Day 3 - La Calandria

 

What is the difference between an environmental student and a "regular" student?

ENVS student (f) 1: Oooh, there is a big bug in your hair

(expected reaction, regular student: Eewwwww, get it off)

ENVS student (f) 2: Quick, get a camera

ENVS student (m) 1: I wonder how many ants it would take to lift Nebraska

(expected reaction, regular students: That's just stupid, go to sleep)

ENVS students (m): Lets see. If we assume an total volume of .... and use only leaf cutter ants (a 30 minute discussion and calculations ensue)

Today, I thought we start by showing you pictures of our students hard at work - or not. See if you can spot yours.

We had an action packed day starting off with a three hour hike in the forest, where we saw agoutis, many different species of humming birds, orchids in and out of bloom, a baby tarantula (still big enough), a side-striped palm viper (at a safe distance, no worries),and  more birds and butterflies than we can count. Today's hike took us to the Curi Cancha preserve, which I understand is a former dairy farm that was converted back to forest starting in the 1970s. We had a chance to experience different habitats, from open fields to relatively new growth and also some ancient trees.  Your student will be able to tell you exactly what all we saw.

After lunch at a women's co-op (delicious) we visited a coffee plantation. Here, a group of farmers is trying to grow coffee in a more sustainable way, restore the fertility of the soil, and adapt to changing growing conditions such as a less reliable rainy season. It was impressive to see how knowledgeable, patient, and passionate our guide was. We also got to blind sample 5 different coffee roast and try to identify both he roast and the drying method of the beans. 

For supper, we visited a local family, were (almost) all of us were taught how to make tortillas from scratch, guacamole, fresh passion fruit juice, salad, guacamole, and desserts. Here you can see some of us working.

The food turned out so good, I forgot to take pictures.

The other people, those not working, prepared a secret special after dinner surprise, a Costa Rican dance complete with Cosa Rican traditional outfits. There is a video that I might upload once I have more bandwidth, but here are some pictures:

Finally, a shout-out to our driver, Senor Carlos, el maestro de autobus, who drove us up (and down again in the dark) some roads that now bus should be able to go. These roads are much steeper than they look in these pictures, and NOT single lane, there is oncoming traffic.