Written by Katie Goodwin, University of New Hampshire
(Photos by Katie Goodwin, unless otherwise noted)
On the morning of March 22nd, we packed our bags and boxes of groceries onto a bus headed for the small community of Rancho Quemado for our next finca. The land we would be working on this week is owned by Doña Juana Jimenez, who lives a 30 minute walk from the property. She kindly invited us to stay at her house while surveying the property. When we arrived, we were greeted by Doña Juana and her son Enrique and we set up tents on the large front porch of her house.
After settling in and visiting with them for a while, we walked down the road to explore the town of Rancho Quemado. The town was small and peaceful, with a downtown area consisting of a small general store where we bought ice cream and cold drinks, and a soccer field where groups of local kids played. We also saw the town’s small library and a few restaurants and cabinas for tourists.
Part of our camp on the porch of Doña Juana’s house (Photo: Brenna Lindsey)
The next morning, we began surveying the property and quickly realized that it had more hills than anywhere else we had seen before on the peninsula. Luckily, the property borders were well cleared and there were lots of streams on which to do bird and herp surveys. Still, the “jungle slide,” our new method of sliding down steep hills rather than walking down, was definitely put to use, especially since it started to feel like we were in the rainy season that week, despite having barely rained for the first half of the semester. Doña Juana even said that it seemed like we had brought the rain to Rancho Quemado. Despite being difficult at times, we had some fun hikes through the property and even got some great views of the surrounding landscape from the higher ridges.
Climbing up the steep hills of Finca Jimenez (Photo:Chris Smith)
After five nights at Finca Jimenez, it was time to head back to Puerto Jimenez to regroup and buy groceries before going to our last two fincas. On March 27 we took the bus to the third finca, owned by José and Maria Sibaja. José and Maria welcomed us into their home as soon as we arrived, clearing space for us on their front porch and garage area to set up our tents. Their house and small farm are right on the property we were surveying and from the house there were great views of Golfo Dulce, and of mountains in the other direction.
Views of Golfo Dulce from the house.
José took us on a tour of the property soon after we got there. It was clear how much he loved the land and cared about the flora and fauna that lived there. He told us about his efforts to prevent illegal logging and hunting on his property and discussed the importance of having respect for the land and for wildlife. This property was much less hilly than the last one, allowing us to walk the borders and get a sense of the property pretty quickly while we set up our first camera traps.
Don José showing us around the property.
Over the next few days, we conducted bird surveys every morning. The bird diversity was incredible, and we were able to see a lot of new and interesting species on these surveys. Throughout our days at the finca, we saw many brightly colored tropical birds such as fiery-billed aracari, red-legged honeycreepers and golden-hooded tanagers even right from the front porch of the house.
A Fiery-billed Aracari on a palm tree in front of the house (Photo: Chris Smith)
Instructor Chris and students surveying for birds on the edge of the property
While we were at the house, Doña Maria was an amazing host, making us fresh tortillas for breakfast in the morning and insisting on washing our clothes for us every day when we returned from the field. In return we cooked dinner for her and José every night, and performed concerts for them afterwards. At the end of the week, we said our goodbyes and Don José drove us down the road to begin our adventure at the last finca.
Group photo with the Round River group and the Sibajas.
This blog is dedicated to our good friend Brenna who unfortunately had to head home a little early due to an illness. We hope you’re feeling better and we love and miss you!