Thursday, June 21, 2012
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
gratitude and wonder
I certainly don't want to think about this incredible experience ending. This group of students have been fantastic to travel with...so receptive to the gems that they are learning, polite to all who they encounter and full of delight. I am so grateful to Marti Harmon who made all of this possible and who found this absolutely perfect organization to work with..... a perfect balance of fun, education and reverence for this valuable planet of ours. We have had a full experience and you will be hearing about the adventures from us all in person soon. Tomorrow we will be hiking through the jungle and spending the day snorkeling....yes, life is so stressful here. I'm savoring
every moment.
every moment.
Pam
Hola!
Day 7 here in the jungle of Costa Rica.
This morning I was greeted by the hollar of the Hollar Mokey... to imagine this, spend the night in the Rain Forest Cafe and there you will only begin to imagine our daily and evening experience here in Costa Rica. Wow....what an amazing experiencing. 7 days of camping, hiking, rafting, repelling and coexisting with jungle creatures including the bright yellow poisonous viper has been the most invigorating and adventurous trip of my life. Working and spending time with the indigenous people of Costa Rica has not only been humbling but heart warming and spiritually fulfilling as well. Our tour guides, Tom, Diego and the other awesome guys have been more than accommodating, knowledgeable, and loving. I truly feel like I am here with family, including the indigenous people of the region. Today we off to the beach for more fun in the sun!! Fabulous trip. Great big thumbs to Marty Harmin, George, Sharon and Christine.
Love
Pam I Am
Day 7 here in the jungle of Costa Rica.
This morning I was greeted by the hollar of the Hollar Mokey... to imagine this, spend the night in the Rain Forest Cafe and there you will only begin to imagine our daily and evening experience here in Costa Rica. Wow....what an amazing experiencing. 7 days of camping, hiking, rafting, repelling and coexisting with jungle creatures including the bright yellow poisonous viper has been the most invigorating and adventurous trip of my life. Working and spending time with the indigenous people of Costa Rica has not only been humbling but heart warming and spiritually fulfilling as well. Our tour guides, Tom, Diego and the other awesome guys have been more than accommodating, knowledgeable, and loving. I truly feel like I am here with family, including the indigenous people of the region. Today we off to the beach for more fun in the sun!! Fabulous trip. Great big thumbs to Marty Harmin, George, Sharon and Christine.
Love
Pam I Am
Katherine
Woke up to find a small indigenous man hunched over my roommate, Pam. Tenttivly, I rose to see if protection was in order, only to discover it was only her dirty clothes hanging on a hook. Relieved, I happily went back to sleep.
In the first hour of my first morning in Limon, I have personally encountered a viper snake, hollar monkeys and came into too close contact with a scorpion. The hollar monkeys look harmless but the the sound they make, similar to the roar of a hungry lion, was scary enough to send Pam and I scampering under the bed like to small mice.
The Almond and Coral Hotel, an echo lodge, where we are currently staying now; is one of the most unique and special places I have ever experienced. To sleep, somewhat protected, yet truly with all the jungle has to offer is amazing. Today we are going to visit the local beach in Limon and maybe do a little local shopping, which the Wat girls refer to as, "shh". I have to say I have a whole new level of respect for the students and teachers of Watkinson, they have happily and confidently handled all of the challenges that natures has to offer. I have witnessed Rachel face her fear of bees; Meghan butterflies; Pam, lice, Mr sailor; his roommate, a 7 inch lizard and my very own girls; Haven and Grace, the biggest challenge of all, me their Mom, in the jungle.
In the first hour of my first morning in Limon, I have personally encountered a viper snake, hollar monkeys and came into too close contact with a scorpion. The hollar monkeys look harmless but the the sound they make, similar to the roar of a hungry lion, was scary enough to send Pam and I scampering under the bed like to small mice.
The Almond and Coral Hotel, an echo lodge, where we are currently staying now; is one of the most unique and special places I have ever experienced. To sleep, somewhat protected, yet truly with all the jungle has to offer is amazing. Today we are going to visit the local beach in Limon and maybe do a little local shopping, which the Wat girls refer to as, "shh". I have to say I have a whole new level of respect for the students and teachers of Watkinson, they have happily and confidently handled all of the challenges that natures has to offer. I have witnessed Rachel face her fear of bees; Meghan butterflies; Pam, lice, Mr sailor; his roommate, a 7 inch lizard and my very own girls; Haven and Grace, the biggest challenge of all, me their Mom, in the jungle.
Tatyana
This whole trip has been so extraordinary.
My favorite parts of the whole trip was probably the home stay, repelling, and white water rafting.
At the home stay, every one of us had a mother, brother(s), and sister(s). In my family I had a mother, brother and sister. I felt so nervous the first day because they spoke barely any English and i barely spoke any espanol! I was with Haven, her and I had such a great bonding experience together, with the family. By the time we were leaving, i felt so close with the family's, i didn't want to leave. :(
The repelling was SO amazing. When i went repelling, it was just straight down a waterfall, but on this one we went down two waterfalls along with natural water-slides! Some of us got hurt but it was worth it! When i was about to go down the first one, i fell on Tom and him and I almost went down together, hahaha.
But the white water rafting was probably the longest activity of all. It was 3 days long. We rafted probably 2 to 3 and a half hours each time. Me, Julie, Maegan & Rachel were laughing the WHOLE time. Yesterday, we spend 3 and 1/2 hours rafting, i went tubing for half the time but when i got on the raft, it was the funniest thing. Me, Julie, Grace, Tom, Maegan and Rachel were talking about going STing today. (shopping and tanning) Im sad how we only have 3 or 2 days left but i will never forget the experience i had here with everybody.
My favorite parts of the whole trip was probably the home stay, repelling, and white water rafting.
At the home stay, every one of us had a mother, brother(s), and sister(s). In my family I had a mother, brother and sister. I felt so nervous the first day because they spoke barely any English and i barely spoke any espanol! I was with Haven, her and I had such a great bonding experience together, with the family. By the time we were leaving, i felt so close with the family's, i didn't want to leave. :(
The repelling was SO amazing. When i went repelling, it was just straight down a waterfall, but on this one we went down two waterfalls along with natural water-slides! Some of us got hurt but it was worth it! When i was about to go down the first one, i fell on Tom and him and I almost went down together, hahaha.
But the white water rafting was probably the longest activity of all. It was 3 days long. We rafted probably 2 to 3 and a half hours each time. Me, Julie, Maegan & Rachel were laughing the WHOLE time. Yesterday, we spend 3 and 1/2 hours rafting, i went tubing for half the time but when i got on the raft, it was the funniest thing. Me, Julie, Grace, Tom, Maegan and Rachel were talking about going STing today. (shopping and tanning) Im sad how we only have 3 or 2 days left but i will never forget the experience i had here with everybody.
Julie
The trip is amazing. All the activity's take so much out of us all. We are really to busy having fun to worry about anything eles. My favorite part so far was staying with the homestay. In the homestay We were had a mother. My home stay had a mother, a daughter, and granddaughter, a grandson, and I was roomed with Ms.Harmon, and Bella. We also rafted and it was really fun. Today we are going to the beach and tomorrow we are swimming and shopping. or STing, as Tom called it.
Kyle
The hotel is amazing. There is a yellow snake that if it bites you only have 3 hours to live. The nature is beautiful and do not want to come home.
Chris
I've seen a eyelash viper at the hotel I'm staying at. Also I went in the river to swim and I was on a boat. I went on the bus for a long time a lot longer than I expected we were going to be on the bus. I bought two things of pringles and oreos. We keep eating way to much food and buying way to much junk.
Scott
This trip to Costa Rica has been simply amazing. Over the past few days I really learned what Pura Vida really meant.The homestay families were so nice to everyone. The family I was staying with was really funny, because only the mother spoke a little english which left mer to translate for the other person I was rooming with. The repelling day was so much fun, even though I don't like heights. The white water rafting days were simply amazing, the first day the biggest rapid that we went down was a class 2. On the next day of the rapids we had class 3 and 4 rapids which were so much fun to go down. The next to days we learned about the indegenous people, specifically the Bri Bri people. We also painted their a classroom in their school and also did a mural. Right now we are in the hotel ending this awesome trip. It has been a great time.
Sam
Hi everyone, I have been having a great time, especially now that were really close to the beach. Today we are going to the beach for just a fun day...(I have been wanting to do that this whole trip).
will be back soon,
-sam
will be back soon,
-sam
This is incredible! This stay has been the greatest experience of my life! I definintly want to live here when I get out of college. Did you know that these people were rated the happiest people in the world? Did you know that America is 150? Just everything about it here. They don´t have as much as us, but they are so much happier with out it! I really miss the village. I met a lot of kids there who were really fun to hang out with and have fun. I got to show off some of my horrible soccer skills when we played. The kids were so good! I met a 10 year old who could play varsity. They are that good. I cant wait to see what else we do!
Monday, June 18, 2012
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Friday, June 15, 2012
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Costa Rica 2012 - Pura Vida!
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| Diego Teaching Butterfly Migration |
You can check in on this blog a few times of day to find pictures and a little bit of text of how the adventure is going. Also remember if you need to contact anyone or myself during the trip you can reach us as my cell phone +506 8719-1656 or call our office at 1-855-CRR-TOUR or US: 352 694-3462. We plan on keeping you posted on everything and feel free to comment we would love to hear from you!
Costa Rica is known as the land of Pura Vida which translates to "Good-Life" and is a phrase you will find anywhere at anytime. If you learn to say "Pura Vida" in Costa Rica all will be fine. Thanks for following the blog and stay posted.
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