Updates....

Since this trip has been some of the best few weeks of my life, it is going to be extremely difficult to leave on Saturday. Soooo, for about a week now, Bob and I have been contemplating staying here a few extra days after everyone else leaves, mainly because we just don't want to leave this country, and because there are still a few things we want to do here. We love the "pura vida" lifestyle and we were hoping to go back to the beach and actually get to go surfing. It sounded like a great idea, so we checked the prices on changing our flights and started to get everything set up so that we could stay. We talked to Kim Sulleau back at Miami and she was ready to help us get it all planned. We knew we could have so much fun! I could seriously live in this country: thats how much I love it right now and don't want to leave. However, my parents were pretty much against it when I called, so I'm pretty bummed, but it will be nice to get back home too and see my family and friends. I respectfully disagree with them as to why I shouldn't stay haha, and while thinking about it today I realized that I feel just as safe here than I do in downtown Chicago, despite it being a foreign country. So Dad I went ahead and changed my flights anyway... just kidding! Dont' worry I am coming home Saturday with the rest of the group, but I will definitely be coming back to Costa Rica sometime in the near future. In fact, some of us talked to day about returning over Christmas break when it is summer here! Yaayy!

Ecotourism: Poas Volcano and La Paz Waterfall Gardens

Except for bungee jumping tomorrow, today was our last trip while we are here. We travelled early n the morning to the Poas Volcano, which is northwest of San Jose in a cloud forest. It rained, of course, and we were not sure whether we would be able to see the top of the volcano or not. It is supposed to be a rare event when it isn't too cloudy up there that you can actually see anything. Incredibly, the clouds cleared right when we walked up to the viewing platform. We were overlooking a huge crater with volcanic smoke spewing out of a pool in the middle. It gave off a strong stench of sulfur, but it was worth it to be up there viewing something as gorgeous as this, even in the rain.

After leaving the volcano, we travelled to La Paz Waterfall Gardens just 30 minutes away. (La Paz means peace in Spanish for anyone who doesn't know.) This was definitely a huge form of ecotourism for the country, as it was place to view exotic species of birds, frogs, snakes, butterflies, hummingbirds, and plenty of other animals. We saw gorgeous toucans with rainbow colored beaks, small green macaws, and parrots that liked to climb on Peter's back. In the butterfly room we saw hundreds of different species of butterflies, including the well known blue morpho butterflies. Next was the humminbird are, which was so much fun because you got to be as close as you wanted to a bunch of hummingbirds flying past your face so quickly. As you can imagine, is was pretty difficult to get pictures because they move so fast! We also saw a number of different kinds of snakes, frogs, and monkeys. After viewing all of these wonderful animals, it is easy to see why Costa Rica wants to conserve its rainforests and protect its species diversity so badly. By letting tourists view these animals, they are hoping that we will feel the same way. How could you allow the destruction of all of these animals' habitats to continue after viewing them so closely and seeing how really magnificent they are? In this way, ecotourism in Costa Rica is helping to promote environmentalism, conservationism, and the protection of species diversity, as well as creating new jobs and stimulating the Costa Rican economy. As I have said before in past blogs, ecotourism is now the number one source of revenue in the Costa Rican economy. Thus, it seems as though ecotourism in Costa Rica is a win-win situation, for both people and the environment.

After the animal gardens, we walked down a bunch of stairs to view the waterfall, which was stunning and seemed to flow with extremely clean, clear water. Throughout our hike, we saw a number of waterfalls and took pleanty of pictures. (Unfortunately my camera battery died in the middle of the hike but I still have a few good ones.) At one of the locations, we got to see why they call one of the falls "white magic." The trick was to look at the rocks over which water was pouring for about 20 seconds, and then look to the right of the waterfall slowly. What we saw was some sort of optical illusion, as it looked like the rocks next to the waterfall were moving! It was really cool and I think I did it a few too many times because I was pretty dizzy for a while afterwards. The waterfalls really were a great sight to see, and once again they really made its visitors appreciate nature.

Ecotourism in Costa Rica is one of the new trends in economic development. It has brought much revenue and many jobs to the country, as well as benefitting and protecting the natural habitat. Hopefully other countries around the world will be able to follow Costa Rica's lead in this great industry. They too can protect their own environments and bring in tourists to view what makes their country beautiful. If this is done sooner than later, maybe the world can save hundreds of species from extinction and preserve the natural beauty that the earth has given us for free, which we so often take for granted.

Coffee

Like banana production, growing coffee in Costa Rica is not the best thing for the environment.  It has caused soil erosion, deforestation, and pollution of rivers and streams.  Much of the coffee bean is made up of contaminants and over half of it is thrown away as waste.  Often, farmers just throw the waste into rivers and streams.  At the end of the coffee season, rivers can be found with piles of bean pulp and full of sugar water and contaminants which can destroy life in them and hurt people and animals.  The Costa Rican government is currently working to control the amount of pollution that is getting into rivers and streams from coffee plantations by imposing regulations on the proper way to treat wastes.  However, it doesn't seem to be enough because it is still occurring all over the country.  Farmers need to be educated about what they are doing to the environment and told how they can change their ways.  Their should be some type of program implemented where farmers can take their waste to a company that can dispose of them properly,or even better, find an alternative use for them.  

Deforestation and soil erosion are occurring throughout Costa Rican coffee production areas because farmers are constantly looking to expand their fields so that they can get more return in this growing sector of their economy.  Trees are being cut down to provide more land for production.  There is a new kind of coffee plant coming into the market that does not need shade and can grow in direct sunlight.  It is able to produce three times as much coffee as regular coffee plants.  Despite this benefit, This new plant is causing even more deforestation because trees are not needed for shading.  In order for Costa Rica to become a sustainable economy, they need to do something about the damages they are doing to the environment.  They need to protect their reputation as an eco-friendly country and adopt new ways of farming for both coffee and bananas that are sustainable and do not hurt the environment.  Otherwise, they may encounter expanding liabilities in the future in regard to their harmful effects.  

Bananas

I've noticed throughout the trip that our host family always has at least 50 bananas around the kitchen every day. Some are green, some are birght yellow, and others are purely brown. We have them every day for breakfast with a little bit of honey which makes them taste even better. Carmen also uses whole banana slices for desert in jello. I had the absolute best banana bread ever at the Chiquita plantation, too. It was warm and you could definitely tell that it was picked straight off the tree. Bananas are so rich, fresh, and flavorful here in Costa Rica that it is going to be hard to start eating the bananas we get back in the U.S.

Unlike Chiquita, many of the banana plantations here in Costa Rica are very bad for the environment. They cut down acres of land for the fields, and pesticide runoff gets into streams, rivers, oceans, soil, and eventually into humans and animals. Workers are not paid well, nor are they equipped with the proper equiptment or training to handle the banans or pesticides safely. Our instructor Glenn mentioned that a lot of times you will see pesticide cans laying on the ground at the ends of the fields. Clearly, there needs to be an improvement in the safety regulation of banana plantations. Currently, there are a number of organiztions working toward this goal, including the Emaus Forum, the Commission of Human Rights in Central America (CODEHUCA), and EUROBAN. The Emaus Forum has worked to halt the uncontrolled expansion of the banana industry which was destroying rainforests, as well as working to improve working conditions in certain plantations around Costa Rica and promote organic production. The Comission of human rights has also been working to improve working conditions and to protect employees' health through unions and labor organizations. EUROBAN is a European group of organizations that are concerned with banana production and fair trade within Latin American countries. Despite many of these organizations efforts, much more still needs to be done regarding banana production. The U.S. and other large countries hav a huge voice because they are the main consumers of all of these bananas. people should be educated about which banana companies are good and which are bad so that we can force the bad companies to improve their conditions.

Puerto Viejo, Cahuita, and Manzanilla

After leaving the Chiquita banana plantation, we headed off on our huge tour bus once again for Puerto Viejo, a small town on the southern Caribbean cost of Costa Rica. Puerto Viejo is basically a small version of Jamaica, and you can't walk more than 20 yards without seeing someone with dreadlocks. We got to the hotel, which seemed a little shady at first: it was in an alley and we were warned that Puerto Viejo is relatively not the safest town, just like San Jose. But, it actually turned out to be be pretty nice. The rooms were a decent size and had no bugs in them, which was great because our last hotel at La Selva was full of many of the insects that we saw in the rainforest. We settled in and went to dinner at a small shack at the end of town. We got the option of chicken or beef (standard here in Costa Rica), so I ordered the beef with a Carribean style sauce, which I never would have tried had I not been in the Caribbean. In between ordering and actually getting our meals, a few of us walked to some of the little shops along the beach. Ever vendor had basically the same stuff: lots of jewlery, bracelets, Bob Marley gear, and other fun things. All of us were offered pot at least twice, and a few of the guys were even offered cocaine. It was pretty funny, and we knew that it was a totally normal thing here. Now that I think about it, I don't think we saw a cop in that town the whole time we were there. Anyway, I bought a really cute bracelet that I wear almost every day. After shopping for about 20 minutes, we had to run back to dinner because it started to downpour. We got back to our table just in time for the food to be served. Our meals came with rice and beans, plantanes that tasted like cookies, and veggies. It was delicious and the service was great despite there only being two cooks. Then we all had one of the most delicious chocoalte cakes ever! It has been a while since I've had some good chocolate, because many of the desserts that we get here are fruity or at least somewhat healthy.


That night we went to one of the small bars on the beach, and it turned out to be a kareoke bar!! We all had a blast singing to the most random songs, including One Hand in My Pocket by Alanis, and even a few Spanish songs. You will all be shocked when I say this, but I was up at the mike singing most of the songs haha. Of course iIwas singing with 4 other people at all times, because we all know I could never sing anything solo: my voice is horrendous. We discovered that our amazing bus driver Ronaldo has a great singing voice, and he sang a few English songs with us which was so fun. After about an hour, we noticed that we had a crowd of locals watching us through the windows. I'm sure we looked like crazy drunk Americans, which I'm sure didn't surprose them. I had sooo much fun! But, the night doesn't stop there. We walked from the first bar to a second, which was much bigger, on the ocean, and an intense dance club. We danced all night, and hung out at the tables on the beach. We definitely felt like we were in paradise once again. Late into the night, a laungere show started, which I guess is becoming pretty popular here in Costa Rica. It was hilarious to watch.

Abby, Me, Beth, and Nolan singing at the mike.

In the morning we woke up early and drove to Cahuita, an even smaller town on the coast where we boarded some boats to go snorkeling again! It was cloudy again, but much warmer than our first time snorkeling in Cano Island. This time, we were swimming with the fish, and we had to float as best we could so that we didn't touch the coral, which dies if it is touched. I had a blast and saw some gorgeous fish, including a small black one wioth neon blue spots, and a huge colorful fish that had bright green, blue, purple, and yellow scales. We snorkeled for about 2 hours, and I was the first one in the water and the last one out. It is an experience I will never forget! While snorkeling, I thought a lot about one of the thories we learned in class: that all the fish in the world may be gone by 2048 due to overfishing and pollution of the oceans. It's a scary thought, and I hope the world can find a way to prevent this. After snorkeling, the boats dropped us off further down the coast where we got to hang out on the beach and eat some fruit. There were monkey that would walk right up to you, and we saw a few snakes and plenty of crabs. It was cool to see everything so close.

All of us laying out at the beach after snorkeling.

After snorkeling, we drove to our hotel in Manzanilla, called Las Palmas. We were all shocked when we got there to see a gorgeous resort with its own private beach, a pool, plenty of plam trees, and luxurious rooms, which we had yet to experience. We immediately changed back into our bathing suits and played frisbee in the water. After a few hours of hanging around on the beach, we got ready for the buffet-style dinner in the veranda. It was absolutely delicious, of course, and I had some of the best fish I've ever had, but I have no idea what it was! We were all stuffed so we decided to take a nap. After sleeping for a few hours, a bunch of us decided that it would be a great idea to stay up all night and watch the sun rise at 5:00 the next morning. it turned out to be one of the best nights I've had on this trip, which says a lot. We played cards for a while ( for everyone at Miami we plyed Asshole so it reminded me of all of you!), swam in the pool for hours, and hung out on the beach just talking and having fun until morning. Unfortunately, it was too cloudy that morning to see the sun actually come up, but it was definitely worth it. Despite not sleeping at all, Marty, Abby, peter, and I decided to go for a run at 7:00 that morning along one of the roads and on the beach. It was a picture perfect run: it was sunny and we all felt great afterwards. The next day was pretty eventful as well: I layed out on the beach and relaxed, hung out in the pool, and just enjoyed the sun for the whole day. That night, we partied at the tiny hotel bar, watched some super weird movies, and had a bonfire on the beach. The bonfire was perfect, and Peter is definitely the best person to have if you are lost in a forest. He made a great bonfire out of wood he gathered from along the beach and in the forest. We all had fun talking and laughing at our instructor Glenn who was pretty drunk and told us he wouldn't remember any of this in the morning. A few of us then went for a night swim in the pool for about an hour, and this again was a great time. Overall, these 3 days were absolutely amazing, and I will never forget any of it or any of the amazing people that I spent it with!

Our hotel!

The small crab in our bath tub.

Abby and I's view from our room.

The 7 of us that stayed up all night! : Heidi, Bob, Me, Steve, Diane, PJ, and Evan.

PJ, Daine, Steve, and Heidi.

The start of it getting light out.. probably at 4:30 that morning.

The sunrise in the morning. Too bad it was cloudy.

The beach... absolutely paradise!

Coffee

Personally, I don't like coffee, but after this trip I really wish I did! Costa Rican coffee is supposed to be some of the best in the world, and even though the country does not produce necessarily the most coffee, it takes pride in the quality that this country can produce. At both Cafe Britt and the small inorganic coffee plantation with the upcoming brand name of Cafe Del Tal, I tried small sips of coffee and still didn't like any of it. All of the coffee drinkers in our group, though, said it really was amazing. Even though I don't like the taste of coffee, I absolutely love the smell! The aroma of coffee in the morning is one of the most refreshing things to smell, and if coffee tasted like it smells, I would be addicted as well. In searching for more information about coffee on the internet, I found this really great website that provides some fun Costa Rican coffee recipes. The website is owned by a company called Costarrican Coffee, and they are an internet delivery service of their brand of coffee to anywhere in the world. Here are a few of the fun recipes! The Caribbean one has to be made in places like Puerto Viejo, where we just went, because lots of things there are made with coconut. Even the rice and beans had coconut in it where we ate dinner the one night. The coffee float just sounds fun, and maybe i'll even like the taste of that one!

Caribbean (hot) 8 servings
1 coconut
2 cups milk
4 cups strong coffee
1 tablespoon sugar

1. Punch two holes in to coconut, pour liquid into saucepan
2. Bake coconut for 30 minutes at 300 F degrees
3. Break open coconut, remove meat, and grate.
4. Mix coconut meat, coconut liquid, and milk in a sauce pan
5. Heat over low heat until creamy.
6. Strain
7. Toast grated coconut under broiler
8. Mix milk mixture, coffee, and sugar
9. Pour into mugs, garnish with toasted coconut.


Coffee Float (cold) 4 servings
2 1/2 cups strong coffee
2 teaspoons sugar
2/3 cup cream
4 scoops of coffee flavored ice cream
1 large bottle of Coke

1. Sweeten coffee with sugar, and chill
2. Mix coffee and cream
3. Fill 4 glasses half full
4. Add one scoop of ice cream to each glass
5. Top with coke

More recipes at: http://www.costarricancoffee.com/recipes.htm

Chiquita Bananas

On Saturday we visited the Chiquita banana plantation in Sarapiqui. We got to talk to and ask questions of two of their representatives and tour guides. Chiquita is an inorganic banana producer that has considered switching to organic production, but this would severely decrease the amount of bananas that they could produce and they would not be able to meet the overseas demand. Thus, they still use pesticides, herbicides, and insecticides on the banana plants, which can all have extremely damaging effects on workers and nearby residents, including exposure to carcinogens and toxins. When we drove up, we could see the signs next to the banana fields with skulls and crossbones telling workers not to enter the fields within 24 hours of the pesticide sprayings. However, the workers houses were no more than 10 yards from the fields anyway, so they must be getting some harmful effects just living there. Despite these facts, Chiquita is actually one of the most safe and environmentally friendly banana producers in Costa Rica. All of their agrichemicals are approved by the EPA and the EU, and only minimal amounts of these toxins are used. Chiquita has recently joined the Rainforest Alliance and has started to work on a project in which they employ local residents to plant trees in hopes of replacing rainforest areas from the plantation to La Selva's forests which are about a 30 minute drive away. According to Chiquita, the company has planted at least one million trees in residential areas. Also, working conditions are superb compared to other plantations. Chiquita makes sure that their employess are paid at least 40-50% above the minimum wage. Workers are well trained and are required to use protective clothing and gear at all times. All of their farms in Latin America are certified by independent auditors to the Social Accountability 8000 standard which ensures no child labor, protection of employee health, 48 maximum weekly working hours, and no harsh treatment. Lastly, Chiquita is striving to be as sustainable as possible. All of the twine and plastic bags that are used in the fields are recycleable, and the water is monitored regularly so that traps prevent organic waste from polluting streams and rivers.

While at the plantation, we got to visit the processing and packing site which was really interesting to see happen right in front of you. Half of the bananas that are picked are packaged, while the other half is thrown into a truck. This other half is composed of bananas with the slightest imperfections, and one example of their use is for baby food and other banana products. We also got to watch a show put together by some of the local women that Chiquita employs to teach its visitors all about the bananas. This group of women is called Grupo Nogua, and it is made up of students, homemakers, and agricultural workers from the local communities. Chiquita established this group in 2004 in order to provide additional income for nearby residents as well as to educate tourists and other people about what Chiquita does.  We walked through one of the banana fields and learned how the plants are grown, and how the blue bags are used to keep insects from getting at the bananas.  Traditionally, most banana plantations used to just toss the plastic bags into a nearby river, but Chiquita uses recyclable bags and makes sure that all of them are reused in some way.  

All in all, Chiquita is a relatively sustainable company, at least compared to other banana producers around the world.  They are not yet at their full potential and there are still many things that they could improve as to not damage the environment and endanger their workers health.  They should start working to find some way to produce bananas organically while still meeting the demand of the rest of the world.  For this to happen, Americans and other large consumers of bananas might want to start buying organic bananas only.  This way, the demand for Chiquita's bananas would go down, and they would be able to produce them organically.  This goal would require many years of change, but it is one step to becoming a more sustainable company.