Day 8: Goodbye Tenorio; Hello Santa Elena

We woke up and it was time to leave Tenorio National Park. It was going to be sad leaving Tenorio. Although we had only been here 4 days, it felt like our home in Costa Rica. I was going to miss all of the rangers and workers we have met at Tenorio. As a sign of their appreciation for our hard work, they gave us a piece of wood yesterday. Ethan carved it and we all signed it. It is now hanging on the ranger station at Tenorio with signs from many other groups from across the US and around the world.

Our next destination was Santa Elena, Costa Rica. It is a couple of hours away from Tenorio, but we made several stops along the way. Our first stop was just a few miles down the road at a giant tree called “The Peace Tree.” The tree was absolutely massive and has been growing for like 300 years. We spent about 15 minutes just walking around the tree and admiring its size. The photo on the bottom left is me in front of it to put its size into perspective. 

This was the last day we were going to be with Ricardo. We would be dropping him off at a bus station along our way so he could go to a different National Park. In just the 4 days we have known him, Ricardo has grown close to our group. We were all sad to see him leave. As a sign of our thanks, Ali gave him a WKU intramural champions shirt and Scott gave him a Red Towel that we all signed.

The journey to Santa Elena exposed us another unique part of Costa Rica. In this picture we are driving through the part of Costa Rica that is in a rain shadow. It is very dry and desert like, receiving only a few inches of rain a year. It is crazy how drastic the landscape and climate is in this small country.

Our second stop along the way was at Las Pumas Animal Rescue Preserve. This place takes in animals that have been rescued from poachers. Poaching is a huge problem in Costa Rica. We enjoyed our time here as we got to see the wildlife you expect to see when you come to Costa Rica!

Our third and final stop was at a gas station. Our vans needed to get some more fuel for the rest of the trip. This is also where we were dropping off Ricardo. We were all sad to see him have to leave. In just the four days that we have known him, our group had grown very close to Ricardo. He was our translator, group leader, protector, and friend over the past four days. The man of few words, many animal sounds, and many sarcastic comments would be greatly missed. As we were driving away, he waved his Red Towel for us!

We now drove back up into the mountains to get to Santa Elena. The drive up was pretty dangerous with skinny, gravel roads and huge drop offs. We have gotten used to roads like this in Costa Rica! Although we only had to drive like 30 miles from the animal preserve, it took around 2 hours. It was a beautiful drive though.

Our first adventure in Santa Elena was zip-lining. It was one of the most exciting things I have ever done. We did probably about 15 zips, but nothing compared to the final zip. This zip-line was 1 km or 2/3 of a mile long and we reached speeds of nearly 45 miles an hour. Words can’t really describe it; you just have to see it. To watch the final zip, click on the link: http://youtu.be/BHoD6c8M2M8

After zip-lining, we went back to our hotel. Our hotel was fittingly named The Sunset Inn. Scott gave his presentation over cloud forests and then we all relaxed until sunset. It was beautiful! It really is just the little things that are truly amazing. I never have time to just sit and watch the sun set back in America. I was really glad I got this opportunity.


























For dinner, we went into the small town of Santa Elena. It is a really small town that relies on tourism. Since we have been here, we have always tried to pick local, not very touristy places to eat. However, after being here for 8 days, we caved and went to the Tree House Café. I mean, we couldn’t really pass up the chance to eat in a restaurant that has a tree growing in it! All of the tables and chairs were made of tree stumps to add to the idea of eating in a tree. The food was great, but the best thing was the fresh pineapple juice. It was a great dinner out with the group!

Day 7: Mud, Rodeos, and Futbol

Day 4 of the service-learning project started off just like the first. We once again climbed off-trail into an old creek-bed to move rocks. Scott standing in the center of this photo is wearing the same shirt he was wearing on day 1 of the service learning project (see day 4 post). After four days of work, his blue shirt is no longer blue.

We formed our customary line to quickly move the rocks back towards the path.

 

After lunch and cold showers (there is no such thing as a hot shower in many parts of Costa Rica), we all walked down to the Soda for the town’s rodeo.

 

Not only does the Soda serve as Bingo Hall, Karaoke Bar, and Soda (place you order drinks), but it also serves as a Rodeo stadium. All the locals brought their horses for the show.

Costa Rican rodeos are nothing like the rodeos we have in America. The goal is to ride at full-speed and stick a tiny pole through a ring on a clothesline. The rings are very small, and you probably can’t even see them in this picture. They are hooked to the bottom of the green clamps on the wire. In this picture, it is Henry’s turn. He is one of the Rangers at the park and the one we were all rooting for.

 

Drinking fresh juice, we watched the show with Maria (Henry’s girlfriend). She was one of the nicest ladies you will ever meet, and once again demonstrated just how loving and hospitable the Costa Rican Culture is. Kassie told Maria that she liked her bracelet, and Maria took it off and gave it to Kassie as a gift. Kassie tried to refuse, but Maria wouldn’t let her.

 

A young Tico offered most of us the chance to ride his horse, so both Ryan and I got a ride. It was the first time either of us had ridden a horse. Not many people get to say they rode a horse for the first time at a Costa Rican Rodeo. The young Tico even tried to get me to hook one of the rings on the line.

After dinner, many of us gathered around the TV to watch game 1 of the Costa Rican Futbol Championship. Cartago was taking on Heredia. Ricardo and the other rangers were rooting for Cartago, so naturally all of us were as well. It was an exciting game to watch as Cartago scored 3 goals in 10 minutes time to take Game 1 3-1. I don’t think any of us will ever forget watching and screaming at the top of our lungs alongside our new Tico friends.

After the game, all of us went to the front porch to enjoy our final night at Tenorio. This porch carries so many memories, as all of us gathered here every night to enjoy the beautiful weather and tranquility of Tenorio National Park. I was unsure about the service-learning project before leaving the US, but I can honestly say it has been one of the best and most rewarding experiences of my life.

Day 6: Working Hard then Playing Games

The day began very early around 4:30 am. Ricardo took half of our group out on two straight mornings to walk through the rainforest at night. I was very excited, but also a little bit nervous. We would be walking through the rainforest in almost complete darkness. There’s no telling what would stalk us. Now this was actually a valid fear as jaguars and other jungle cats live in this park! It was an incredible experience. At one point, a stick snapped off to our right and made us all jump. We waited for a few seconds, but heard nothing else and moved on. We walked nearly 2 miles in the dark to the location above. Here we sat watching the birds and waiting to see if the tapir that lived in the area would walk by.

 The walk back was beautiful as we walked through the forest in the early morning daylight now. On the walk back we saw some more wildlife. On this walking tour, we got to see a different side of Ricardo. He is such an interesting man. He is a man of few words, but of many sounds as he can make any animal call. He demonstrated many of these on this walking tour. It was a neat way to begin the day.

After a quick breakfast, we met up with the other half of our group and then walked back into the forest. Today our job was getting small rocks and dirt out of the bottom of a river and transporting it in bags to the trails behind us. We once again formed a human chain to move the bags of rock out of the river.

It was a lot of hard work, but we still got a few little breaks. During one, Ricardo found this little guy. This lizard has a solar spot on his head that collects energy from the sun. If you cover it with your hand, he will fall asleep as pictured above.

Ethan is carrying two bags of gravel and dirt to the part of the trail where we were laying the contents of the bags. Needless to say, we all got pretty dirty today!

Kassie is using the rock and dirt from the bags to fill in the holes in the path. It was a lot of hard work, but it was definitely worth it. I can’t tell you how many people (both Ticos and tourists) thanked us for our work. It was a good feeling knowing that people were appreciating the hard work we were doing. Today was definitely the hardest day of work!

After a hard days work, we all decided to walk down to Bingo at the local “soda” down the road from Tenorio. The “soda” serves as the town hall/meeting place/entertainment place for the local Ticos. Bingo was a very interesting experience. For one, the locals were super welcoming and excited we had come down to play. They didn’t even care that Rachel and Scott won some of the prizes, which were simple items such as pots and plastic pitchers. They also let Ethan, who is minoring in Spanish, call three of the Bingo games. It was great interacting with the local Ticos.

After bingo, we walked back up to Tenorio for dinner. Then a few of us decided to go back down to the soda for Karaoke night. Once again the locals were very welcoming. This isn’t a very touristy area of Costa Rica, so a lot of them enjoyed the opportunity of interacting with Americans. They loved Ethan, especially when he sang Enrique Iglesias’s “Hero” in Spanish! It was a fun time!

Day 5: Moving Earth

Day 2 of our service-learning project contained two tasks. First, we had to level out this dirt ravine. By shoveling and moving the dirt away from the path, we eliminated the risk of a mudslide onto the newly poured concrete.


Here, Kassie, Scott, and Ron work together to move the dirt.


The finished product. After 4+ hours of shoveling, we finally finished this task.

The second task involved picking up and digging out all rocks that stuck above the trail surface. By removing these rocks, we created a flatter surface for the concrete workers to pour onto.


We moved these rocks into piles on the side of the path. This is just one of the many piles we created. 

Jakob, Ryan, and Allie enjoying the service-learning project.


We found the icebergs of Tenorio. This rock started off only sticking ½ inch above the trail surface. However, after we started digging, we soon discovered we had a boulder on our hand. It took five people to get this rock rolled into the rock pile.


Though we moved many piles of rocks, this one was the biggest. It was funny to listen as people walked by and exclaimed, “Look at all those rocks!” Also, almost every Tico thanked us for our service, so hearing their gratitude definitely made all of the hard work worth it.

Day 4: Exploring the Beauty of Tenorio National Park

We begin our first full day at Tenorio National Park with a walking tour. I was really excited for the tour, because Tenorio is one of the most beautiful national parks in Costa Rica. I also liked the idea of seeing the park that we are going to spending time working in over the next few days. Our tour guide was Ricardo.

Our first stop on the tour was the Rio Celeste Waterfall. Notice how blue the water is! This is due to a mixture of chemicals that occurs when two rivers converge further up stream.

We spent about 30 minutes here taking photos and soaking up the beauty of the waterfall. With its blue water, it was unlike anything I have every seen before.

This is a compilation of a few other sites from our tour.  (Top left) Natural hot springs that are located along the river. (Top Right) This area is called Blue Lagoon. I think the name is pretty self-explanatory. (Bottom Left) Another view of blue lagoon. (Bottom Right) This is the Rio Celeste Convergence. This is where the water turns blue. It was pretty neat watching the brown water on the right turn blue right in front of your eyes.

The hiking tour lasted nearly four hours. It rained for a little bit, but overall the weather was great. There were several bridges like this one constructed along the trails. It was neat spending the entire morning just walking through a rainforest.

There were some giant trees and leaves in the rainforest. Look at how big these leaves are compared to my foot! Some people call these leaves “poor men’s umbrellas”, because if it starts raining, you can just pick one up and use it as an umbrella.

After our walking tour, we were able to swim in the blue river for about 30 minutes. Our professor Luke (pictured here) was the first to jump in. I took the opportunity to jump in as well, because when else will I ever be able to say that I swam in a blue river in Costa Rica.

 After lunch, we used the afternoon to begin our service learning project. As part of the class, we are going to spend four days working to help Tenorio National Park build up its infrastructure. In this picture, Ricardo and Ethan are clearing brush and checking for vipers to make it safe to work. I’m not going to lie, I was a little nervous working in the forest where there could be vipers! No vipers were found, but we did come across a Coral Snake.

Our first task was moving rocks out of a creek bed into a pile. These rocks will be used in the future to build up trails. We created a human chain and passed rocks from one person to another.

We did this for several hours. It was a lot of hard work, but it was also very enjoyable! I had fun working along side the other group members. It was also neat to see how many rocks we moved in just a few hours.

      After a hard earned dinner, Ricardo came to our bunkhouse with two dead specimens. The first was a coral snake that is extremely poisonous. He also brought the head of a huge viper that Ricardo killed the last time Luke and Ron brought a class to Costa Rica. Ricardo took out the Viper’s fangs to show us how they inject their prey. It was very neat and informative! Only in Costa Rica!