Abby Fernald ’22, Grace Honos ’22, and Sam Bronckers ’20 recount the groups hike to a local waterfall where they collected water samples for their research project and enjoyed some swimming.
We woke up in our individual tents to Felipe blasting “Wake me up” by Avicii, and then made the sluggish hike to the dining hall to enjoy some oatmeal with fresh fruit. We then loaded into three pick-up trucks and enjoyed the scenic, but bumpy hour-long drive. We arrived at a small community and embarked on our hike through the canopy of trees.
While our boots were still dry, we strode across the slippery rocks and the unstable sand to a mountain ridge. On our right, monkeys greeted us happily and gave us extra positive energy for the rest of the hike. Once arrived at the river, the peaceful sounds of the splashing water entered our ears while we refueled our bodies with the packed lunch. We developed our procedures and collected data, before cooling off with a dip under the quickly flowing waterfall.
When our boots were no longer dry we departed back on another journey back to the trucks. We stopped on top of a mountain ridge to take a mental picture that will live forever as a lasting memory. We eventually arrived back at the Mamoni Valley Preserve for a serene evening of showers, card games, analyses, and many laughs.
