WEEK 2 ADVENTURES!!!

On saturday we left San Jose to head for the rapids! I had been looking forward to this day for a the whole trip, and was pumped. We left early in the morning and it took about 3 hours to get to the river. In order to get there we had to take one of the most dangerous highways in the country, i feel asleep so it didnt bother me. As geared up and made our way to the river, the guide went over safety instructions and commands...looking around, people were freaking out. I personally had butterflies in my stomach and i had been on class 5 rapids before. The river was beautiful and the scenery was to die for. Each bend around the river was like a picture out of a natural geographic magazine..i could barely believe my eyes. The rapids themselves were pretty intense and our boat was one of the only ones that did not flip. Our guide, Ninja, even tried to flip us a couple of times but it was not going to happen. At one point a lady, not on our trip fell off a raft in front of us and got sucked under. Big john and I were the ones that made the save and it was a pretty cool experience. She was really freaked out, and i think she sat inside the raft for the rest of the trip. Toward the end of the 5 hour adventure, Ninja pointed out a spot where we could jump off the raft and be sucked under in an undertoe. All of us jumped at the same time and were pulled downstream by and intense amount of pressure. Jamie was sucked under the longest and he popped up about 7 seconds after everyone else..i'm sure he was a little scared. The overall raft trip was amazing and by far one of the top experiences of the trip thus far. Our guide was probably the most experienced one around and took us for the ride of our lives!

The next day we drove to the Osa Peninsula, it was supposed to take anywhere from 6 to 8 hours...but it took us 11!!! I can now say that i know every and all possible ways to sleep comfortably on a bus. On the way there the road came to a stop, and by this i mean the bridge had been swept away by the river the day before. We had to take a detour where our bus got stuck next to a very shady bar. There were deffinatly a couple of town drunks to "help" us get the bus moving. It took about half of the guys on our trip to push the bus! it was hilarous!!

The next leg of the trip to the Osa was a boat ride down a winding river and out into the ocean at top speed. I swear the boat was completely out of the water when we would hit waves that came out of nowhere. My knees were pretty sore the next day because of the jarring impact that occurred when the boat would slam back into the ocean. The Osa itself was amazing and the place we stayed was way better then expected. We stayed in really cool platforms with tents and beds. It was an extremely relaxing experience, and i deff. learned more card games then i would like to or can remember. The next day we went to the rainforest where we saw some amazing animals and plants. I learned how to open a coconut by hand which i am now very good at. Jamie and i had a race which he won!! It was a pretty tough blow... We came to a river where we could swim and it was perfect. The water was cold but it was so hot outside no-one thought twice. We did some injury defying jumps off of rocks into the water. i think a couple of people hit rocks at the bottom but i was lucky. (tends to be a reoccurring thing this trip). The views were unreal and there were points where i had to double check to make sure i was really seeing things. As we were heading back to the camp, we had to cross a river where there was an otter that had been eaten from the waste down. Our guide told us that it was a Croc. What he did not tell us until after we crossed the waist deep river was that the Croc was in a pool about 20 feet away!!!! Yikes. The rest of the day we all relaxed and had alot of fun doing absolutely nothing in the middle of nowhere. 

The next day we took a boat to a small island which took about an hour to get to. About half way there we stopped at a pile of debree where they told us about a water snake that if you get bite there is no known cure and you have about 6 hours to live. On the upside they can only bite you in cetain areas of your body like your ear because their teeth are angled backward. What a great learning experience right before we went snorkeling !!! NOT!!! The actual snorkeling was really cool and i saw some very colorful fish. AND NO SHARKS OR SNAKES!!!! Besides the fact that my snorkel leaked, the experience was great and well worth the ride out to the island. After we got back to shore, a team went out to open more coconuts. I think i am addicted. The rest of the night involved more relaxation and games. 

The Osa was much better than i had expected. Prior to the trip i was not looking forward to it at all, but by the end i think it was one of the best weekends i have had here. Possibly the best. 

Bananas 2!!!!

This week we visited ur first banana plantation. We traveled to the Chiquita plantaion which is by far one of the largest banana plantions in Costa Rica. As we drove up, i was amazed at how many crops there were, thousands apon thousands as far as the eye could see. This visit taught me alot about both the company of Chiquita and banana harvesting in general.

The banana industry employs 10 percent of the workforce in Costa Rica which as a huge numbers. Within chiquita, women make up 5 to 30 percent of labor force depending on the country. During the visit i learned alot about banana production and many interesting facts. The banana plant is the largest herb in the world. For each plant, carries multiple shoots that create multiple harvests. During the earlier stages the workers will select the strongest shoot which will create the bananas and the other shoots will be chopped down. The banana trunk can be dug up at any time and moved to another location. It takes anywhere from 6 to 8 months for the shoot to bud, which then turns into bananas. When the plant fruits, workers place a plastic bag around the bundle of bananas to protect them from both insects and the sun. If you look around a plantation you can see many different colors that identify where the bananas are in the harvesting process. This colorcoding technique allows workers tho harvest the corp in an efficient manner. Once the bananas are ready, workers cut off the crop and send them down cableways to the packing station. One the bananas are take, the crop is cut down the the trunk again to start the process all over.

The packing station was very intense but efficient. When the bananas reach the station they are wieghed and packed. Next they are seperated and thrown into a tank for cleaning. The clusters of 4 to 10 bananas are then placed onto a tray and workers put on the Chiquita stickers by hand. I have never seen someone do anything that fast.

The company of Chiquita is far ahead of the competition when it comes to being a sustainable company. They do as much as they possibly can to protect the environment and the people both who work and live in surrounding communities. Chiquita has become partners with the Rainforest Alliance which is a huge step for the company. They have auditors come to the farm multiple times a year to see how the plantations are doing and what they could be doing. Currently Chiquita is creating a ¨gateway¨forest that connects the rainforest from one side of the farm to the other. This allows animals to migrate when necessary and prevents interbreeding. Chiquita also recycles all of the bags used in the harvesting process. They are recycled into the rope that is used to hold the trees up. This is a gigantic waste saver, many companys just throw them out and sometimes into the rivers. Marine biologists have noticed a significant change in the quality of coral reef because of this. A major issue that goes along with bananas is the pesticides and chemicals used in the process. Chiquita uses only agrichemicas that have been approved by the U.S. EPA, and the EU. This makes both the workers healthier and the enviornment much cleaner. Workers are also required to handle pesticides with the proper protective gear to promote safty.

Chiquita also has a stong impact on the workers and local community. Workers have proper training when dealing with chemicals that most other farms do not provide. Also Chiquita makes workers get physical checkups by doctors on a regular basis to ensure that they are safe and healthy. Workers have a maximum amount of hours they can work per week which restricts the over work that most plantations force apon employees. In the local communities, Chiquita has reached out to provide jobs and a source of income. They provide jobs such as crafts and dance that allow locals to create their own business and become successful.

As you can see Chiquita does alot to ensure both social and environmental safty. They go far above and beyond many of the other banana companies in Costa Rica when they do not necessarly need to. As a company Chiquita knows how they harm the envronment and strive to change their practices. The trip was a great learning experience and was well worth the time.

Coffee 2

After traveling to a couple different coffee plantations i got a good feel for what coffee is about in Costa Rica. I saw both the large production based coffee company, and the small quality based farmer in the mountains. There is something that Costa Rica does in terms of coffee that is very origional and having a large impact on the country. This is called fair trade.

The Fair Trade agreement guarantees a minimum of $1.26 per pound of coffee and access to credit at fair prices to poor farmers. The fair trade payments that go along with the agreement are invested in food, shelter, health care, education, environmental stewardship, and economic independence. The focus of Fair Trade is to create trust and a relationship between the producers, buyers, and customers were previously lost. This new system has many key advantages.
· First it gives the poorer farmers a chance to compete in the competitive market, when they would not be able to with other systems
· The agreement also allows more independence to farmers which allow them to grow and become better at dealing with business.
·They also provide money for free primary schools and health care, which really help the people who are not earning enough to send their children to school.
· Fair trade can provide financing to famers pre and during harvest which keeps the smaller farms from being overrun by the larger companies.
· With the set wage, there can be no gender discrimination which is socially a large step forward for the country.
· To be part of fair trade, farms must past certain standards from an environmental aspect. This protects the surrounding regions and stops pollution that was once a large issue.

Eco-Tourism 2

So i have been in Costa Rica for a almost two weeks now and i have truely noticed how much toursim is a part of this country. It is everywhere. Even in downtown San Jose there is a market that seems to be designed for tourists. I would never expect to see a local go down there and buy an Imperial tee shirt or a shot glass with Costa Rica painted on the side. You cannot go 5 min. without seeing a bus drive buy with a tourismo sticker on the back.

In this blog i am going to talk about some of the benifits that eco-tourism has on the country as a whole. In 1963, laws were passed which created about 70 national parks which covered 21% of the countrys landscape. So far on my trips, guides have explained that around 30% of Costa Ricas land is currently untouched and remains preserved by law. This would never have happened it if were not for the growing trend of eco-tourism in the country. Farmers have given up their past jobs which envolved clearcutting land for cattle, and replaced them with tourism related jobs. If you think about it, there are houndreds of diffrent jobs that go along with toursim. Jobs include things such as bus drivers, souvenir shops, guides etc. Toursim opened many doors for employment options all across the country. Thanks to eco-toursim, these lush forests and lands are protected aposed to being cleared. This has payed off in medical research and sustainable food products. Without the revenue generated by this industry the land would have been lost to logging and farming years back. Ecotoursim also effects the people who are paying to see the forests and exotic beachs. When they leave they have this sense of a perfect untouched lanscape that is quickly vanishing in the world today. This makes them want to preserve areas like this through donations, groups, votes, and other support options. Ecotoursim is responsible for creating and maintaining many conservation groups around the world. One of the largest benifits of eco-tourism is that it brings large sums of money into Costa Rica without the use of factories and negitive companies that tend to harm growing nations. It truely brings an a source of income that does not cost anything to nature and leaves behind an untouched landscape. Instead of building highrise hotels and highways, ecotourism creates small wood lodges and dirt trails that people from all over the world pay big money to stay in. Ecotoursim also creates a diversification of industry to the nation of Costa Rica. The country does not need to primarly focus on agriculture of bananas and coffee, they also have tourism as a large economic backbone of the country.

SOOO FAR

This past weekend was amazing!!!! Probably one of the coolest couple of days ive ever had. We first drove to the Arenal Volcano. I had never been to a volcano before and i think we got about as close to it as you can get. The hotel we stayed in was literally on the side of the volcano. IT was intense. Every morning i would literally wake up to the view of an active volcano. It looked exactly like the pictures you see that involve dinosaurs, almost a perfect cone. At night you could see the orange lava comming from the top. I probably could have staired at it all weekend. The first night we went to the hotsprings. It was like paradise. There were beautiful pools of naturally warm water and amazing waterfalls. Of course i got bored with the mild pool and went into the hotest one. IT WAS 158 degrees!!!!! I have never felt anything like it in my life. When i fully submerged my body underneath the water i got a rush of goosebumps that felt exactly like the ones you get when it cold outside. The water completely drained me of all energy, it was unreal. If i would not have gotten in i know i would still be wishing i had. There was also a waterslide that deffinately would not be legal in the United States. I went down it not thinking it was going to literally turn me into a rag doll. In one turn it was imposible to stay on the slade and i think i was 3 feet in the air, which fell into what felt like a 70 degree drop. I may have blacked out haha. I was one of the lucky ones who did not get hurt, and after 2 runs i was satisfied. I truely cannot discribe the hot springs in words. It was like nothing else i have ever seen, and it was probably one of the best experiences ive had.

The next day we was just as much fun!! We went to this horse ranch in the middle of nowhere and hoped on what felt like wild horses! I took beginners horseback riding last semester at Miami and lets just say it did not prepare me for these horses at all. I was at the mercy of my horse, which was a rush. The ride was beautiful, and i have never seen horses sprint so fast. I see where the term horsepower comes from, and so does my lower back. The horses took us to what i feel like is one of the most beautiful places on earth. It was 10 story waterfall that fell into a natural pool surrounded by jungle. The water was crystal clear. I could not believe my eyes!! I also could not believe how COLD the water was. The experience was bliss and i probably could have stayed there for the rest of my life. It was one of those places that you almost feel sad because you want everyone you know to experience it to. Later that day we went for a hike on the side of the volcano. When the group was quiet you could hear giant boulders tumbling down the side. It was and overall sweet experience to be standing on a river of lava rock that once devistated the surrounding land. Unbelievable!

Sunday was the day we had all been looking forward to. We went to do the zip lines in Monte Verde. When we got to the course, it started to rain. I feel like rain is an understatement for what it was. It literally felt like there was a constant stream of water on my shoulders the whole time. While standing around our professors seemed a little nervous after asking what rain does to the zip lines. The respones was that it makes the ride faster and the stop harder. I was pumped. The zip lines were huge....they went forever. One of the ziplines went through a clearing in the forest then out over a valley where we were probably hanging 180 feet off the ground, through a cloud ( its a cloud forest) and back into the jungle. haha i could not believe my eyes. Stoping did not seem to be that hard, but i could see the conciquences of not stoping...which was running into a tree 60 feet in the air. Ouch. On one of the long ziplines over a valley the wind picked up in my face and i did not make it to the platform. It was awsome because i had to reverse my position and do like a sloth crawl for about 60 feet. If you have ever seen teh show man vrs wild, that is exactly what it felt and looked like. I was almost tempted to stop short a second time hah. There was "jungle swing" in the middle of the course which was a complete suprise. the jungle swing is pretty hard to describe, but we climbed up a 60 food platform and one at a time, were hooked onto and extremely long rope attached to a giant tree about 200 feet out. When you jumped off the platform there is about a 30 foot fall before the rope snaggs and you swing out into an opening in the cloud forest. WHAT A RUSH! it was a crazy experience and i would have done it 10 more times. The feeling of the initial fall was breath taking, and the rest of the ride was a perfect view of the forest. It definatly took a little nerve to do, but was worth every scream of classmates before me. Haha that was actually the worst part, watching everyone else do it first.
Later that night we went on a night hike in the dark forest. It was pouring rain but still really interesting. Kind of scary though. We saw some really cool insects out there and what the guide claimed was a small taranchala turned out to be like half the size of my fist. At one point i was annoyed that i hadnt spotted anything and was eager to find something cool. I saw what looked like a snake and yelled out to the group really excited like, and everyone came rushing over to see. It turned out to just be a big earth worm and i felt like an idiot. My friends would not let that one slide for a while haha.

The next day we went on a morning hike, which was actually what i would consider a night hike because that is on many occasions the time i would go to bed on weekends back at miami. We woke up at like 5:30 and went out looking for birds. We did not spot much untill the very end. Late in the hike we spotted a male quetzal. It is an extremely rare bird that people search for years without spotting. It was extremely lucky. I think we spotted about 4 of them. They are really cool looking with green, red and orange all over their bodies.

The weekend trip was truely an experience of a lifetime and will be a memory plastered in my head for the rest of my life! This one weekend was worth the cost of the entire trip alone in my opinion.

BANANAS WOHOO

It is well known that Costa Rica has a very large banana industry. I have not had a chance to visit any of the local banana plantation so all my information is based off of the internet and is fact based.  I think we will be going to a banana plantation in a week or so, and i will give you  my personal experience. All i can say right now is that Jamie, my roommate, and i have bananas for every morning for breakfast and they are very fresh. So here are some extremely interesting facts about bananas in COSTA RICA¡¡¡¡

Bananas were first brought to Costa Rica sometime after the spanish invasion, along with most of the countries exports. Recently bananas have taken over tourism as the the number one foreign currency earner. The banana industry is rapidly growing. Bananas first entered the United States through the city of New Orleans in 1870. Bananas are and extremely labor intensive crop to grow and harvest that takes a lot of pesticides and chemicals to maintain. Many of the workers in Costa Rica are extremely underpaid and face many health problems due to the chemicals. This was very different back in the day. Workers used to be highly skilled and well paid employees. 

COFFEE

In the last two days our class traveled to two diffrent coffee plantations that are very famous here in Costa Rica. The first one we visited was a coffee plantation that recently won the national award for Costa Rica´s number one coffee. I was very suprised to hear this considering the fact that the owner had only been in business for a couple years. This plantation was an example of the traditional system of growing and producing coffee. Including herself, the plantation hired 7 workers year round, and 70 during harvesting season. She explained how the region in which she grows impacts her decisions and makes her bean diffrent from other competition. The plantation is located up in the mountains. She went on to explain that for her it was near impossible to maintain an organic plantation due to her elevation and the falling prices of coffee in Costa Rica. Without the tradional way of growing using fertilizer and chemicals the plants would not get enough nutrients to grow. The fact that she is located up in the mountains means that the plants are exposed to less sunlight which obviously would have an impact on the plants. In the past years Costa Rican coffee prices has dropped dramatically. This makes it very hard for the farmers to stay in business . She explained that prior to her award she had made about a dollar per pound of coffee bean produced. What was shocking is how much money is pulled out in expenses. About 50% of that dollar made is used in expenses. I have never heard of a crop that costs so much to maintain. The expenses go to the constant upkeep of the land and work that goes into the picking and roasting process. But things are not so tough for her now that she recently won the award for Costa Rica´s number one bean. Now she sells her coffee for about 15 dollars a pound which is an extremely high price. The farm has focused its efforts on truely creating quality of the bean apposed to quantity. I quickly understood why the coffee was number one when we got to taste it. It was literally like nothing i had tasted before, although i am not a huge coffee drinker. The taste was extremely rich and potent. A couple of people were trying coffee for the first time and probably will not venture another cup for a long time. My roommate Jamie had two cups and could not sleep for hours haha! I thought it was hilarous.

The next day we traveled to a more commercial farm called Cafe Britt. This farm was definately different than the day before and seemed to be heavely tourist focused. Although the scenery was not as beautiful as the mountains, the informational tour was amazing. They walked us through everything from the harvesting and picking to the roasting and packaging. I had no idea so much effort went into preparing the coffee bean. They even went as far as to explain how to prepare and taste the perfect cup of coffee. Did you know that a cup of coffee is only good for 20 minutes. They took us inside the factory-processing area where we got a look at the roasting and packaging machines that prepare the famous brand for sale. They truely had efficiency and mass production down to a science. And did i mention that they are organic!! I would never expect that the small plantation would be traditional and the mass produce would be organic. That seems a little reverse to what i am used to. Cafe Britt gathers its coffee beans from houndreds of different farmers across the country. I got the impression that they were like the walmart of Costa Rican coffee in the sense that they go around to small local plantations and buy the coffee for bulk for cheap prices. This probably leads to the pricing problem that many coffee farmers face. The overall tour was very informative and i learned alot about both the production and origion of coffee. An intresting fact that stuck with me was that coffee was discovered in Ethiopia Africa buy a goat herder. What happened was the goats went up to these bushes with red berrys and started to eat them. Almost imidiately the goats went wild, jumping and running around!

Today in business class we learned about how business decisons have a strong impact on how the company is sucessfull. We went into depth about how the decisions on production and how you go about it has a strong impact on sales and survival. This relates to the small tradional coffee farm vs. the large organic farm. Since the small farm has decided to use chemicals and be non-organic it faces the risk that one day the world may decide to only want fresh organic beans and she will have to start all over from scratch. Instead she has decided to take the short term benifits route by using these chemicals to inhance production and quality of the product. Cafe Britt on the other hand has gone organic which is harder to produces but looks better on the green sustainable business side of things. We have seen a huge shift in green marketing and environmental practices which will most likely benifit them in the future. It is decisions like this that impact the fact on wether or not businesses survive in the long run.