12/11/19 Weds.  Today my team and I hiked 5.14 miles round-trip into the forest on the water trail which really had not been hiked for a while and had some blow down on it.  We climbed under and over logs, hiked in the stream to find where the trail continued.  We used the other end of the kick nets as walking sticks for up and down steep inclines.  One of the students put the stick into a small indentation and there was a hiss.  We gave that hole a wide berth.  The team that I am the Faculty mentor for consists of Jacob and Alwin.  We called our team Ziibiins (Stream in Ojibwe).  We found a good site in the secondary forest to stream sample.   Both guys were blessed by a visit from a Blue Morpho butterfly who landed on them.  We had a great time.  The guys are becoming pretty good at invertebrate id.   We decided to go for ice cream when we got back at the station reception building and are going to continue that traditional each field day.  We also shopped for gifts there.   After dinner we got to visit with 1 person from the Embara tribe, and 3 people from the Ngo’be -bugle’ tribes in Panama and saw a demonstration of how the women extract fiber from plants to use for the weaving of bags.   Several students tried it and learned how it was done.   The Embara tribe member is a Chief and told us his story of how he became a Chief.  It was a wonderful day.  Deb       

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