This trip has been great and incredibly informative. I want to open up my own coffee shop one day, so I went to Costa Rican hoping to learn about how coffee is farmed and how companies make the production process as sustainable as posible. I do not want to roast my own coffee, but I…
Author: pes139
Bird Watching and Community Organization: Preventing Overtourism
Today we went to Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, a Quaker owned private park, and to The Monteverde Institute, a non-profit edcational organization. At Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, we took the Heart of the Forest trail, looking for birds and monkeys. As we walked, we were asked to consider how restricted this reserve was compared to…
Wind Farms and Night Walks: Pros and Cons of Renewable Energy
Today we left La Fortuna and took a four hour drive back over the mountain to Monte Verde. Along the way we stoped at a wind farm to see the wind turbines up close. When we got to Monte Verde, we hiked through the rain forest in the dark searching for insects and other wild…
Adventura and Essays: Green Economy Integration
Today we went to Arenal Mundo Aventura for a lecture on their business practices and a tour of their grounds. We then went into downtown for lunch, returning to the hotels early to begin working on our blog projects (my group is focusing on Multinational Corporations and Green Economy Integration). Our lecturer at Mundo Aventura…
Hiking and Intercrop Farm: How Rain Affects Tourism
Today was a long and extraneous day; we went to Místico Arenal Hanging Bridges, a nearby lake, and Arenal Vida Campesina. At Místico we had a scavanger hunt where we had to find a variaty of plants, animals, and other features of the park. I teamed up with Taliya to win a stuffed sloth and…
Pineapples and Waterfalls: Tourism over Farming
Today we left our host families and took a road trip to Montaña de Fuego, stoping at The Best Pineapple Tour and La Fortuna Waterfall along the way. The Best Pineapple Tour took us on a tractor ride through the fields of pineapple plants. We learned how farmers will spray rotating sections of their crop…
Chocolate and Pizza: Finding Meaning in Waste
Today we visited Sibö Chocolate, Riverside Gastropub, and a local university. At Sibö Chocolate we learned the history of chocolate, from the Spanish invasion to now, aswel as the sustainability innovations that the owner is constantly making. At Riverside Gastropub, we learned how the owner transformed a burned down disco into a community center and…
Coffee and Dancing
Today we toured Café Britt, a coffee roasting plant in the middle of Heredia, aswell as learned how to dance in Salsa and Bachata. The coffee plant was awesome; we got to try around 10 different beans and blends while learning about what goes in to picking and roasting coffee. Our guide explained how the…
Kyndryl and Dos Pinos
Today we visited Kyndryl, an multinacional IT company, and Dos Pinos, a cooperative dairy manufacturer. Both companies serve and employ Costa Ricans, but Dos Pinos creates more lasting value for Costa Rica. Dos Pinos formed because dairy farmers realized they would pay less fees and face less risks if they created a central processing plantfor…
Buying and Tasting Fruit
While bussing into Heredia, I noticed that there was a lot of barbed wire along the tops of fences and roofs; this was suprising to me as it contradicts the non-violent nature that we were told Costa Ricans had. All of the garages along the roads are always shut, along with the gates in front…
Strawberries and Waterfalls
Today we visited a strawberry farm and a waterfall park, both of which claimed to value sustainability while hiding some questionable aspects of their business. Specifically, the strawberry farm raved about thier enviromentaly sustainable practices, but failed to mention any sociality sustainable practices. The owner of the strawberry farm was clearly enthusiastic about growing strawberries….
I Just Spent 5 Hours Packing
Hello! I am Peyton Smith, a Business Analytics Major also in the Spanish Minor, American Sign Language Certificate, and Entrepreneurship Certificate. I am participating in the Plus 3 Costa Rica program. Costa Rica strives to be carbon neutral and eco friendly by focusing on sustainability. As our planet slowly dies, it is so frustrating to…