release in it’s prey or predator. So here are some pictures we took of it:

Pretty crazy huh? It just looks evil. Haha.

And then, Matt (same guy) comes back from doing mammal trappings up in the 50 hectare plot and returns with a bag with a freaking EYE LASH VIPER! What the?!?! Even my advisor hasn’t seen one of those here. And she’s been coming here for past 4/5 years! Talk about luck huh? Daymn this guy’s on a roll! Haha. But we decided to not do a photoshoot of it yet, so we kind of waited.

But then here comes Sam, who’s working on frogs too (but different project) and tells us of a Mussarana up where one of his frog ponds are. So we trek up this random trail to find it. And it’s FREAKIN HUGE! Mussarana’s are pretty docile though…they have fangs, but they’re in the back of their mouth (known in snakes as proteroglyph). So Susanne went and picked it up. See how big it is:

We took a few photos of it later…but back to the eye-lash viper!
When we return from picking up the Mussarana, Paul (one of the herpers with our group) prepares for the “photoshoot” with the Eye Lash Viper. I only have pictures of it when it’s in the bucket because I wasn’t around when the actual photoshoot took place, so here are some pictures of it:

So yeah…it was a pretty intense snake day…but I’m not done. Haha.
Since Menemsha and I weren’t feeling 100%, we stayed behind and did the pond right next to us, where the Fur de lance was found..and subsequently returned (don’t worry…we knew where on the trail it was and we easily avoided it).
Anyway, we saw a few cool small snakes there too (that were harmless). I actually got a few really amazing photos of one Cat-Eyed snake eating frogs eggs (sad, but cool). Here are some pictures of that night, including some good ones I took of an amplexis pair of Morelet frogs:

We ended up finishing early because Menemsha wasn’t feeling well again…but when we got back..there was a PUNTA PARTY!!!! Hahaha. And our other team finished pretty early too and joined in the fun:..
I’ll put a few good photos in there. Haha none too incriminating. =P

So yeah…that was snake day….which was basically one of the best days EVER.

The next day 2 of the coolest people here left: Tom and Sofia. They were part of the Botany team from Oxford Uni. We will miss them dearly.

Also, we had the photoshoot with the Mussarana – so here I am trying to handle the big snake. =D (don’t worry..it’s TOTALLY harmless and docile). It even took a big dump right in front of us…just a few minutes before taking these photos. Haha:

So that’s it. Sorry for such a dry spell in posting. The internet/generator comes on whenever it feels like. So we’ve just learned to deal with it.

Jus a few more days out here…I’m happy to be going home…but at the same time sad that I’m leaving this amazing place with so much more to explore. Maybe I’ll get the chance to come back and do more stuff. We’ll see.

Dunk it,
Mark.

Snake Day and Goodbyes

Spring back into action!

WhooohoOO. Cipro is a life saver. forreals.

i’d like to explain the title more…but I don’t really have much time at the moment..and the internet has weird hours…so hopefully you’ll get a good post (w/ pictures) tomorrow. =D

here are some “key” words for this coming post – fer de lance, eye-lash, and punta. =)

3rd times a charm? or not

…sick again..

this sucks.

hopefully this course of cipro will kill everything wrong with me.

=(

Hikes galore

The other day we decided to go on a hike out of cuevas, just to get out of you know?  It was actually really nice – walked a total of 14km.  As we walked we saw a change in the environment, it was really cool.  It would switch from jungle to pine forest.  I wish I could’ve taken pictures of the different parts of the trail because you could see it just break off from the shrubs to the jungle to the fallen pine needles on the ground.

Also, I finally got a package from my family (thanks guys!). It was really nice bc it was full of really good practical things: two collared shirts, bug repellent, anti-itch cream and of course crystal light packets…..a TON of crystal light packets. Hahaha.
My friend got a package too but it was PACKED with candy…and a toothbrush/toothpaste. Haha. I also go pictures of my family and my niece, it was really nice of them.  I don’t rememer when we took the pictures (family portraits), but MAN…I totally lost weight. Haha. At least my double chin,

And then yesterday, since we were told we got the night off (two nights off in a row – sWEEET!) Katie, Menemsha, Susanne, Sam and I walked about 2 hours (maybe 12k one way?) to the monkey tail river. It was such a nice hike…tiring at times..but you know, it’s different from what we usually do.  It had been raining the night before pretty hard, so by the time we got the river, it was murky and was flowing pretty fast – almost rapid-like.

We still got in though. It was so refreshing. Didn’t see anything there though, after all the talks of otters and macaws. But it’s okay, it was nice. We had our lunches there before we got into the water.
Then when we got back, we just chilled.  I finally got to see the latest bond movie Casino Royale.  I thought it was pretty good. I’m not huge bond fan, but this one is in my top bond movies.  But yeah, that was that yesterday.  We decided to crash early because the plan was that we would wake up at 430AM to hike up the Bird tower and wait for the sunrise – which didn’t happen because it had started raining around 3AM this morning…and kept on raining up until 11AM. So yeah, now we’re just chillin.

I’ll try to have another picture post soon so my blog isn’t just all words. =D

Just a few more weeks and I’ll be back in the mother land!

-Mark

Who has jungle fever?

I do. and not in a good way.

I dont’ know what it is…but I need to get out of here.

scratch that. I know what it is – being in the jungle doing the same thing every night after every night with no new stimulation.

And don’t get me wrong…Belize has soo much treasure to unfold — that we basically won’t be able to do because there’s work to be done. And w/ no transportation to anywhere…we basically can’t do much during th day but do the same trails that we’ve done since we’ve been here.

You’d think I would see a jaguar or an eye lash pit viper by now, but no
I think if I saw either of those – I would take down this post. promise.

I need more field trips out of the research station.

Maybe I need a solo bird tower hike soon. =\

I wish upon a shooting star

Night after night, we go out to either our experimental pond or the control pond (Millionario or Tapir) – so you can see how it can get mundane.   The past few nights, though have been a real treat, especially for those who work at Millionario.

Sure there are those pesky sandflies and mosquitos but recently, it’s been really nice.

The sky is amazingly clear with stars cluttering the sky trying to outshine one another.  And it’s been great because the moon doesn’t rise as early as it once did…so you can have a real treat for the eyes.

I wish I could take pictures of the sky bc it’s soo much different from back home…w/o the light pollution we get.
I gets pretty crazy because we’ll see about 10 shooting stars a night and a few satallites just passing through. It’s AMAZING. Sometimes i run out of wishes to make. haha. yeah, that many! Seriously though, after doing our work at Millionario, we would just take our ponchos out and lay on the ground and look up at the sky, waiting for the other team to show up.  It’s pretty cool, especially when the bugs aren’t there to bit your face off.

But yeah, I just wanted to write this tidbit in so that I could remember how bright the sky was out here when I come back to LA.

-Mark

Where’s the internet?

So the generator hasn’t been on for the past 3 days – or at least not before we have to leave at 5pm. And it sucks.

I mean, It’s not like I’m this person that ALWAYS needs to be online, you know?  I would just like to be able to view email and send a few back.  If I had an hour a day for email, I would be satisfied – but we don’t even get that. And we work so late that we can’t even do anything.

Seriously, I really wanted to write a blog a few days ago about the work that we’ve been doing because the situations were pretty ridiculous, but now I’m pretty much over it.  I’m sure if something comes up like another storm that hits right as we’re about to take that one hour hike back to the station from the ponds, I’d be able to blog about that.

But we don’t even get the chance.
And I’m not like really bitter about it…just a bit annoyed.  I mean, some people get all butt hurt about not having internet and I think it’s a bit much…like seriously, you don’t have to go on a cursing rampage – we all have to suffer, not just you. Lame-o.

Anyway, before I delve into a blog I didn’t get to write, I want to make a few announcements through pictures (in a very AZN myspace way. hahaha)

Happy Birthday Mel!  Sorry I couldn’t send you an email yesterday but the internet didn’t go on until 5PM..and that’s when we leave..AND…once my advisor was finished with her email…we had to leave. (bc no one’s more important than her…whatevs – I’m over it).

yeah…that’s my sad attempt at doing the AZN picture thing you see on myspace. hahaha.

Anyway..here’s a jounal entry I wrote….3 days ago?:
7/22/08:
Last night was pretty ridiculous! I try not to write about the work we do bc I’m sure it gets a bit monotonous.

Anyway, I was at Millionario pond last night w/ Susanne and our goal/task for the night was to record two types of frogs: Smilisca baudinii and Bufo valiceps.  And of course these guys were amazingly scarce at Millionario last night.
We even decided to do a few microcephala recordings first since our two target species weren’t calling.
That was a bust as well.  I mean, we got one recording, which ended up being a recapture. And then there were these 2 microcephala frogs that were too close to really use them (out of confusion during sound analysis). AND THEN there was one other microcephala that basically left when we started recording it.
That also basically happened with the two baudinii and the one valiceps we found.

Yeah – it was a pretty lame night.  Not to mention that it rained on us as.  AND on top of THAT, the sandflies attacked us without mercy.  I think it’s the moon.  Because they only seem to be more active when the move has fully risen.

–
so yeah..that’s how it’s been the past few days.  Except last night 7/24 – it wasn’t too buggy until the moon came out. AND we got back at 1:45am.  Suhweeet (note the sarcasm)

Anyway..that’s all I have to report.  The generator has been off for so long that I’ve forgotten what I wanted to blog the past few nights.

Annnnnd that’s it!

Oh and HAPPY BELATED BDAY AGAIN MEL! Hope you’re debut was awesome! Sorry I had to miss it.

-Mark

Caracol Adventures!

Yesterday we went to Caracol to see the Mayan ruins (temples). We did it during the day so that it wouldn’t interfere with our night work.
I told myself that even if I was still feeling sick, there was NO WAY I’d miss seeing them. But luckily I was feeling much better.

This place is amazing!

When you first get there…there’s a little building, kind of like a museum, to inform you about the history and background behind the temples and the other ruins. They had the little model too to show how it would’ve looked back in the day.

Then you go out and find the ruins on your own (no tour guide or whatever – which was a nice feel – free to discover the ruins yourself you know?)

I think we saw “Plaza B” first. Which was AMAZING!

Of course we all took turns taking pictures of each other in front of these breathtaking structures

(yes- that’s me bowing…they told me do to it! haha)
And then we climbed the temple called Caana.


FREAKIN INTENSE!

The temple across from Caana, taken at the top of Caana.

more pictures:

(the steps up Caana – and yes i unzipped my pants into shorts…it was hot)

(me at the top of Caana looking at the temple across)

the sky looking towards tower B-18

(some ruins in plaza A)

We were all wondering how the Mayans did it since they’re supposedly short people. These stairs were big!
I think Caana temple had like 3 sets of stairs too…it was basically a work out. Haha.
Here’s Tom and I on top of B-20 (one of the three towers at the top of Caana):

And here’s some of us at the top of B-19 (the tower in the middle)

And then after our adventures at Caana we headed over to “Plaza A” and checked it out. Another big temple (I didn’t get the name of it) but not as big as Caana.
We climbed it too – here’s some of us just chillin on it.

I think by this point we were just getting a bit tired – the sun was beating on us pretty hard.

Then most of us headed back to the main entrance – two of the guys went to see the howler monkeys because they sounded pretty close. They actually got some really good photos of them.

We chilled at the main entrance near the gift shop for awhile to collect ourselves, it started to drizzle a bit.

And then we headed home. Pretty cool day.

And then the best part? – We didn’t end up working last night because there’s supposedly Tropical Storm Donna coming in and it was supposed to hit us hard – but we didn’t even get any form of rain. Which is good, because had we actually gone out – it might’ve ruined our equipment.

So yeah, that was my day yesterday.
Hopefully, next time we can fit in a day trip to the Belize Zoo!

Orange Fanta is gooood.

-Mark