Sabrina's visit to the INBio Parque July 4

So after an exciting 3 days of tours with other group members to the Canopy tour, Teatro Nacional, Poas Volcano, a casino for poker night (despite the fact that there were no poker tables) and other small sites, I decided to attend a small tour to the IN Bio parque by myself on Saturday morning before our scheduled meeting with the entire Earthwatch group.

I took a tour bus from the hotel to the IN Bio parque which is set up very similarly to the CA science center, except for its focus. IN bio Parque's mission is to recreate the various ecosystems found in Costa Rica, and to house various animals, critters, plants, and other living life that represent CR. My tour guide Sergio (who happens to be from the region of Tarrazu, and who was pleasantly surprised that I would be going to his hometown for this research....but i digress) was very knowledgeable and patient with my fear of critters and snakes.

The two great things of this tour were : a) Sergio's explanation of the symbiotic relationships that NATURALLY occur in the various ecosystems! FOr example, did you know that some plants have holes within their leaves that allow sunlight to pass through the leaves so that the energy can transfer to the plants below. To the untrained eye, the holes resemble the same holes that insects create on leaves as they munch on the plants; however, these naturally occuring holes are much smoother and rounder. GWOW GWOW!!! b) The area of the Butterflies was amazingly beautiful!!!! We walked in the area and there were a bunch of different butterflies fluttering all around! It was amazing...stunning...fascinating! THe colors were mesmerizing!!!! Sergio (the guide) says that if a butterfly lands on a person than that means 7 years of good luck ---guess who is going to Vegas right after this trip!! Woot Woot!!!

A Satisfying Meet-up

Posted by Yvonne on July 5 at 6:45 am

A quick post just before breakfast.....

The entire team assembled one by one in the lobby of the hotel. It was exciting to meet each member and hear of their travel excitement :) . We then made the 2-hour drive to Terrazu, and arrived at Cecilia's Cabins where we were briefed on the project.

Now it is off for a full day of activities. Gotta run. Here is a picture of one of the cabins- they are delightful!

Brandon Finegold Day 3 post

Yesterday we took a guided tour to the Poa Volcano, the Vargas Coffee fields, and the Goods Factory shopping area. I had a good time and the tourguide was very enthusiastic and taught us a lot.. The volcano was completely cloud covered when we reached the top (almost 8000 ft above sea level). We waited almost a half hour, staring at the white, but never got to see anything. We did hear the activity and smell the sulfur admissions though. I will spare any coffee details for the real coffee trip.

I have had a good time being in Costa Rica. Some of the things I’ve noticed…

The food is great and the people are very friendly. Everyone is proud of their country (which, according to our tour guide, has the best economy in Latin America).

Outside our hotel within one block there is a McDonalds, Taco Bell, Burger King, and KFC. What, no Wendy’s? There are plenty of local options too but there is always a line at the American restaurants. Oh yeah, the first restaurant I saw after getting off the airplane was a Schlotsky’s. Glad my people have made it down here too…

I wish there was a place I could bet on the population of San Jose EXPLODING in about 2 months. This is the most pregnant women I have ever seen in my life.

The speed limit on the highway is 50 km/hr. The speed limit on mountains with twisting roads and hairpin turns and no guard rails? You guessed it: 50 km/hr.

In the shower today my face soap went over my nose and when I exhaled it blew a bubble that went completely over my mouth. This has nothing to do with Costa Rica but I’ve never done that before!

We were lucky enough to get a room with a view of the plaza outside our hotel. There is a mariachi trumpeter who plays all night at regular 5 minute intervals. In related news, I didn’t sleep much.

Despite the lack of sleep I have been loving every minute of this trip! At 3 PM MT we are being picked up by the Earthwatch people. I’m looking forward to the expedition, even if it is a little work. I hopefully will have an internet feed at some point there and will write again. Until then…

Poas Volcano Trip and Coffee Plantation Tour

Posted by Holly and Yvonne on Friday July 3

The day began early as usual. We had an excellent guide named Hector today who told us lots of fantastic information about the wildlife, the geography of the area, and the coffee plantations.

For instance did you know that coffee has three critical needs for optimal growth and flavor (according to the expert at the Doka Coffee Estates)?

1. The coffee needs to grow in elevations of 4000 to 6000 feet.

2. The coffee needs to have volcanic soil.

3. The coffee beans must be harvested by hand since they become ripe at three different times.

Another interesting coffee fact is that the coffee plants are grown w

ith banana trees which aide in regulating the

humidity for the coffee plants and provide a wind break during the windy and dryer winter

months.

Costa Rica also contains approximately 5-6% of the worlds biodiversity. For example all 53 species of humming birds found in both N. America and S. America are also found in Cost

a Rica. We saw one of these beautiful creatures near the Poas Volcano today. We did not see the crater of the volcano itself due to cloud cover at the time of our visit, but we were able to hear the "fumeroles" (escaping gasses) and smell the sulfer that escaped as the gas was released. The sensory experience was still worth the trip?!

We are all seen here in front of the volcano ..... note the white back ground. We are literally in a

cloud.

Hector gave us a great botany lesson here. Check out the pic of Yvonne in front of the Poor Man's Umbrella plant's leaves. It is considered a jurassic plant.

On our way back to the hotel we stopped at a wood carving and bead making factory. It was

interesting to hear how the Costa Ricans import some of their specialty woods so that they can preserve their own fragile ecosystems and yet make money from their beautiful crafts. This picture is of Sabrina with an ox cart that was on display at the factory. These carts are a symbol of the country and the more brightly and intricately they are painted, the wealthier the family.

My picture is worth an additional 1000 words!!!!!

Posted by Holly on July 2.

The zip line was even more fun than I expected. The expert at the first platform told me I had "excellent technique". I do not know if he said that to everyone or not, but it made me have even more confidence and enjoy the experience to its fullest.

The final descent was the longest and fastest. As you can see...it was 700 meters long (or 2,296 'feets') and has twin cables so two can descend at one time.

A special shout out to Yvonne's family for giving her this amazing little computer so we could all share in this blog. Thanks!

One Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Posted by Yvonne on July 2, 2007

We had a ton of fun!

The Pre-Earthwatch Group Has Arrived!

Posted by Yvonne on July 1, 2009

Holly (Michigan), Sabrina (Hollywood, California), Shawn (Pittsburg, PA) and I converged upon San Jose International Airport and made it through customs just fine. After a 20 minute taxi trip to our hotel, we were treated to a 2-hour tour of the City of San Jose. The highlight of the tour was the National Theater, http://www.costaricaweb.com/tourism/teatronacional.htm, a grand majesty of a building constructed by the government in the 1890's.

The tour guide was a wealth of information about the history of the country, including the fact that Costa Rica's military was abolished 60 years ago after a civil war. Also that the land mass of the country is less than .03 percent of the earth, but it holds over 6% of the golobe's biodiversity.

We ended the day with dinner at the hotel, and are looking forward to tomorrow's activities of horseback riding and zipline tours.