ConnectOcean

Hello it’s Jordan again. Costa Rica has been an awesome experience so far. I have met so many new people doing very creative things for the community. For example we met with a guy by the name of Ernst van der Poll who is doing great things with his company ConnectOcean. What this guy does is help people with disabilities scuba dive and be independent. I found it amazing how he was able to help a kid who was a quadriplegic move his legs in the water. It was a very moving video he showed us of this kids journey. 

I feel most of the Costa Ricans I have met are like him around El Coco. The people here seem to always want to help each other out and do better for on another. I wish we, as a group, could do more to help this guy out with his company. He showed us how they were able to take most of the people with disabilities to the coral reefs in Costa Rica to scuba dive. I would really like the opportunity to help with this company and be a part of the process to let people move freely in the water. I never realized how important it could be to a person to be independent of their body even if its just for an hour.

Lessons in Snorkeling

Buenos Dias! It’s Emily again. From 8AM-12PM on Tuesday, we snorkeled with the help of Ocotal’s scuba instructor, boat, and equipment. We travelled 25 minutes off the resort shore to a small island where we awkwardly put on our flippers, strapped masks and tubes to our heads, and swam around. The crystal blue, 80+ degree water allowed us to explore the wildlife below sea level. We got to hold a starfish and saw puffer fish, sting rays, and other brightly-colored fish. When exhaustion set in, we hopped back into the boat for water and fresh tropical fruit, and we changed locations so that we could explore a nearby beach. The sailor anchored the boat and we swam to shore, able to look down into the waters and see our fingers (that doesn’t happen too often at the Jersey shore!) Upon reaching land, we noted the white sand and lush vegetation growing on the mountains. To our right were caverns–as soon as we spotted them, we excitedly jogged to get a closer look. Light poured in from both ends, but the inside of the caverns were still dark in comparison with the bright Costa Rican sun. The semi-calm waters lapped up against the jagged rocks on the far end of the cavern. Our morning was filled with good fun and many laughs, but we learned in the process. After returning to shore and having lunch, we were given a presentation by a German student, Ines, working in Costa Rica with another student to complete research for their doctorates. Ines explained, in her presentation, coral reefs–from a brief overview to different types to human and natural interaction that threatens coral reefs. Coral reefs are one of the most diverse ecosystems and the reefs are home to many different species of wildlife. The student noted how tourists, a lot of the time unknowingly, interfere with the reefs as they break off pieces as souvenirs and when boats are anchored, the anchors also break and kill coral reefs. The presentation was eye-opening as it connected what we had just seen firsthand to real world ecological issues. It was exciting to not only enjoy ourselves snorkeling, but also to become more aware of issues around us, especially in regards to ecotourism. If the coral reefs are killed as a result of our actions, the inhabitants of the reefs will either die or relocate to other coral reefs, making tourists less likely to want to snorkel in that area and therefore, decreasing ecotourism. We, as students listening to the presentation, realized that our effects have a direct impact on the environment around us and in order to maintain and protect our environments, we have to be aware of issues and work in an effect to preserve our land

Lessons in Snorkeling

Buenos Dias! It’s Emily again. From 8AM-12PM on Tuesday, we snorkeled with the help of Ocotal’s scuba instructor, boat, and equipment. We travelled 25 minutes off the resort shore to a small island where we awkwardly put on our flippers, strapped masks and tubes to our heads, and swam around. The crystal blue, 80+ degree water allowed us to explore the wildlife below sea level. We got to hold a starfish and saw puffer fish, sting rays, and other brightly-colored fish. When exhaustion set in, we hopped back into the boat for water and fresh tropical fruit, and we changed locations so that we could explore a nearby beach. The sailor anchored the boat and we swam to shore, able to look down into the waters and see our fingers (that doesn’t happen too often at the Jersey shore!) Upon reaching land, we noted the white sand and lush vegetation growing on the mountains. To our right were caverns–as soon as we spotted them, we excitedly jogged to get a closer look. Light poured in from both ends, but the inside of the caverns were still dark in comparison with the bright Costa Rican sun. The semi-calm waters lapped up against the jagged rocks on the far end of the cavern. Our morning was filled with good fun and many laughs, but we learned in the process. After returning to shore and having lunch, we were given a presentation by a German student, Ines, working in Costa Rica with another student to complete research for their doctorates. Ines explained, in her presentation, coral reefs–from a brief overview to different types to human and natural interaction that threatens coral reefs. Coral reefs are one of the most diverse ecosystems and the reefs are home to many different species of wildlife. The student noted how tourists, a lot of the time unknowingly, interfere with the reefs as they break off pieces as souvenirs and when boats are anchored, the anchors also break and kill coral reefs. The presentation was eye-opening as it connected what we had just seen firsthand to real world ecological issues. It was exciting to not only enjoy ourselves snorkeling, but also to become more aware of issues around us, especially in regards to ecotourism. If the coral reefs are killed as a result of our actions, the inhabitants of the reefs will either die or relocate to other coral reefs, making tourists less likely to want to snorkel in that area and therefore, decreasing ecotourism. We, as students listening to the presentation, realized that our effects have a direct impact on the environment around us and in order to maintain and protect our environments, we have to be aware of issues and work in an effect to preserve our land.

A little about R.A.W. Tours

Bueños dias! My name is Whitney Dartnell. I am a Psychology major with a minor in Neuroscience entering my senior year at Wilkes University. I chose to come to Costa Rica as part of Dr. Miller’s Ecotourism Development class because I wanted to expand my knowledge as well as my travels this summer. In hindsight, coming to see a new country as part of a college class was the best way to accomplish both of these things. Before coming to Costa Rica, we had a week of class during which we talked about many aspects of our destination country, such as the governmental forms, social stratification, and the development of ecotourism and how it serves as a major source of income for the people here. Ecotourism is a form of tourism that regards the community and environment in an effort to have a positive and lasting impact on both of these things. While staying in Costa Rica, we have been supporting the local economy through tourism, by partaking in tourist activities run by the local people of the different communities we have been visiting. What I love about the ecotourist approach to traveling, as opposed to mass tourism, is that it directly supports the local people that we have had the pleasure of meeting and getting to know while managing to reduce the impact of our carbon footprints in this new and beautiful country. Costa Rica has done a marvelous job at preserving it’s environment and keeping it clean and healthy. I can only hope that through the efforts and expansion of ecotourism, it stays this way for centuries to come.

 

All of our activities in Costa Rica, from the meals we eat to the places we work at and visit, have been planned and coordinated for us by Kattya Lomel of R.A.W. Tours. Kattya, or Kathy as we call her, is the founder of this organization, which stands for Raising Awareness Worldwide about our environment and the impact we have on it. In her efforts to educate people about the way we live and the ever changing conditions in which we live, Kathy tours with many students just like us, as well as children in the local communities. Kathy has been supplementing our ecotourist education through the presentations and events she plans for us here in Costa Rica. The environment and the preservation of it is one of Kathy’s greatest passions, along with her love for people and her desire to unite the two in symbiosis. It’s impossible not to catch Kathy’s contagious excitement about the environment, she has truly brought us together with nature on this journey, and changed the way we view our planet.

Under the Sea In Costa!

I am having the time of my life on this trip! Everyday is better than the last! Not only am I learning so much about ecotourism, the environment that we our surrounded with, and the Costa Rican culture, but I am having an incredible time while doing it!

One of my favorite things we have done so far on the trip was snorkeling. Prior to going out into the ocean and snorkeling, we took a lesson in a pool on how to snorkel and scuba dive.When I was a child, I learned how to snorkel in Cayuga Lake. It was fun, but the most exciting thing I saw was a sunfish. The next day after out lesson, we all hopped on a private boat and took a ride out into the ocean. While on the way to our first snorkeling destination, we were able to see turtles in the ocean. After about a twenty minute boat ride off the Costa Rican coast, we docked out boat off a small land formation a ways out into the pacific. We put our flippers on, strapped on our masks, and jumped off the boat into a whole new world.

The colors of the fish were incredible! There were large black fish with neon blue dots, yellow fish with strikingly blue bodies, and eels the color of the ocean floor so that you could only see then as they slithered around the coral floor. Our guide made the experience that much more memorable by not only pointing out animals such as sting rays and pufferfish, but by letting us hold different neon colored sea stars and an imperial sea eurchant. Thinking about it now, it’s hard to believe that there are so many incredible and diverse fish. ! I mean, some of these animals were just plain weird looking and to find them in nature just shows what an incredible an diverse world we naturally live in, above and below the sea. Honestly, you just have to google what an imperial sea eurchant looks like. I promise that it won’t even come close to what you guessed

After a session of snorkeling, we got back on the boat and spent some time at a remote beach. At the beach, there were caverns that you could walk through clear to the other side of the rock formation and into the ocean. Once we had explored this beach, we swam back to the boat and drove to another snorkeling destination where we were able to see different schools of fish and a number of string rays.

To finish off our trip, we went to another remote island with white sand and clear water. It looked like a picture that you would see on a calendar. We jumped off the boat, swam to shore, and just enjoyed our surroundings for the next hour.

Once out boat pulled after our snorkeling trip,we headed into a classroom to hear a few lectures on ocean research and shark/ocean conservation. After seeing the incredible world under the water, the speaker’s message hit home that much more. Snorkeling made me think more about the way I view the world. There’s all this incredible beauty around us that we just don’t perceive because we’ve seen it so many times before or because we don’t have the right tools to capture it. But maybe if we change our perspective a little, or try something different, we could find a whole new world of beauty and awe inspiring things.

-Leanna Brisson

Mision Tiburon

 Hola again, this time from Playas Del Coco. Dawn here writing to tell you about a really interesting lecture we had the other day.

On Tuesday we received a lecture from Andres Lopez who created an organization called Mision Tiburon (Shark Mission). With the declining shark population, Andres started this organization to tag sharks, as well as other marine life like sting rays, to keep track of the population and hopefully build it back up. Andres gave us a presentation about the birth of the organization, the process and forms of tagging, and their progress thus far.

Members of Shark Mission also visit schools to inform children about the importance of sharks and our oceans. Students perform activities to learn about sharks and even paint murals to display what they have learned.

Earlier in the day, all of us participated in a snorkeling expedition, so it was neat to relate our new knowledge about sharks and the ocean to an activity we had previously done. It was an effective learning method.

It is obvious Andres is passionate about Shark Mission and its efforts to bring awareness to sharks and the restoration of the population. That passion was contagious amongst the group. After the lecture several of us purchased t-shirts and stickers to help spread and support awareness on sharks. It was a really interesting and informative lecture, one that changed my perspective and will make me inform others of the importance of sharks and oceans.

 

If you too are interested in learning about this cause, you can visit the Shark Mission website at http://www.misiontiburon.org.  

Restoring beauty in Guanacaste

Hola de Nuevo!

The past couple of days we have spent in the beach town of Playa Del Coco. It is a gorgeous beach town full of culture and some of the friendliest people you will ever meet. One of the activities that really stood out to me here was when we visited one of Kathy’s good friends.His name is Andres and he is an orthopedic surgeon. When Kathy explained to us that we would be helping him plant trees on his farm, I wasn’t too thrilled.

My attitude quickly changed as we pulled into his farm. It was a gorgeous piece of property. Animals were roaming freely, trees were green and plentiful, and a quaint little cottage sat at the top. He recently purchased the land 7 months ago, which was crazy to see all the work he has done in such little time. At that moment I couldn’t wait to get my hands dirty, and help add some more beauty to this majestic place.

Prior to this I had never planted trees before, actually I never really did much gardening. I’m embarrassed to admit that I don’t even cut the grass at home, so this was a whole new experience for me and I had no idea what to expect. All I knew was that I was excited to be planting a baby tree that would grow to be massive and would give shad to animals years from now.

As I started digging my hole, the soil was dry and tough, it was going to be a lot harder then I thought. But I was motivated by the beauty that surrounded me, so I kept going. After about ten minutes of loosening the dirt and then shoveling it out, I finally had my hole to the proper depth. I then began to plant my tree. As I pushed the dirty back around it and began to water, a sense of pride came over me. It felt good to be able to say that I planted a tree in Costa Rica that would give food, shelter, and shade to future animals. It felt good to contribute. This feeling was so good that it makes me wanted to get more involved at home. The sweat, blisters, and callouses were all worth it to know that I added a piece of beauty in Costa Rica.

Hasta luego!
Giuliana Ayers

Drinks of the Guanacaste Region

Hola Amigo’s
My name is Giuliana Ayers and I am a junior at Wilkes University studying Business Management. I love to travel and be in new places, so when I first learned about this trip I was extremely interested right from the start. After attending the first meeting and learning that this was an ecotourism class I knew it would be something so different from what I was used to and I knew I had to be a part of it. I recently came across the quote, if it scares you it might be a good thing to try. I have been applying this saying to almost everything in my life and pushing myself outside of my comfort zone, and I’m so glad I did. 

When I go on vacation with my family we usually stay in resorts, so this experience is something so new and different to me, completely out of my element. But this trip has been nothing but remarkable so far.

Every place you visit you shortly discover that there’s something that particular place is known for. For example in Hazleton it’s farmers iced tea and Jimmy’s hotdogs. The Guanacaste region of Liberia specializes in four very unique drinks.

The first, and probably my favorite, is called chan. Made with the seed of a plant found mostly in the region. It reminded me a lot of bubble tea. It is defiantly an acquired taste. The seeds are soaked in water until a they become enveloped in a slimy yet delishous substance, sugar is added and sometimes cola syrup for color.

The second drink I tried was flax seeds. Flaxseeds are a healthy yet refreshing beverage. The consistency reminded me a lot of jello, I really enjoyed it. 

Tamarindo is the name of the third drink. In Costa Rica, fresco de tamarindo is a traditional beverage found all over the country, but particularly in the dry and hot Guanacaste plañís where the tree grows amazingly well. I have to say I wasn’t to crazy about this beverage . The drink consisted mostly of rice and the tamorindo bean. 

last but not least was cas. The cas fruit is blended with a sweetener to make a creamy, delightful, sweet-acid drink that has a hint of guava flavor. It was a beautiful yellow color, that had a zangy tast to it.
Althought the food has been excellent the drinks where something that stood out to me the most. I wish I could take them all home with me.

Que pasa?

¡Hola from Costa Rica!

My name is Leanna Brisson.  I am entering my senior year at Wilkes University this coming fall majoring in Psychology with minors in Neuroscience and Women and Gender’s studies.   I have been very lucky and travel often with my family to all different locations, but this is my first trip to Central America. When I heard about the Costa Rica trip, I  contacted Dr. Miller and wanted to sign up as soon as possible. I have been really looking forward to getting an authentic Costa Rican experience on this service trip and so far, that has been the case!

 

While in Liberia, we visited a non-profit organization called “Manos Abiertas”. This organization is run by a man named Gerado who collets items from the local garbage dump and makes them into pieces of useable art. He uses the proceeds made from his artwork to help one of the poorest communities in Liberia, which is mostly made up of Nicaraguan immigrants.

 

One way Gerado takes trash and transforms it into art is by taking tires and making them into hanging flower baskets in the shape of tropical birds. Whether the tire is made into a hanging flower basket or a floor potter, each one is intricately painted to fit its purpose. Another item he transforms are horseshoes into wine racks,coffee tables, or coat hooks. When viewing his art work, it was hard to believe that at one point, it was nothing more then trash to someone else.

 

Upon seeing his artwork, I was inspired to make a purchase! The flower pot I bought is spray painted gold which highlights the patterns within the rubber tire while simultaneously disguising  the fact that it is indeed a tire. I had my Mom in mind when I bought it so hopefully she’ll have a flower in mind that she wants to plant in it when I bring it home to her! Seeing the hard work this man puts into helping others was very striking and inspiring. It was definitely a good motivator to continue on our service journey of helping others.

Learning to Dance

Hola from Costa Rica! My name is Dawn and I’m a senior sociology major. Myself and the group are excited to be here in Costa Rica and telling you about the details of our trip!

Today we went to a high school here in Liberia that is the only public art high school in Costa Rica where students can study an art form, such as dance or theater, as a major part of their education along with their academic classes. The students invited us to give us lessons of traditional folk dance. The students demonstrated several dances then taught us each one step by step. After we were taught each dance, we performed them along with the students. It was an exhausting workout, but it was so much fun too. The students then performed a play they had written especially for our visit. We were able to talk with them and ask each other questions and converse.  We ended the visit by taking many pictures with the students. They even invited us to come back tomorrow!

This is an experience we would not have had on just a regular trip to Costa Rica. Not many people can say they were given dance lessons by high school students on their trip to Costa Rica. It’s experiences like these that make the trip that much more special and memorable. This was definitely the highlight of the trip for me thus far. Looking forward to what the rest of the trip has in store!

¡Pura Vida!

Costa Rica Liberia!

Hello, my name is Jordan. I’m a junior at Wilkes University majoring in earth and environmental science. So far this trip to Costa Rica has been one of the biggest adventure I have ever done in my life.
Arriving to this country I never realized how much different this place would be compared to the United States. I have noticed the people here already have many different customs than back home. For example I noticed that a lot of the shopping stores in Liberia close around six every night. I thought that was very different compared to back home where people close shopping stores at nine at night. I feel this is probably due to the fact that the sunsets here at that time and there is minimum street lights in the area. The people seem to be very welcoming wherever we go. Today we met a guy who makes flower pots out of old car tires. He welcomed us into his house where he explained that everything he creates and sells goes to a nonprofit group to help children in Costa Rica. I hope that I get the opportunity to meet more people like him that helps give back to the community.

Wilkes in Costa Rica- Seeing is Believing

Buenos Dias, my name is Jason Parfitt and i am a junior at Wilkes majoring in criminology and sociology. I took this class because i saw an opportunity to volunteer and serve while simultaneously being able to travel and experience a different culture. I have traveled in the past and i have a great desire to help others, so I saw this trip as an opportunity to do both. Although it is only day 3, I have already worked with the other group members and we have accomplished quite a bit at the museum we have been volunteering at.

Even though the work we have been doing has been productive and there is a plethora of other topics i could discuss, i wanted to touch on a few things we have seen in country that line up with some of the concepts Dr. Miller discussed in class prior to leaving. For example, Dr. Miller discussed how many areas in Costa Rica are unevenly developed, meaning some areas are heavily focused on developing ecotourism attention, while others are left to waste away because they are viewed as having no potential for ecotourism. The way this was portrayed in Liberia was evident when we went walking around the town to see what was around. When we began our walk, we were in a clean, developed part of town that was busy with tourists and locals alike. However, near the end we came to a bridge over what seemed like a nice river only to discover that it was filled with garbage and was not being taken care of at all. This is a prime example of the uneven development that occurs and it is common throughout the country. I can understand why uneven development can occur so easily because when an area is popular for ecotourism, all effort and work are immediately focused on that area because it is profitable. With ecotourism being a main enterprise in Costa Rica, areas that don’t benefit ecotourism can be easily forgotten.

I feel that this trip makes the topic of ecotourism so much more real because we aren’t just reading theories and statistics in textbooks, but witnessing first hand how these concepts manifest themselves first hand.

Costa Rican Cuisine

Buenos Dias! My name is Emily and I am a sophomore triple major–Political Science, Psychology, and Spanish. I’m very excited to be a part of this Costa Rica trip!

Upon our arrival in Costa Rica yesterday, we met our in-country coordinator, Kattya, and went out for dinner. Most restaurants in Costa Rica serve a dish called casado, which is a typical meal, consisting of rice, black beans, a type of meat, salad, plantains, and another component that varies depending upon the cook. Casado translates to “married,” and it is said that the dish originated from males eating small, simple meals until they got married. Once married, men were spoiled by eating huge, complex, nutritious, and fulfilling meals made by their wives. Another theory is that the dish is called casado due to rice and beans always being together or “married.” Regardless of the theories, casado proves to be nothing short of delicious. A nice mix of proteins and starches, casado leaves everyone filled until their next meal. The juicy, fresh fruit bursts with flavor and is paired nicely with the filleted fish, usually just caught earlier that day. The rice and beans seem to mix naturally. Along with the mouth-watering Costa Rican cuisine, the drinks that join them are delightfully exotic. Fresh pineapple or papaya juice is a Wilkes’ favorite. The restaurant at which we ate this afternoon had drinks including flax seed, which had a thick, syrupy consistency and tamarindo, which tastes mildly sour and refreshing. Snacks throughout the day included mamones and coconuts bought from street vendors. Overall, the cuisine is amuse bouche and has been a highlight of the trip!

Hola from Liberia, Costa Rica

Hello:

Today we worked with the Museo de Guanacaste on translating their tourist information pages into English–we even had a couple Canadian tourists stop by for a visit! The museum itself was first built as a fort and then was used as a jail, before becoming a museum. The hope is that the museum can preserve the building’s history while also teaching tourists as well as Guanacastecos about the history of the region.

Pura Vida!

Andy

 

Working with the Museo de Guanacaste

Hello:

I wanted to pass along the list of projects we will be doing in Liberia with the Museo de Guanacaste–looks like we need to brush up on our Spanish!

• Assist in creating content and a proper listing for the museum on Wikipedia
• Submit form to list the museum as a Google point of interest

• Creation of a brochure in English for tourists and prospective museum visitors

• Translate existing pamphlets and marketing materials from Spanish to English.

• A proper translation of the Museum’s Facebook Page into English to help in broadening the reach for non-native speakers

• Create a flyer template which can be utilized by museum officials to announce and market current events and exhibits as they change throughout the year

Meet our in-country partner R.A.W. Tours (Raising Awareness Worldwide)

Hello:

Wilkes University will once again team with R.A.W. Tours for a student service-learning trip to Costa Rica. Previously, R.A.W. has coordinated Wilkes’ yearly trip to the Tarrazú region of central Costa Rica so students can live a day in the life of a Costa Rican coffee farmer and complete various community service projects. Each time we’ve worked with R.A.W. on a service-learning trip it has been put together by RAW representative Kattya Lomel who will also be leading our trip this year.

One of the many things that I like about working with R.A.W. is that Kattya and I really share a lot of same ideas about what students should get out of a trip and the best way to carry it out. It is really nice to work with the same organization again and again because it not only makes the planning process easier, but I know that everything will run very smoothly while we’re in-country.

Here is a little bit about Kattya: Kattya Lomel, Operations Director and founder of R.A.W. Tours – Raising Awareness Worldwide, has been in the service/volunteer tourism industry for 7 years. A native of Costa Rica, she has an unbridled passion for helping others and raising consciousness in the world through her organization’s volunteer projects. Her passion and experience culminated in late 2010 with the founding of R.A.W. Tours; a non-profit organization focused on creating life changing experiences for volunteers from across the globe by immersing them in rural communities in Costa Rica in service oriented projects.

Thankfully for us, Kattya likes working with Wilkes as well, “I have been fortunate to have a chance to work with Dr. Miller and the students from Wilkes University for several years now and they are certainly a highlight for me. Dr. Miller always has an innovative approach to whatever project we are working on and the students are always selfless and full of love for the communities we serve. I am particularly excited about this upcoming class on Ecotourism and its impact on the community; as it is one of largest industries here in the coastal Guanacaste regions. I have no doubt that this will be an enriching and educational journey for the students and the individuals in the communities we will be collaborating with. Our hope is a higher level of awareness and fresh approaches will be birthed out of work in the coming weeks. We here at R.A.W. Tours feel very blessed and excited to be partnering and sharing with Wilkes University for this summer course.”

For more information on RAW and photos from past Wilkes trips led by R.A.W., please visit their website at http://rawtours.org/ (If you hurry a Wilkes group from two years ago is the cover photo!) You can also contact Kattya directly at Kattya@rawtours.org.

You should also follow them on Facebook because Kattya will be posting updates and photos as we progress through the trip, http://www.facebook.com/RAWTOURS

Pura Vida!
Andy