Adventures in Monteverde

Hola! We are currently at the Cloud Forest Reserve in Monteverde (where there is no internet access!). What are the students doing without their Facebook and Myspace pages you ask?! Making great friendships and bonding!

It is truly breathtaking up here. The students can’t stop commenting on the pure beauty here in the cloud forest. After a long drive up into the mountains we entered the reserve and walked to the continental divide. I must warn you that the word 'breathtaking' is in danger of being overused in this blog! It was slightly cloudy but for a few minutes the skies cleared and we could see out to the Pacific Ocean.

In the morning we took a guided trek through the forest. The hike took us over a suspension bridge perched hundreds of feet over the forest below... this was preparation for the next day's events.

The next day we woke up and headed off on a zip line canopy tour of the cloud forest. The students had an amazing time as they flew through the canopy suspended 400 feet above the cloud forest below. We were proud of our students as some of them really conquered their fears in order to do this! After we completed the nine zip lines we went on a guided tour of the forests which included six suspension bridges. Again, we took in many amazing views. Some of the students were lucky to snap photographs of hummingbirds in flight as they were feeding.

With the previous day's adventures behind us, we awoke and headed on a rigorous hike to a beautiful waterfall. En route we climbed over rocks and walked across logs while a river flowed under us. When we arrived at the falls some students braved the elements and went swimming-- a nice reward!

That afternoon we toured a small organic coffee farm where the students learned how coffee beans are grown without the use of pesticides. Then we saw the process of roasting the coffee beans and topped it all off with a cup of freshly brewed coffee.

Today we are at a local school doing volunteer work. The students are busy sanding and painting desks for the classrooms. They also planted two trees in the secondary forest behind the school. Everyone is looking forward to the treat of playing soccer with the school children once the work is complete!

Here in Monteverde we also welcomed our second guest of the trip, Cathy Bottoms, who is a high school Photography teacher. Cathy integrated well into our group and the students really connected with her. She provided the On Assignment Photography students with helpful tips and gave them an assignment which helped stir their creative juices. We will miss Cathy as we leave Monteverde for our next stop, Volcano Arenal-- she really became a part of our family!

We are now in the home stretch of our expedition, which is being met with mixed emotions. The students are already talking about a reunion sometime in the near future and are constantly saying they are making friendships that will last a lifetime.

It is also time for our students to begin wrapping up their On Assignment projects. The Wildlife and Conservation students are interviewing Ticos about the environment while the Photography students are focusing on individual stories about tourism, the environment, or even a fellow student's perspective on the trip. We are all looking forward to the final presentations in Arenal!

Over the course of our time here in Costa Rica, the students have become quite attached to our bus driver Alberto. Tomorrow we will say goodbye to Alberto and his bus in favor of a more exciting means of travel en route to our next stop, Arenal... we are going on horseback!

Saludos,
Michael and Liz