Going Home

Today we leave for our long trip back home to Vermont. My mind is full from all of the rich experiences I had while I was here. My heart is filled by new friendships I know will last a lifetime.

University of Vermont Educators to Costa Rica group Rocks!

San Jose

We are back at the beautiful Don Carlos Hotel in downtown San Jose. Today we will tour the city, tonight go out for our farewell dinner and then tomorrow it is back home.

Bribri tribe

Wednesday- What an incredible expérience. We met Lucas from the Bribri tribe and toured his farm and forest. There are approximately 240 people in the Bribri tribe living in this area of Costa Rica. Here is a photo of my new friend Emily enjoying the meal they prepared for us, which was served in an umbrella plant leaf.
The food was delicious!

Kickin it in the Caribbean

We are back to the beach! This time on the Carribean side. Yes, Freddie and Greg I even know where that is :)

Don Juan Organic farm

Tuesday- We visited an organic farm that provides enough food for 30 people for a full year on only 2 acres. It was a great day and our guide, the owner was very entertaining.

Here is a picture of Sara with our new friend David, sporting their new machetes.
I wonder how they will get those past customs

We enjoyed a delicious lunch and dinner prepared by Don Juans wife.

Volcano

After our wonderful time at the hot springs we went to see the volcano. The last time it erupted was in 1968, killing 80 people and wiping out several villages. Now it is in a stated of almost constant activity. The clouds cleared and we were able to view the lava coming out of the top and falling down the side. You could even hear the rocks tumbling down. It was incredible to be so close to something so powerful and awesome. The smoke clouds that appeared after the eruptions were very dark and ominous looking. It was the most incredible natural event of our earth I have ever witnessed.

Hot Springs

Above our pictures from our stop at Toad Hollow restaurant aon our way to Lake Arenal area. There is a picture of me enjoying a local beverage and the other is of Sara and our new friend Bonnie. We are meeting the most wonderful group of people and having such a great time.
Last night we went to an eco style hot springs. There are several placed in the area but this one is smaller and puts a limit on how many people they allow in at a time. Our guide Kiki explained that they do not advertise or put out brochures but work with local eco friendly tour groups to arrange visits.
Our visit there was absoltely amazing. You had to walk through the maini part of the building along secluded paths until you came to a set of 4 to 6 large pools with several smaller ones tucked above those. There was a waterfall at one and two bars located close by for refreshments :) I don´t know if I have ever been so relaxed in my entire life. It was as though any stress or tension you had in your mind or body just melted into the water.
We then enjoyed a dinner in the restaurant at the hot springs establishment. Again, this was quite and cozy with a distinct lack of any tourist feel.

Lake Arenal

We enjoyed a trip to Lake Arenal and the Volcano today. We are staying in La Fortunata area for the next two nights.

We had wonderful sights on the way here. We saw howler monkeys in trees on the side of the road and a large toucan bird. Again, I hope to post pictures later.

Tonight we are going to the hot springs and then hope to get a good view of the volcano.

Monteverde & Vermont

We enjoyed several days in Monteverde which had many similarities to Vermont. Even the names mean the same. We visited a coffee plantation and went to a Farmers Market in Santa Elena. The scenery was so like Vermont with the twisting dirt roads, mountains and cows.
I hope to post pictures later this week.

pictures

Here is a photo of Andy our guide at the Seeley farm and also a picture of farmhouse. The bus had to drop us off a mile from the house and we had to walk in. It was such an amazing place. I would love to see Jeff, Torey and Ethan survive living there for a week or two :)

Seeley Farm & Monteverde

Here is a picture of me at the Seeley farm. It is an off the grid farm and was so incredibly beautiful.

We stayed at the Seeley family sustainable farm for a night. The family is like Swiss Family Robinson meets the Sound of Music.

( Credit to classmate Jennifer for that perfect description!)  The mother and daughters made us delicous meals and the son/brother took us on a tour of their property.

Yesterday we traveled to Monteverde. The road to Monteverde was pretty frightening but I kept my cool the entire time. We did the zip line adventure and canopy tour today through the cloud forest. Now we are in Santa Elena.
My camera is not working so this could be my last photo for awhile.

I hope everyone is well.
Happy Birthday Mom and Joyce!!!!!

Pickpocket!

One of the members of our group, who I was walking with was pick pocketed this morning. I missed the entire thing. I am wearing my fanny pack. Not very fashion friendly but super safe, if you wear it around the front. Another person in our group grabbed the thief´s arm and they dropped the purse they had taken out of the bag.

Nice we had a happy ending.

Here I am at Tortugo Island. It was beautiful. I felt like I had landed on a magical, deserted island.

Today we travel to Las Vueltas Lodge, an off the grid family farm.

Check out the website: http://www.lasvueltas.com/gallery.html#seelye

Sara and I leaving Hartland

David and Torey dropped me off at my friend Sara's house in Hartland.   How lucky I am to be traveling with such a great friend!

We have arrived!

Sara and I have arrived in Costa Rica. We left Hartland on Sunday at 300 and drove to Medford Mass to stay with her friend Carol. She arranged for a driver to pick us up and we were in Boston checking in my 330 am. All of our flights were fine, if you are one of those people who don´t mind flying. I do, so it was some what stressful but manageable. I am having difficulty loading the pictures onto my blog so will have to wait for tomorrow to try that again.
We are checked in at the hotel Don Carlos and getting ready to start thinking about dinner in a little bit.