Beach Day!!

On February 28, our seventh day of fieldwork, we planned to recover one receiver and deploy two, one of which was almost on the beach. A beach excursion was sure to ensue.

Our first site of the day was scouted but we had not yet obtained permission from the landowner to deploy. Seeing that we were unable to obtain permission we decided it would be better to look around for an alternative location where permission might be easier to find.

Lucky for us, the answer to our problems was right across the street at a chicken farm. We quickly got permission from the kind owner and Samer and Darcy made the trek up a large hill behind the property to scout around for a good location.

Not only did they have chickens at this farm, but there was also a litter of the most adorable puppies for me, Luis, and Gabriel to hang out with as we waited for the green light from Samer and Darcy. In addition to this, upstairs in the bathroom was the cutest litter of kittens. This was the most amazing waiting around we had done thus far.

This quickly came to an end as we realized we would be unable to drive the truck up the large hill, meaning we would all have to work together to carry the heavy equipment and tools needed for deployment up said large hill. This deployment was closer to powerlines than is usually ideal, but we made do. After some grueling work and a lot of loud shouting due to the fact that we left our walkie-talkies in the car, we wrapped up and headed out, stopping to say our farewells to the animals on the way.

We quickly moved on to our recovery which was done in 15 minutes or less at the site with our old friend the stubborn bull (shown below posing for the camera).

After this, we did some driving down to the coast for our next deployment. The site was in yet another black and charred field, if you can’t tell by now, it’s defiantly dry season in Costa Rica. The beach was within reach at this deployment, just barely visible over a small hill.

We have met a variety of cows on our journeys, some wanting nothing to do with us and some being a little too obsessive. These particular cows were friendly and came to greet us, we hope that our kindness may deter them from eating our electrode cables. This may sound insane but it’s a genuine issue.

With our hopes high from Samer’s promise of a beach visit before heading inland back to the hotel, we blew through the deployment in around 50 minutes (record time!!!)

We had a small battery hiccup, but Samer and Darcy used their expert skills to diagnose and fix the issue before we headed out to the beach! You cannot imagine my excitement! We ate watermelon to celebrate and then explored the beach.

Samer when into national geographic photographer mode. Shown below are some of his portfolio from the day.

I found some super cool and amazing shells! This was the best end to a super successful day! We headed to the hotel to pack up and move to a new hotel with a pool. We arrived at our new hotel to learn they had canceled our reservation! Our dreams of the pool were shattered! We thankfully found lodging in a hotel down the road which had a pool! Our dreams of a pool were restored. We finished off this amazing day with a swim in the pool.