Coming into this trip, I did not really know what to expect from Costa Rica beyond the fact that it was going to be warm and that it was going to rain a lot. Leaving it, I have a completely different understanding of what it actually means to build a business around something bigger than…
Author: ajl314
May 20th – Limiting tourism is worth it
Today we hiked the Monteverde Cloud Forest and heard from the Monteverde Institute about how the community manages tourism. On the trail, we could only use one of four paths, which could feel limiting given how far we traveled, but I didn’t mind. Doing all four might have actually been too much anyway because it…
May 19th – Gardening is Harder Than it Looks
Today we visited a coffee farm in Monteverde and learned about Costa Rica’s renewable energy system. The coffee farm felt a lot more genuine than Cafe Britt. There were no sample stations everywhere, the gift shop was small and had prices in colones instead of dollars, and the tour actually took us through the real…
May 18th – I got stuck on our tour
Today we visited an ecotourism business that has been operating for over 20 years, protecting 1,300 acres of forest that borders a national park and serves as a natural bridge between two protected areas. The revenue from their operations is what funds the conservation, which means that without the tourism, the forest would not be…
May 17th – I’m Scared Of Heights
Today we did the hanging bridges hike, paddleboarding on Lake Arenal, and toured a sugarcane plantation. Being at the start of the low season meant rain was basically guaranteed. The hanging bridges felt completely different because of it. It started as an on and off drizzle, which honestly made it feel more like an actual…
May 16th – Hot Springs and Waterfalls!
Today we visited La Fortuna Waterfall, a pineapple tour, and Baldi Hot Springs. The pineapple tour was pretty cool, and you could tell the people running it really cared about what they do, with a ton of knowledge about how everything grows and works. That said, with the pineapple lollipops and everything priced in dollars,…
May 14th – It Finally Rained!!
Today we visited Sibo Chocolate, Riverside, and went to Universidad Latina to learn about medical technology, and I think the best example of the triple bottom line was at Sibo Chocolate. The triple bottom line measures business success by people, planet, and profit instead of profit alone, and today has made that concept a lot…
May 13th – Smells and tastes like coffee
This morning, we visited Cafe Britt, one of Costa Rica’s most recognizable coffee brands. The tour itself was actually really fun. Josh and I got pulled up to do a coffee-making and tasting thing with the tour guide, which was pretty cool. The guide was great and clearly knew what he was talking about, and…
May 12th – No Free Ice Cream
Today we visited two very different companies, Kyndryl and Dos Pinos. Kyndryl is a global IT services company with 80,000 employees operating in 60+ countries. They chose Costa Rica specifically for the educated workforce, which makes sense. They have invested a lot in their people too, with 98 hours of training per employee and over…
May 11th – I got dead last in a scavenger hunt
One moment in my homestay that I did not really expect was how they always keep the dog outside. In the United States, everyone, for the most part, treats their dog like family. I am not saying that they don’t, but I noticed that the dog always stays in the backyard during the day and…
May 10th – Waterfalls!!
The strawberry farm and La Paz Waterfall Gardens were both amazing sights to see, but one thing they had in common was the way they were able to turn the land and natural resources into something economically beneficial. Everything from the animals living in the land and the humans who come to tour the place…
May 8th – Going To Costa Rica
Sustainability is not something I think about that much in my day-to-day life, but Costa Rica has been doing some pretty impressive things. After doing some research, the two initiatives that stood out most to me were their renewable energy and their reforestation efforts. Almost all of their electricity comes from renewable sources like hydro,…