FSB Costa Rica FUNFUN

La Paz Waterfall and volcano crater

2008-06-13T11:17:00.000-07:00

On thursday, we went to the La Paz waterfalls and to the crater of the Paos volcano. The crater is covered by clouds 3/4 of the time, but as we walked up to the crater, it cleared as we arrived, perfect timing. the crater is 1 mile in diameter and has a pool of highly acidic water in the actual crater. The volcano last erupted in 1910.

The La Paz waterfall gardens had a zoo/ museum type feel. We arrived and I didnt really know what to expect but they had lots of animals in cages and such. They had birds, monkeys, butterflies, snakes, and Frogs. The last part of the tour was the 4 waterfalls that were gorgeous. I have pictures and videos of the animals. the birds were the coolest part because they would fly and land on your shoulder and try to eat your coat. They were not scared of us at all.

The humming birds were very interesting. For their size, they have the largest heart and brain. They fly at an average speed of 45 mph and only fly 20% of their lives. They flap their wings 60 times a second.

Pescadito's Final Call

2008-06-13T11:05:00.000-07:00

One of our favorite bars, El Pescadito, is where all the magic happens. here are some pictures.

Coffee (Cafe) round 4

2008-06-10T15:25:00.000-07:00

Coffee in Costa Rica... we have been to Daisy's coffee plantation, Cafe Britt, and seen all the other coffee fields that Costa Rica is covered in. Costa Ricans take much much pride in their product. Coffee, aka the grain of gold. Costa Rica produces a couple different types of coffee, although it is all from the Arabica plant. Cafe La Carpintera, Cafe Atarazu, Cafe El Gran Vito, Cafe Zurqui, Cafe Ujarraci, and Cafe Buena Vista are all grown in different areas and in varying altitudes. The Cafes La Carpintera and Atarazu are Strictly Hard Bean coffees and grown in Tres Rios and Terrazu respectively and have the same harvest of November through February. Cafe Atarazu is the coffee with the highest elevation reaching 1750mts. Cafe El Gran Vito is a medium hard bean and grown in altitudes ranging from 800-1200 mts. Its harvest season is October through December. Cafe Zurqui is a strictly hard bean coffee grown in the Heredia region at an altitude ranging from 1200-1500 mts. Its harvest is from November to February and well known for unique coffee with high acidity, very good body and aroma. Cafe Ujarraci is a High Grown Atlantic coffee grown in the Cachi area at an altitude from 900-1200 mts and a favorite for American, European, and Japanese gourmet coffee drinkers. Last but not least is the Cafe Buana Vista grown in the San Isidro del General region at an altitude of 400-1200 mts. Cafe Buena Vista is a Medium Hard Bean harvested from October to December and grown in the most impressive mountain region of Costa Rica. (http://www.costaricamap.com/ing/aboutcafe.html)

A SHB or strictly hard bean is one of the best coffees in the world. Its grain is blue, bright and big. (says BBC online)

Ecotourism 4

2008-06-10T15:01:00.000-07:00

Coming into this trip, I did not grasp the concept of eco-tourism at all. After being to all the different national parks and reserves, I understand the importance of ecotourism compared to eco-destructive tourism. I am going to make a comparison to the leaf cutter ants. The tourism industry needs to use "biomimicry" as a model. the leaf cutter ants work together to be 100% sustainable. They form a line using a scent and cut the leaves off of plants, take the leaves down underground so that they may decompose enriching the soil so that fungus may grow. They then live off this fungus for food creating their own food, and creating food for others by enriching the soil. Another part of the ants is that everyone is involved, no one is left out of the system. If tourism as a whole could be more sustainable and feed on their own (like at the Osa with the pig and the vegetable gardens), and reduce pollution to almost nothing, they would be wonders for the world.

Strides need to be made so that ecotourism, where the environment remains intact and unharmed, and tourism can become one, and the environment does not have to suffer. Costa Rica is one of the first and foremost on ecotourism but also contributes wasteful tourism as-well. We need more environmentally friendly hotels and resorts.

Many controversies as of recent have arisen due to construction of hotels and beach resorts within the 50m protected maritime public zone. Construction has even been in protected areas. The effects of the environment to existing flora and fauna has been horrible. The dumping of construction waste created by non-ecotourism has damaged many coral reefs and mangroves. This is just another example why ecotourism is the way to go and why it is the fastest growing tourism sector.

Banana's round 4

2008-06-10T14:31:00.000-07:00

As we already know, with the standard fruit co, chiquita, and dole, Banana's are a large part of Costa Rica's economy. According to Bananaexport.com (its in spanish), Costa Rica an area with the highest incidence of agrochemical sprays with 54 cycles of spraying. This amount of spraying is due to worry about a certain deadly fungus that is sweeping/ swept through central and south america, the fungus is called the black sigatoka fungus. The first outbreak of this deadly fungus was reported in 1972 in La Hima, Honduras. The fungus then spread north and south. This fungus is only one of the reasons the non-native banana plant requires so much agro chemical spraying in Central America. The only method to control the fungus is spraying, which account for about 25% to 30% of production costs. It has been reported that the fungus is continually fighting fungicides and more research is much needed.

In addition, i would like to go back to Chiquita's banana production and how they are the first to become more-sustainable and their relationship with the Rainforest Alliance. Chiquita currently owns 37,000 acres of banana farms in Panama, Costa Rica, Hinduras, and Guatemala. In 2004 alone, Chiquita shipped 136 million boxes of banana's to the US, Europe, Middle East, and Asia. Chiquita currently employs more than 25,000 people. Chiquita got their first farms certified by the rainforest alliance in 1994. Since 2000, the company has been rewarded with 100% Rainforest Alliance certification on all company owned farms, and 80% on independent farms that sell to Chiquita.

Chiquita ensures human rights and labor rights for all its workers. They have no child labor or forced labor. They ensure safe working conditions and freedom of association and collective bargaining. Compensation for workers meets at least legal or industry minimum standards.

Rainforest Alliance auditors visit farms at least once a year to ensure cooperation with strict environmental standards that include, using minimal pesticides, protection of wildlife, conservation of water and soil, environmental education, fair pay, adequate housing and safe working conditions, and zero tolerance for deforestation. In an effort to connect forests, Chiquita has planted at least 1 million trees along rivers, lakes, roads, and in residential and industrial areas. Water is monitored regularily and prevents organic waste from polluting streams and rivers. All agro chemicals used are approved for use on banana's by the US EPA and EU.

Lizard

2008-06-10T11:55:00.001-07:00

This is going to be a short post, but i was reading in my room, and i look up and there is a lizard right above my on the ceiling in my room and my home stay. i was scared or anything (obviously), but it just shocked me. I got Bob and we tried to scare it away but it wouldnt leave. So long story short, we got our homestay-brother (Juan Jose) to deal with it. here are some pictures and a video.

Coffee Round 3

2008-06-10T10:45:00.001-07:00

I have some more observations about coffee in costa rica. Coffee seems to be sold at any gift shop and most tourist shops. This gives me the sense that coffee is really good here. I myself am not a coffee drinker but i think the whole pitch about how Costa Rican coffee is of higher quality than the competition is certainly correct. Also, coffee is cheaper on many restaurant menu's than water in most cases i have noticed. Coffee is very cheap within the country because it is so readily available.

I have extended my research on coffee in Costa Rica and was interested to find out how and who decides what is good coffee in Costa Rica. Many coffee competitions take place, such as the one Daisy one with her Del Cafe Tal. Costa Rica has the Specialty Coffee Association of Costa Rica(SCACR) and the Costa Rican Coffee Institute (ICAFE). These two organizations rank coffee in Costa Rica and establish a winner. This is only one of the things that they do, they also increase the quality culture in the Costa Rican companies, improve quality among growers, promote quality consistency, and achieve differentiation in the market. SCACR was founded in 1993 for growers, millers, toasters, and local exporters to furnish Costa Rican coffee to the international gourmet coffee markets. I almost think of this organization as a lobbyist for Costa Rican coffee and promote the quality and distinctness of coffee in Costa Rica.

Ecotourism 3

2008-06-09T16:52:00.000-07:00

While at the Osa Peninsula, we did lots and lots of ecotourism. We went on extensive nature walks at the national park and also went snorkeling. While on the nature walks, our guide was great and showed us plenty of animals. We saw howler monkeys and spidermonkeys and lots of leaf cutter ants. We saw some beautiful birds aswell. Our whole trip to the Osa was very eco-friendly. The place we stayed at was helpful to the economy because they were partially sustainable. All the scrap food that we did not eat at the meals was fed to the pig they have and the pig was later used too! Snorkeling on the island off of the peninsula was also an example of eco-tourism and we saw some beautiful fish and coral reef.

Its no wonder ec0tourism is the fastest growing sector in the tourism industry. The snorkeling and nature hike was beautiful. Where else can you see monkeys in their natural habitat?

The whole Osa Peninsula was very ecotouristy because it lacked much urbanization. We felt as though we were cut off from the rest of the world. No towns or cities were anywhere near us, and we needed a boat to get to our camping site. Ecotourism is tourism without phones, tv's, and power. Although we did have power, everything else was cut off and we felt independent. We were not polluting the rivers or air with pollution during our stay, we were basically camping out. Normal hotels on beaches and what not would not be friendly to the environment, and thats why other tourism is not called eco-tourism.

Banana round 3

2008-06-09T16:12:00.000-07:00

This picture below shows the banana's not going to be exported and sold within the country.

I have finaly learned something about banana's. We visited the Chiquita banana plantation where i learned a lot more about how banana's are produced. First of all, banana's are not native to the tropics region and that is why they require many fungisides, herbisides, and pesticides. These are dangerious chemicals that can be very harmful to humans and to the surrounding eco-system. Chiquita told us how they are being "less-bad" and trying to control these factors. Chiquita is currently the second largest banana producer behind Dole. In the fields, banana's have a blue bag around them to protect them from bugs and from the harsh sunlight. Chiquita, unlike most other producers, recycle the bags. The processing/ packaging plant was pretty interesting to see.

The banana's are now being sprayed with the "less harmful" chemicals than in the past and workers are required to wear extensive equipmeent, where as other plantations, neither of these precautionary measures have been taken. Chiquita is commited to environmental sustainability. The banana's are chopped off at the stem and the whole stem is sent down a line, kind of like a ski lift, where it is then taken off at the packaging plant. They are then counted and weighed and cleaned for ten minutes. The banana's are also checked for quality where the flawless ones are sent off for europe, USA, and Asia and the ones with some flaws are thrown on a truck right away before being cleaned because they will be sold in Costa Rica under another label (or exported under another label)and some will be sent to make a banana puree for baby food, etc. After being cleaned, the banana's are sent down the factory to be either cut individualy or in bunches for packaging. The banana's all look very green and very tasty, they do not have any imperfections. They are then loaded on a truck and sent to be exported around the globe. Depending on the destination, the banana's arrive in the market between 3 and 11 days. The banana's are shipped at low temperatures to slow the ripening process.

The Chiquita Banana show was very interesting at best. Kind of the same thing as the Cafe Britt show, but a lot less organized. Basically a bunch of Tica women came out and danced and try to explain how banana's came to costa rica all of which was in spanish. i did take a video of the dancing chiquita banana girl.

Weekend on the Carribean Coast

2008-06-09T15:56:00.000-07:00

we buried him while he was sleeping hehe

bonfire on the beach.

I just got back from being at a tropical research station, a Chiquita banana plantation, and 2 different beaces. First of all, the La Selva research station is a place in the lowland forests near the carribean coast where scientists research many different plants and animals in the rainforests. The station was somewhat interesting but also very humid and hot. We saw wild boar, spider monkeys, and even a Hawk.
After the station, we headed for the Chiquita banana plantation. We arrived and watched a video about how Chiquita has started being sustainable about 4 years ago and being more eco-friendly. Chiquita now is comitted to providing a forest corridor for animals trapped in small areas of forest because of the huge plantations that require deforestation. We had the most delicious banana bread after lunch that i will never forget. we then went on a tour of the packaging facility and walked through some of the banana fields. Workers are required to wear safety equipment when working in the fields because of the mass amount of chemicals it requires to make the banana's grow.
After the plantation, we headed for Puerto Viejo. It is a rasta-like beach with a lot of jamaican culture all around. I liked this beach, it was fun and the atmosphere was like none other. We were here for the night, but it was an unforgetable night. We went to dinner which was so so, and went back to the hotel, and then to a bar/club that was right on the water and it was amazing. But it got better, they had a linguire show right in the club with beautiful woman. I was amazed at what i was seeing. And we left and that was that.
Next stop, Las Palmas hotel down the beach. This was a very nice hotel for what we had become accustomed to. The hotel was right on the beach with nothing else around. It was so peaceful and beautiful. It had a pool and a bar with $7 dollar shots, im not kidding, rediculous i know. We chilled here for 2 nights and just hung out at the beach during the day, and drank at night. The last night, peter was being very boyscoutish and made a bon fire on the beach for us which was really fun.

Beach.... Beach, class, more beach

2008-06-05T11:06:00.000-07:00

In the past week, I dont think i have ever spent as much time in a bus as i have this week. I am about to get into a bus again in an hour. we have been to the osa peninsula, white water rafting, and zip lining. It has been amazing and white water rafting was gorgeous. my boat consisted of myself, nolan, jamie, beth, sam, and big john. our guide, ninja, helped up down the river suffering no casualties and no one even fell out of the boat. i had a close encounter as we hit a class 4 rapid and i was shot up into the front row, but i was saved by nolan, thankfully. after rafting, we headed back to san jose for the night and left for the osa peninsula the next morning. We knew the bus ride was going to be long, but i dont think we knew what we were in for. the ride started out pretty standard, i took a nap, etc. Then trouble hit us, we were driving down the road when we noticed that a bridge had disappeared and we could not cross the river, keep in mind we were about 7 hours into the bus ride when we found the bridge was missing. we think it was swept away by the tropical depression that passed through a couple days earlier. So we were forced on back roads that were extremely narrow and keep in mind we are on a huge tour bus. our next encounter was when we entered the dirt road trail. it was a steep decline onto a very questionable bridge. we were told, "everyone off the bus because we are about to do a semi-dangerous maneuver" we are all like uh oh, whats going on. we all get off and cross the 15foot bridge on foot, and the bus driver has to get the bus across. the front of the bus gets onto the bridge fine, but the back of the bus bottoms out and gets very stuck. the driver tries to drive through it, but the wheels just spin. after about 15 minutes of "oh shit what do we do" we decide to push the bus if possible. so me and about 6 other guys get behind the bus and push as the driver presses the accelerator. the bus gets pushed free and gets across safely. after this, its just a very bumpy ride and the total bus ride took somewhere between 8-10 hour ( i was asleep so i cant be sure how long) plus a 1 hour boat ride to arrive on the osa peninsula.

The osa was great! it was beautiful and was hardly populated and free of touristy things. We arrive via a "wet landing" aka we jump off the boat onto the beach. we then got into what they call taxi's, which is really just 3 SUV's that take us up the mountain to our camp site. We were shocked to know that we were the first guests to stay at this place, which was really just fancy tents with a main dining room/ lounge all outdoors under a roof. hard to explain, but see the picture above to see what i am talking about.

The hotel was just tents under large roof but the accomodations were nice. we went on nature walks where we saw howler monkeys and some nice birds. we also saw our first set of leaf cutter ants who are one of my favorite animals in the forest. The second day at the osa, we went snorkeling on the island about an hour off-shore of the peninsula.

we also had to boat through this very narrow passage with these amazing trees that had very long roots that went all over the place.

Thoughts on Costa Rica (random)

2008-05-30T16:20:00.000-07:00

So having been in Costa Rica for 2 weeks now, I have a few observations that i found very interesting here. Many of the cars, trucks, and SUV's are diesel powered, which in most cases is not very clean burning. Another thought is that many Tico's do whatever they want as far as traffic laws and traffic lights are concerned. They blatantly go through red lights or illegally pass each other. Its interesting how these little things are different. Most of the cars are from Japan, very few from the USA. Water is not free at restaurants. It many cases, it is the same price as beer, which doesn't make a lot of sense to me. The food here is much different, but pretty tasty. Gallo pinto is pretty standard, but one thing that i do not like, papaya, tastes horrible. The school, Universidad Veritas, they have guards at the entrance who carry guns, pretty intense. I saw my first prostitute last night, blatantly standing on the street corner. The bar we went to last night, Castros, a dancing club, had 2 security guards at the front with bulletproof jackets on and guns. All the houses in San Jose have 2 if not 3 gates before you can enter the house. Most of the houses have what i call razor wire, not barb wire, but razorwire along the roof line. Security is a big deal here, and I have been told its a sign of status. On my walk to school everyday, we pass this one house that has a security guard sitting out front with a beating stick as his only weapon. The house isnt even that nice, but the guard sits outside all day.

Trip to Manuel Antonio

2008-05-29T12:16:00.000-07:00

The beautiful beach of Manuel Antonio. (except its raining)

Crocs or gators? dunno

This guy above was at least 10ft long, no joke.

We left for our trip at 7AM tuesday and returned to San Jose wednesday night. On this trip, we did not see the sun once, and the temperature definatly did not exceed 80 degrees. The beach was pretty, the town was not as much. We arrived early in the day, around 11AM or so. We walked around, saw the vendors and such and ate lunch. We later played in the water, which was surprisingly warm. We then went back to the hotel, showered and

went to happy hour, followed by more drinks at the hotel and then to a bar. This was it for tuesday, but on wednesday it was STILL raining and we headed out early because the weather was not ideal. So, i am still wanting to see a sunny costa rican beach, or country for that matter, it has rained a lot here, and i am not too please about it. I guess thats what i get for going to a rainforest during the rainy season.

Banana's Round 2

2008-05-29T12:09:00.000-07:00

Still haven't seen any banana planatations or really heard much of anything about banana's yet. My house mother feeds me fresh banana's every morning. Maybe banana's are a large economic market in Costa Rica? Agriculture is 14.6% on the labor force in Costa Rica. A good chunk of that comes from banana's. The Standard Fruit Co. began productions in the Atlantic lowlands in 1956. Alongside ASBANA (Asociacion de Bananeros), a government-sponsored private association, Standard Fruit helped revive the Atlantic coast banana industry. Much of the new acreage has come at the expense of thousands of acres of untouched jungles. Banana export earnings rose from $482.9 million in 1992 to $531 million in 1993.

The banana industry is very important to developing countries along with coffee and tourism. Banana exports worldwide are valued at $4.7billion/ year. At the local and regional level where a strong bond is established between banana-generated income and household food security. Bananas are produced in mainly tropical climates because of the ideal growing conditions. Latin American and the Caribbean region dominated up to the eighties in banana production, the Asian region took the lead in banana production during the nineties. Costa Rica accounts for 3% of banana production amongst the world. However, Costa Rica accounts for about 14% of banana exports and distribution amongst the world.

Banana's grow in tropical regions within about 10 degrees of the equator that get about 78-98 inches of annual rainfall and where the temperature averages around 80 degrees F. Banana production is very labor intensive but plantations also utilize machinery. Workers must bag the stem of the plant and mark the bags with colored ribbons, 10 to 13 weeks from bagging. Some plants require twin to hold them up to ensure that they do not fall over with the extra weight of the stem. Workers also place padding in the banana's to protect them from bruising. Harvested plants are cut down, which allows for new growth.

Tourism round 2 (Ecotourism)

2008-05-29T11:57:00.000-07:00

Tourism is Costa Rica is still the largest money maker for the Costa Rican economy. Things haven't changed in a week but I have more information to include. On our most recent trip to Monteverde, we experienced the private forest for eco-tourism. Its a park full of animals but the park is very strict on what we can and cannot touch. They believe in keeping the forest exactly as they found it, unharmed and completely natural. We went on two nature hikes, one at night and one during the day. We saw very few animals but I learned that people come from all over the world to see the biodiversity in the "cloud forest" as they call it. It rained the entire time we were in Monteverde. Along the lines of tourism, I was strictly a tourist when I went to La Playa de Manuel Antonio on the Pacific Ocean. No teachers, just the 27 of us. We stayed in a cheap hotel and went to the beach which was not extremely nice or beautiful. This was very touristy, home of the 10$ hamburgers and happy hour drink specials. There were many vendors and many people trying to sell us things. This place was Costa Rican tourism in a nut shell. I have just found out that Costa Rica also offers gay couples tours, Costa Rica has everything to offer its tourists. You name it, Costa Rica can offer you scuba diving, snorkeling, horseback riding.... etc.
During my research, i have discovered a discrepency in economic data. Some information says that tourism is the countries number one money maker, where others say that the Intel plant here generates more income. Needless to say, both are very important to the Costa Rican economy which is rapidly growing as quality of life also continues to improve.

Costa Rica is trying to be green, and offer ecotourism in which unlimited tourists can visit the cloud forest and rainforest, but can it really remain sustainable and unharmed given the enormous amount of tourists each year? This is one concept that takes much research, but there is no doubt that it is hard to maintain the environment here, but Costa Rica is taking a step in the right direction.

Costa Rica is selling something when they attract tourists. They are selling an image of a "green industry" or a country devoted to wildlife and the conservation of the environment. This is why Costa Rica attracts and promotes so many ecotourists. Costa Rica tries to boast environmental regulations on travel services, which may hurt some profits in the short run, will pay off in the long run because they will have such a preserved country. The government works hard to keep the regulations in place and keep the country preserved!

Coffee Round 2

2008-05-29T11:25:00.000-07:00

After being to Cafe Britt and Daisy's coffee plantation, I feel more informed about coffee in Costa Rica. They pride themselves on quality because it is grown at such high elevation. The arabica coffee plant is the only strain of coffee that is allowed to be grown, says the Costa Rican Government. Tarrazu is celebrated as Costa Ricas best and most flavorful coffee because it is supposedly grown in a region with the best soil and highest altitude. Coffee beans are all hand picked. The first export of coffee was in 1820 to Colombia and was a major industry in Costa Rica ever since! The National Theater in San Jose was built to honor the heritage and growth of Costa Rica and also for the first Coffee growers back in the 1800's.

Another issue surrounding coffee is fair trade coffee. Fair trade ensures a living wage of $1.26/pound for poor farmers. Fair trade's strategic intent is to deliberately work with marginalized producers and workers in order to help them move from a position of vulnerability to security and economic self-sufficiency.

COOCAFE is the only certified fair trade coffee cooperative in Costa Rica. Together, they represent 3,500 small coffee producers, in 9 independent cooperatives throughout the whole country. They strive to achieve social and economic development as well as support an environmentally sustainably way of life. They also must meet the quality requirements of their customers, because as we know, Costa Rican Coffee is held to very high standards.

Weekend Trip to Monteverde and Volcano

2008-05-26T16:18:00.001-07:00

These are the videos from our weekend trip to Arenal Volcano, the waterfall, and Monteverde which is the cloud rain-forest. It rained the whole time, as i finish this post, (wednesday), i have not seen the sun in 4 days (at least). It definatly rains a lot here in Costa Rica.

Cafe Britt Visit

2008-05-22T17:10:00.000-07:00

Today we visited Cafe Britt right outside of San Jose. This is a small coffee plantation with a packaging and roasting plant. This is not nearly the same as the other plantation we visited, this was very touristy and seemed very fake. However, I learned a lot about organic coffee and about the general business of Cafe Britt. The grounds were very nice and the restaurante was very fancy and the food was great.

Tourism in Costa Rica 1

2008-05-22T08:33:00.000-07:00

Tourism in Costa Rica is HUGE. It recently beat out banana's as the countries number one foreign currency earner. Which means that tourism is the countries number one source of income. We are here as tourist and every dollar spent here is tourist money for Costa Rica. Things to do here range from bungee jumping to beautiful beaches. Thus far we have toured the main sites in San Jose and coffee plantations. Tourism is a $1.9 billion dollar industry in the country. Costa Rica is the most visited country in Central America with 1.9 million visitors in 2007. Most tourists come from the USA at 54% and Europe with 14%. Eco-Tourism is also huge which includes the national parks and protected areas that cannot be developed. Our tour guide says that more and more of the forests are being developed into hotels and such which traps the animals into a smaller and smaller area. One reason Costa Rica is such a hot spot for tourists is its unbelieveable biodiversity, with 24 protected parks.

The difference between ecotourism and tourism is that normal tourism is a beach lined with crowded hotels and theme parks. Ecotourism offers a much more natural option to tourism by simply enjoying the wonders of nature. Ecotourism takes visitors to remote regions not fully developed (such as Monteverde) so that they may see diverse wildlife and an escape to the modernized world. Ecotourism is a relatively new concept that is the fastest growing tourism industry with average growth of 20-30% per year. The reason for the boom is that consumers are becoming more and more eco friendly and more concerned with the planets well being. Tourists now want the feeling of being environmentally responsible while at the same time enjoying the wonders of nature. The number of tourists that visit Costa Rica is rising each year bringing even more revenue to the country. One commonly accepted definition for this new concept of ec0tourism is, "purposeful travel to natural areas to understand the culture and natural history of the environment; taking care not to alter the integrity of the ecosystem; producing economic opportunities that make the conservation of natural resources beneficial to local people".

Crazy Taxi Ride

2008-05-22T08:04:00.000-07:00

So Bob and I live pretty far away from the school so we take taxi's multiple times a day. Last night, we stayed at the bar untill close (Midnight), and the bartender called us a taxi. The taxi appeared out front, but it was not a real taxi. It was completely yellow, with no triangle or anything. We decided to get in anyway against our better judgement. Stephanie was in the car with us and we dropped her off first, and then the driver took myself and Bob to our house. The only problem is that the ride should take about 5 minutes where it actualy took 30 mins. On top of the length of time the ride took, the windows were fogging up and it didnt change the drivers speeds at all. He was speeding through stoplights and stopsigns, needless to say, I was a little worried. We ended up getting to the house, but the taxi had no meter so he said 3000 Colones, we were like no way jose, so we payed 2500 colones. NEVER TAKE A FAKE TAXI(unless you want a joyride around San Jose).

Intro to Bananas in Costa Rica

2008-05-21T15:58:00.000-07:00

BANANA! According to infocostarica.com, bananas have just lost to tourism as the countries main foreign currency earner. Banana production continues to grow to meet international demand. Most banana plantations are in the Atlantic lowlands. Banana's have been part of the agriculture sector since 1840 in the Caribbean. Costa Rica has clashed with the banana worker's union for years and has caused much turmoil for exporting. Banana export earnings rose from $482.9 million in 1992 to $531 million in 1993. I look forward to seeing the banana plantations and see how they are grown. The finishing of the atlantic railway created a boom in banana production and export. The giant fruit company United Fruit was created in 1889, with the merger of Boston Fruit Company and Minor C. Keiths business.

Banana's are the largest herb in the world. A banana plant grows continually from the same rhizome, which can send up several shoots. Banana production is about 1,635 banana's per hectare. The new rhizome or plant trunk are dug up and replanted because the plant reproduces asexually. The workers must select the strongest shoot to be the next producing plant and eliminate the rest of the shoots. It takes 6 to 8 months for the stem to develop a large bud, which inside the bud are tiny flowers that develop into banana's.

One stem of banana's contains between 120 to 150 banana's. A box contains 100 banana's, a container holds 960 boxes, and a ship can transport 400,000 boxes. The average person in the US easts more than 25 lbs. of banana's each year.

Costa Rican Coffee and Plantation Visit

2008-05-21T13:40:00.000-07:00

This is what the coffee looks like growing on the plant. I was surprised that the plants also have flowers on them.
Country side on the way to the plantation.
Hangin out in the coffee fields.To give you a size of each plant.
They let the beans dry out using the sun as shown here above.
We arrived at the coffee plantation today 5-21-2008 which was called Del Cafe Tal, or its the name of the coffee brand. The lady who owns the plantation, Daisy, did not speak hardly any english, but spoke to us via a translator. We were very excited to hear that her plantation is the #1 in all of Costa Rica regarding quality. We could purchase the coffee beans for $10/pound(I think she gave us a discount). We learned a lot about coffee in Costa Rica and the difference between organic vs. non-organic coffee farms. The plantation today was organic for a short while and was very unproductive so the owner decided to switch back to the traditional approach(fertilizer...etc).

Coffee production began in Costa Rica in 1779 in the Meseta Central. This area had very very rich soil and a near perfect climate for the plant. Coffee growing soon surpassed cacao, tobacco, and sugar in importance and by 1829 it had become the major source of foreign revenue. Costa Ricans take much pride in the quality of their coffee rather than the quantity. We learned today that the plantation owner gets 15% return on the actual value(selling price) of the coffee. Lets say the coffee sells in stores for $100, she would get $15 of that. It was very interesting to know that Costa Rica exploits cheap labor too! They have immigrants from Nicaragua do the cheap labor and make $.60 per bag of coffee collected. They collect about 12 bags a day, thus around $7 dollars a day in cheap labor.

Settling In/ Initial Reactions

2008-05-19T15:28:00.000-07:00

Costa Rica is not as different as first imagined. My host family, mainly Mrs. Maria Joaquina Rojas is the sweetest lady that I could ever imagine. She makes us breakfast and dinner and even cleans our rooms! She is very helpful and her children are even more helpful. Her son, Juan Jose, is 24 yrs old and he speaks very good english and acts as a translator between us and the parents. The parents speak some english, but not much, but speak spanish very slowly so that Bob 'my roommate´ can understand her. Thanks to Bob´s spanish skills, he can speak spanish very well and also translates for me. The only down side is that our walk to Universidad Veritas is 30 mins and not a straight shot by any means. However, Bob and I trek it together which makes it bearable.

Costa Rica has almost any American restaurant that you could ever want. Other than that, the country is very different, most notably the weather. Its very nice weather, not too hot thus far, but it rains everyday. I have been told that we have arrived just in time for the rainy season to begin. I am antzy and ready to get out of the city and see what Costa Rica has to offer!

I am meeting many new people and Saul and Glenn are taking good care of us. I have just found out that I forgot both books we are supposed to read, so I will take that added challenge one day at a time. Another challenge is that communication amongst my classmates is very very very hard. No cell phones, no laptops= hard to makes plans and meet up with people. We make plans to meet up at the escuela around 9 PM before we hit up the bars. It seems to be working pretty well so far, but we will see. I am pleased to see that my cell phone works here with a few exceptions. Texting works perfectly, but i can only make local calls. I am VERY excited to see my cell phone bill, I know it will be really pretty!

The people here are extremely nice and willing to help. It is in the Costa Rican culture to be caring and loving. Again, an exception occured. Last night 5/18, Bob and I were taking a cab back and we handed the address to the driver and he stopped at what he thought was the house, but it was not. anyway, we had to call Juan Jose who talked to cab driver to the right house.

To be continued=

Costa Rica Pre-Thoughts

2008-03-25T14:13:00.000-07:00

So i am about to go to Central America this summer to the great country of Costa Rica. I have been all around Europe, Mexico, and the US but never down south to Costa Rica or anything like it. I am excited and ready to head to a brand new ec0-system and culture. I want to see the rain forest and the business culture in Costa Rica. The volcanoes seem very interesting and I look forward to being in the high mountains and especially on the beach. I plan on spending maximum time on the beach.