Juniors Take Costa Rica

The Costa Rica trip’s return last year was busy, as it included the entire senior and junior classes traveling to make up for canceled trips due to Covid, but this year’s trip was just as memorable

The junior class this year was split into 3 groups with two faculty advisors in each Group one’s advisors were athletic trainer Sonya Fuemmeler and band director Greg Abraham Group two’s advisors were middle school art teacher and yearbook faculty advisor Heather Hansberry and head of school Andy North Group three’s were Ms Moore, the 8th grade’s chemistry and Physics teacher, and Mr Lutterbie, the upper school chemistry teacher The groups alternated between the three different locations so no group saw another until the end of the trip

One of the locations was La Fortuna, a town in northern Costa Rica home to Arenal, an active volcano In La Fortuna, students repelled down cliffs up to 170 ft tall, relaxed in hot springs, visited a family to learn about Costa Rican culture, and ziplined Group three, thanks to traffic, missed their original appointment for ziplining and ended up on a chocolate tour before fitting ziplining, repelling, and the hot springs in one day Originally an activity only for group one, visiting with Doña Ellie at her house, learning Costa Rican folk songs, making tortillas, and dancing in golas proved so enjoyable that Mr Hillard, the faculty leader at La Fortuna, decided this was an essential experience for all groups

In Tres Equis, directly east of San Jose in the Turrialba region, students rafted the Pacuare River and helped build a sidewalk for the citizens of the town Building the sidewalk was difficult, as groups had to manually carry over rocks and 50 kg of cement to a pile, mix, add water, and mix again to make the mixture that would be laid down There were no cement mixers or other machines on the site, just shovels, wheelbarrows, and hands After the sidewalk was finished, everyone feasted on fresh fruit and a lunch made by the people of the village, toured the town, and played a game of soccer with the children There was a language barrier as none of the children knew any English and most of the adults knew very little Phones were not allowed on the trip, so Google Translate was not an option However, many used what Spanish they did know to communicate with the kids, and the kids even taught them games like pato, pato, ganso (duck, duck, goose) or called other teams basura (trash)

Deep in the Limon region of Costa Rica and on the coast of the Caribbean Sea, the Pacuare Reserve is only accessible by boat At Pacuare, students helped collect data on the leatherback sea turtles, who were nesting at the time of the trip Leatherbacks are the biggest species of turtle, reaching up to 1,500 lbs and 7-8 feet at full growth Students first learned about the turtles and how to collect the data before their first shifts Groups were assigned the 8pm-12am, 10pm-2am, or 12am-4am shifts during which they would patrol the beach, looking for turtles who were nesting If found, students would help researchers measure the turtles and collect their eggs to be taken back to the hatchery Collection was crucial because, due to microplastics on the beach, the sand could heat up to temperatures that could literally fry the eggs. Researchers brought the eggs back to a hatchery of purified sand in which they buried the eggs once they were counted and weighed. In the group’s free time, they played soccer and volleyball, went on hikes in the rich forest, and caught up on their sleep.

After all groups had visited all areas, they spent one last night in different hotels near San Jose. Here, they had their final bandana ceremony. Two bandanas in each group were passed around to different students every night in the bandana ceremonies in which students would share their experiences from the day. After surviving sweat, water, mud, and some turtle juices, the bandanas were rough, but the tour guides from each group cut them into strands so that everyone could take a piece of Costa Rica home with them

Pura vida, a Costa Rican saying that translates to “pure life,” became the junior class’s new motto, and once all groups reunited at the airport, students fought over which group was the best