I can’t believe how fast the past two weeks have flown by. This trip has been an amazing experience – whether it was the various site visits, trying all the good food, or spending time with my mama tica and getting to practice speaking Spanish with her, I enjoyed it all. In particular, I really…

Today we took the train to San Jose to explore the city. After walking around for a bit, we went to the Museo Nacional de Costa Rica. The museum had a lot of really cool pieces and it was interesting to compare and contrast the museum to the ones in the United States. I found…

This morning we had another early start. After an amazing breakfast of fresh fruits and pancakes made by my mama tica, we drove two hours to Sarapiquí. Our first stop was a banana plantation. Even in the pouring rain, it was a really cool experience to see how a different supply chain runs their business…

Today we visited Sibo Chocolate to learn all about chocolate history and to also taste some of Sibo’s chocolates. The Sibo Chocolate company started in 2008 when two men named Julio and George quit their day jobs and traveled to Europe to study with Chocolate masters. Julio met with us today and walked us through…

Yes, another birthday on this trip! Today was my birthday and while I missed being home to celebrate, today was the most unique birthday for sure and I definitely had an amazing time spending it with everyone here.  After starting the day with a quick breakfast at the hotel, we packed our bags up before…

Today we began Monteverde Day 2 by starting our day early to go on the Cloud Forest Hike. By the time we finished the hike along with some extra time to explore around 11:30 am, I ended up with about 13,000 steps, which just shows how much walking we did. Even though all of the…

Today I said goodbye to my Mama Tica for a few days as we left Heredia to spend a few days in Monteverde. The bus ride was long – about 3-4 hours, and I ended up sleeping for most of it. We did stop briefly at El Jardin, a gift shop, and I was able…

Today we visited Cafe Britt and spent some time learning about how they roast their coffee. While most Ticos do not drink coffee from the company, travelers like us enjoy their products mainly because their advertising and business efforts are mostly targeted towards tourists. Cafe Britt does not even have any wet mills – rather,…

Today we visited Doka Coffee Estate to learn about how they make their coffee and the steps that are included in this process. After walking around the tour and hearing from our tour guide, we learned how tedious all of the work that goes into picking and processing the coffee cherries is, before it is…

Last night we arrived in Costa Rica after a long day of travel. It was great to finally meet my host mom and experience a glimpse of Costa Rican household life. I enjoyed getting the chance to practice speaking Spanish and learning how to improve my skills. Immediately, I felt welcomed here thanks to the…

Costa Rica is one of the most sustainable countries in the world thanks to several different environmental sustainability practices that have been put in place to protect its natural environment. With nearly 93% of electricity being produced from renewable resources such as hydro, wind, and solar power, and nearly 30% of the country’s territory being…