Making Our Trip Carbon Neutral

The Costa Rica Crew began this morning by waking up and boarding the van at 8:30, an hour and a half later than usual. Today, instead of working at the elementary school, the crew drove to a large mountain in the town of Copey. There, we carried young trees to an empty space on the mountainside. The crew cleared spaces three feet in diameter, and dug holes just big enough to hold the small-sized roots of the trees. For two hours, taking small breaks to rehydrate and reapply sun block in between, the group planted sixty plus trees. What was once a barren space with a few weeds and other plants had transformed into a lush forest of baby trees.

The crew then traveled back to the bottom of the mountain and began a discussion about green house gasses. The group named a few of the gasses and brainstormed ways how we could lessen the output of said gasses. The crew touched upon buying less, traveling by car less, and reusing more. By that time, lunchtime had rolled around. We drove in the van down the mountainside to a local trout farm. However, the whole town had gathered in the cemetery for a funeral, forcing us to return to our home stay families for lunch. Hours later, the Costa Rica Crew met up once more at the Cafeteria Privilegios for milkshakes, cake, and coffee. Some of the pictures and videos taken today are posted here on the blog. Hasta Luego!   - Ryan