Cocoa Plantation Tour

Hi friends,

Yesterday I was able to visit a cocoa plantation.  Cocoa is the fruit that chocolate comes from.  I was able to see the whole chocolate making process from start to finish.  The tour guide explained everything that they do at the plantation and showed us how they make the chocolate.  This plantation was a small operation that does not produce chocolate for export but it was still fun to see.

 Cocoa in a tree.  The guide said that the cocoa fruit never falls even when it is rotten.  It just stays up in the tree until an animal or person knocks it down.

 Another kind of cocoa tree.

Poison Dart Frog!

Fermenting the cocoa beans to get out the flavor.

After the beans are dried they are roasted to bring out the flavors.

Then they are crushed so the shell is separated from the fruit.

They make a paste and add caramelized sugar to sweeten it.

And then we ate it on organic bananas!

Jaguar Rescue Center

Hi friends,

Yesterday I went to the Jaguar Rescue Center near Cocles.  Unfortunately there were no actual jaguars but there were large cats and lots of animals that the Center helps.  Most of the animals are released back into the wild after they have grown large enough (like the monkeys) or after they have healed.   The only exceptions are the poisonous snakes and one of the cats who was brought back to the rescue center after he kept going to close to farms for chickens and cows.  It was so fun to see all of the animals and learn about some of the things that they do to help them.  I even got to hold a Howler Monkey!

 One of the Howler Monkeys climbing on the staff.

Our guide told us that all of the monkeys they have are babies that fell of their moms as they were climbing through the trees.  If the babies can't climb the tree to get back to mom she just leaves them.

This friendly toucan just wanted to check us out.

Here is an Ocelots that was rescued by the center.  He's so cute! 

These two Owls are learning how to hunt and fly again so that they can go back into the wild.

Can you spot the sleeping Red Eyed Tree Frog?

He's kind of hard to see but look at the curl in the leaf and he's right under there.

 

Easter Celebration/ International Art Fair

Hi friends,

I hope all is going well in MN.  Here in CR the weather has turned a little chilly as the rains are about to begin any day now.  The rains always come just after Easter and around the beginning of May.  That being said many people are trying to get in as much fun as they can before the rains come.  Yesterday the school that I am in had their annual Easter Egg Hunt and Carnival, complete with NHS students dressed as Easter Bunnies.  Then today I went to an International Art Fair near downtown San Jose. Decorating eggs at the Carnival!

 I found the Easter Bunnies!

              Art Fair decorations.

They had a train at the Art Fair!

                                      

Some pretty trees.

More cool decorations with vendors in the back.

Adventures at school!

Hi friends,

I know it's been a little while since I've written but it's been a crazy week.  My internship is going great but it was a really busy week at the school.  They hosted a volleyball tournament with 10 different teams for boys and girls volleyball, so there was a lot to do.  I helped out with some of the decorations for the ending banquet.  Then Emilee and I went on a tour of San Jose today.

My teacher got me a mug!

Making banquet decorations.

The finished product!

About to eat lunch.

Lunch!  Enough said.

Statue in the national park in the center of San Jose.  This statue depicts a battle just after Costa Rica received its independence from Spain.  An American man tried to claim Costa Rica for the U.S. but was defeated by the Costa Rican forces.