Our time in Costa Rica has come to an end. While I’m sad to be finishing this trip, I’m also incredibly grateful for the time we have spent here. Our various excursion provides me with an up close learning experience that deepened my understanding of renewable energy and green infrastructure. Before this trip, my understanding…

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…

This morning, we said goodbye to La Fortuna and headed towards Monteverde. On our way, we made stops at a wind turbine farm and Life Monteverde, a coffee plantation. At the wind farm, we got an up close example of one of Costa Rica’s renewable energy methods. These include wind, geothermal, and hydroelectric energy systems….

Today, we visited Arenal Mundo Aventura, an adventure park that includes ziplining, waterfall rappelling, horseback riding, and more activities. Most of profits from these activities go towards the conservation of the national park and private area that the property is on. The property is over one thousand acres large and it includes one of Costa…

We started off our day with a hanging bridges hike in Mistico Park, and then we went to a local farm for a chocolate and sugarcane tour. Throughout these main activities, there was intermittent heavy rain. It felt like a glimpse into how most days are in Costa Rica during the low season. The low…

Today, we said goodbye to our host families and made a few stops on our way to La Fortuna. On one of these, we were given a tour of a working pineapple farm. This tour gave great insight into how farms can double their operations between products and agrotourism.  This tour represents a shift in…

Today, we visited Sibo Chocolate, Riverside Pizzeria and Gastropub, and a local university to learn about medical device production. This day was my favorite so far because of our first stop, Sibo. Sibo Chocolate was founded in 2007 and was one of the first companies to fully produce chocolate in Costa Rica. During our visit,…

Today, we visited Cafe Britt, a coffee brand started by someone from the Netherlands. Now, it is a large multinational company that focuses on selling Costa Rican coffee, chocolate, baked goods and souvenirs. It can be found in most Latin American airports and tourist attractions. As we walked through the plantation and sat for a…

Today, we visited Kyndryl, an American multinational IT services company. Later, we toured a Dos Pinos factory. Dos Pinos is a large dairy cooperative that is entirely owned and operated by Costa Rican farmers. These two business models offer different pros and cons. The international method provides jobs and investment but decision-making is not up…