Buenos Aires Service Abroad Trip 2013

WINS is going to Argentina!

WINS will be going on a service abroad trip this summer! Chelsea Brown, Stephanie Gambino, Victoria Levy, Isabelle Cooksey, Marjorie Hartwell, Natasha Viteri, Holly Judkins, Olivia Weinberg, and WINS director- Elizabeth Morgan will be taking in the culture and volunteering in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We will be staying at the very nice Milhouse Hostel for the duration of the trip. 

Day 7: Leaving Costa Rica

Final Day in Costa Rica

We had our final lunch together at the lodge before heading to the airport. We reminisced over all of the wonderful experiences we had in Costa Rica. We learned so much from the BriBri community and everyone in Manzanillo. We will never forget how hard and grueling some of the work was. From building trails to cleaning huge expanses of beach, we learned the value of physical labor and had a lot of fun doing it. 

We also won't forget the amazing people we met in Costa Rica. Carlos, our tour guide was always there for us and immersed us in Costa Rican culture. Even when our work was tough, he kept us laughing with his stories and jokes. We will miss him dearly! He is definitely the best tour guide in all of Central America. As we go back to the US, we will take with us all the lessons we learned and all the new friendships we gained through this amazing service trip! ¡Pura Vida!

Stay classy, Costa Rica

Day 6: Puerto Viejo & Alajuela

Sea Turtle Education

We walked down to the beach with Sandra, the sweet Costa Rican woman who works with Cristian in sea turtle conservation. She showed us where they keep the endangered sea turtle eggs once female turtles nest and gave us a step-by-step description of what happens once these animals reach shore. She even got on the floor to simulate what the mother sea turtle does once they reach the shore! It was so nice to be able to interact with Sandra and Cristian; they are so passionate about sea turtle conservation and they dedicate their lives to the protection of these animals.

That afternoon it was time to say goodbye once again. We thanked Cristian and Sandra for their hospitality and we made our way to Puerto Viejo for a day trip before heading back to Alajuela for our last day in Costa Rica. We learned so much about conservation and environmentalism during our time in Manzanillo; and we will definitely never forget the gorgeous landscapes of Costa Rica's Caribbean coast.

On the way to Puerto Viejo, Ronald pointed out a sloth sanctuary  We stopped to check it out and to take some pictures with the giant sloth statue in front of the complex. This sloth sanctuary takes in orphaned sloths from all around Costa Rica and rehabilitates them until they are ready to go back into the wild. We would definitely love to visit next time we find ourselves in Costa Rica!

We were all so happy once we got to Puerto Viejo. It was a colorful beach town with little jewelry shops and small restaurants at every corner. The scenery was beautiful and the people were friendly. We stopped at several souvenir stands and picked out gifts for our friends and family. After that, we chose a restaurant and ate plate after plate of delicious salad, ceviche and seafood. This was the best meal of the trip because we each got to order exactly what we were in the mood for; and the seafood was fresh and absolutely delicious.

After the amazing time we had in Puerto Viejo, it was time to head back to the lodge in Alajuela and rest up for our long journey back to the US. We had so much fun in Puerto Viejo and are looking forward to coming back!

Day 5: Manzanillo

Cleaning up the Beach

We had an amazing, filling breakfast with eggs, sausage and bread that gave us energy for the service project ahead. We headed down to the gorgeous Manzanillo beach and met our guide, Cristian. He was a park ranger that took care of the Gandoca Beach and made sure the sea turtles were protected during their nesting season. In order to ensure that these animals have a safe environment in which to lay their eggs, our service  project was to clean up the beach.

We each split up and took an area of the beach to clean up. We found bottles, plastic caps, old sandals, plastic bags, and other debris that had washed up on the beach. It was a hot day and the sun was beating down on us. We each filled up an entire bag of trash and used wood we found on the beach to transport our heavy bags back to the lodge. 

Exhausted and hungry, we went back to the community lodge to get some lunch. After eating, we headed down to the beach to cool off and reward ourselves for our hard work with a much-needed swimming session. The water was perfect! The Caribbean coast of Costa Rica is beautiful and full of life. That night the plan was to go out to the beach after sunset and see if we could spot any sea turtles nesting. We had dinner and hung out until nightfall. We wore black clothing and took several flashlights. It was pitch dark, we linked arms and headed towards the beach. We stumbled through the sand until our guide whispered to stop. He delicately flashed his light onto the beach to show us a sea turtle crawling through the sand. It reached the edge of the sand where it met the forest and started to dig with its flippers. It was so incredible to watch. After the whole was deep enough, it began to lay its eggs. This continued for about 10 minutes when it was time for us to go and leave the sea turtle to nest in peace. We were so lucky to be able to witness such an important event in nature that not many are able to experience in their lives. We stumbled back to the lodge, and to bed for a good night sleep because tomorrow is our last day in Manzanillo and one of our final days in Costa Rica!

Day 4: Last Day with the BriBri/Transfer to Manzanillo

Making Chocolate

On our final morning with the BriBri, we visited the communal kitchen to learn how to make traditional BriBri chocolate. We roasted the cacao beans, crushed them to a fine powder, and mixed the contents with condensed milk. We then ate this delicious mix with raw plantains, it was the best thing I have ever tasted. It was so creamy and rich, and we made it! 

After our cooking class, we trekked to the BriBri clinic. We toured the simple building where patients' medical records were stored in a plastic container, the vaccines and medications were stored in a small refrigerator in one of the exam rooms and there were about 4 exam rooms for the whole community. We were told that the doctor came by every Tuesday to examine any member of the community that was experiencing an illness or to monitor any pregnancies among the women of the BriBri. 

We took it upon ourselves to organize their medical supplies and sort them by category for easier access. It was the least we could do after all the hospitality the BriBri had shown us. We sorted all the band-aids, the bandages, the syringes, catheters, gloves, and over-the-counter medications. We also cleaned some of the exam rooms and explored the area outside the clinic. 

The view from outside the clinic was breathtaking! We could see the entire community from the top of the hill, including Panama (which was just on the other side of the river). After our time at the clinic, we made our way back for lunch and to start packing because our time with the BriBri was coming to an end. After a long good-bye and after thanking everyone in the community for being so welcoming and warm, we started our journey to Manzanillo, Costa Rica. 

After another 2 hour canoe ride, a 4 hour bus ride, and a 1 hour stop at a fruit stand (where we had the best fruit ever), we finally arrived to the Manzanillo area of Costa Rica. The Caribbean coast of Costa Rica is incredibly beautiful. The blue water and the green trees made us feel like we were in paradise. Our lodge was gorgeous, with large windows and orchids growing right outside our doors. We had an amazing dinner in the communal dining room and after forcing our tour guide, Carlos to shoo away a bat from our room, we went to sleep early in preparation for our service project the following day. 

Day 3: Community Service Day

Building Trails and Enjoying the River

After a wonderful breakfast and the best coffee in the world, we set off to build a trail leading from the interior of the community area to the river. We carried heavy bags of sand from the river bed all the way up  

to the heart of the tribe. We set up an assembly line style of work, and efficiently paved the trail in record time! 

To reward ourselves from such back-breaking work, we all decided to go swimming in the gorgeous river after lunch. The water was perfect! The river was much deeper than it looked and everyone had a great time that afternoon in the water. After a very well-deserved shower, we all had dinner and slept like Costa Rican sloths from exhaustion. Tomorrow is our last day with the BriBri! After that, we head to the Caribbean Coast to learn about sea turtle conservation in Manzanillo. 

Day 2: Canoe Transfer to BriBri Community

Canoeing up the River

After a 3 hour drive and a 2 hour canoe ride up the river, we finally reached the remote BriBri Indian Reserve. Located along the border of Costa Rica and Panama, the community of about 200 lives in isolation. 

Several members of the community came to greet us and we started our trek up a steep hill to the village huts. We had a lovely traditional lunch that included rice, beans, chicken and fried plantains. 

Once lunch was over, we were taken on a tour of the community. We saw the school, the community center, the cocao fields, and even had a run-in with a snake! After the tour was over, we had a lesson in the traditional practice of archery. It was definitely harder than it looked! The men of the tribe made it seem so easy, but none of us could "catch the fruit" hanging from the tree. 

During dinner, we learned about the history of the tribe. The BriBri are a matriarchal community, which means that the women are the ones that make most of the important decisions and are the heads of their families, which makes this the perfect service destination for WINS. We ate dinner in the main hut where the kitchen was located and experienced how dark it can get at night. At around 6 pm, the community becomes pitch dark, lit only by a couple of candles. During dinner, small grasshoppers and other insects jumped onto the dinner table and onto our laps. Even though it was terrifying at first, we soon became accustomed to the sound and movement of the insects all around us. After that delicious dinner, we went to our huts to sleep and prepare for the long day of service ahead of us. 

Day 1: Depart US/Arrive Costa Rica

Off to Costa Rica!

We departed to Costa Rica this afternoon! After a 5 hour plane ride, we arrived in San José and were transferred to our hotel in the Alajuela area. There, we met our wonderful guide, Carlos Araya. He was very charismatic and joked around often. We also met our driver, Ronald. He was very comical and kept on yelling jokes the whole ride to the hotel. El Rancho was beautiful! The rooms were wonderfully decorated and the gardens were lush and colorful. We will stay and rest at the lodge tonight and head out to the BriBri Indian Reserve tomorrow morning.