page 2
feaiures
may
00
My adventures in the
rainforest of Costa Rica
frank menius
“Today I search for
monkeys,” I said to myself as 1
headed out across the wobbling
suspension bridge, camera in
hand and goal in mind. I de
scended into the forest along
the nice paved trails of the re
search station just looking for
something a little more rugged.
On my right was a rough mud
path with a little marker that said
SSE 100. It seemed as good a
place as any to begin my search.
The rain fell gently
upon my face as I walked
through the forest. It was pleas
ant really, much better then the
torrential downpour of the day
before. The patter on the leaves
and the little orbs of water
added even more magic to a
place that already had me in awe.
The rain was practical too, it
muffled my steps increasing my
chances of actually seeing a
monkey.
Along, the,ground the.
red and blue of poison arrow
frogs hopped away from my
slushy steps.
They caught
my eye as
they added a
rainbow’s
color to the
green of the
forest floor.
But I found
myself also
looking at the
ground for
danger, be
cause only
the day be
fore I had
spotted two
deadly
snakes in my
path. It was
a battle really, between watch
ing where my feet were being
placed and watching the mag
nificent world that surrounded
me. The trees, and flowers, and
ferns, and fruits, and insects,
and lizards, and small animals all
cluttered my mind with images
as my brain also tried to take in
sounds.
In the trees the
tanigers and flycatchers sang
their musical songs as the par
rots and toucans competed for
volume high in the canopy. The
distant “Whoot Whoo” of
some bird unknown to me
seemed to follow me for kilome
ters. And I did walk for kilome
ters too, as 1 passed marker 1000,
marker 1500, mailcer3000, and fi
nally mailcer 4000. But in the dis
tance the whole time was the
ever-increasing howls of the
monkeys that I sought. It was a
growl that made my heart race
with excitement, justifying the
hard and rough path that I had
taken.
To my amazement Trail
SSE followed a small stream at
the edge,of the station property. ,
I was thankful that I had decided
to wear galoshes instead of hik
overhead seemed to laugh as I
struggled to wade through the
large expanses of mud. Now not
only did it cover the ground, but
it covered me also.
However, the sound of
the monkeys drove me forward.
About halfway through my jour
ney I actually thought that I
would get a good picture of the
elusive howler. I was walking
along a foot wide cliff that clung
to the side of the mountain,
praying that I would not slip and
end up in the water down bel
low. As I slowly placed one foot
in front of the other I heard it; a
grunt and a rustle in the bushes
above me on the hill. My ex
citement rose. There were mon
keys overhead now, but out of
my view, and I thought maybe
one had came down from the
tree to investigate me, or maybe
he just wanted his picture taken.
I turned slowly, ears perked and
camera on and headed up the
hill overhead towards the
bushes. It took me,several
grunts and a smell of the most
awful stench to realize that this
The Costa Rica group sits on the edge of the Paos Volcano lake in Costa Rica.
ing boots as I sank knee deep
into muck as close to quicksand
as 1 had ever seen. The parrots
was not a howler, but rather a
foul smelling peccary. It still
warranted a picture however.
and I pressed on until I was face
to face with the beast. Having
taken the picture I returned the
trail and my quest. As soon as I
did so, I
heard a loud
rustle in the
bushes be
hind me. I
turned just in
time to see a
huge male
peccary
charging at
me tusk first,
apparently a
little vexed
about that
whole pic
ture thing.
Taken aback
I fell clum
sily from the
narrow cliff
and into the
ravine six
feet below.
Soaked and
robed of my
pride I acknowledged the fact
that the score in this big jungle
game of mine was now
pigs one, humans zero.
After a few minutes I
climbed back to the
trail and continued on,
disappointed and disil
lusioned.
In the river a
Jesus Lizard walked
across the water,
startled by my steps in
the mud. As I climbed
the hills my mind
thought of m,y hunched
3 posture and how I must
S resemble the monkeys
i that I hunted in this for
est. At a distance of 4
kilometers, soar and
tired, I climbed a hill
where a tree had fallen during
the last rainy season. There in
the clearing about 40 feet ahead
of me sat an old howler. His
graying black coat rested gen
tly on the old stump of a once
magnificent tree. His dark eyes
Frank Menius stands next to a very large tree in
Las Selva reserch station, Costa Rica.
didn’t seem to notice me as I
crouched in the bush. Slowly I
raised my camera and shuffled
forward. There it was, the per
fect picture, ripe for the taking.
I focused and then gently de
pressed the button. Then I lis
tened horrified at the sound of
the rewinding camera. After a
few minutes of reflection, and
knowing that the next role of
film was now eight kilometers
away, I turned and headed back
to where I came.
To leam more about our
trip, and some of our
projects, visit our web site
at
httpWtPhywwwljKssnkedu/
abio
theatre. One of the popular
hangouts is Eagle, the grocery
store in walking distance.
“IMSA’s social life is
definitely not as strong as
NCSSM’s. Students don’t
participate in activities and
most go home on the week
ends,” said Senior Audrey
James.
IMSA dorm life is great
in most aspects. Students
have their own private bath
rooms (of course, students do
have to pay for their own toilet
paper) and internet and tele
phone connections. However,
such luxuries do have a dark
side: Internet and telephone wir
ing does make life convenient,
but as a result, IMSA students
are often hibernating in their
rooms - in fact, sometimes hold
ing telephone conversations
with people living next door.
“The sense of community
that NCSSM fosters is missing
from IMSA. The students are
IMSA-Pl
more isolated from one another
and the different social groups
are more exclusive,” said Dr.
Steve Warshaw.
I was very impressed with
the IMSA Student Council.
Most IMSA students are satis
fied with their Student Council,
the general consensus being
that the council members are ca
pable and industriously work
ing on policies. One policy that
the Student Council is working
on is the I-Viz policy at IMSA.
The IMSA I-Viz policy works
such that students can invite
one person per day for one or
two hours into their rooms.
Doors must be open at least at a
45 degree angle. IMSA does
not have the open-hall I-Viz that
NCSSM has.
My mini-term project was
a great experience. I tremen
dously enjoyed it. 1 learned
about ethics and leadership in
education and about the differ
ences between IMSA and
NCSSM. I even had a chance
to visit Chicago. I also learned
something that 1 did not expect
to leam: Just how wonderful
NCSSM is. I have never been
more proud to go to NCSSM.
IMSA is a wonderful school
and all, but when it comes right
down to it, NCSSM is my home
away from home. The people,
the campus, the classes here
at NCSSM do not compare to
IMSA’s. In the end, I am all
about some UNI pride!