GREETINGS FROM COSTA RICA!
This update comes to you from our rainforest ecolodge located near the Costa Rican village of Palmichal. After a night’s sleep at our bed and breakfast near the airport, we awoke for our first typical Costa Rican breakfast; Gallo Pinto! Katie, our leader, then treated us to an orientation and overview of Costa Rican history and culture. After a bit of a delay at the bank, it was time for lunch in town at a local restaurant. Most of us ate a typical Casado.
Finally, it was time for the two hour drive into the mountains west of San Jose. We arrived in Palmichal and were greeted by community members. The director of the lodge and the ecotourism project there, Hernan, provided us an informative and excellent introduction to the conservation work and the economic importance of the tourism initiative in town. After dinner, we built a bonfire and toasted bread over the fire. Then it was time to turn in.
Today everyone is busy on maintenance and painting projects on the ecolodge itself. Later, students from the community are invited to come by for a jewelry making workshop. Tomorrow, we will head to town for a day at the elementary school. Activities include painting, English lessons, and a soccer game. Can’t wait! All is well in Costa Rica!
Wednesday, February 22 – The group headed to the farm of Dona Rosa where they were greeted with lots of food and open arms. They spent the morning participating in service work that included: painting fruit trees with limestone (organic pesticide) and clearing an area for planting more produce. After a hard morning’s work they enjoyed a delicious home cooked lunch, played soccer and Frisbee on the field and joined a coffee roasting presentation. During the presentation they followed the coffee process: from the plant, to drying, shelling, roasting and finally to grinding the final product themselves. Afterwards, they tasted the benefits of their hard work through an aromatic cup of coffee.
Thursday, February 23 – The group headed towards the elementary school for the first portion of the day. The Millennium students taught local children English lessons and assisted the school by cleaning out a supply closet (it wasn’t glamorous, but it needed to be done and the Millennium students completed their work with good spirits and smiles). Next, the group relaxed at recess with the local children interacting in Spanish, playing volleyball and baseball. After, everyone headed towards Nacientes (the community center) where we finished our morning of service by painting small murals on recycling bins, painting a staircase and building a trail.
In the afternoon, the group joined a few children from the community for a hike into the beautiful jungle, right in their backyard! After an awesome hike, they joined the local women to learn how to make delicious homemade authentic tortillas.
We look forward to our last day of service work and final good bye party in the community tomorrow. We are excited to transition onto the beach over the weekend. More details to come soon!
Saturday, February 25th- We made it to the beach! On Friday we spent our final day in the community helping out at local dairy farm. We all had the chance to milk the cows and assist with laying the foundation for an organic garden. In the afternoon we worked at the Nacientes Palmichal Nature Reserve doing trail work and completed a rock bridge over the river. Over dinner we prepared our ‘farewell speeches’ in Spanish and later that evening we enjoyed a community dinner and ceremony which concluded with latin dancing!
On Saturday we awoke to our final morning of rooster’s crowing and ‘spotted rooster’ or ‘gallo pinto’ (rice and beans) for breakfast. We said tearful ‘hasta luegos’ to our wonderful hosts in Palmichal and boarded the bus. Driving along the Pacific highway the views of the aqua shimmering ocean came into view and our spirits were lifted. We stopped at a bridge over a river teeming with crocodiles but needless to say no one considered going for a swim here! In another hour we reached our beachside accommodations and headed for a swim in the playful waves of the Pacific ocean. We’re excited for surf lessons and jungle tours tomorrow (Sunday) before heading back to San Jose for our flight home. Pura vida from the beach!
Tuesday, February 27:
Hola,
We are now on our way home after a great trip.
In our final days we did surfing lessons at the national park of Marina Ballena. The beach and waters were beautiful and the weather incredible hot. We spent Saturday morning Surfing, almost everybody could stand up by the end of the day. Then we ate lunch on the beach and spent the afternoon on the beach playing soccer and frisbee and swimming. In the evening we played group games in the warm balmy evening while listening to the symphony of crickets in the jungle.
Sunday we conquered our fears of heights on our zip lining tour. We saw Sloaths, White face monkeys, humming birds, butterflies and iguanas on the tour while speeding through the beautiful forest. We made the trip back to San Jose in time for a final celebration dinner, group awards and final reflections.
Its been a great trip! We are sad to leave but are looking forward to seeing you all when we get home.
See you real soon!