June 23
-Owen, 17, student
June 25, 2017
Day 4: This morning wasn’t as tiring as the previous ones, as the first activity was at homebase. After having breakfast at 7 and a walk to the community supermarket at 8, Amy, a GEOPORTER ambassador came and gave us a presentation about GPS and GIS: their purpose, their utility in the world and how to use them. We also had a chance to map out the home base!! Lunch was at 12, and after that we headed to the tree nursery. With the help of Travis and Wayne, everyone worked and sweated out in order to make the nursery better. We all jumped in the pool when we came back. The group then had dinner under heavy rain at 7. To end this fun and cool day, Georges made a presentation about the country he lives in: the UAE.
June 26, 2017
Day 5: in the morning we had a lot of fun doing different activities, we had breakfast at 7 and we were ready to leave the home base to enjoy the beach. Once we got there we split into two groups, one doing service and picking up plastic and other trash on the beach and another taking a surf lesson which we all enjoyed very much. When we came back to home base, we had lunch and we had a small reflection about the service we did during the morning. Finally at 3, after a long and fun swim in the pool, Travis came here to explain to us the problem of having plastic in the ocean. After that, we enjoined a group activity about different topics such as wetland or coral reef problems. Straight after the activity we had dinner at 7 and we finally had free time for the rest of the evening.
-Caterina and Georges
June 28, 2017
June 29, 2017
Today the group went to Corcovado national park. We woke up early and traveled there in a boat. We saw dolphins, monkeys, a crocodile eating a pelican, and a weird looking animal called coati. We hiked through the forest, and walked on the coast. Most of us will never forget the animals, and we will all keep the memories we made today.
-Marisol and Juan Carlos
July 1, 2017
Today was a great day. We started the day by taking a long 45 minute drive to the Osa Canopy Tours start station. We then took a bus up a steep mountain to a small hut where we started our zipline tour of canopy in the Osa region. The tour contained nine ziplines, two hanging bridges, two rappeling stations and a “Tarzan” swing. Later in the day we did some service at home base where we painted some signs to protect trees we planted. Lit!!!
July 2, 2017
Today we woke up, ate breakfast and set out for the day. At 8:00 in the morning we left home base and started a walk to a beautiful waterfall. We got to the waterfall entrance and approached a cute café that sold smoothies and other small meals. We continued our walk a little further into the mountain, and arrived at a stunning waterfall. We took pictures and swam while surrounded by lush green and cool water. We left the waterfall and went to get smoothies. After we drank our smoothies, we took a taxi into town to souvenir shop. Then we headed back for home base and checked up on our Geoporter mapping. At 4:00 we went to the local soccer field and played soccer with some members of the community. After a good game of soccer, we headed back home and had a wonderful meal grilled by Wayne. The day was amazing, beautiful, and a truly amazing experience for all the kids.
The last day was bitter-sweet. We spent the day traveling away from home base by private bus (sorry, no disco lights), on our 4 hour journey back to the city. We stopped along the way for snacks and a final souvenir stop (ice cream stop). The bus was full of the various theme songs of the trip (they give us goosebumps every time). Ahora somos MEJORES. As night fell, we went out for sandwiches and a quick walk in the city, laughing and playing games through our final meal as a traveling family. It was a trip to remember for all of us! Today is a travel day for all the students. We wish everyone a safe and happy ride home, and hope these friendships and lessons truly last a lifetime.
-Hannah, International Director
