This morning, we didn’t get the classic Monteverde moment of seeing a quetzal, but we did find its nest tucked into the side of a mossy tree. That alone made the hike feel special. We also saw a few really bright birds darting through the branches and a group of white‑faced capuchins climbing around like…
Tag: Plus3 Costa Rica
Check out all the Plus3 Costa Rica blogs below!
May 20th: Leaving No Trace
Today, we visited the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve where we hiked on the Heart of the Forest trail and looked for unique animals and plants. In the afternoon, we visited the Monteverde Institute where we had a lecture on sustainability and a tour of the campus. Both locations offered insight into how tourism and nature…
May 20- Cloud Forest Crazy
Limiting tourism in a place like Monteverde is a necessary tradeoff and honestly the right call. When you walk the trails and see areas that are closed off or restricted, it makes sense why. Monteverde is one of the most biodiverse places in the world and climate change has already taken a toll on it,…
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…
Protected Paradise
This morning I had the opportunity to walk through the Sendero Corazón del Bosque trail and was immediately amazed with it. The most surprising thing that happened when I came to Monteverde was that it is chilly, windy, and always has a slight mist in the air that makes it look like it is raining….
Nature 1, Shoes 0 – 05/20
Hoy el bosque me ganó. To start off the day I had an amazing breakfast at the hotel, with pancakes (10/10), a breakfast wrap, and fruit. Today we went on trail in the Monteverde Cloud Forest National Park, where I got extremely muddy. Honestly, I don’t even know how I got THAT much mud on…
Protecting what Tourists Come to See
When visiting the cloud forest and the Monteverde Institute the complex relationship between tourism and conservation was exposed. In the cloud forest we were able to immerse ourselves in nature while following a designated trail through one of the most biodiverse ecosystems in the world. Nature walks like this are extremely common tourist activities in…
Better care, better future
Limiting tourism could be very difficult for Costa Rica to do. Think about it, we are tourists here right now too. We have been to a few different forests exploring them. One thing that Josue said on the bus to the cloud forest today did stick with me though. He told us, “We used to…
Protecting Nature for the Future
Today we visited the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve and the Monteverde Institute. I learned how hard it can be to balance protecting the environment while also supporting tourism and the economy. While walking the Sendero Corazón del Bosque trail, I noticed that some areas were closed off or had limited access. Monteverde is one of…
Learning to Leave It Better
Across the wide varieties of companies we have visited during our time in Costa Rica, we have heard over and over again how they value sustainability. We have seen it through how they operate at the farms through avoiding pesticides and using natural resources to ward off pests. We have seen how Arenal only uses…
May 19: Watt’s Up, Costa Rica?
Today was really interesting because we got to see both the benefits and challenges that come with Costa Rica’s focus on renewable energy and sustainability. Seeing all the wind turbines in person made Costa Rica’s environmental goals feel way more real to me. I thought it was interesting learning that Costa Rica started focusing heavily…
Farmer for the day
Today, we said goodbye to Montaña De Fuego, our hotel in La Fortuna, and made the treacherous four hour bus ride to Monteverde. On our way, we made brief stops at the wind turbines, where Professor Teeter educated us on how they provide energy to Costa Rican cities. After our stops, we arrived in Monteverde,…
May 19- Night Hike thrills
99% of Costa Rica’s energy comes from renewable sources. They make about 13000 kilowatts of energy in a day which is made up of biofuels and turbines. 70% of the renewable energy in Costa Rica is produced from hydroelectricity. Geothermal and Wind Turbines make up about 15% each and the rest is fossil fuels. The…
The Windy City
Today, we ended our time in La Fortuna and journeyed to Monteverde. On the way, we stopped at a wind farm, with wind mills as far as the eye can see. Afterward, we went on another coffee tour, where we learned about their low impact efforts. Finally, we did a night hike at our hotel….
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…
Turbines, Tarantulas, and a Terrible Drive – 05/19
¡Monteverde, te llegué! Today was yet another travel day… yippee! i was told the drive was very windy and makes a lot of people motion sick… it definitely did. I felt horribly nauseous and was almost unable to do our activities. Today we stopped at turbines to learn about renewable energy and a coffee farm…
Day 9 – Sustainable Futures
Today’s trip from La Fortuna to Monteverde showed us how important renewable energy is in Costa Rica. We stopped at a wind farm and later reflected on the hydroelectric dam on Lake Arenal, which we saw a few days ago from a distance. Our professor told us that when the dam broke a few years…
May 19th – Planting crops and wind pops
In a day full of planting coffee seeds and walking through different terrain, the theme of production and energy stayed constant. Costa Rica’s focus on renewable energy has been noticeable the entire trip, especially when we passed the large wind turbine farm on the drive to Monteverde. Seeing all of those turbines taking over the…
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…
Turbines by Day, Tarantulas by Night
I never thought that today would be the day that I would be standing in front of huge working wind turbines on top of Monteverde, Costa Rica! They looked massive and immediately made me think of Costa Rica’s sustainability. Costa Rica’s investment in renewable energy shows how committed the country is to sustainability, and seeing…