Once we landed in Costa Rica, we were welcomed by our guide and we began our bus trip to Monteverde. About an hour later, we stopped to have lunch, which the students called “una comida deliciosa.” After lunch, we continued our journey, during which we marveled at the natural beauty of the countryside and spotted several animals such as cows, horses, dogs, and even goats. The bus ride was filled with exclamations of “Wow!”, “Look at that!” and “Did you see that?”
Finally, we arrived in Monteverde in the late afternoon. We met the host families whom the students would be staying with for the next few days, and each group of students left with them. To our surprise, they did not show any signs of fear or sadness while they were leaving with the families, just excitement. They were looking forward to putting their Spanish skills into practice in the real world!
Once we arrived to the Cloud Forest Reserve, we met with our guides and split into groups to discover the wildlife in the reserve. Thanks to our guides, we saw a sloth mother and her baby, a tarantula, a quetzal, and a toucan, plus little snakes, tadpoles, and many different types of plants.
After our visit to the Cloud Forest, we went to El Centro de Monteverde, which is literally the geographic center of the town. Here, students enjoyed their lunch and had free time to enjoy games together in the beautiful weather. Once we finished our time there, the students headed back to their home stays in the afternoon.
Once we arrived, we joined the rest of the students from the school for what they call “The Circle”, a tradition that takes place every Monday, during which the students share important events such as birthdays, news, etc. The teacher who was leading the circle took this time to introduce us to the rest of the school. After this, we were given a tour around the school’s impressively big campus by a 10th grade student ambassador.
Later, we set off for the adventure of the day: ziplining above the cloud forest! We completed 13 ziplines (each of them with different heights and lengths, and a Tarzan swing. The students were all risk-takers and tried the ziplines. We had a blast!
Students had the cafecito with their home stay families. Every student spoke in Spanish about their experience learning about another culture and living with a home stay family here in Costa Rica. All of them agreed that the families were very nice, the food was amazing, and. We are so proud of them for how they were able to express themselves in Spanish!
After the cafectio, we visited the downtown so students could buy a souvenir. After this, we returned to the Cloud Forest School for one last unforgettable experience in Costa Rica: a guided night walk in the school’s forest. It was really fun to explore the forest and observe the wildlife in the darkness of the night with our flashlights.