If you're wondering why it's been quiet again for some time, I just came back from my trip to Belgium. It felt really good to go back again, see some familiar faces...really enjoyed every moment being there :D But yea, my apologies compas because I still owe you lads a post I believe ;)
Indeed, about my latest field trip! This time we went to Santa Marta, a city that’s at the coast of the Carribean Sea. Yup, that's also the reason why I used "compas" instead of muchachos, a word typical from the coast ;)
08/08 Since we were going by car and it was a trip of approximately 16 hours, we had to get up early. Meeting place and time: entrance Universidad Nacional at 4 a.m. That night I didn't sleep, that's for sure (see also last post) :P So, I was sleeping a bit in the car - well, a lot according to some people :P - but nevertheless saw so many beautiful views of Colombia. It's incredible how the landscape changed as the rubber was rolling over the asphalt. The mountains close to Medellín were slowly ebbing away into the valley of the Magdalena river, it was só beautiful to see! And as a student of agriculture I also enjoyed seeing a few plantations, for instance I saw oil palm, rubber, plantain, sugarcane and maize :) Finally we arrived at our hotels, took out the stuff from the car into our rooms, and agreed we would meet up early the next day to start our quest for samples :)
09/08 Entonces, no sooner said than done. We woke up around half past 5 and headed for the center to have some breakfast and discussed the plan we had for today. It was the first day that we were working in Mamancana, a nature reserve that's only 15 minutes driving from Santa Marta. It's an amazingly gorgeous place to go!! For real, aside from the tropical dry forest at the back, you can also spend relaxing holidays there... I guess it doesn't hurt to make some advertisement for this beautiful place :P http://mamancana.co/
So, when we arrived there, we grabbed our stuff and were packed and ready to go! For going into the forest and take the samples, we got the assistance of some people of the reserve. The plan was to go a bit inside the forest, but it was already on our way that we got into contact with the typical flora of the tropical dry forest: tree-like cactusses, enormous cactusses, trees with twisted barks, trees with green spotted barks (apparently from the Ceiba-genus). It was really cool to see a completely distinct ecosystem such as the tropical dry forest in all its floral glory.
We finally got to a water collection point inside the reserve where we set up camp and started sampling the prioritized tree species in the close vicinity. With the whole team we had a very productive day, had good food and nice chit-chatter during the lunch, all concluding with a beautiful sunset :3 In the late evening we went to the beach to look for a place to have some dinner. Once we found one, I couldn't help it but ordering some frutos de mar since I was at the coast anyway, sooo good with a cold beer next to it :) Eventually, we went back to our hotel because it was already getting late and we had to get up early again the next day.
10/08 RAIN. So today we went for another day at Mamancana. And did some more sampling work in the morning, until...the locks of heaven broke open. Since we were still in the field, we had to hurry back to the residence because the weighing of the leaves and taking pictures of them became impossible. Once we got there with all our possessions, it kept going on for a few hours more. For a moment I felt more in the tropical rain forest than in the tropical dry forest :P A picture of the aftermath:
But well, with all the heat it actually felt pretty good to have a big shower. And just after the rain the forest colours so much greener, really beautiful! :) When it finally stopped, we did some more sampling and eventually headed back for the hotel after processing everything. Time for a change of clothes en heading to the shore! :D After having some dinner at Restaurant Paisa (serving typical food of Medellín) - where we would eventually be going to for every other meal in the future :P - we were walking a bit around until Jorge, Alvaro and I found some carritos that we hired to take a ride in Santa Marta. Aaah, those little beach carts, dem childhood feels :P
11/08 The next day it was already the penultimate day in Mamancana. So the day before, while a part of the group was processing the samples after the rain, another part was scouting for an interesting area to sample the next day. The plan was then to go deep into the forest, climbing up the mountain...
...which offered a spectacular view over Santa Marta!
After some time walking, we could set up the camp again and start sampling and processing.
You could be wondering: "Yea, sampling and processing, very well, but are you doing exactly? Science is only clarifying when it's transparant itself." - You know what? You're absolutely right! So as I told before in the first post of my excursions, I'm going to functionally characterize the different individuals we sampled of the prioritized tree species.This will be done through the analysis of the vegetative material. For that we are sampling a tree core by using an increment borer and a branch with (if possible) healthy leaves. In this way, it's possible to define traits such as: fresh and dry weight of the leaves, leaf area, wood density of the core and wood density of the branch. All of which have a certain impact on the tree's physiology and thereby their functioning within the ecosystem. So that's mainly the stage we're at now considering functional traits and diversity, later on it will be my task to start modelling once all the data has been obtained :D Unfortunately, at the end of the day the increment borer broke, so we had no choice but to leave the sampling of tree cores as it is from then on. Although it got more or less fixed at a local mecanic, it broke the next day at the first try :(
"Evening of the stinky smelling socks." Well, as you can probably guess, there's one more thing worth mentioning about today. Since it had been raining the day before, and I was completely soaked, so were my socks. Going into the field the next day sure wasn't very advantageous for maintaining odorless socks. So when we were processing in the hotel room, my feet and socks released an inhumane stench. Obviously, my socks soon became notorious and subject of ridicule. Waiting a bit more and those horrid things would probably come alive :P
12/08 So yea, we just continued our quest without the borer. Today was already the last day of sampling in Mamancana - Aawwnnn. We headed back to a spot where we've been before, but scouted some more the area, with result! We didn't just find other trees, but also a few animals :D Like a couple of lizards, a Carpintero real (woodpecker) and last but not least a ssssnake! Tried to find it's name, but haven't succeeded in that. If any reader would recognize it, please let me know ;)
14/08 Alright! So after our sampling excursions in Mamancana, it was time to start with chapter 2: Parque Tayrona! A national park that's trying to conserve the original nature while offering tourist services, again: very nice place to visit if you're on holidays ;) But before any of that, we were there to look for some more trees. However, as you can see on the picture below, little had leaves.
Indeed, it hadn't rained since October last year and in order for the trees to survive, most of them already got rid of their leaves, which was ofcourse problematic for us. But eventually, we got to encounter some really nice ones during a long walk in the valley. It was a hard day of work, and some days we had to work even more in our hotels in order to not let all the work stack up. So this time no little stroll in the city or at the beach, but we had a good foresight for tomorrow :)
15/08 As a new day arose, we woke up early to go sample at a finca of someone in the park today. But it was extremely hot then! Over 40 degrees in the sun and the shadow wasn't of much good either. So it was a hard day of work, BUT we had a plan: we were going to the beach in the afternoon - yipie!! :D In Parque Tayrona are, among other reasons for tourists to visit the park, a lot of beautiful beaches. We eventually went to Playa Neguanje. At some others it's possible to do some surfing because of the bigger waves, so cool :)
Anyway, it was a really a great ending of the day! We all got refreshed and our batteries refilled to go nail the last day of work! :)
16/08 After sampling some more in Parque Tayrona in the morning, we went to "el Cena" in the afternoon to continue our work. However, that didn't really go as planned. Apparently, we needed some document which we didn't have in order to enter the closed area. So what we did was just cutting overhanging branches of tress on the different lots of the fincas... everything happening under the keen eye of private security :P
Either way, we got in some way what we came for and eventually set out on the way to our hotel, where we would spend the last night. But before going to bed, Alvaro and I went for another stroll at the beach, saying goodbye to los compas and las mamas burras. And apparently it's always party at the beach during the weekend. Groups of men playing vallenato (perhaps a song example ;) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfhSK1roQl8 ; the accordeon is thé typical instrument being used) with the people around just dancing to it, I learned a bit how to dance puya :D After spending some time at the sea, with a nice cold beer, we went back to hotel to pack all our stuff. Tomorrow would be another long day in the car, so we had to get up early - entonces, un buenas noches!
17/08 Alarm went off, took a shower, put on my clothes, had a final look if I didn't forget anything and HOPPA, we were off! I shot some nice views along the way...
...saw an iguana when we were stopping for a moment at a gas station...
And afterwards even more magnificent views!
Colombia just keeps amazing me with its gorgeous nature, simplemente me encanta este pais bonito! I just love this beautiful country!
