Costa Rica 2024

We woke up to delightful breakfast of eggs, mixed fruit, and toast. After we ate up, we loaded up our luggage into the bus and headed for our last field experience in Costa Rica. We went to a wild life refuge about 45 minutes away where we met some of the residents! Most of the animals that were being kept at the sanctuaries were ones who had been confiscated from homes as result of the 2014 law passed where wildlife can not be held as pets in Costa Rica. The remaining pets were those who were left behind as young creatures in the wild without the care of parents. Without parents in the wild an infants chance of survival drops drastically to the point where it is not safe for them anymore. So the sanctuary brings them in and cares for them. We also had a presentation from one of the veterinarians at the sanctuary where she told us about the cases they had for sea turtles. From swallowing fish hooks to losing a fin in a propeller of a boat, the turtles were left vulnerable. So, the vete...

  Water quality tests Snorkeling to see sharks  Dolphins! Looking for crocodiles

Today, Costa Rica's national breakfast was served, featuring gallo pinto, egg, and plantain. The drink was a delicious pineapple and mint mix that was extremely refreshing. We then set off to Cano Island to find some sharks. We were extremely lucky this morning; we saw an alligator while making our way through the river. Luckier still, we made it to the open sea and saw a pod of dolphins that played in the waves made by the boat! Evelyn caught beautiful photos of them jumping out of the water.  We arrived at Cano Island and gazed at the crystal clear blue water before jumping in. The atmosphere was perfect and the water was cool and calm. While snorkeling we were able to see all sorts of marine animals! We spotted over ten turtles, some of them even came to the surface to breathe and we could say hello. As well as turtles, there was also a manta ray, and even two whitetip reef sharks resting on the sea floor! Julia guided us through the waters, pointing out fish we've seen in t...

We started our morning with a bowl of chia seed pudding, granola, hibiscus, assorted fruits and banana ice cream. After this we made our way to a lab dedicated to coral restoration. Here we received a thorough class about coral on how the lab clones them to speed up the reproduction process. We were also informed about coral bleaching and how they try to prevent it. The lab's purpose is to educate people about the importance of coral and why we need to fund places that dedicate themselves to this cause. After our lesson we walked a few feet to the beach where students spotted howler monkeys and iguanas. We were also lucky enough to witness a pod of dolphins traveling not too far from where we were swimming in the ocean. Other students held a casual soccer game.  We enjoyed our rice, lentil, plantain, and egg burrito while looking at the ocean,  and then made our way back to Innoceana. There we had a break where student taught each other how to make friendship bracelets while w...

        Looking at the coral in the tanks at the Coral Restoration Center Spotted a caterpillar on a piece of wood at the beach! Class friendship bracelet session, taught by Federico :) On a walk to a hidden beach with beautiful plant life. Sunset on the beach! Class about sharks, can't wait to snorkel tomorrow!

Heading out on the river to get to the ocean Juvenile Humpback whale spotted! Mr. Roddy relaxing on the boat. The tail of the juvenile humpback whale. Another view. Meeting up with another boat to retrieve equipment to listen to whales.  Listening to the whales! Sunset and moon. White rice with lentils, mushrooms, and squash with an orange reduction sauce  

We started our day early with a delicious breakfast of plantain and corn vegan pancakes. We had various topping options like baked coconut, palm hearts, hummus, and homemade marmalade, so everyone was able to customize their own unique pancake! After breakfast, we set out for Costa Marino Ballena in the Innoceana boat to look for whales. This time of year, the Southern humpback group from the Arctic is visiting Costa Rican waters. The females come to give birth and raise their calves, and the males come to sing the songs they have been honing all year to attract a prospective mate.  After about an hour on the water, we got lucky: another boat in the area radioed out that they had spotted a mother and her calf. We and several other boats arrived at the location, and all the boats had to stop a few hundred meters away from where the baby was visible. Whale protection regulations prevent the use of a motor that close to a whale, both to prevent potential collisions and because they pr...

Today our morning started off with a good and filling breakfast, which included rice with beans, eggs, plantain, and flour tortillas. It was a very busy day, including many activities and lots of fun! We started by driving about 45 minutes out to a whale-shaped beach called Marino Ballena National Park. We walked around the beach and admired the beautiful view of the mountains and then reached a tidepool. Using what we had learned the previous day about invertebrates, we walked around the tidepools and saw many different species, such as hermit crabs, baby shrimps, starfish, and many more. Not only did we just look at them but we got the chance to learn about them at the same time as we were finding them. Although the rocks were a little slippery and hard to walk on, everyone pushed though and we all agreed that it was worth it for the animals we ended up seeing.  After finishing this, we got the chance to jump into the ocean and ate some fruit! This was a short time; it was a grea...

  The group on our way to the tide pool parts of the scenery some of the invertebrates that we learned about one of the students exploring the terrain before leaving the beach a bivalve  the waterfall that the students visited

Group picture before Boruca Students in front of Boruca mask artisan shop Toucan :) Intro to Boruca culture & breakfast Meeting the pets of Boruca Butterfly Hiking to the sacred waterfall of Cuasran Boruca artisan showing us how wooden masks are carved Swimming and sunbathing at Cuasran with a view of the mountains Lunch at Boruca Se ñ ora Lourdes hugging her son behind the stove where she cooked for us  Painting traditional Boruca masks  Group picture at the end of our visit  End of the day invertebrate ID lesson for tomorrow's tide pool exploration!