There are strong rumors circulating of an Ultimate Frisbee game, Aerie vs. the Ranch. But, game time is about a minute away and we don't see anyone on the field, so this may have been a bluff.
Instructor Andrea Stephens arrives today from Montana. Andrea coordinates the Semester and here is responsible for instruction in route finding, including GPS, map and compass, and basic celestial navigation. She will be with us for the rest of the Costa Rica section and continue the instruction in Montana. Not surprisingly, navigating in the Costa Rican rainforest is different from finding your way in MT. First of all, there is almost 0 declination here; magnetic and true North line up fairly well, particularly for gross-navigation. Missoula's declination is about 17E. Another significant difference is the angle of the sun off of the horizon. Right now in Montana, the sun is LOW is the Southern skies throughout much of the day. Here, at 9 degrees off the equator, the sun is straight up throughout the late morning and early afternoon. It takes some adjusting to get your bearings. Finally, bushwhacking takes on an entirely different meaning in the rainforest. The undergrowth is thick, many of the shrubs and trees are thorned, and quite a few of the forest denizens are venomous. In Montana, we think of megafauna, concern ourselves more with the significant distances to care, and generally can find open vistas and routes to follow.
Andrea will prepare our students for these variables within the context of caring for injured and sick people. It's going to be fun!
Thanks for the updates, we are loving them!
ReplyDeleteOur pleasure, Mike. We do our best to post often, but there isn't a lot of time left after each day. Kyle is doing great.
ReplyDeleteDavid McEvoy