Last night was so amazing. The beach was beautiful at night, the waves crashed against the beach and there was lighting branching out across the sky that was as bright as daylight. We made two sweeps of the beach and found two sets of turtle tracks. At one end of the beach, stuck in an estuary, we also found a baby turtle! Since it was stuck and most likely would have been picked off by a bird the next day, we got to rescue it. Grace picked it up and gently set it on a course out to sea where it will hopefully have a better chance of surviving. We ended the night by sitting on a cluster of rocks under a tree, watching the lighting and listening to the ocean. I thought that waking up at 5am would be rather difficult. Not at all! I couldn't wait to milk my first cow! We all got a chance to milk, and we learned it was pretty darn difficult. We all stood in awe as the local farm boy milked three cows in the time we all did one. Then, we had our first official monkey sighting!!! Emma's trip is now complete. There was a howler monkey mom and baby right next to the dining tables. After that, we went on our dry forest tour. We learned a ton about all the different types of plants here and heard, but didn't see, many birds that had very exotic calls. On our tour we walked over a rocky area that had a waterfall on one side. We almost didn't make it back for lunch because the tractor got stuck in the mud! The long hike was incredibly tiring and sitting down to lunch was rewarding. After lunch we had free time which consisted of card games, ninja, and wa. The rejuvenating free time helped us to get even more excited for our afternoon at the virgin beach. I had never seen a beach like that before. I couldn't take in enough of the scenery- the clear waters, sandy beach, crashing waves, blue sky, trees lining the island... Seeing it during the day was so much different than at night, and it was even more beautiful. As soon as we arrived at the beach, everyone ran for the ocean. It was actually really warm and it felt so good. We swam all the way down to the estuary at one end of the beach. Then, we explored the beach and took tons of pictures of the beautiful landscape. For dinner they grilled chicken, sausage, and beef right on the beach and we had fresh tacos. While we ate we watched the setting sun until it was obscured by clouds. Before we left, most of us went swimming one last time. The waves had picked up a bit so we did some body surfing. As the darkness settled in, we said our farewells to the ocean and piled back into the bus. These blog posts can not even begin to describe the memories made or friendships that have been formed during this ten day experience. I think by now, most of us are ready to be home. To be clean and not sweaty or sticky or constantly being pestered by bugs (did someone say bullet ants?) will be absolutely wonderful. This trip will be something that I know none of us will ever forget. We have grown so much as individuals, but at the same time we have grown together as a group. I am so thankful for this time we've had in Costa Rica. We can't wait to see all of you tomorrow night at the airport! Lots of love, Katie L and Olivia U.

Today we was our last morning in Finca la Anita. It was sad to leave the rainforest, but not the humidity. We had an early breakfast and then the bus picked us up. We headed off to the zip line. The guides were very funny and could do tricks on their zip line. We all had fun and some people even went upside down. Then headed back on the bus to go to Liberia. There we stop at a supermarket to get snacks. Many people stared, but it was ok because they had really yummy snacks. Then we headed back on the bus and went to a conservation area called Horizontes. On the way, the people who weren't asleep, saw a ton of mountains and a lot of pretty scenery. Once we got to Horizontes we moved into our rooms. There we learned about checking your bed for scorpions and sharing bathrooms. So as you can imagine we were very excited... We had lunch after with chicken and really good ice cream. After we met at the conference room and were instructed to observe another type of ant that lives in the Acacia tree, and try to understand how they are each mutualistic towards each other. All of us managed to get it partially right. The ants live in the thorns of the acacia tree, while the ants act as herbicide for the tree, killing any nearby foliage that might suffocate the tree. Later tonight we are going to the beach to sweep the beach for Eastern Pacific Rim Black Turtle, so we will have to see if we find anything. Emma,Lauren, Amanda

Mrs Gabel and I are writing the blog tonight to give the students a break on their last night at Finca LaAnita.  Today the students (and ourselves) woke up to a bright and sunny morning, which lasted all day long!  The first sunny day we've had since arriving in Costa Rica.  Breakfast was a delicious meal of eggs, pinto gallo, yogurt and granola, fruit, juice and coffee....a pretty standard meal for us now.  Afterwards, students went to work with Adrian checking on their ant colonies and feeding them.  They also checked their plates to determine if indeed they were able to grow the Escovopsis parasite that can harm the fungus garden.  All groups had some growth and were able to see that newer fungus was free of the parasite while older fungus was more suseptible.  All groups were busy cleaning up their lab supplies and then went to work finishing their posters and official lab notebooks.  Adrian also talked about opportunities after this experience through OTS (Organization of Tropical Studies) and REU (Research Experience Undergrads).  Students heard about these groups that provide college students with reserach experience in other countries and Adrian was so kind as to offer his recommendation services to those applying for colleges in the next couple years.  Definitely something students should take advantage of!

Lunch consisted of salad, beef, pinto gallo, potatoes and fresh homemade tortillas as well as juice.  After lunch, students once again set off to work on their posters and Adrian rehearsed with each group what they were going to discuss in their final presentation.  We were sent off to our cabins to read so that the presentations would be a surprise to us as well.  Another group visiting the area from the Nicoya Penninsula toured the ranch to gain ideas and knowledge on how to improve their conservation program on the farm they own near the coast.  They are an off the grid campus with a semester and summer program focusing on tropical ecology and sustainabilty.  They evern stopped back to watch the presentations! 

At 4pm the final presenations began.  Each group had 15 minutes to discuss their experiment along with revisions, adjustments and statistical analysis of their data.  Los Vaqueros (Chris, Emma, Olivia and Kobie) tested how ash would act as a natrual repellent simulating a fire alarm for the ants.  Their test revealed that duct tape wrapped around the tree by itself as well as duct tape coated in ash from an furnace on the ranch both deterred ants from moving up and down the tree.  Los Tortugas Moradas (Grace, Shelby  and Katie C) tested citronella as a natural repellent.  They initially set out to test three forms of citronella (paste, leaves and a blank control) with a "bait" leaf but changed to putting a paste or leaves out in the ants foraging trail.  Their results showed the paste was a better deterrent than the leaves themselves.  Los Cientificos Locos (Dan, Katie L, Lauren and Sarah) tested how a tea made of achiotillo leaves would naturally repel ants. Achiotillo leaves contain arsenic and normally ants do not eat these leaves.  They used a high and low concentration for their teas and both seemed to work well in deterring the ants from consuming the leaves.  Los Hormigas de Fuego (Maddie, Amanda, Pedrum and Owen) tested a bell shaped device that fits around the tree trunk and had oil on the underside which ants cannot cross through as well as water in outer lip of the bell.  Their tests showed that the device deterred ants from moving up or down the tree.  All groups will be hopefully presenting their experiments and experience to parents and rotary members sometime after we return so more details can be given then about the rest of their projects.  Each student did an excellent job presenting and it was a remarkable group we took down here! 

Upon completing their presentations we said our goodbye's to Adrian and his wife Mariella.  This was graduation day for students and they celebrated with a trip to the pulperia (mini mini market) to buy candy.  Dinner followed shortly after with beef and chicken on homemade tortilla's and homemade taco chips.  Salsa, avacado, cheese and hot peppers were all available for toppings.  Since it is our last night here students will be busy packing up their belongings so we can head over to the dry forest tomorrow with a zip line canopy tour on the way.  It has truly been a great experience here at Finca La Anita and we know the students have enjoyed every moment of their research as well as their adventures hiking, swimming and community work.  Hard to believe we are leaving here and heading home in two days!  Kristin and I have thoroughly enjoyed working with each and every student and getting to know much more about them in such a wonderful place.  Thank you for giving us the chance to share this experience with them. 

Students will blog the next two nights, but we wanted to take the time to show our appreciation of how hard they have worked and what great individuals they are.  Good night and we will see you very soon!

Pura Vida (Pure life as the Costa Rican's say),
Katie Foley & Kristin Gabel

Buenos noches!

Today was an eventful day! We started off with working on our science experiments, and we started our posters. Our posters will be used to present our projects to Adrian, Pablo, Ana, and locals. After lunch we went off to our hike to the thermal spring. We took taxi pick up trucks and got to ride in the bed. Standing up while we rode was very fun even though we went on some suspicious bridges and rivers. Even one of the signs said to be cautious while passing because the bridge was in bad shape. The hike to the springs was gorgeous in the primary rainforest. It was really fun to run through the forest with Pablo. We had to hike up a stream and a small waterfall to get to the thermal waterfall, but it was worth it. It was beautiful and a fun adventure. It wasn't that warm because of the heavy rain the day before. On the way back we stopped at a thermal bath that the locals go to. We could see the steam coming off the water, and we got to hike up the stream feeding it. When we returned we all took showers and had a great dinner. Right now we are all taking our last night of data. We will see you all on Sunday night!

- Lauren and Maddie 


Amanda's Poetry Corner:
Discovery
Two falls water collects between.
Yin and yang balancing one another out in mass pools of miscellaneous ideas swirling together.
The only place without the limitation of time.
Many planes combine into one.
Thoughts are cleared out by the cleanliness these falls bring. 
Everything now the same, no telling where one thing stops and the next begins,
but do I want to know?
Why cannot quaint mysteries remain unsolved, benign to all importance.
Dive deep, look within, see yourself.
The mystery never known, set aside in calm passing.
Why must the outside be discovered when the inside is untouched.
Mortified by this new truth, minds expand. 
Time returns, new exploration uncovered by this plane between planes,
unseen yet guiding in such a meaningful way.

We added some a few more pictures to the flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/81929315@N04/

Hey everyone! The whole group was super tired today. Yesterday was a very thought demanding day and We really felt it catch up this morning. Delicious breakfast as always (pinto balls and eggs)and then back to the lab. We reviewed our data from last night and finalized our procedures again. Los Vaqueros (the cowboys) which consists of Chris, Olivia, Emma and Kobie are testing the effect of ashes on the ant activity. Los Tortugas Moradas (the purple turtles) which is Grace, Katie C and Shelby are testing how citronella affects ant activity. Dan, Lauren, Katie L and Sarah are Los Cientificos Locos (the mad scientists) are looking at how arsenic tea affects ants. The fire ants, Las Hormigas de Fuego, are testing a bell shaped oil covered device on repelling ants from certain trees. Amanda, Pedrum, Maddie and Owen are in that group. We checked fungus growth, colonies, and some gram staining on the side from three hours. Many groups fine tuned their experiments again to get ready for another night of data tonight. After fighting to stay awake during our group time we came in for an amazing lunch of homemade hamburgers. About this time the clouds cleared up for the first time all week and we could see all the beautiful volcanos (Rincon and Santa Maria) in the distance. It was really an amazing site and we all made sure to take a ton of pictures. Right after our meal we ran back to our cabins to put on painting clothes to get ready to go into the community for our service project this week. We walked to the church and broke into two groups to paint the inside of the church and the outside of the clinic. The man who was helping us at the clinic, Inez, bought us all cookies and coke. It was a really nice surprise. After we finished painting we went to play soccer against some local boys. They ranged from ages 6-15 but they still managed to cream us 5 to 1. They tried to help us at first but by the end they were literally running circles around us. Even the littlest boys couldn't help but laugh as we tried to take the ball from them. After time more and more people came To join the game or just watch. We could tell that the locals were really enjoying watching us scramble around on the field. After our soccer defeat, we went to Aracelly's house for a cooking class while we were still extremely sweaty and dirty from playing. She taught us how to make homemade tortillas, cheese "footballs", cerviche, and salad. She had also prepared rice, beans and caribbean style chicken. After it was all finished, Adrian and Maricella came to the house and enjoyed the meal with us. Once we all finished Aracelly brought out a couple of match picture mind games and stumped us all, even Adrian. By that time it was dark out and we walked back to our cabin while John drove the car slowly behind us so we could see where we were going. Right now the groups are out collecting their data and finishing up their experiments for the night, where we should probably be going to help also. Good night and see you all in 5 days!! -Sarah and Chris Shutout to my dad: I hope you had a wonderful birthday. I wish I was there to celebrate with all of you! Love, Olivia

Hola amigos! This is Katie C. and Shelby R. blogging to you from the dining hall! We did many amazing things today, and we would love to share with you. Today, we woke up to dry skys, which was a nice change from yesterday! We ate a lovely breakfast of pancakes, rice, and eggs. It was absolutly delicious, and then we went to the deck to begin our lab work. Our group is doing our project on the effects of citronella (a plant that repels insects) on gmellina tress (a favorite of the leaf cutter ant). We began with finalizing our procedure and examining our fungi and microbes. Pablo gave us a tour around the farm to scavenge for the best materials we would need for our experiments. We worked through late morning on our projects, and then took a break for lunch. We had an equiste meal of cheesy rice, steak and onions, and fresh salad. After lunch, we had two hours of free time, so many of us went into the village to purchase items from La Pulperia (the local store). Many of us bought various types of candy including: watermellon flavored suckers, cookies and creme flavored suckers, bon bons, chocolate, carmels, and basically anything you can imagine. After we got back, Dr. Pinto took us aside for another meeting, and we had more time to work on our projects. Since our group finished early, we decided to examine our bacteria a little more closly. With the help of Dr. Pinto, we made a bacteria smear, stained it, and examined it under the microscope. We found something very interesting; not only did we have the expected type of bacteria, but also another type as well! The bacteria was from Grace's waterbottle, so it may have been a little frightening for her! Next, we went back to our cabins for a break, and then, before we knew it, it was time to collect our data. Our first trial didn't go quite as expected, considering the leaf we had was completly missing! Although, we did get data from the other two trees, so hopefully we will be okay! We watched as many of the other groups investigated, and did trials on their projects as well. After that, we had another fantastic dinner of fish and potatoes with fresh mango juice. Now, we are off to do another trial for the night! Hope everyone is well at home, and wish us luck as we continue with our adventure!

*This was written last night but due to storms our internet was down and we could not post this.  We'll have our usual daily post tonight as well but wanted to get this up for you to read*

Hola! This is Owen and Grace from Finca la Anita, Costa Rica! Today started out with an always delicious breakfast consisting of fresh fruit, juice, omelets, and a new favorite: Fried cheese. Then we went to the deck to meet with Dr. Adrian Pinto to culture the fungus gardens from our colonies which we collected yesterday. We did this to try to grow the fungus or the parasitic fungus called Escovopsis in a lab setting. In addition, we did readings about diseases and microbes. Later, we met with our groups to finally decide what we wanted to test for our experiment. Los Vaqueros decided to use ash to confuse the ants to keep them from eating that crop. Las Hormigas de Fuego (Owen's group) is designing a plastic structure to coat with natural insect repellents from the forest as well as slippery oil to prevent the ants from climbing up this structure up the tree. Los Scientificos Locos are going to brew a tea containing auchiotillo leaves, which contain arsenic. Las Tortugas Moradas (Grace's "group") is using citronella in different forms to deter the ants from the Gmelina tree. We all designed our hypothesis, procedure, and materials list for each experiment and made a poster to present before dinner. After this, we went to lunch, pasta with meat sauce and the best pesto in the world. We also had juice, bread with more pesto, and salad. The dessert, of which many of us ate two, was a scoop of something (we never know what exactly it is we're eating) delicious atop a lemon leaf. The scoop was similar to cookie dough and was handmade here with fresh cocoa, coconut and other ingredients from La Anita. After this glorious meal, we met on the deck to begin our adventure in the forest. Carlos drove us in the trailer bed which was attached to a tractor. Javier and Freddy, our guides, quickly stopped us along the way when they sighted a very rare white hawk perched in a tree nearby. We looked through the scope and took pictures while Javier told us it was only the third time he had seen one perched in a tree in his eight years as a guide! After loading the trailer once again, we continued to a point where it was obvious the tractor could go no further. Here we dismounted and began the steep trek with our first downhill. At this point, it began to drizzle (as always!). The first part of the hike was mostly dry, and we stopped often to point out different insects while our fabulous guides filled our heads with knowledge and their expertise. Perhaps the coolest critter was the venomous Rainforest Hognosed Pit Viper. After an hour of muddy, slippery, downhills (picture a slip 'n slide covered in mud with 19 people trying to make their way down over leaves and roots in the rain). It was also raining heavily by now. As we finally slipped all the way to the river at the base of the valley, the sky opened and the heavens rained down on us with no end in sight. Deciding that we were already soaked, many of us decided to ditch the swimsuits and dive in clothes and all. We all enjoyed the water, the view, the rain, the people, and an experience so amazing no words can be used to describe it. After some time of swimming, raining, exploring, and slipping on rocks, one loud clap of thunder was all it took to bring us all back home to the bank of our muddy boots, soaking bags, and mushy socks. Then, we redressed in our forever-wet clothes (here Owen comments that his jacket is still wet and Grace mentions the wet socks hanging on the makeshift clothesline in her cabin). This was also the time when many a mumble was made about packing more pairs of tall socks. Brief moments of complaining behind us, we began the arduous task of making the climb back up through what had turned into a river of mud. We climbed for about 45 minutes, faster than the descent we might add, in soaking wet uniforms and boots filled to mid-calf with dirty water. At the breaks, which were few and far between it seemed, many of us took the time to empty the gallons and gallons and gallons of water that had begun to call our boots home. Finally, we made it back to Carlos and his tractor waiting to begin the journey back to La Anita. In case you were wondering, it was still pouring rain. On the ride back to the farm, as Carlos expertly maneuvered his precious cargo through the roots and puddles, we took the time to learn more from our guides as well as sing some Spanish songs. We arrived back safely, soaking wet, smiles on our faces, and not a complaint in sight. With only 45 minutes before our presentations, we all moved quickly to our cabins to wring out the clothes, boots, socks, bags, etc. and prepare for the rest of the day. It was around this time, when we experienced some of the most violent lightning and thunder combinations known to man. One of the strikes was so powerful, it set off the alarms on la Finca. After drying off as much as possible, we gave our presentations to the group as well as Adrian and Pablo to share our thoughts with the group. Next came dinner: kabobs, corn on the cob, peppers, salchichas, fresh juice (of course), and dessert which was ice cream perched atop a glorious piece of chocolate cake. After dinner, was our second hike of the day. We began our night hike with our beloved guides and right away they pointed out some insects to take note of. Throughout the trek, they shared their expertise about the critters we were seeing; preying mantis, grasshoppers, crickets, spiders ad other arachnids, walking sticks, a frog, a cicada, and many others we can't remember. Everyone commented on the diversity we were seeing; a cricket at home cannot possibly be related to a cricket here, can it?! After returning to the farm, everyone went to bed declaring today was the best adventure we have had! They all went happily to bed and Owen and Grace began the arduous task (more arduous than the hike) of this blog. Sixteen hours later, they finally joined their classmates in the cabins and went to bed!

Signing off for the night, 
Nos Vemos!
Grace and Owen

Greetings from Costa Rica! Today was a lovely day. Waking up is always a struggle, however, the farm fresh food that they grow in Finca La Anita makes the struggle worth it. Right after breakfast this morning, Dr. Adrian Pinto took us to "harvest" fungal gardens of various species of leaf cutter ants: Atta Cephalotes, Atta Columbica, and Acromyrmax [spelling not guaranteed to be correct, lol. :)]. Three of us, other than Dr. Pinto himself, harvested the fungal garden along with the queen; those three are Pedrum, Dan, and Amanda. Apparently if you harvest the queen of the ants, you are officially an Ant Man or an Ant Woman, which we all became, yay! I believe that we are the first group to successfully harvest an acromyrmax queen of the program. The process of harvesting involves digging sideways so the dirt is not spilled into the fungal garden chamber. Because of this, the process must be done carefully so the fungal garden is not damaged. We will use the harvested fungal gardens and ants for research later in the week. After this event, we washed off then ate lunch. After lunch we took a 30 minute tractor ride to Colonia Blanca so that we could go horseback riding, or take the alternative hike to a waterfall. The horse trail was filled with rocks and mud. Each student was filled with dread and terror (just kidding, well sort of) of falling off the horse because some of the hills were so muddy and steep it was surprising the horse was still standing. I, Pedrum, eventually got kicked in the ankle by one of these horses, but no worries because I remain uninjured, for now ;). Pablo's dog, Corleon, somehow managed to run all the way there with us, ran on the horse trail, and ran all the way back. The horse trail was filled with spectacular views of the surrounding mountain side so expect amazing photos from my fellow peers! After we got back, we took an hour and half break then continued with the ants. We transferred the ants from the field containers into a more permanent residence. We took a dinner break after transferring the ants. After a delicious meal, they all are delicious by the way, we found leaves for the ants so they could forage and eat. After this we took a look at the petri dishes from yesterday and counted the amount of microbe colonies present. After this event, we wrote/are writing the blog. I don't think I can get any further up to date than this. Now off to bed! Stay tuned for tomorrows blog update, which I'm sure will be as equally snarky as this one. From Costa Rica, with Love.

Pedrum and Kobie

To give you a taste of what we are doing and what we have done so far, we were able to upload a few pictures for you guys to view! There is more to come. We would upload them all,  but sadly the internet connection is not that fast :'(. Here is the Link!


http://www.flickr.com/photos/81929315@N04/sets/72157630471435540/

Greetings! Sorry about posting this so late, but we've had a very long day. A very fun day, at that.

Breakfast started at 8am and after getting a good night's sleep we were all bright eyed and bushy tailed and ready to go! We ate eggs, rice and beans, and fresh pineapple, which was incredibly delicious.  Then, Pablo took us on a tour of the plantation to see how the ants are affecting the crops they plant as well as getting a lay of the land. We saw a variety of plants: achiotillo (arsenic plant), cacoa tree, guava, palm, pineapple, macadamia, orange, etc... There was a plant where were were able to squeeze it and wash our hands out in the forest (pictures to come!!). To get back to the cabins, we trekked through the rainforest. Under logs, across streams, over muddy terrains, trying to keep up with Pablo as he was machete-ing his way though. We also had our first leaf-cutter ant sighting! The rainforest is a beautiful place and walking through the midst of all of it was a wonderful experience.
After the long trek, we were all hungry and ready for lunch. Once again, it was beyond delicioius, consisting of rice and beans (also, once again- but they're still stupendous) and beef.
After the nutritious lunch, we had a tour of the local community we are staying in. We bought ice cream made by some local people, in bags, and it only cost fifty cents! Coconut, cacoa, and cream flavors- que deliciosa! We saw the brand new basketball court, less than two months old and made possible by the Peace Corps and financial help from an WNBA player. We viewed the typical home that the locals live in- a very different life from the ones we have back home. Pablo introduced us to a 76 year old man who travels twenty five kilometers on horseback almost every week to continue sustaining his family. Wow! We also visited the local school, church, and saw the clinic we will be helping later this trip. The sun finally came out and we were ready for a swim. The pond we swam in had a bottom that consisted of pure mud. Your feet squished all the way down to the water and even when you got into the water. After enjoying the scenery and the subtle rainfall that had begun, we decided to head back to the cabin. Realizing that the mud was pretty much covering our bodies, we decided it would be a good idea to rinse off in the showers.
In our time before dinner, we were able to relax, photograph the humming birds, and enjoy one another's company while playing cards.
Dinner did not consist of rice and beans (to tell the truth, we kind of missed it...!) but did consist of chicken with caribbean sauce and mashed potatoes- the best I've ever eaten.
After dinner, Dr. Adrian Pinto arrived and we introduced formally to microbes and the scientific method. We found our groups and named them: Los Vaqueros, Las Hormigas de Fuego, Los Scientificos Locos, and Las Tortugas Moradas. Our first experiment was testing to see where microbes are the most present. Doing this at 9:00 at night, you would think that we would be slightly tired. In fact, we were just the opposite! Thrilled to be doing an official experiment!

It has been a long day; it is hard to believe that just yesterday we arrived and two days ago we were celebrating the 4th of July. We have already experienced so much about the Costa Rican culture and learned so much about the beautiful environment that surrounds us. We are looking forward to horseback riding tomorrow, continuing our experiments and improving our spanish skills.

Amanda's Poetry Corner:
Yesterday's poem...
WELCOME
Different scenes scratching the surface of my eyelids like irritating sand.
Once the polish returns, awe sets in.
The magnitude of the mountains, billowing clouds do hide.
Palmate leaves looking like welcoming hands do guide.
Liberia, the pathway's title.
Open air tunnels peak out beyond the trees, touches of civilization. 
Here we come, sweet wholesome stillness.

Today's poem...
PURITY
Clean at last!
That murky water now washed off,
purity by the exquisit crystal clear liquid comming pre-heated by the foucet in the wall.
Alas, as I peer out of the mesh window conjoining my purified world to the outside world.
A sublimly perched humming bird catches the cornner of my eye. 
Please come again soon little bird.
Clarity and calmness now setting in.

FROM!!!!!!!!
Olivia, Amanda, and Katie L   GO CABIN 1! :)

Greetings and salutations to the parents of we here in Costa rica. I am excited to report that no one is dead, although we were all string to die of boredom on the flights. Many of us just slept through until we landed in Atlanta. We were a little rushed on our transition between the flights, but it worked out the end. Upon landing we were moved into a bust hat took us on a two hour trip to Finca la Anita. Along the way, we stopped at a local restaurant, since many of us had not eaten since before the flight, or even since the night before. The food was delicious, and many of us got a chance to practice our Spanish (we're pretty bad at it). All the while, we are surrounded on all sides by beautiful scenery, rural villages, and wonderful people. Our hosts here at the ranch, Ana and Pablo, are some of the nicest people we have ever met, and have been helpful every step of the way. Around halfway there, John stopped us and showed us a tropical fruit called a Mamon Chino. It was absolutely delicious and looked like nothing we had ever seen before. Upon arrival we discovered that not only was the rain falling and refusing to stop, but the camp also has a resident horse and three resident dogs. Since none of us know their real names, and we haven't bothered to ask, we call them Charlie, Chester, and chestnut. The horse we call Freddie. After arrival, getting introductions and formalities out of the way, as well as obtaining our boots, we all settled in to rest before dinner. Dinner consisted of fish, salad and vegetables, along with some delicious pesto sauce and even more delicious hot sauce. Over what was an excellent meal, we had some of the silliest conversations imaginable. And thus, with that I find myself writing this blog. I wish ya'll the best from us hereat the ranch. Sincerely, The first blogger Daniel McCrackin

Seeds of Change Costa Rica

Welcome to our Costa Rica Blog site!  We will be updating our blog daily once we are in Costa Rica.  Please come back each day and see what exciting things we will get to experience.