Hello Parents!

Day 2

Woke up this morning to very heavy rain. We had a very good night of sleep compared to waking up at 3 in the morning. Breakfast was great. We had rice and beans, fruit, and scrambled eggs. Immediately afterward; Pablo talked to us about the cacao beans that he uses to make chocolate at the farm. He gave us all fresh hot chocolate which may have just ruined powdered hot chocolate forever. The cacao that he put in was bitter, but the overall taste was amazing. After learning about the chocolate making process, Pablo lead our group into the rainforest on another hike. During the hike, Pablo showed us plants that the leaf cutter ants didn't attack. Also, he showed us plants, like the cacao and citrus tree, that the leaf cutter ants would readily consume. He did this in order to introduce the scientific aspect of the trip. Later in the trip we went to the village outside of the resort and saw where we were. At the village, we got a chance to try empanada (a really tasty chicken stuffed pastry). We also had water apples, saw the soccer field, school, and the small shop that we can go to. After the hike we had lunch which was great, we ate beef, rice, and beans. After lunch we met Dr. Adrian Pinto, the man who discovered that leaf cutter ants use nitrogen fixation in their colonies. Pinto introduced the science (lab work) in the trip. We started with meeting each other and reviewing the scientific method. Afterward we were given our groups. We did an experiment to see how different surfaces would affect the amount of bacteria that would be present in a petri dish. This preliminary experiment would give practice to every group to begin working as research teams. We then watched a video about ants that were affected by a fungus that turned the ants into a zombie-like state. After this we had about two hours of down time. Anthony and I were walking throughout the ranch eventually stumbling onto a queen bullet ant! Nobody was hurt, Adrian was very courteous in preserving the ant in an alcohol. We then ate dinner having chicken, rice, and potatoes. It was delicious. Dessert was a small dough-like ball with rice and cacao mixed in, just a further ruining of food back home. We are really looking forward to our field day tomorrow, where we will get an opportunity to harvest a queen leaf cutter ant and learn more about their colonies.

Goodnight

CJ and Anthony