Pura Vida

Good Bye Costa Rica!

2008-06-13T15:19:00.000-07:00

This is my last blog. I have enjoyed my stay in San Jose and all of visits around the country. Tomorrow I will be flying back to the US of A and although I am excited to go I will definately miss this place. I have made great friends on the trip. I have also done and seen many things that are not possible to see anywhere else.

I will miss the food. Above is the standard Costa Rican dish, rice, beans, chicken or meat, and fried plantains. This was a majority of my diet for this entire time. I am ready for a little more diversity back home. This is the type of cultural involvement that I am glad I took part in. This is one aspect that I believe that separates this program. You are really immersed into the culture here. Forced to learn another language, eat different food, expose yourself to different customs. Costa Rica is an amazing place.

I feel like we were truly involved in our trip. I am so glad that I decided to join this trip. the adventure aspect was exactly what I wanted. As opposed to the other programs we did not just look at museums and old castles, although that is still very cool, we were able to be a part of our experience. From white water rafting, to hiking in the jungle, to the canopy tours. The excitement never stopped. This is truly what separates this program and I am thankful that I was able to enjoy it.

Thanks to everyone who kept up with my blog. I was only able to give you a small portion of what my actual experience was about. I highly recommend if ever the opportunity arises come to Costa Rica you will not regret it.

PURA VIDA!!!

Go Bananas

2008-06-13T15:03:00.000-07:00

To produce bananas, numerous chemicals are used in banana production to enhance the success of these crops. The demands of North American and European consumers for a cosmetically attractive banana use agrochemicals. Fungicides are used to kill off fungal diseases and pests, fertilizers to accommodate for declining soil quality and availability and herbicides to keep the ground free from vegetation.

Large chemical use has negative impacts on the environment. The amount of pesticides used in agriculture in Central America is ten times the amount used in industrial countries. Many chemicals used on banana plantations have been prohibited in the United States, the major manufacturer and exporter of these chemicals. Soils on banana plantations have been contaminated by intense chemical use; the land of many abandoned plantations has been so contaminated which makes future agricultural use impossible. Also, heavy rains wash the chemicals into rivers and streams massive fish kills are a result.

Although banana producing countries are largely economically dependent on these exports, the local populations do not acquire the major benefits of production. Workers are often immigrants from Nicaragua that work long, difficult hours for minimal pay and generally no benefits. Additionally, workers are often denied the right to organize as unions.

The banana industry provides much needed revenue and employment to Central American economies such as Costa Rica. However, these benefits are cancelled out by the effects to the environment and plantation workers. The demands of developed countries for perfect and inexpensive fruit contribute to the unsustainable production methods (i.e. excessive agrochemical use and deforestation).

There are movements that promote a more sustainable, fair commodity. The push for a more sustainable, fair trade banana must come from consumers willing to purchase these types of bananas. The Costa Rican Ambio Foundation and the Rainforest Alliance started the ÒEco-okÓ program. This program encourages growers to use growing practices that are better for humans and the environment. Chiquita is the first major banana producer to support the Òeco-okÓ certification program. The program involves installing solid waste traps in packaging facilities in order to diminish river contamination, monitoring water quality, rebuilding warehouses to store chemicals safely and composting organic waste.

My opinion of coffee in general

2008-06-13T14:45:00.000-07:00

I am not a coffee drinker. I have tried it and it just does not appeal to me. I have had to drink it on the long nights during finals week, but other than that I shy away from the drink. I usually choose a sweeter drink for the caffeine aspect. I have also noticed that my host family does not drink a lot of coffee. They drink more tea than coffee. What makes people like coffee? I think people only like coffee for its caffeine, but then I wonder why there is such a thing as decaf. It does not make sense. Coffee, to me, seems very bitter. I guess it is an acquired taste, but I do not think anyone can say that coffee tastes very good.

Coffee also gives you bad breath. In elementary and high school, the worst part was going up to a teacher who drinks a lot of coffee. They would have the WORST coffee breath. I appreciate the fact that here in Costa Rica coffee is one of the largest and oldest agricultural providers, but I do not know how it can be so successful of a market. This might be a very biased stance towards the drink, so I apologize to those who disagree with me. I just would much rather drink a glass of orange juice or water.

As for Costa Rica, I have bought A LOT of coffee, only as gifts though. I have heard it has some of the best in world and so I too gave in to that market demand. Maybe some day I will enjoy a nice cup of joe but currently this is not my drink I will stick to orange juice.

My time in Costa Rica

2008-06-13T11:06:00.000-07:00

After many of the experiences I have had in Costa Rica, I have realized that sustainability is a necessity for the future of business and the world. I have taken great interest in the different practices that companies have begun looking into. We watched the eleventh hour, it was a very interesting movie. It was kind of shocking to see the impacts that our businesses have made on the world. The biggest factor that played into this was the Industrial Revolutionwhich began in the early 19th century. This began the large scale manufacturing and the use of heavy machinery and many carbon producing processes. This was a time when the US thrived but it was not underrstood then that our success would eventually result in long term struggle with the environment and our natural resources.

Being a college student I realize that when looking for a job in a few years I will be looking for a comapny who has the same values that I do. I will be looking for companies that have a strong sustainability program that I can be a part of.

Cradle to Cradle sent many good messages on how little things we do can make a huge impact. Anything from change a chemical in a product to planting a seed somewhere can help in this sustainable revolution as some may see it. He describes how currently the world has a mentality of cradle to grave and we assume that everything we buy initially will be throw out never to be used again. He suggests a shift of attitude to a cradle to cradle point of view, where all products and resources should have the ability to go back in to the earth as they were once taken from it. This is his main point. It will not be quick or easy but in order to achieve the goal of sustainable living, these are steps necessary to take.

I intend on furthering my knowledge and use of sustainable practices after this trip. It will be interesting to go back home and look for unsustainable practices that are all around me but I never noticed before.

Coffee in CR...again

2008-06-12T17:04:00.000-07:00

On the way to one of our volcano trips, we visited a local coffee plantation. They have won awards like many of the plantations in Costa Rica. We did not stay very long and unfortunately my camera was dead so sorry but no pictures.

With over 500 billion cups consumed every year, coffee is one of the world's most popular beverages. The coffee market has become a very successful one to have business in. The pricing of coffee can go very high for premium coffee. It is amazing to see how much companies can charge for a single cup.

According to the International Fair Trade Association and the other three major fair trade organizations (Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International, Network of European Worldshops and European Fair Trade Association), the definition of fair trade is "a trading partnership, based on dialogue, transparency and respect, that seeks greater equity in international trade¨. It offers better trading conditions to marginalized producers and workers. Fair trade organizations, along with the backing of consumers, campaign for change in the rules and practice of conventional international trade. This kind of regulation can increase the price of coffee because of the necessary benefits given to the workers.

Fair Trade Coffee is something that Costa Rica has tried to implement in their practices. It is a huge economic provider for the country so in order to maximize the country´s success, using FTC is a good option.

Ecotourism 4

2008-06-12T15:54:00.000-07:00

Another note on Ecotourism was our stop at Cahuita and Manzanillo, Puerto Viejo.

In Cahuita we went snorkling. It was very fun but frustrating as well. I was not able to avoid the corral reef because of all the waves. I ended up hitting it which apparently kills it in addition to scratching you up as i found out the hard way. But, I did see some cool fish. I used a disposable camera so that is preventing me from showing any pictures of it except for a few.

When we had lunch on the island near the snorkling area we saw many white faced capuchin monkeys, who did there best to steal our food and other items. We also saw snakes on the trip. We saw the eyelash viper. It is highly poisonous but we were still able to get within a few feet of it.

We also went to the Poas Volcano. We were very lucky that it was not clouded over as usual. It is at such a high altitude so there are always clouds blocking the view. We arrived at the perfect time.

We did not stay there very long and so afterwards we headed to the Lo Paz waterfall and butterfly gardens.

There we saw snakes, frogs, birds, monkeys, and butterflies, oh yeah and a few waterfalls.

There were many different species of tropical birds. They were landing on a lot of people and some were even biting.

We took a trail that traveled down the mountain along side of 3 or 4 waterfalls. They were huge. Below is a a picture of me and my roomate PJ.

My friends wanted to hop on the ox cart. Not really sure why it was in the park, but whatever.

Butterfly gardens were interesting. The blue butterfly below is not actually blue it just takes that shade on because of the way the sunlight hits its wings.

We were also at a hummingbird area with hundreds of hummingbirds. I thought they were going to take my head off.

Lastly we saw some monkeys, they were known to pee on people if you got too close to them.

More Ecotourism

2008-06-11T15:44:00.000-07:00

Another area we traveled to was La Selva Research station. It was purchased in 1968 by the Organization for Tropical Studies and declared a private biological reserve and station. Since then, it has become one of the most important sites in the world for research on tropical rain forest. The Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) is a non-profit consortium that has grown to include 63 universities and research institutions from the United States, Latin America and Australia. We were very lucky to be able to visit this place.

One of my favorite things I have seen was the poison dart frog a.k.a. the Blue Jean Frog. There were so many of them around the rainforest.

These frogs have poisonous skin in which indigenous tribes used for their blowdarts. Hence the name poison dart frog.

Below is the Bullet Ant, not something you want to encounter without knowing. These ants have a sting that feels like the sting of 40 wasps.

Below are wild hogs, they are the biggest mammals in the rainforest at La Selva. They are very calm and we were able to get very close to them. There are many of these throughout the research station.

There were also monkeys, and many various plantlife throughout the area. We were able to see an incredibly diversified ecosystem while at La Selva.

Chiquita Bananas

2008-06-11T14:52:00.000-07:00

We went to the Chiquita Banana plantation last week. We saw different initiative that Chiquita is taking to move in a sustainable direction. The Chiquita Nature and Community Project is helping to give the community and environment around the plantation the ability to survive and live in a healthy and natural area. They hold themselves to standards which is represented by their question of:

A list of way to keep their product environmentally safe for all inhabitants surrounding banana plantation.

The packaging area was very interesting showing exactly how they sort and pack the bananas.

These bananas were sort as those which would be used as baby food and puree.

Below is a member of the Grupo Nogua. They are female students, housemakers, community leaders and agricultural workers from the local community surrounding Chiquita. These women present the history, manufacturing, and current process of the Chiquita banana.

The Chiquita Nature and Community project creates groups like this provide additional income for the members of the communities. Workshops in theatre, tourism, basic administration and human relations are offered and all income goes directly to the group.

Bananas grow in tropical regions within 10 degrees of the equator.

Chiquita owns about 37,000 acres of banana farms in Central America

In 2004 alone, the company ship 136 million baxes to the US, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

Chiquita employs more than 25,000 people

From the farm we went to the net average daily pay is $13 plus social benefits.

Chiquita is working with the Rainforest Alliance to help and conserve the areas around the plantation and keeping them out of harms way.

Rainforest Alliance auditors visit the plantations once a year to ensure adherence to the strict environmental standards that minimize pesticide use, protect the wildlife, employee fairness, and zero tolerance for deforestation.

Chiquitas plantation is not perfect, but they are taking steps to become a greener company and instead of negatively effecting the community, making it stronger.

Ecotourism

2008-06-11T11:12:00.000-07:00

We have traveled all over this country and seen so many of the different ecotourist sites. Up to this point I could not tell you my favorite but there are a few I will discuss.

We have visited beachs such as Manuel Antonio. This is not as much of an ecotourist spot as it is just a general tourist spot. Unfortunately a majority of the time it was raining but we had a few hours where it was sunny. Not a bad view from my hotel room.

There were also some very cool views around the area as well.

Chase was very friendly with the environment and everything in it

Another place we went was the Osa Peninsula. This was a very long trip. We traveled almost 10 hours by bus and boat. It was a very nice tent camp where we stayed.

We hiked through the rainforest and saw different plants and animals Jaguar Footprint, unfortunatley we didn't actually see one.

A very common Whip Tail lizard within Costa Rica

The White Faced Eagle

A tree that has been uprooted because of the strong winds in this area.

Leaf Cutter Ants are the coolest thing I think I saw

We also learn how to open coconuts and we saw mackaws.

On the way back to camp we saw this otter that had been eaten by a crocodile. We were not aware that we would have to cross the water that the crocodile was actually in as well. I risked it and decided to stop and take pictures, just call me Steve Irwin.

During all of our ecotourism we saw many different environments and organisms that live within. The Osa Peninsula gave a very real picture of how much diversity is within the rainforest.

Coffee in CR

2008-06-11T10:40:00.000-07:00

Our visit to Costa Rica has been devoted to a few different areas, as I explained we went to Del Cafe Tal earlier in the trip. We also went to a much larger mass producer of coffee after that. We visited the Cafe Britt plantation. They had a very entertaining presentation, but it seemed fake.

Their presentation had a lot of information on the history of coffee from the beginning in Ethiopia where sheep would eat the coffee beans and go wild all the way to how it became a commonplace drink throughout the world. They also showed us the right ways to brew it and the differences between good and bad coffee. One thing they told us specifically for all you coffee drinkers is DO NOT REHEAT THE COFFEE.

This was a cool part of the trip, a little generic, but I did learn a lot. Another part I really enjoyed was the good food we had for lunch while we were there. That is usually a huge plus for me when I am judging the places we visit.

These are the roasters that creates the different roasts of coffee. The longer the beans are left in it the darker the roast. Kind of self explanatory.

The Costa Rican coffee industry is a large economic provider for this country.

This was very interesting to see exactly how the process occurred. Cafe Britt is an international brand. You can see exactly how they manufacture all this coffee below.

Banana's Round 2

2008-06-05T11:47:00.001-07:00

This weekend we will be exploring the Chiquita Banana plantation. I think this will be really interesting because I have heard they have a good presentation and I also really like bananas. This will be a good way to experience how the mass production of this major economic provider occurs here in Costa Rica. An interesting fact is that Chiquita Brands is based out of Cincinnati, Ohio, close to Miami University.

Banana cultivation, a major source of foreign exchange, continues to be one of the principal agricultural activities for many developing countries of Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa. The banana industry has been designed and oriented almost exclusively towards the export market. I have noticed the bananas here are not as popular of a consumer product for Costa Ricans as pineapple and other fruits. My host family does have bananas usually but that is in addition to a lot of other fruits.

This Past Weekend

2008-05-26T16:41:00.001-07:00

This past weekend was amazing! I traveled to see the Arenal Volcano on Friday. Very cool! This volcano is still active and I could hear it rumbling. We walked around to and saw a lot of volcanic rock that was left from the last eruption in 1968. The last eruption destroyed much of the Arenal National Park and it is now starting to regrow.

Friday night, the group went to Baldi Hot Springs. It had many different hot springs that ranged from around 90 degrees up to 152 degrees. VERY HOT!!! This was a very cool experience and very fun. There were bars in the springs and a huge slide in one of them. This slide did not feel good going down. On the second turn it sent you airborne and I felt like I was going to leave the structure and fly off in to God knows where. I landed in the slide luckily but hit my head on it. Apparently I missed the memo about putting your hands behind you head when going down the slide because my head hit the slide and it did not feel good. I was alright but did not go down again.
After the hot springs we ate a delicious dinner and headed back to our hotel. At the hotel the power had gone out on the entire street. This was actually a blessing in disguise. It made it very easy to see the lava spurting at the peak of the Arenal volcano. Its amazing to see something that powerful first hand. Sorry guys, camera wasn´t strong enough to get a good picture just trust me.

On Saturday, we woke up and headed off to the hydroelectric plant, not the most interesting part of the trip but they explained how this plant gives a majority of the power to Costa Rica because of their turbines that the water passes through.

After the power plant, we rode horses to the La Fortuna Waterfall, this was cool. My horse, Caballo, which I was told meant "no balls" was biting other horses and sweating a ton but in the end he got me where I needed to go.

At the waterfall, we hiked down the 16 flights of steep and slippery stairs to reach the falls. The water was cold, but it felt very good, it was a hot day. I tried swimming under the falls but my skills were no match for mother nature. We were not able to spend a ton of time there but it was worth it. The climb back up made me realize I was more out of shape than I thought.

After the falls we went to the volcano surrounding areas and walked along the molten rock. I saw a very cool plant there.

Sunday we went across a lake and headed to Monteverde on the bumpiest jeep ride of my life where we would see the rainforest and do canopy tours. I was unable to take any pics while I was doing the ziplining and doing what they call the "Tarzan Swing" because it was raining a lot. We were harnessed to cable and ziplined above the canopy hundreds of feet in the air. It was amazing. The Tarzan swing was pretty self explanatory. I jumped off of a platform and swung out into a valley once again getting a great view of the rainforest as well as nearly peeing my pants.

After the canopy we ate dinner and went on a night tour. There was not much out but I saw a few things like a tarantula, a frog, and bats. The rain really put a damper on our night.

The following morning we also went on a tour of the rainforest. I saw the national bird of Costa Rica, the Quetzal.

There was also a hummindbird area. There were so many of them but I didn't actually hear any of them hum...

This trip was very rainy, very long, but very worthwhile.

Yes, I am a tourist...

2008-05-22T16:44:00.000-07:00

Touring Costa Rica so far has been a great experience. Seeing the different coffee plantations and sites throughout San Jose has given me a different perspective on life within Costa Rica. Being from the U.S., many cannot comprehend a life of modest material possessions and limited access to things that are always available in the states such as hot water. It is interesting to see how the lifestyles are so different here.

Costa Rica especially has taken advantage of the ecotourism boom and the number of tourists visiting Costa Rica has increased steadily for years. Costa Rica's tourism industry undoubtedly has been economically strong and attractive, its benefitting the environment is questionable.

EcoTourism is a seen as ¨purposeful travel to natural areas to understand the culture and natural history of the environment; taking care not to alter the integrity of the ecosystem; producing economic opportunities that make the conservation of natural resources beneficial to local people.¨ This definition can be interpreted in multiple ways easily causing corruption and flaws in the actual representation of it. Costa Rica has turned to ecotourism as its key to economic development.

Costa Rica has incredible biodiversity with beaches, the rain forest, awesome volcanoes, and exotic wildlife. The tourist industry in Costa Rica brings in about 1 million visitors annually and generates approximately $1 billion a year, making it Costa Rica's second largest source of income after silicon chip production.

Costa Rica has been able to develop a solid ecotourism industry and capitalize on their natural resources. However, Costa Rica's ecotourism sector has been praised by environmentalists, politicians, and economists, not to mention avid travelers, but there are many who believe that ecotravel has not been an environmentally sound tool. Ecotravel has become a very appealing area of the service industry, but some of those who study the industry worry that the economic benefits of ecotourism may not be reaching the local community. Companies are motivated by short-term profits, while tourists are looking for mainly a self-satisfying vacation and local communities are seeking to obtain the maximum economic benefit from tourists.

Costa Rica's ecotourism industry overhead costs of training, infrastructure construction, and promotion can be a burden on poor nations, and the risks can be considerable; but the growth potential and environmental benefits of ecotourism make the investment worth the while in the long run.

Bananas...

2008-05-22T16:00:00.000-07:00

I was happy to know we will be doing a lot of studying about how Costa Rica is a huge producer of bananas. There is a history of banana production within much of the Central American Countries and it has become a dominant part of the Costa Rican economy as well. Currently there are many different practices involving the production of bananas.

A particular green banana farm that I have found to be interesting is EARTH University´s who in 1989, acquired lands that included a sprawling banana plantation, but the school's eco-consultants told officials to get rid of the farm. Instead the agricultural school decided to grow a banana that is not as harmful to the environment.

Today EARTH's farm is the oldest working banana plantation in Costa Rica, selling its product exclusively to the eco-friendly Whole Foods Market chain, which has more than 270 stores in the U.S. and the U.K. Banana sales provide 7 percent of the university's revenue, helping to pay tuition for the many students who come from poor backgrounds in developing countries. Green practices at the school are reshaping the global banana industry.

EARTH has started a program to recycle the plastic bags used to keep the bananas protected from insects and animals. Today almost all banana growers in Costa Rica have adopted bag-recycling programs. The Dole Food Company, one of the largest banana producers in the country recycles about 1,900 tons of plastic per year.

The school is now working on producing completely organic bananas in the near future. The only setback is that strong pesticides are necessary to elminate fungi that are hurting the crop significantly. EARTH's organic farmers developed fertilizers that include "effective microorganisms", benign bacteria, yeasts, and fungi that crowd out nematodes and minimize disease. In addition to the environmental consequences, using pesticides and herbicides is detrimental to plantation laborers, suffering from sterility, cancers, and other conditions after years of exposure.

Later on this trip there will be more examples of the steps being taken to create sustainability within this market.

Coffee in Costa Rica

2008-05-22T08:14:00.000-07:00

The coffee in Costa Rica is some of the world´s finest. Yesterday we traveled to a coffee plantation, Del Cafe Tal. It is run by woman named Daisy Rodriguez. She has just recently won an award that gives her the title of best coffee in all of Costa Rica. I am not an avid lover of coffee, but apprarently it is suppose to be pretty good here.

These are coffee beans before they are put through the milling to remove the red skin. The greenish beans is with the skin removed, but it has not been process yet thus there is not a dark color to it.

This is the coffee plant.

Once picked the beans are put through the mill below that cleans them and remove the red skin.

On the left is the drying process. After going through the mill the coffee beans are left out in these trays to sun dry.

We were able to see the coffee shop that has been opened because of Daisy´s recent success.

Today we are going to visit a larger coffee plantation, Cafe Britt. We will be comparing the different size plantation and observing how Fair Trade Coffee is affects the economy of Costa Rica.

Fair trade is a trading partnership that contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of, marginalized producers and workers.

There will be more to come on coffee...

A few days in...

2008-05-20T11:33:00.000-07:00

Mucho Gusto,

Hey guys, this is my first official post from Costa Rica. Even though we have only been here a few days there is so much to talk about.

Host Family: I live with Gladys and Riccardo, the grandparents of the family. Two of the nicest people I have ever met. The grandfather is a retired narcotics officer and was a big soccer player when he was young. They play cards with their friends and are always willing to hangout and "attempt" to talk to me. Basically in Costa Rica, the family units are very traditional and close. Their daughter, Rosie, lives right around the corner, her role is the caretaker and so she comes over and cooks all of the meals and does a lot of the types of things to keep the house in order. Rosie has a husband, Marco; a 23 year old daughter, Jimena; and a 28 year old son, Marco. They are always over, families here are always enjoy spending time together, very different from the US. In addition to them, Rosie's brother, Riccardo Jr., lives above us with his son Juan Diego.

The entire family is very nice and the younger members speak pretty good english but it is always interesting talking to the adults, but it is becoming easier. My spanish skills, or lack there of, have been coming in handy. Thank you Joe Kolman.

Food: This topic is huge for me. I was very curious prior to the trip about what to expect. The main dish of Costa Rica is Rice and Beans, which is very good, along with fried plantains, basically fried bananas, other types of vegetables, and chicken, beef or fish. I have had that dish almost everyday, it is still good though.

The fruit here is awesome, mangos, pineapple, bananas, and others that I have never heard of. They always have fresh fruit and fruit juices. The food is different but it is a good change. As many may know I am incredibly picky usually but I have tried to be open to new things and so its always an adventure at every meal.

In General: I am enjoying the trip so far. It has rained a few times. Rainy season is beginning which means it will rain basically every afternoon. I am getting used to the humidity and the constant wetness as we travel the country. We have been traveling the city seeing different sites, but I am more excited to see the nature aspect, i.e. the rain forest and volcanoes. Tomorrow, we will be going to see a coffee plantation so there will be more to come. Also, this weekend we will be going to a volcano and swimming in the hot springs. I am very excited for this. Anyways, I will be updating my blog a few times every week hopefully and hopefully there will be pictures soon.

Hasta Luego!!!