Solo en Costa Rica: Blake Global Programs '22

Hi everybody! It’s Grace again.  Today was a big adjustment day for most of us, but overall I thought it was really fun. We left our bug boxes (copyright pending) for a breakfast of oatmeal, honey, and bananas. We were supposed to meet with the park rangers this morning but they had an emergency meeting about some flooding in Costa Rica as a result of a tropical storm. Instead, Yorleny, who works at the camp and grew up in Caño Negro, gave us a tour of the town and the surrounding nature reserve. We were accompanied by her daughter Casandra, niece Camila, and nephew Arón. The kids and Julia became fast friends. On our walk we saw the elementary school, church, supermarket, park, sports field, and a couple of docks/lookouts to the lagoon. Yorleny explained that in the dry season (roughly October-April) the lagoon is completely dry and you can walk from one side to another. Today, however, the water seemed pretty high. We saw a couple of caiman heads poking out of the water as well as ma

We woke up in our luxurious hotel rooms this morning, inhaled some pancakes and gallo pinto, and hoped on the bus, leaving our hot water and scorpion-less beds behind. Our bus trip ultimately took about 8 hours, including bathroom and snack buying breaks, where we spotted large iguanas climbing in nearby trees, and we arrived in Caño Negro around 4:30 pm. We met the crew, got settled into our new rooms with bunk beds and mosquito nets, and had a yummy dinner. We’re all exhausted from a long travel day. This is going to be a pretty large adjustment, as this camp is very very different from Camp Terraba. Goodnight :)  

 Hi everyone! This is Mina Rossi and I’m here to post my second blog post and tell you about the tenth day on our trip. Today was very eventful and by far my favorite day. We started the day off with our hotel's breakfast. Some people got pancakes and fruit, while others got the traditional costa rican breakfast, gallo pinto. After breakfast we got on the bus to head to our first destination of the day. We boarded a boat to whale watch and met our guide Kiko. Kiko was very intelligent and had a lot of insight on the ecology and animals to look out for while on the boat. The boat ride was more fun for some of us than others due to some motion sickness that some of us experienced. However, there’s no doubt that seeing dolphins and schools of black tuna was enjoyable for everyone on the boat. We stopped on a beach for a bit to look at the scenery and found a waterfall that we took a group picture under. We found a unique variety of rocks and animals on the land. Once we finished our t

 Hi everyone! This is day 9 and I vlogged once again! I didn’t get much of chance to explain, but we got to hear about and support a woman’s entrepreneurship initiative. They are trying to legalize their businesses and be recognized by the government. Overall a great day! 

Good morning! My name is Lukas and today is my blog day. Today was laid back but well needed after many days of hard work. It started off with breakfast where we had some super delicious eggs and bread. Since today is our last full day at camp Terraba, the chaperones decided to have one-on-one meetings with each of us, checking in on how we are feeling mentally, physically, and what not. After, we headed to the construction site like we do most mornings. Because of all our dedication and fast working, today we didn't have much to do in order to finally complete the four pillars of the building. We completed our service to the amazing construction workers who helped us along the way. All that's left for us to do is help them put away the tools tommorow. After construction, we headed back to the camp where we had a decent amount of time to relax before we had rice with mixed vegetables for lunch. It was amazing! After an hour of free time to relax, we went and met Volmár and Caro

Today for breakfast we had pancakes with lemon and sugar. We then went to the community center construction site. We felt accomplished when we arrived to see the two front concrete pillars standing. After working to make the concrete build the framework for the columns, it felt good to see our progress. We began working on the back pillars and by then we knew how the process worked, and worked quickly. At this rate we will complete all columns inside and outside the community center building with time to spare. Those columns will help support another level, which will hold a  second floor that will stand for years and really help the community. We worked all morning, then had some “Piccadillo” -tacos with seasoned veggies and rice,- and went back to work for a little bit more.  After a lot of hard work in the heat, it felt good when the light rain began. Hector recruited some of the kids at the bus stop to play in a game of soccer with us. We all went out on the field and played a long

Hi all, Joaquin here! Today was a tiring but interesting day. We started off by waking up at 6:00 to help prepare breakfast at 6:30. Today's breakfast was gallo pinto, a traditional Costa Rican breakfast that consists of white rice, black beans, eggs, and cheese. It was fun to help prepare it, and the end result was delicious. I love beans and rice and I will definitely be preparing this when I get home!  After breakfast, we got ready for the day and headed out. Our first stop was at the Mano de Tigre cultural center, where we met with Isabel and Aidè. They taught us about art, and about their efforts to recover traditional art forms that had nearly been lost. They showed us some of this art, which is made using cotton from local cotton trees. We then helped to pick out seeds from the cotton while conversing and learning more about them and their art. They also prepared a delicious juice, and fresh snacks. After we were done, we walked down the road to the construction site of the

 Hi everyone! It’s Zoe.  Day 5 began with a delicious breakfast of oatmeal with bananas and honey before getting right to work back at the construction site and we continued our work on the building. We mixed several batches of concrete to form the columns of the building, and completed two out of the four. We also met some bug friends during this time, which we named Fred, Ted, and Ned (not pictured). They are a type of grasshopper, a common pest to Costa Rican agriculture.  After a couple hours of work, we headed to Mano de Tigre (translates to Tiger Hand), which is an indigenous women’s organization as well as the home of one of the community leaders, Elides. She prepared for us a delicious lunch of traditional soup (Olla de Carne) to eat.  (Photo translation: the earth has a feminine name, therefore it also belongs to us) After, we began our creek-hike through the jungle, guided by her son, Alexis. We essentially hiked up a mountain, then down a creek, climbing on rocks and logs an

 Hi everyone! It’s Grace :) Today was a very grueling but rewarding day. After breakfast we walked about 4 km (around 2.4 miles) straight up to visit the Rincón Ecológico, or Ecological Corner. We walked through a neighborhood on our way there and saw lots of cute dogs and chickens.  On our way we had to cross a flowing stream, and there we met up with Paulino. Paulino is a Brörán man who has dedicated his life to replanting native plants in areas that were deforested for cattle. He taught us about the importance of water and rain to his people. The rocks near the stream were marked by the symbol of the earth goddess to guide the Brörán people to their towns.  As we continued walking, we saw cattle fields and looked behind us to see all of the beautiful mountains that surround this area in Costa Rica. We were so high up that we could even see Panamá! Paulino said that he was inspired to embark on his reforestation project by his grandmother, but his journey wasn’t easy. When he began t

  Hi everyone! This is Julia Nowak. Today we woke up at 6 and enjoyed some fluffy pancakes with honey and bananas. Then Héctor from Camps International took us into town to carry some tools, meet some more community members, and stop at the supermarket up the road for some snacks. Then we got on our gloves and planted some cedar, mayflower, and zapatero trees with Jeffrey, one of the community leaders we’ve been working with. After planting the trees, we took a short hike down to preview where we would be working after lunch and saw a toucan in the canopy!!! We were rewarded with an omelet, salad, and potatoes, and set back out to work. We helped define a path that leads to an important spiritual spot with rakes and shovels, pushing leaves out of the way and creating stairs in the red dirt. We were then given free time where I took the time to run about 2 miles and take a cold shower. As a true Nowak, I then took such a deep nap that I missed 15 minutes of dinner. We just had awesome c

Hi! This is Mina and I documented our day today with pictures that I will include in this post as soon as I can. We started our day off with a delicious traditional breakfast dish served at the hotel. This dish included rice and beans, cheese, scrambled eggs, plantains, fresh fruit, and tea or coffee. We then boarded the bus for our four and a half hour ride to our first camp, Camp Terraba. The ride was my personal favorite part of the day. We witnessed four different climates during this ride and saw beautiful views from our windows. Although we didn't get a chance to get out of the bus to truly experience these spectacular views, looking out of the windows was still a very unique oppurtunity to see the nature Costa Rica has to offer. We made two stops to stretch our legs and get food. These stops gave us the chance to see and purchase (for some of us) authentic Costa Rican snacks and beverages. Although towards the end of the ride many of us had fallen asleep, the conversations a

Check out this video to see our first day travelling to Costa Rica and these pictures of us arriving in Costa Rica and eating a delicious dinner!  

We explored the Okciyapi exhibit at the Walker to reflect on the relationship between Indigenous language loss and traditions before we travel. 

Welcome to our blog. Follow our adventure as 9 upper school students and 2 chaperones from Blake embark upon a trip to Costa Rica. For three weeks, we will travel to several cities to explore Indigenous rights and ecology.  We are spending this week learning from tour leaders and each other to build a foundation on the topics we study while in country.  Delicious lunch at Abi's Cafe in Minneapolis