Mr. Musselman's Boat on the Pacuare River

Just before Mr. Musselman's boat pushed off for white-water rafting the group took a vote to either purchase photos of our journey or pass on them. The group did not want to miss out on being able to share the experience and the purchase was made! The CD received by the group has now been uploaded to the web to be downloaded and shared by all. Enjoy the entire album here. There are some larger group photos and scenes from the journey down river so check them out even if you are not Jacob, Josh, Alice, or Kirsten.

One Last Day of Adventure

The past 24 hours has been trying for the EcoClub. Many of the students (and chaperones) have not been feeling 100% with a mysterious Caribbean bug making its way around. Fortunately everyone is back in full spirits this morning after an evening at the base of Vulcan Arenal and everyone seems on board for our final adventure this morning, ziplining the rainforest canopy! 

Healthier students take a dip at our accommodations beautiful pool and natural hot spring:

Josh's El Futuro Escuela Recap

Today we visited the El Futuro school in La Fortuna, Costa Rica. The kids were really excited to see us as we came out of the bus. They welcomed us to their school and showed us a traditional Costa Rican dance they had been learning. This dance involved jumping around a broom. We were then given a tour of the school's small classrooms. Compared to our classrooms, these seemed very primitive because the students only had chalkboards in their rooms. Then , we visited the computer lab that the students used two hours a day twice a week. The teachers were very proud of the computer lab that had been donated to them by the Costa Rican government. The teachers at the El Futuro next took us to the yard and showed us that our donations helped them to buy checker tables and chairs for the kids. We wrapped up our visit by playing a volleyball game with the kids. Going to the El Futuro school taught me that these kids were just as happy getting by on less than we had.

Making Cane Juice with Don Juan

At Don Juan's farm, students made cane juice from a large sugar cane plant that they later toasted with to good health! Buena salud!

Student Shares

Mr. Musselman learned over the past three years that alot has changed in regards to Costa Rican connectivity: Most hotels no longer have a desktop computer for internet access like this one, but instead now have wifi. Good for most... but not for embedding html! At any rate, here are a collection of recordings taken over the past two days:

Olivia's beach experience:
 

Mia and Kirsten on munching termites:
 

Shelby and Julia share their Jaguar Rescue Center favorite moments:
 
 

Molly on the pros and cons of playing with the monkeys and their loose captivity at the Jaguar Rescue Center:
 

 Ty reflects on the success of the students' prank on Mrs. Peterson:
 

Jacob on the cocoa making tour and the indigenous BriBri plantation:
 

Allison shares about the frogs at Frog Heaven:
 

Iguana Cafe

Back on the road as we make out way to the school in La Fortuna. We couldn't stop long but that didn't stop us from seeing some big iguanas! Can you see them in the foliage?

Frog Heaven

On our way back west we stopped at our guide, José's home, which doubles as an amphibian sanctuary known as Frog Heaven. The students were thrilled to get close to such a diverse number of amphibians I. Such a short walk. More amazing, none of the frogs or toads are kept in any form of captivity but instead live wild in the plants and trees of José's backyard.

José shares a little about his project and passion, Frog Heaven:

Hiking through the Heaven:

Snapping photos of the tree frogs:

Alice gets up close and personal!

Our photos were increíble!

Las Películas de la Noche

A few videos were taken during our first night in Manzanillo. Click or copy/paste the links below in to your browsers URL line to watch. More dancing and diverse dining to come!

Bailando:

Ty tries rice and beans for the first time:

¡Buenas Noches from Manzanillo!

Tomorrow we say goodbye to the Carribean and head back toward the mountains of the central region!

Jake enjoying the coastal breeze in a hammock while the other guys hang out:

Jaguar Rescue Center Pics

Nuke'm on the Beach

There was a little time this afternoon after the rescue center, cocoa tour and stop at the local mercado to play a little volleyball on the beach across from the hotel. Strong rallies were hard to come by so the students switched to nuke'm. ¡Pura Vida!

An Excerpt from Shannon's Journal

A few students have been journaling our adventures this week but none of them as diligently as Shannon P. Here is a selected excerpt from her day 1 experience white water rafting:

"After we finished eating we left to go white water rafting. The ride to get to the river was very bumpy but fun. As we got ready we put on helmets and life vest. We learned what the foreword and backward commons were. The first rapid was easy and calm. No one fell off. As we got further down the river we got closer to the other rafts. Oh, I forgot to mention I was in the boat with Ty and Allison. Our guide was named Roberto. When we got close to any other rafts we had a splashing war. One of our white water rafting got up to 4 that were rough. Allison almost fell out twice. The water was really nice and warm compared to what I'm use to. One hour before we went to lunch we got to jump off the raft into the water and go swimming for like 2 mins. We got to splash each other as we were swimming. The last rapid before lunch was really fun because all the people on the raft had to work together to get pass it. For lunch all of our guides made us a burrito."

Exploring the Jaguar Centro de Rescate

This morning we spent time at the Jaguar Rescue Center observing a diverse range of local animals being rehabbed by volunteers at the Centro after they had been found either harmed around human buildings and roads or confiscated from locals as illegal pets.

Sloths:

Birds (Toucans):

Anteaters:

And monkeys!!!