Pictures from yesterday continued

Rain Forest Wildlife and Tropical Beaches

This morning we woke to a lovely pre-dawn chorus of rain forest birds and set off on another full day of adventure. After a delicious breakfast with fresh tropical fruits, we headed down the road to the Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge. There we met up with some local nature guides and then split up into 2 groups to explore the rain forest.

 The wildlife was terrific – we had great looks at sloths, monkeys, frogs, snakes, insects, spiders, toucans, and even a rare Tamandua anteater. Our guides also let us smell and taste a variety of amazing plants - cinnamon trees, rubber trees, starfruit, aloe, lemongrass, citronella, and many more. We were immersed in the incredible biodiversity of the tropical rain forest.

 After lunch we got to swim in the ocean at Punta Uva, a beach of spectacular beauty. The water was perfect for swimming and the scenery was heavenly. We returned to our hotel a very contented bunch!

           

           

After a long day of flights and lay overs, we have finally dipped our toes into the Costa Rican waters...literally! Despite the four hours of sleep, the students surprised the chaperones and guides with being on the bus 15 minutes earlier than told (6am) with excitement and enthusiasm for their first Costa Rican adventure, white water rafting on the Pacuare River. Everyone enjoyed an exhilarating day of rapids and swimming with a nice break in the forest to eat lunch prepared by our guides. We were so proud to see everyone come together and those that were nervous at first take the front spot on the raft. After we drove to the Caribbean cost where we enjoyed a traditional meal of jerk spiced foods. We are off to bed with the sounds of the rainforest singing us to sleep. Buenos noches. Pictures will be on tomorrow!

We made it!

Well we finally made it to our hotel in Costa Rica! What a long day! Our flight out of Newark was delayed but other than that everything went smoothly. Now we get a short rest before an early start for tomorrow's rafting. Buenas noches!

Here comes our plane!

We made it through the 6 hour layover and are about to board our flight to Costa Rica!

Newark Layover

Preparing for a scavenger hunt activity in the airport.

Newark Airport

We've arrived safely at the Newark Airport and the sun is shining! Now for a 6 hour layover... We have several activities planned to help pass the time before we board our flight to Costa Rica. So far everything has gone smoothly.

Ready for Take-off!

Eco Club 2013 at Logan Airport! Our flight is on time and we are raring to go!

3 more days!

The excitement is building here at Parker Middle School as our 2013 Eco Club trip to Costa Rica is fast approaching! Our group of 21 students and 4 teacher chaperones will be meeting tonight to go through some final trip preparations. We will answer last minute questions and make sure everyone's luggage is properly packed. It will be nice to think about wearing shorts and sandals after some very cold and snowy past few weeks here in Massachusetts!

Our plane leaves early Sunday morning, sending us off on a full day of travel before we arrive in Costa Rica late Sunday night. We will be getting right into the action Monday morning with an all-day white water rafting trip. Stay tuned for updates on our adventures as the week progresses. We will try to post to this blog at least once a day (as long as our hotels have internet access). We look forward to sharing our adventures!

On our upcoming adventure to Costa Rica we will soar through the sky at the Arenal Ecoglide Canopy Tour! During this adrenilen pumping tour we will glide on "15 cables and 18 platforms which are divided into three sections that are found mostly in the trees" , and in the middle of the zip tour we will have the oppertunity to swing on the awesome tarzan swing. In the last section of the tour we will glide on a zippline 430 meters in the air! It is recommended that you wear long pants, closed toe shoes, and sunscreen and bug spray is recommended; So make sure there is room in your suitcase, and get ready to fly!

San Jose

The Capital of Costa rica is known as San Jose. San Jose translated in spanish means Saint Joseph. This city became the capital in the year of 1823. The population of this city is 365,000. It was founded in 1738 by the explorer Cabinda de leon. San Jose had some water problems and since then their population has dropped. It has been classified under tropical/wet and dry climate. Overall, I am very excited to visit the city of San Jose.

Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge

Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge is located about 12 kilometers south from Puerto Viejo.  Located on the coast, there are sandy beaches, small waves, and coral reefs.  Animals that might be found in the refuge lobsters, sponges, red and black urchins, green anemones, crabs, hydroids, sea cucumbers, shrimp, and green turtles.  In addition, the refuge protects endangered animals such as the crocodile, tapir, cayman, pacas, keel-bille toucans, and ornate hawk-eagles.  The best time for tourists to visit this refuge is during the dry season: March through April, and September through October. 

 

 

 

Source:  http://www.costaricabureau.com/nationalparks/gandocamanzanillo.htm

Don Juan's Organic Farm

Don Juan’s farm is located 5km away from the town of La Fortuna and near the Arenal Volcano. This is an organic farm and completely run by family. It is even used by local schools to give kids an education on how organic farms work. Here, you will be given a tour of all the plantations. You will find out about a bunch of different fruits and how they grow. For example, did you know that pineapples grow from the ground? You will also learn other fun facts such as the fact that there is a plant that you can wash your hands on. This is possible because these special plants collect raindrops. Don Juan’s farm is an amazing place where you can go to learn or just have a good time. You would be lucky to get the chance to go here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Picture Courtesy of: http://speakuplibrarian.blogspot.com/2011/03/visit-to-don-juans-organic-farm-costa.html

Paragraph made using the information in articles from: http://crrtravel.com/news/organic.html,

http://www.costaricaundiscovered.com/travel-planner.html?page=shop.product_details&product_id=181&flypage=flypage.tpl&pop=0, and http://speakuplibrarian.blogspot.com/2011/03/visit-to-don-juans-organic-farm-costa.html

The Arenal Volcano

The volcanos in the Costa Rica area are beautiful. There is one special volcano though, the Arenal Volcano. This volcano is about 5,437 feet tall. It is the most spectacularly active volcano in Costa Rica. It has been the most active volcano here for the past 43 years. There are special hotels just to watch it spectacular eruptions. It last erupted about 2 years ago. In the rainy season over there it is harder to see these eruptions. The cone (top of the volcano) is visible from almost every point in costa rica. This volcano is muy grande.    

By: Amanda A., Julianne M., and Elizabeth D.

Matt, James and Troys Pacuare River Info

This is some quick background information on the Pacuare River in Costa Rica-

-It is approximately 108 km to the Caribbean
-Popular location for white water rafting, whitewater kayaking and river boarding
-Exotic animal species habitats, including jaguars, monkeys, ocelots, and many birds
-They suggested building a hydroelectric dam on the river, but due to concerns of pollution and other tourism and its surroundings, the plan was rejected in 2005
-Pacuare River is divided into approximately sixteen sections
-The 3 most commonly run sections are known as The Upper Upper, The Upper, and The lower
-The Upper Upper runs for about 16 miles and has numerous class II and III rapids. The section is used commonly and can be rafted and kayaked
-The Upper Section has more technical sections including about 100 miles of whitewater including multiple rapids of class IV and V rapids and some waterfalls as well. The section is most commonly used in creeking style whitewater kayaks
-The Lower Section is a section with a section of rapids including class III and IV water the river is most famous for its 23 mile flowing and 1200 foot drop from Finca La Cruz. The run can be done in a single day or up to 3 days. The highlights of the river include the whitewater rapids and the waterfalls which flow into the Huacas River Gorge. The rapids include Upper and Lower Huacas (Class IV) Double Drop (Class III) and multiple others
-Large cats include animals that are elusive but have been seen near the river. There were five different but common snakes found near the river. Poisonous snakes include the Coral snake, the Bush Master, Fer-de-Lance and Sopy Lota (A black long snake that eats other poisonous snakes) are also common in the area
-Anteaters are common as well as some raccoons, iguanas, river otters, Capuchin monkeys and sloths
-The Blue Morpho is the most popular butterfly in the area
-Toucans are popular in the area including the Chestnut-mandibled Toucan which can be seen when it’s raining or foggy near the river
-Birds can include the Blue Heron, Hawks, Osprey, King Vultures, Sunbirds and Snowy Egrets






Picture 1 Link- https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq1REmtc2z_wHcDi3iQnn94SV3g7xpZUejBwAFAPKgYRu7Gd7mNH1SryLNMC6lE08TvX04Qx6oF78v3mZknSpWEnVQo7FkVn4Z5sChBVErKjFT7KVMaYwbIm7HltS0_w6wv4nKDgxzjYTy/s1600/IMG_6014.jpg

Baby Animals

I cant wait till we go to the jaguar rescue center in costa rica! While were there, we will see a baby sloth, and other baby animals. we will also see the main attraction, the jaguars! there huge! If you want to learn more or watch a cute video then watch this great video! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoE0lXbd5gs

Group Research Projects 2012-2013

Buenos Dias!

Well another school year is underway and we have a new group of 21 students in the 2012-2013 Eco Club! As one of our first activities as a club this year, students will be completing mini research projects in small groups.

The first assignment is to research the places we will be visiting on our itinerary this year. Each group must create a blog post of at least one paragraph about their assigned place. The post must also include at least one picture and one link. Sources must be cited.

As an example, I made a post about Punta Uva, the beach we will be visiting:


Punta Uva is one of the most beautiful beaches in Costa Rica. The name means "Grape Point" in Spanish, which it gets from the sea grape tree that grows there. As you can see from the picture, it is a lovely place to go and enjoy some sun and sand. This gorgeous scenery makes it a tourist attraction in the Puerto Viejo region. Located on the Caribbean Sea, this beach is very close to Panama. There are three tribes of Indigenous people that live near Punta Uva. The nearby Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge is a great place to see rain forest wildlife.


This photo belongs to ryankozie's photostream:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/baxterclaws/2460050833/

The source of information for this blog post was:
http://wikitravel.org/en/Punta_Uva

Today we went white water rafting down the Pacuare River. The students and their guides enjoyed class levels 3s and 4s rapids; it was a constant "forward!" paddle. We definitely got some sun today, and even though all of the students reapplied their sunblocks, I am sad to say a few of us got burns. It felt like on the river it was inevitable. The kids are looking forward to their last traditional Costa Rican meal of beans and rice. I hope you have the hamburgers and pasta ready for tomorrow because they're itching for a different cuisine! Thank you for keeping up with the blog. We have enjoyed all of your comments and hope you enjoyed ours! Tomorrow, weather pending, we will be arriving at 6pm in Logan and will meet you all at Parker. Buenas noches!