Early Monday morning I went to collect soil samples with Ava and Bene. We trudged through the forest to find the roped off areas that are to remained untouched by human feet. I had to sterilize my hands, and then we plunged 20 centimeters into the thick, clay-like soil. We did this for a few other plots. It was nice getting to know them. Bene is a French doctorate student at Columbia University and Ava is her aid and she's also attends a college inside of Columbia University called, Barnard. It started raining lightly and then it gradually turned into an absolute downpour. I was drenched in a manner of minutes! It was fun.
This is after about 10 mins of raining!
When I finally returned and dried off, Omar took me to the El Yunque Rainforest on a hike. He knew everything about all the bugs and plants. I got to hold my first stick bug!
The two most amazing parts of El Yunque are the waterfalls and the fort on the top of Mt. Britton. There literally no mosquitoes here in Puerto Rico because the water is constantly moving and not allowing much time for the mosquito larvae to develop. So, as the water is constantly moving from the top of the mountain it falls over giant slabs of rock. Its the prettiest thing.
On the top of Mt. Britton is a fort the American's built when they first arrived here to Puerto Rico. The view from the top allows them to see alot of the major ports. You can see the ocean from here! Its also located in what we call a dwarf forest because the water is constantly running down and foliage here don't get all the water they need. The best part of Mt. Britton is that's a cloud forest. This meaning the entire area grows within the clouds. So, I can consider myself a Furby now and breathed in a cloud. Its absolutely breathtaking!
More pictures of the mountain:
The descent from the mountain top was equally as beautiful... Omar even bought me some Alcapurias which are these banna bread/ corn meal meat pockets.. Greasy Good! It was quite the day and I'm loving this place more and more each day!
Here are a few fun facts about El Yunque-
Its the only National Rainforest in the USA.
This is one of the smallest orchid species found on the island. Its about the size of my pinky nail!
This is a Tody and is the size of a ping-pong ball- They should make him an Angry Bird character!
Lastly, this is Snail, and the lime-green section on its back is it's shell. They look just like a leaf when you first see them! There are so many species of animals here and its amazing!
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