Itinerary Costa Rica 2012

From April 17th to April 27th our class called Geostudies was headed to Costa Rica. We did many adventures which everyone else has highlighted in this blog, but how would we of gotten there without the planes, trains and automobiles that connect us all.

Personally I do not like to wake up early but that day a 3 o'clock bus ride to Pearson International didn't feel so bad. The rest of the day consisted of smiling faces, uncomfortable seating (especially if your 6'2) and excitement filled with all.

As we finally arrived we first met our bus driver Jorge, he was going to be our go to guy for the next few days as we adventured the land and travelled to many different locations. The roads were an absolute mess and were a nightmare for a young driver such as myself. Jorge was a very talented driver and and handled all the roads with a breeze.

As we finished staying in La Fortuna our group took a boat across Arenal River (which is man made) to get to the  UGA Eco-Lodge. The boat ride was very peaceful and being in the middle of the lake and having numerous mountains and even Arenal Volcano surrounding you was quite serial. Personally when I thought we got of the boat we would be minutes away from the Eco-Lodge. Well that was not the case we took plenty of twisty non paved roads with smaller buses which was quite an experience. No worries thought we made it to the Eco-Lodge safe and sound.

Our final stop on our tour was the beach town of Samara. Jorge picked us up again as we traveled 3 hours on the bus. It was full of sleepyheads and aliens as we watched "Independence Day." As we took our first step off the nice air conditioned bus into the heat of the beach it felt like you were in the Sahara Desert.

Finally it was time to head home, Our class said our goodbye's to Jorge and hopped on another plane back to Canada. You could already see the memories that we made and how closer we got as a group as we lifted off. Costa Rica was defiantly a life changing experience and is something that I'll always look back on.

Charles ...

Tales From Playa Samara!!

Geo 2012 Costa Rica excursion was a cornucopia of new experiences! There were always new places to see and new people to meet. One of these places was Playa Samara!! In my opinion, it was the numero uno place we visited! 

I think I speak for the entire Geo2012 family when i say we were all looking to the sun, waves, and sand!

I remember that feeling I got when the bus pulled up to the hotel and I could see the vibrant blue water. It was such a drastic change from the other two areas we visited.

My favorite memories from Samara beach include roses and thorns by the pool, kayaking, body surfing, sitting at beach bar and bartering with the locals not to mention our favourite food spot on the beach.. and of course surfing! 

- Kramer

The best lessons are learnt by doing!!

On our way up to the hike up Arenal volcano our guides were very informative on the bus. one of the things they tought us that stuck with me was the pressure craters. these massive craters in the earth and now in a protected area (Arenal National Park) were formed when the volcano erupted and catapolted out pieces of molten hot rock. the rock would come barreling down to the earth and because it was so hot it tould hit the ground and explode leaving now debreee of itself only the craters in the ground to tell their story.


 i have absolutely no clue why i remember this piece of information more than everything else but i find it very fascinating.

 even while on the arenal hike we learned so many things about the way Arenal erupted for example how it started erupting not out of the top but out of the side because that was the weakest point of the mountain. there were also 3 more holes where the lava erupted from. altogether known as craters A,B,C,D.

 theres also this type of tree that grows in the rainforest at the base of arenal and it looks just like a giraffe because in the competition for light amongst the trees this one has found a way to set itself apart and adapt so that it can recieve light. it swerves almost horizontally and then back vertically, held up by shoots, so that it can reach the light through the dense forest.

 when we finally got to our destination we got a beautiful view of Arenal lake which is a man made lake.


 as informative as this hike was it was AWESOME and at the time i didn't even realize how much information we were uncovering (but not nearly enough) because i have never really learned like this before. and what i mean by that is being outside and actually exploring the subject and experiencing it first hand and on our terms! the view was absolutely fantastic, our guide was awesome, the critters were wicked cool, and the knowledge was just a bonus. when i came home and showed my mom all of the pictures i could actually give detail on each picture and give her a mini lesson on what each of the pictures meant. i felt so smart.

Costa Rican Food

 On our trip down to Costa Rica all of us got the opportunity to try many different foods a lot of us never even new existed. For example Yuca, tastes a bit like a potato but a little more dry.

 We also had the privilege of trying Plantains, which I personally did not like one bit. The majority of the food though I believe we've all had before, just not prepared or presented the same way as in Costa Rica.

The food prepared just had so much colour.... so full of life.

....And looked absolutely delicious to eat.

While we were down there we also learnt the proper way to cut fruit. On our river float and kayak adventures both guides cut them the same. One guy (Diaz) even taught me and a few others how to drink the juice out of the pineapple which I found super cool and can now write that down for my 100 new experiences.

A common food a  noticed we ate quite a bit of was rice and beans. Mmmm. I wasn't to keen on it at first, but it soon began to grow on me. I got a good chuckle one night though, because as I was just about to leave my room for dinner in Monteverde, Laura walks in and says "you might want to break out your safety food tonight, there's like only rice and beans." (above picture was our meal, clearly not just rice and beans... haha) Then as I walked outside I saw Jonny and a few other guys digging into the peanut butter on the front porch. So I don't think they had a full meal that night.    

I believe this picture captured my over all trip to Costa Rica  because it portrays all the beauty, fun, calmness, excitement, and memorable experience I had. As well I think almost every one of us at some point purchased a coke in one of those glass bottles because they were so neat and refreshing. But now, for me every time I see a coke like that it will remind me of Geo in CR. 

As good as the food was out in Costa Rica, I think it's safe to say everyone was happy to step foot into the food court at the Atlanta airport, and couldn't wait for a home cooked meal. 

It's been such an adventure being in Geo, and I thank the whole family for making it as fun as it's been. 

Geo Mama.

La Cultura de Costa Rica!

Our trip to Costa Rica opened up a lot of new experiences. One of which was the culture there. Our expectation for the culture there was much different ffrom when we got there and actually saw the culture.

Expectations before:

• 3rd world country?
• Only spanish speaking
• No school for many
• Tacos for dinner EVERYDAY!

I'd say that two cultural experience really stood out, and we learned a lot about them...

• Agua Azul Escuela
• The Familly - Family Visit

For those who had the chance to experience the "escuela" really learned a lot about how we take for granted alot in countries like Canada & USA. When we were playing the English-Espagnol games, the simplest game and the simplest things allowed them to have the best time EVER! And we could definately see it in their eyes. While talking to the director of the school she said that,"Yes, this may not be the biggest school, this may not be a private school, but this is what the kids look forward to every single day," and that just goes to show that we don't appreciate what we get for free every day.

As I've said before this was not a physical adventure (even though the walk back in the rain was) but it was an emotional adventure; and something that we won't forget. The 19th of April is a day we willl remember forever!

The second was the familia a familia visit. Where we were given the chance by UGA to visit an actual Costa Rican family, and it was really cool. The Kat extended family travelled to a house, on a cliff :O! The house's walls were made of cement and their roof of steel. It was great to try the food, what was really interesting about the food was that every single thing had not come form the market but a different home their neighbourhood. She said that's how things work here, you can trade things for something in turn and that's is how we make a lving instead of spending money to buy food. We also noticed their generous attitude, and not just in the homes but everywhere we went, everybody said,"hola."

-Mauricio Diaz

Lovely Looking Landscapes

Every thing I experienced, or saw in Costa Rica either surprised me, or exposed me to something brand new. Even though I have many experiences I could talk about, it's really the first thing I saw coming in to Costa Rica that made me understand the beauty of this place.

As our plane began its gradual decline into Costa Rica the first thing I noticed was how beautiful it was. I have never seen anything quite like it before. The landscape that this area is built upon is spectacular. There were mountainous areas, rivers, and of course the volcanoes. A landing like this does not even compare to what you see coming into Toronto.  Already I could tell this was a place of beauty.

As we continued to our first few area we saw the impact the landscape has taken due to past volcanic activity, we got to take a raft to explore the differences in our water sources, and fly above the trees over looking a huge rain forest. I honestly could not believe how extremely different our landscape is from a place like Costa Rica.

During our travel time was another time the vast differences stood out. When we were on the boat when you looked around the mountainous area was beautiful. It was none stop and seemed to be completely surrounding us. Also, while we were driving the roads of Costa Rica the winding and bendyness of them amazed me. It truly did feel like a ride at wonderland sometimes!

This sort of environment defiantly takes you away from the world of technology and busy streets. I think it really does open people eyes to the beauty our world has. It showed me great differences, and allowed me to realized that not every part of the world is covered with cement. However, in Canada it really feels like there is no green anymore.

Certain areas of the world have used and abused the natural beautiful landscape we had, and replaced it with buildings, and pavement. Costa Rica's landscape gave me a realization that I will never forget.

(For the record I did not take these pictures. I am having trouble taking my pictures off of my camera :$)

Alexa Bettcher

Simms' Fam Jam

Just before we left for Costa Rica, our class split up into three families to make it easier to travel, and to have an easier time while we were there. I was in Simms' family along with Alexa, Bailee, Lauren, Megan Stev, Will, Thomas, Ann- Marie, and Simms. We all got matching Buffs before we left to be able to easily see our family members, and because they look cool.

After we arrived in Costa Rica at our Eco Lodge in Arenal, we had family pot lucks, so everyone in the family pitched in either food or money, and we went to the grocery store to buy some items. We had Mr.Noodles, along with pepperoni sticks, cheese, bread, sardines, and nachos. On the last night in La Fortuna, we again split up into families and went into town to eat family meals. My family went to a local restaurant, with Kat and Jorge the bus driver, and had a fantastic meal. We waited and played games and were the loudest people there by far.

The next day, we travelled in a van with our family for about 4 hours. During which we played many games such as hand seed ball, music artist, and had an eating competition. After we arrived in Monteverde, one of the nights, we played "Minute To Win It". Our family placed second overall losing by about 2 points to the first place team. In Samara, we were not really in families, but in groups. The family aspect was an awesome addition to the trip, because we had a small group of people that we could rely on, and we grew as a family throughout the trip. 

Thanks for a great trip Simms!

Alex Dunlop

100 New Experiences

Each one of us traveled to Costa Rica thinking of all the new things we were about to try. But none of us ever thought of the effect it would truly have on us. Ziplining over top of the cloud forest, river rafting through a river in the middle of the rainforest, catching the perfect wave on a surfboard, paddling on a kayak through the ocean, snorkeling in the Pacific Ocean...these are all experiences people dream of doing and you have them checked off at 16! It is crazy to think that Costa Rica has already come and gone and we are back in the classroom but the stuff we accomplished and succeeded at over those 9 days in endless, and the way it made us feel is priceless. Sure we might not be able to tell everyone we went surfing but each one of us knows how truly awesome it was to experience that. For me surfing has always been near the top of my bucket list and it is still crazy to think how easily the opportunity arose. Just simply on a school trip and we decided to rent some surfboards along the beach and next thing I knew I was up on the board surfing! Actually able to come home and say that I did it. No one can ever comprehend what each of us felt over the span of those 9 days but we will always remember.

- Megan Stevenato

Prep for Costa Rica 2012 !

Hola GEO !

Remember when we first started our Costa Rica countdown? (thanks Christy!) I know I had my own countdown from around 200-something days! Every time I checked it I would get more and more excited each time. It seems like Costa Rica was so far away, and as the days got closer, it felt even longer till we left !

Once April came around, and only 17 days were left, I knew everyone was getting super pumped, but we still had a lot of preparation before we left!

I know that one of my biggest fears for this trip was forgetting something that I would need while in Costa Rica, so I started my preparation as soon as possible. I made many lists with stuff that I'd need, which included what clothes I would wear (taking in account for theme days), what kind of shoes that would be appropriate, and all the extra stuff that would help this trip run smoothly. Going to the stores to buy stuff like sunscreen and bug spray was weird because it finally started to feel like this trip was actually going to happen (and not get "cancelled", thanks to the seminar group for that scare).  

But when we were put into our families, it seemed even more realistic that Costa Rica was just around the corner! Preparing for our family pot-luck and coming up with gift ideas for our extended family also made the time fly by. The prep we did for our family pot-luck was definitely worth it because our dinner was delicious (in the Glass family at least!). 

In the Andrychuk extended family was Alex, Tom, Alexa, Megan Stevenato, Laura (adopted ;) ) and myself , and our Costa Rican family was amazing ! I'm so glad we planned before we left and brought them some great gifts. It was so heart warming to see the youngest boy, Miguel, light up when I handed him the soccer ball we brought them because I know how much soccer means to people in certain countries (including Costa Rica). Also seeing Tom teach him how to use the Badminton rackets was awesome because it was a sport that he never knew about and it was something new for him to learn.

 (Miguel is missing cause he fell asleep)

April 16 was pretty exciting because it was gear check day! To be honest, I thought it was going to be more intense, but I felt beyond prepared anyways. From the itinerary test, to the document check I think everyone passed with flying colours (atleast I hope!). But when we received our GEO shirts, and our family buffs it felt like the final touch was added and we ready to go on the trip of our lives.

I can't believe after all this preparation and anticipation for this trip, that's it's already over, but I'll never forget all the amazing things I experienced and all the memories that we've made as a group. 

Thanks for the time of my life!
Emily Phillips :)