Raft Safari

We woke up quite early today in order to hit the river. We left the hotel at 7:20am after a quick breakfast. The great thing about the raft safari is seeing the animals in their natural habitat, as opposed to in a zoo or other similar establishment. We never know how much we'll see on a given day, but we did quite well today. The weather was good, too - warm but not hot except for a few moments. And there was no rain, even though it was in the forecast.

On the approximately 25 minute ride there, we stopped to see a sloth that was so conveniently located near the road.

Then we arrived at the site, got ready (sunscreen and bug spray), and hit the water. The rest is history. Pictures don't really do justice to seeing the animals in person, but they are pretty cool. You may need to zoom in to see some of the creatures. Note: we had never seen a toucan in the many times we have done this activity. We saw an estimated 20 or so this time. We saw everything we wanted to see except snakes, and that was fine with most of us.

Getting the lesson

A bird (pretty sure it's an egret)

There is at least one monkey here

Our guides

Jesus Christ! (Lizard)

An owl

One of our two rafts

Another bird (not a clue)

A toucan in motion!

A toucan not in motion!

An iguana

There are four iguanas here...can you find all of them?

The other raft (rode with Cohen and Trini)

A view of the river

A baby crocodile!

We even saw bats (middle of the lower half of the tree)

We also disembarked from our rafts and stopped in the middle of the journey to see a typical Costa Rican house. They served us a snack and gave us a history lesson about how a man named Don Pablo, who lived to be 102 and died in 2014, purchased this enormous plot of land for the current equivalent of a dollar back in 1932. Of course, the 500 colones were worth much more back then. He proceeded to raise his family and live his whole life in a house on that land. They didn't even have electricity until 2014, and still they barely use any. It's quite a story and quite a place. The people are awesome, too. Don Pablo's two daughters still live there and have reportedly never left the property, having been born there too. He had seven children. The oldest three have passed away, and the other two living children reside in an undisclosed city.

Getting off the rafts for the house tour

Enjoying a snack of sweet bread, fried plantains, cheese and coffee/lemonade

  

Don Pablo! (pictured here just weeks before he died in 2014)

Our tour guide talking about the kitchen inside the house

The whole group with the two daughters

Bonus photo! Here is our group two years ago with the same two daughters

After the safari we came home to clean up. We went out for a light lunch and then returned. We are now relaxing in preparation for tonight's activity - a trip to Tabacon resort, where we will enjoy an enormous buffet and a series of natural hot springs sourced by the Volcano Arenal. Trini and I consider it a reward for a week of hard work at the school. Look for a post about the trip late tonight or early Sunday.

Trip to La Fortuna

The trip to La Fortuna was more memorable than usual. We took a back road, and by saying "back road" I am using a very American interpretation. This road would be considered a back road for people who take back roads. We did not pass one establishment of any kind (for the most part) for a good 90-120 minutes. It was just a drive along a winding road that went up and down, but mostly down. We crossed over water three times. We crossed bridges that were tiny, and even crossed one that caused our driver to ask us to walk. Yes, we walked, and he followed, and then we returned to the bus.

The last trip across water was the most fascinating, though. We were really in there, and a bit of water actually snuck into the car. "No hay problema" though! All was fine. In fact, the bus didn't even show the slightest sign of failing in any of these situations. One such crossing even had a herd of cattle and horses in the way, and after a few honks of the horn, we were around them.

Hey, we even stopped to pick up a jacket we saw on the road along the way...and then about 45 minutes later, we saw some folks on horseback. The driver stopped, and we asked if the jacket belonged to them. Sure enough, it did. It was just that kind of ride. Totally ridiculous but lots of fun. Enjoy the photos, and you can also enjoy a video of the river crossing that is currently up in the Cohen's Videos folder.

Amazing view #1

Amazing view #2

That's the bridge we walked over, and there's our bus

Cattle that had to move out of our way to continue forward

Amazing view #3 - this is the Arenal Volcano, and we are very close to it this weekend

Passenger view of the bus driving through what some may consider a river

Now showing videos

You can find a selection of videos at this link: Cohen's Videos.

You can also find a quick link to all photos and videos just to the right under the heading "Multimedia."

Among the videos posted thus far:

• Three from ziplining
• One featuring three of our German students dancing with 3rd graders
• One showing some territorial fighting from animals on campus

Recap from Day 5 at the CFS

Today was, as it usually is, a tough day for the group. We had to say goodbye to a place that we all love very much - and especially to people we care very much about.

We began the day with the school sing, which happens every Friday morning for the lower school. This time the 3rd graders were performing, and they did an amazing job. In fact, we were even in for a surprise. In all of our trips to Costa Rica, we have never had any of our kids involved in the action. This time, though, three of our students (Gwen, Lara and Felix) secretly worked with the class yesterday and joined the students during their stirring rendition of Taio Cruz's "Dynamite." You'll see a photo below, but look for a video that will be posted later on.

The students getting ready

Our students singing along

Felix, Lara and Gwen joining in - on the big stage!

A closer look

After the sing, we had one final "circle" to start the day. We did it all week, sharing some information with each other and getting a good start to the day. Today, we talked about the best parts of our trips and had a fun time doing so.

A look at this morning's circle

Then we went to work. We broke into two groups. Trini took a group of four students and got to painting with Mauricio. I took a group of five students and worked on gardening with Eduardo and Milton. Sadly, the wood the school ordered never arrived (due to a death in the family of the delivery company). We really got a lot of work done on the final day, though, and we're glad they found useful tasks for us to do.

Trini's group painted the primer coat in the administrative office and went around parts of the outside of it as well. There weren't as many photos of them, as I was not with that group. Here are a few, though.

Trini with the painting pose of a lifetime

Lara and Ella painting outside

Gwen painting outside

Chris Adams painting the inside room

My group went to one garden and completed various tasks. We moved stumps first. Then we removed some tire-based planters and leveled the terrain. Then we put some new planters together. Then we went to another garden and put some planters there. They need protection from the animals that try to get to them.

We all signed Eduardo's shirt and he wore it this morning - pretty cool stuff

Patricia and Emma moving a stump

Eduardo guiding Chris Doyle on the digging

A scorpion dug up by Cohen...guess what, this one is pregnant (note the eggs on top)

Patricia, Ethan and Felix leveling the ground

A look at the garden after some work

A look at the group working from a point above it, with the Pacific Ocean in the background

A look at the second garden, also with a clear view of the Pacific Ocean

When we finished work, we relaxingly ate our lunches. Then we had the farewell party. It was a great time. Many of us shared our thoughts about the week, and so did staff members, and most of the host families were present. We were also treated to an awesome spread of desserts with fresh coffee.

Trini also handed the school a check for over $5600 that will go entirely toward scholarships. That money came from final exam basket fundraisers that she ran, so kudos to her! The audience seemed floored. It was a great moment.

Coordinator Katia giving opening remarks

Trini showing some emotion after handing over the check

Thankful comments from the head of school, explaining how the money would be used

Chris Adams talking about his experience

Chris Doyle talking about his experience

Lara talking about her experience

Emma talking about her experience

Eduardo giving some emotional and inspiring comments

Chris Doyle and Ethan with host brother Carlos

Chris Adams and Felix with host brother Chevy

Lara with host family

Gwen with host family

Patricia with host family

Trini and Cohen with the "three amigos"

Shortly after, we were on our way to La Fortuna. There will be another post about the trip soon.