Pura Vida!

We feel so fortunate to have been given this fellowship. We cannot wait to bring the information we've learned back to our classrooms. Stay tuned throughout the year for updates about what our children learn from our experiences!

Palo Verde National Park

This is a termite nest we saw entering into Palo Verde National Park. Nests are very common in many of the trees throughout Costa Rica.

These are fairly small bats. They hang in a line to camouflage themselves from predators.

This crocodile is coming near our boat because he could smell the raw chicken we were about to feed it. The crocodile moved slowly and cautiously through the water. The water appears brown but is not polluted, the bottom is muddy.

Crocodiles would never live in a polluted river. The chicken was quickly eaten by those sharp teeth!

The white faced monkey is seen all over Costa Rica although we had trouble spotting them, other than in the Palo Verde National Park.

The monkeys were not shy about coming up to our boat, opening our fists, and taking the bananas out to eat. They peeled the bananas before they ate them!

Sunset in Costa Rica

We stayed on the Pacific side of the country in the Guanacaste region. The beach we explored had black sand from the volcano. After our days of adventures in the rain forest we decided to enjoy a beautiful sunset from a boat a few miles off shore. We actually jumped into the ocean right as the sun was hitting the horizon. The sunset was an amazing sight and the perfect end to a day of adventure in Costa Rica.

Hummingbird Gallery

Costa Rica has 54 different species of hummingbirds. Hummingbirds do not actually hum, however the humming sound they make is created by the vibrations of their wings that flap 40-80 times per minute. They are the only bird that can fly backwards. They have an extremely high metabolism forcing them to eat twice their body weight daily. Lucky hummingbirds!

Zip Lining in the Monte Verde Cloud Forest

After gearing up we were ready to find out what was in store for us! We received a mini-lesson about how to keep ourselves from spinning and how to STOP!

Diane sticks her landing!

Rebecca zips through the cloud forest.

After a couple of lines we stopped for a group photo. We are all smiling, but we still can't believe we're flying on wires in the middle of the rain forest in Costa Rica!

Zip lining was so much fun and we all tried it in its place of origin.....Monte Verde, Costa Rica! Zip lining originated because scientists needed a way to study the plants and animals in the rain forest. They used ropes to view and study plants and animals at all heights from ground to canopy, maneuvering themselves up and down the ropes using a wheel with teeth. These ropes weren't connected from tree to tree when it began. They would unhook themselves, move the ropes, and begin again if they wanted to see something in another tree. Scientists continue to study the rain forest for many reasons. One of the reasons is to discover plants that can be used for medicinal purposes. Scientists have discovered both penicillin and citronella in the rain forest!

Now zip lining is a great tourist attraction and an unbelievable way to get many incredible views of the scenery around you!

Zip Lining Videos

Diane and Kathy come in from our last zip line. It was the longest line and we zipped the last one with a partner. Although at times our lines zipped right through the middle of the cloud forest, this particular line kept us high above the canopy layer.

Diane

Kathy

Monteverde Cloud Rainforest

Monteverde Cloud Forest:
Monteverde in Spanish translates as “green mount.” It is called a cloud forest or fog forest because of the clouds that sit at the canopy level. The temperature is much cooler (about 60 degrees) because of this cloud cover and because the elevation is higher. We were amazed at how large the plants and trees were. Things grow so much faster in the tropics. All of the trees were wrapped with epiphytes (plants that are growing on other plants in an attempt to reach sunlight.) The trees have adapted to the rich topsoil by having shallow exposed root systems. We enjoyed viewing the plants and trying to find wildlife from the canopy level of this rainforest by walking on several suspension bridges. What an amazing way to view the Monteverde Rainforest canopy!
We learned that monkeys spend most of their time in the trees (weeks at a time) eating, drinking, and sleeping. They do not come to the forest floor very often in order to avoid predators.