The birders saw two Resplendent Queztals on their walk, one of the rare treasures of Costa Rica that many birders spend lots of time and money trying to find. The whole group left at 7:30 am to begin our hike up to the continental divide. We went to the bottom of a rock face and found a rock to climb on. While some climbed, others relaxed in the field. Then we made our slow descent back to the station, but apparently not that slow because we finished the hike an hour sooner than expected.
After we returned, tired but feeling quite accomplished, we had a tour of the trout farm. Ana told us about how the trout are divided into different pools. All the reproductive trout are kept together. She told us about how the eggs are taken from the trout for the hatchery. We saw the pools of baby fish – there were so many! We also learned that the tastiest fish are the smaller ones. We all thought about which fish we wanted tonight for dinner. After the tour, we had lunch, spaghetti and meatballs! It was a surprising change from rice and beans, but not to worry, we had rice pudding for desert, so we weren’t completely without one of our staple foods. After lunch, we all got to work on our projects. People who had less to do helped other groups. Around 3 pm, those who were brave (or not asleep) were shown how to catch, kill, and gut the trout we would eventually eat for dinner. Elena and Aidan were suspiciously good at and enthusiastic about killing the fish, which was done by hand by hooking one’s fingers through the gills and pulling up to snap the neck. After some more work, we enjoyed the trout for dinner. The rest of the night was spent working on group projects and then we presenting our Cuerici-specific projects.
The trout farm. 
Getting trout for dinner! 
Vibe of the day: Sanitize, sanitize, sanitize! (thanks danny! *mama!*)
Quote of the Day: “This is not a drill. They have toast.” (Lydia, at breakfast.)
Rose: Relaxing in the field
Thorn: Lindsay and Cassie getting sick 🙁
