What we do in Costa Rica...

In Dominical & Uvita - we spend 8 days working intensively in these communities, collecting the majority of our data.

A typical day begins with breakfast at 7 AM, followed by a whole group discussion.  We're on the road between 8-8:30, and work in small, interdisciplinary groups in the community until 4 PM.  Students have an hour free each afternoon in Dominical to check email, call home, play on the beach, etc.  We're back to our cabins by 5:30 (just as it's getting dark - we're pretty close to the equator), with dinner at 6.  After dinner, we have a short break to reflect upon the days experiences, and then come together in our disciplinary-focus groups to analyze the data collected each day.  We work until about 10 PM each night.  Our Costa Rican hosts tell us we work too much, but we have much to do and little time to complete the work. 

Once we leave Dominical/Uvita, we spend more time driving and our schedule becomes somewhat less predictable.  This part of the trip is designed to give students the opportunity to explore well-developed tourist attractions and to draw comparisons between established and successful attractions and the communities of Dominical and Uvita.  We spend two nights in Monteverde at the Cloud Forest, where we explore the Cloud Forest, and work with local guides to help plant avocado trees, which are the primary food source for the most famous of Costa Rican birds -- the quetzal.  From Monteverde, we travel around Lake Arenal and spend two nights in La Fortuna, at the base of Volcan Arenal.  There we have the opportunity to stand on a recent lava flow, and lately, to see, feel, and hear an active volcano.  We complete our trip in San Jose, where we spend two-three nights completing papers and final presentations.