“Environmentally Friendly” Eco-Exchange to Costa Rica
November 3 to 16, 2009
This exchange begins with five nights home hosting in the beautiful SE Central Valley town of Turrialba where we will get to know our host families, learn about Tico lifestyle, food, culture and history. This gorgeous area offers us the chance to explore volcanoes, mountain valleys, waterfalls, macadamia nut plantations and tropical plants during our Turrialba stay.
We then move to the Caribbean lowlands to EARTH University (Escuela de Agricultura de la Region Tropical Humeda) where we will spend 3 days touring the 8200 acre campus surrounded by banana and pineapple plantations. We will learn about research being conducted in the tropics and programs that are teaching and training young Latin American leaders about protection of the environment. We may assist with volunteer projects and will be housed at the university hotel in Guacimo. We will visit Escalera de Mono (Monkey's Staircase) which is the university's private nature reserve, recycling projects, help make banana paper, visit their dairy and botanical garden.
Next our adventure takes us down the eastern Caribbean coast for a 3 night stay at the environmental award winning Selva Bananito Eco-Lodge, located at the foot of Muchilla Mountain. Here we will have some fun and soft adventure options such as hiking in the rainforest, bird watching, horseback riding or zipline/canopy tour. This deluxe eco-lodge puts the E in eco-friendly with solar powered hot water, cabins made from scraps of recycled wood, composting and treatment of gray wastewater. Lighting is candle or kerosene lanterns only - no electricity here!
This exchange is geared towards the active ambassador with good mobility who is interested in environmental issues, nature, agriculture and wildlife. This exchange is open to ambassadors world wide. This will be the ED's third Costa Rican exchange and she is very familiar with the country and its customs.
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