It’s hard to pick just one event that I enjoyed in Puerto Rico because there were several. I have to say that my most favorite event thus far was hiking the dry forest and swimming on the beach. In spanish, it’s called Bosque Nacional de Guanica. We were supposed to get dropped off right where the trail started, but we ended up walking over a mile and a half to the start of the trail. There was a local holiday, and the guy who was supposed to open the gate wasn’t at work that day. It wasn’t easy hiking to the trail because it was hot and very high in altitude. Along the way, we found a large, wild hermit crab crossing the road. It was interesting to me because I was used to seeing tiny hermit crabs in painted shells at the local pet store. This one was massive and looked very healthy. We also found a large camouflaged moth in the middle of the street.
The trail itself was absolutely astonishing. We walked through a sort of dirt road surrounded by vegetation. At this point, we’ve been walking for almost two miles, so we were exhausted. I also enjoyed walking through this patch of different sized rocks. Most were small, so with every step my foot would sink in a few inches. It made the hike a little more interesting. I felt like I was walking in quicksand or something of that nature. We then trailed off to see this 700-year-old tree called Guayacama Centenario. This tree was crazy to look at because it’s grown on a steep hill. The tree roots were full of life and all bulging out. The group of twelve all stood around the tree and took a beautiful picture that encompasses just how big it was – attached below. We sat in the shade of the tree, eating a snack before heading back out. Once we were finished, we started hiking again and saw massive cacti. We also spotted numerous Vultures flying high above us. Dr Rodriguez explained to me how the vultures eat small animals and roadkill, including cats, mice, and other rodents. The hike concluded with a paved, civilized road. We all walked along the road in the hot sun for just a few minutes before hitting the beach.
The beach looked like it was rarely used and there was lots of seaweed, sponges, and other sea debris washed up. I put all of my stuff in the shade and ran right into the turquoise water. At first it seemed chilly, but it got very comfortable once I started swimming around. At the spot we were at, there was lots of algae floating around, which made it a little gross. The waves were strong and big, so it was quite the experience to jump into such waves. Each of us had a different method of defense, like we’d jump up, in, or turn so that the wave wouldn’t pull us away. The sun was bright and strong, so I was sure to wear my long sleeve swim shirt. Then a few of us started walking along the coast until we decided to jump it again. This spot was much better with less algae and even more clear water. I doggy paddled and floated on my back, seeing about twenty vultures in the distance by the forest. The beach was surrounded by healthy, tall palm trees. A few of the students decided to throw rocks at the coconuts in attempt to capture one. They were eventually successful and were actually able to split the coconut open. It took a while, though, because they had to use a strong piece of protruding metal in a piece on concrete. It was a very pleasing hike and beach day.
This hermit crab was enormous compared to the ones I see at the local pet store. The crab had vibrant colors and intricate details.
This was the massive, beautiful 700 year old tree.
I too really enjoyed this day!
As you know, our class is called international biosystems. This blog post is a perfect example of that! Hiking the dry forest we see vegetation such as cacti. The environment here felt almost like Arizoba. However, when you hike a half hour down, you are exposed to a completeley different array of wildlife, just like the hermit crab you have in your hand!
On this day, I thought it was cool how we took coconuts off the tree and ate them. This definitely shows Puerto Rico’s tropical agriculture. I think the pictures you have at the bottom are really great. We can use them in our story board. An interesting idea would be to show the progression of wildlife from the dry forest to the beach.
This was one of my favorite days of our trip as well. The chance to experience such a diverse ecosystem that was completely different to what we see everyday in Illinois was a great opportunity. You did a great job describing all of the different plants and animals that we saw on our journey to the beach. This is definitely something that I think should be an important aspect of our Open House booth. It would be interesting to highlight all of the differences in vegetation and wildlife that we saw on our hike that day, and to also draw attention to the fact that some plants and animals are able to thrive in Illinois as well. Not everyone who visit our booth may know that some organisms, such as vultures and many rodents, are able to adapt to such extremely varied climates. The difference between the wild hermit crabs and the small ones sold in pet stores could also be something that we could bring up in our booth. By briefly discussing some of the negative effects of keeping animals in captivity that struggle being kept out of the wild, we could educate some of the younger kids about responsible pet ownership. Whether we work this particular idea into our booth or not, we will definitely be able to use lots of the pictures and videos that we took on this hike to show the booth visitors just how beautiful Puerto Rico truly is.
I really enjoyed how this post explores the many aspects of the diverse ecosystem that we’ve had the opportunity to experience here in Puerto Rico. From the hermit crabs and iguanas along the trail, to the palm trees lining the beach, we witnessed much of what Puerto Rico has to offer all in one day. I think that we need to make sure we portray the extensive amounts of wildlife we witnessed in our booth presentation. We can do this by using the pictures and videos we’ve captured to attempt and give our viewers a sneak peek into the beautiful wildlife that the island has to offer.