Elizabeth's Secret Garden

  After lunch, my mom and I were given a tour of a local farm. We started by climbing up a steep hill through the uncut jungle. When we came out of the undergrowth, I noticed that the farm had been cleared of their lush trees and plants. In replace of the once rich forest were grazing cattle feeding on grass. I was disheartened by this sight because I knew the critical role rainforests play in our environment. Rainforests purify our water and air. They also prevent flooding and erosion. When the trees are removed, the delicate rainforest is disrupted and much of the wildlife loose their homes. With the loss of trees, the nutrient-poor soil is quickly washed away. The storage of nutrients in rainforests is different than in temperate forests. Temperate forests have nutrient rich soil from the decomposition of organic matter, but rainforests store most of the nutrients in its vegetation. When rainforests are slashed and burned for agriculture, all the nutrients that wer...

At around 6:00 am in Costa Rica the hummingbirds would begin appearing for their morning nectar. The sun was just beginning to rise and spread its rays out to cover the mountain side. To capture my experience, I gathered my tripod, HD camera, and journal. Each different hummingbird announced its arrival with the loud humming sound created by the rapid beating of its wings. The hummingbirds continued coming for approximately an hour. The large bright red flowers of Etlingera elatior seemed to pull hummingbirds out of the skies. The sweet nectar was simply irresistible! The various hummingbirds first hovered above the flower for inspection and then suddenly dove in beak first. As the hummingbirds tongue probed the flower for nectar, its tail bobbed up and down creating a comical sight. Above are two different beak lengths I observed. Both the short and long beaked hummingbirds drank nectar from the Etlingera elatior flowers. Notice also how both beaks are slightly c...

On our way back from the river, Joshua Hughes showed us some of his Jatropha plants. The species of Jatropha that produces biofuels is Jatropha Curcas. Jatropha can be planted from either seeds or cuttings. We brought plant cuttings back from Costa Rica and planted them in our own back yard. They grew to over 4 feet in about 9 months. The picture above is the fruit that develops on Jatropha Curcas. The source of the fuel comes from pressing the seeds that are inside the fruit. The fruit is not edible and is ignored by grazing cattle. In Costa Rica it is used as fence posts because of that reason. To learn about one process of turning Jatropha seeds into a Biofuel, I went on a exclusive private tour of Applied Research Associates (ARA) in Panama City, Florida. I visited ARA while my father, John Mann, was there for a meeting. My father is the Division Manager at the ARA Orlando, FL office. http://www.ara.com/Newsroom_Whatsnew/press_releases/BIOJP8.html   The picture ...

In my Tuga http://tugasunwear.com/   swimwear and hat, I began my journey to a local river in Costa Rica. The walk took 25 minutes down a dirt path through the jungles. Along the way, I got to meet children from the village and give them miniature stuffed animals. In Costa Rica, the average temperature year around is about 85 degrees Fahrenheit. The UV rays are so intense that you can burn in less than 20 minutes. While I was in Costa Rica, I wore long sleeves and long pants the whole times to protect my white skin! My only protection in the water was my Tuga swimwear which is  50+ UPF of blocking 97.5% of UV rays. Tuga has the highest quality of UV protective products for children and adults. I arrived home as white as when I left, but my mom who wasn’t wearing Tuga protection, arrived home with sunburns!  My Blue Morpho 16th Birthday Dance To celebrate my 16th birthday, which is the day of this posting February 12th, 2010, I hav...

  In Costa Rica are an amazing variety of colorful insects. The bug above is a species of Flag Footed bugs. The reason for its name is easy to understand. On its legs are brightly colored extensions which look much like flags! I noticed that several of the Flag Footed bugs would gather on the flowers of Passiflora edulis . It seemed that they were sucking juices out of the large flowers. The Passion fruit plant above hosted many different insects. These two strange insects I saw climbing among the leaves. I also saw huge clusters of caterpillars which belong to the Dione juno butterfly. They worked together to quickly consume leaves. This tiny yellow flower is called a Perennial Peanut ( Arachis pintoi). It is used in Costa Rica as a ground cover in agricultural areas. The Perennial Peanut flowers attracted several small butterflies to feed.   This strange caterpillar has fascinating bristles, but touching them is not advised! Ma...

The beauty of Costa Rica rain forests is astounding. Even with months of reading books and research about rain forests, I was not prepared for what I would see. The mountains, clear blue skies, sounds of wildlife, and lush trees nearly brought tears to my eyes. Experiencing Costa Rica was a dream come true for me. The sunrise caused the morning wildlife to stir. When the loud cicadas stopped their nighttime singing, they were replaced by screeching Scarlet Macaws and chirping birds. With the heat increasing, butterflies soon began to take flight. One of the first butterflies I saw was the Small Postman butterfly (above). The dragonflies and damselflies in Costa Rica are decorated with variety of colors. From stripes to the colors of purple, pink, and red these winged insects are enough to capture the attention of any nature lover. One difference between dragonflies and damselflies is that dragonflies rest with their wings open while damselflies rest with their wings clos...