As Americans, we live a fast paced and hectic lifestyles, always going, always moving. But being in Costa Rica has allowed me (and others I am sure) to simply enjoy the little things. We had the opportunity to spend the night sitting in hot springs letting fresh water flow through. We saw the rocks fall down the side of Arenal Volcano. We ate amazing food from a hole-in-the-wall food stand, and they were the best burritos ever. We sang to our bus driver even though he could not understand us. We watched waves crash against the rocks and jumped off waterfalls and zipped through trees. There is nothing quite as relaxing as staring at the ocean while lying in a hammock. Or as wondrous as looking up at the nighttime sky and being able to see every star, constellation, and galaxy that the human eye is capable of seeing. Or as fascinating as watching an iguana climbs down a tree ten feet away from you.

Being here has opened my eyes to a whole new way of life; one that I will never forget, and long to go back to. Always remember to "Stop. And think about where you are."

Ericka Mongeau

Yesterday was amazing. We arrived in Montezuma - our final destination
before we head back to the states. As our bus drove closer to the dry forest you
could feel the wind getting hotter and hotter. When we finally arrived the
activity we had planned was to hike to the waterfalls. I showed up in flip flops as
did half the group but that was not the smartest, we hiked through the forest
over rocks and hills, just waiting to hear the sound of running water. Once we
got there I was a little nervous getting in because of possible random rocks but
it was sooo hot to turn down. Right away we looked for cliffs to jump off and
into the water. Of course we were carful but it truly was an amazing and thrilling
experience. I slowly worked my way up from the lowest to highest height. I kept
climbing up and jumping off for hours. The most exciting part was when Erin
and I took a 15 minute hike to a spot where there were multiple waterfalls with
a jump that was 45 to 55 feet high, a rope swing and then many lower level
jumps. Erin and I were too excited to let this opportunity pass by so we looked
pass our fears and did the 45 to 55 foot jump twice! The feeling of free falling was
indescribable and I hope to return to the waterfalls and do it again! Its beach
time/ Hammock nap time!!! Pura Vida!

Katie Dawkins

On a very hot Saturday afternoon, two of us decided we would sign up to go horseback riding with a tour guide. The ride was from 11-3 and consisted of us and four others whom we met that day before leaving. We rode across seven different beaches and eventually an hour and a half later, we arrived at a waterfall where the beaches came to an end. We gave the horses a break in the shade and rested while enjoying some cold water and fresh pineapple. The trail we rode on was very different than what I am used to, because it involved going up and down very steep hills. The horses seemed hesitant at times about going up and down these hills because of the degree of the slope, which made us a bit nervous. Our tour guide spoke only Spanish, so my communication with him was minimal as I tried to recall whatever Spanish I knew to speak with him. Luckily, one of the ladies on the tour with us was bilingual, so she was able to translate things for the rest of us. Unfortunately, I had a very stubborn horse who refused to gallop across the beach unlike the other horses, so we trotted at a slower pace than the others and needed to catch up most of the time. Overall, the scenary throughout the ride was beautiful as we rode across the beaches, including Playa Grande. Even though the ride was an enjoyable experience for me, I would not choose to ride a horse in Montezuma again, because the horses seemed to be malnourished, which was very disheartening to me. The horses seemed to be overworked and underfed, and at times it was difficult to not feel sorry for the horses as we rode them during the hottest part of the day.

Kristen Koons

On one of the last days of our trip we visited the Cabo Blanco Nature Reserve located on the southernmost tip of the Nicoya Peninsula. This is one of the oldest reserves in Costa Rica and is inhabited by a large variety of plants and animals. The reserve was declared a protected area in 1963 and at that time around 85% of it was pasture and farmland. Currently that land is recovering and has grown into a dense secondary forest.

We woke up early to catch the 8am local bus to the reserve. We were hardly there for five minutes when we spotted a troop of howler monkeys high up in the trees around us. After stopping for pictures, we made our way to the reception center to sign in. Here we came across some white faced monkeys playing in the trees. After signing in we split into small groups for the hike through the reserve. It took us two hours to make our way to the remote beach located at the back of the reserve. During our hike we were lucky enough to spot several Slender Anoles and even a Central American Whiptail. We also encountered several butterflies down in a little valley like the Great Owl, Monarch, and Blue Morpho. When we finally made it to the beach we had it all to ourselves. The hike to get there was hard but worth it.

Stefanie Williams

On Tuesday we took a tour of Don Juan's coffee farm. His farm is one of 10 in the San Louis Valley, which is located minutes from Monteverde. Don Juan makes his coffee based on tradition that was passed down from his father. This was one of the aspects I really liked about his process. Don Juan will pick the beans, process them, let them ferment for a day, dry for eight days, and then the beans will be shipped to a mill to sit in a sack for three months in a dark room, then it is finally time to roast the beans to complete the process. He does almost all of this work himself on his farm, working eight to ten hours a day. This farm is part of cooperative organization that produces the brand Café Monteverde. They try to remain as organic as possible throughout their processing. Something I found interesting was this company is part of the Fair Trade organization. I didn't know exactly what this meant at first, but I was surprised that it doesn't only mean there is no middleman in the selling. It also means the producer must be fair to the environment, fair to the people around them, and they will be checked that their children are in school and not working the coffee fields. I thought it was good to see this organization concerned about more than just the selling of coffee. Our group got to see these coffee plants at a very interesting time. Some of these plants are already flowering, but they are not meant to flower until April. The flowers are blooming with the early rain from the pacific as Costa Rica is experiencing a change in climate. This then effects when the bees are able to pollinate the flowers, which will cause the coffee beans to grow. It was really interesting to see first hand how climate is affecting these local coffee farmers. It seems like we always hear about the climate changing but sometimes it's hard to believe until you see it first hand.

Morgan Mickley

Tonight we spent our time taking a night tour of the forest. Our expectations on finding some fascinating creatures were in high demand. The creature to be spotted was a raccoon family rustling about in the leaves. Trish (our wonderful professor) had some concern about the well-being of everyone in the presence of the wild animal. However, our tour guide made it quite clear that the wild raccoons in Costa Rica have been eradicated of rabies and other diseases. Raccoon babies were even friendly enough to come within two feet or so of our group. During the night tour, our tour guide stumbled upon a creature just beyond the clearance of its home. He immediately told the group to remain stationary or to move in closer at a slow pace. When the group approached the, we spotted a tarantula. Tarantulas can feel the vibrations of our movement, and will run from its predator (us) when it senses that we are much larger than its usual prey. While the tour progressed onward, we could only find two more creatures. The first was a daddy long legged spider and the second was a gecko. Many people have a misinterpretation of the daddy long legged spider. As the myth goes, one may assume that the spider is venomous and can kill a human if ever bitten by the spider. This statement, as told by our guide, is entirely false. Daddy long legged spiders use their fangs to crush their prey whole and their fangs do not have a drop of venom in them. Finally, I would just like to add that this was a worthwhile experience that I would encourage everyone to take a part in at least once in their lifetime.

Jared Poist

Our class was fortunate enough to hear from world-renowned biologist Dr. Alan Pounds, a leader in research associated with climate change in Costa Rica. Dr. Pounds is the resident scientist at the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, studying climate change and understanding how climate affects all living systems. Dr. Pounds first came to Costa Rica in July of 1981 and his original focus was on communities of animals, however his focus shifted to fauna in 1982 due to a decline of animal levels as a result of an el Niño event. While researchers initially thought that the decline in animal population levels were a temporary downturn, further observation showed that ongoing declines in animal levels were occurring starting with the lowest elevations and gradually moving upwards. Dr. Pounds lectured on how this information is evidence of climate change using the climate-linked epidemic hypothesis. This hypothesis shows that population levels are decreasing across a multitude of species at all altitudes within the cloud forest. From this you can infer that there are not different diseases affecting all of these species, but that a much more wide spread problem, climate change, is causing these declines. Dr. Pounds had a multitude of graphs and data that supported his claims, and when looking at this information it became difficult to understand how people in the world can deny that climate change is a result of human activity.

It truly was an honor to hear from Dr. Pounds and our class was extremely grateful to be able to engage in a question and answer session after the lecture. We all walked away with new knowledge and a lot to think about, including how our daily activities affect all aspects of the world, down to the Resplendent Quetzal, and Keel-Billed Toucan in Costa Rica.

Eileen Reavey

We visited a butterfly sanctuary which is located approximately 2 kilometers from our hotel. The volcano is still visible from the sanctuary. At the sanctuary, they raise butterflies in a laboratory so that they can help re-grow parts of the rainforest that are damaged. This conservatory serves as a laboratory where you can observe butterflies from different habitats around Costa Rica. There are four natural habitats - Ground Forest, Mid-level forest, Canopy, and grasslands. When their wings are dry, the butterflies are released into their natural habitats depending on where they are found in the rainforest. Some of the butterflies that we saw included: glass-winged, owl, monarch, blue-spotted, etc. We also were able to observe a "frog house" where some of the frogs found in the rainforest were being kept. These included poisonous dart frogs and tree frogs including many of their sub-species. Overall the experience was amazing and so calming to experience how these butterflies live in their natural habitats. Many of us got to be very close and even hold the butterflies. It was a once in a lifetime experience to see so many different types of butterflies in one place.

Felicia Yothers

We arrived at the canopy tour rather early in the morning, since we are a larger group we were too excited and impatient to wait in any lines! Once we were all suited up in our harness and very fashionable helmets we began our hike to the first zip-line. The entire course consisted of 14 zip-lines: 3 practice lines and 11 longer lines, which had breathtaking views of the Monteverdi Cloudforest.

It was an amazing experience and probably one of the most memorable times of my life. The zip-line guides (Jeff and Roy) estimated that we were traveling at about 50-55mph, and that in rainy conditions 65mph is likely. Especially on the longest zip-line (1 km) where it was necessary to travel attached to someone else, the weight of the two people allows for higher speeds to be reached. It was both an exhilarating and adventurous experience that showed us miles of untouched beautiful rainforest in a matter of moments.

Once we had completed the 14 zip-lines, our tour guides, then presented us with a special surprise, which was the Tarzan swing. The Tarzan swing was a cord that attached to our harnesses and another cord that attached to a high branch on a tree, we climbed up onto a scaffold, prayed and jumped. The whole experience was maybe 30 seconds but was fun!

Allie Jensen

Before we left for our adventure in Costa Rica we talked about a famous bird found in Costa Rica, the Quetzal. We discussed about how the bird is at risk due to climate change. Other species - such as the keel-billed toucan - are moving up the mountain and encroaching on its cloud forest habitat. We also talked about how we may not get to see this amazing bird because they aren't always out and visible; they aren't the easiest birds to spot, despite their extraordinary colorings.

When we first started walking through the Monteverde Cloud Forest we were getting hit with water drops the entire time. I would have never guessed that it wasn't actually rain but instead it was just saturation falling from the trees! While on our walk through the cloud forest we saw a lot of different wildlife and plants from creaky-door birds and millipedes to avocadoes and strangler trees. After about a half hour of walking through the forest we saw our first Quetzal! It was high up in the trees and we could hear its call very distinctly. As we kept walking, we saw a set of two more and not too long after we saw almost ten of them within view! It was incredible. These birds were simply stunning and the colors on them are astounding. I was definitely pleasantly surprised to see so many of these birds during our walk but I'm glad that we did. After our walk through the cloud forest was over I sat back and reflected at just how important it is that everyone realize that things need to be done to maintain the wildlife that we have all over the world. The Quetzal is just one example, but if some things are not considered, then these pictures may be the only things we will have to remember this extravagant bird by.

Lee Greely