The mornings are warm and sunny.  In the afternoons, the clouds roll in like fog, settling farther and farther down from the mountains until they are in the treetops where we stay.  After all the preparations for our Costa Rica trip, our students are figuring out just how beautiful Cloudbridge is.

But, of course, these are mountains and the hikes are hard.  Students are now comparing muscle aches like old married couples.  The Dung Beetle Group huddled around this afternoon.  Senior Michael Blankenship said, “I didn’t even know I had these muscles. ”

For all the challenges, there are equal rewards.  The views.  The fresh fruit at breakfast.  The crow of roosters.  The chirp of parakeet flocks flying up the river.  The turn of a trail that reveals a cascading waterfall–somehow the Spanish word catarata sounds better to us now.

Our days are filled with morning research projects.  Students make hikes with their project groups into the Reserve to set traps for beetles, to mount a motion-activated camera, and to measure and collect plants.  After the physical activity, lunch has never tasted better.  Then, in the afternoons, we rest.  After a daily evening class meeting, there are more adventures to be had…  night hikes.

By Nolan Calhoun

Today we had the chance to tour a local estuary in Parque Nacional Marino Las Baulas.  The experience was honestly amazing.  Our tour guide, Enrique, was a local that took us out in a boat in groups of 10 and 11 people.  He was bilingual, speaking both English and Spanish, so interacting was easy.  After we started, we noticed several species.  This time of the year, the estuaries are more salty because it is the dry season of the Guanacaste Province and the rains don’t flush the salt water out.  Enrique pointed out several crocodiles, herons, mangrove trees, and howler monkeys.  Enrique served pineapple on the boat and it was delicious.  Hopefully these great adventures continue!