a d v e n t u r e + o n t h e g o II remember the deck out back, with the howler monkeys in the trees.first went to Costa Rica, with my family, when I was five years old. rice Haley Zukerberg and Wyatt Hill home from school and told myinto my memory forever, compelledme to find a way to go back. cameI remember the ride in the back of the pick-up truck into the rainforest, the volcano, and the hot springs. It is experiences like these that, burnedHarrison Rohrer, Forest Downey (age 14), Beans adventure and ecology.Costa Rica was just as I remembered.discovered a program called CostaRican Adventures, which is dedicatedto exposing teens to a new world ofandparents that I wanted to spend thesummer in Costa Rica. My mother Costa this photo by www.costaricanadventures.com and strawberry smoothies. The nexttheThe first night we stayed in CasaConde and were offered fresh guavamorning we set out for the Caribbean coast. The sand between my toes and warm wind in my hair felt like heaven. We walked to surfing lessons on the beach.and rica their house up from sheer rock. Their power is generated from a hydroelectricTwo days later, we drove to a small town in the mountains named Tres Equis.Later in the trip I traveled up to some of the highest mountains to workWe lived with local families and spent two days painting their pre-school andplaying soccer with the kids. I feel like being there taught me how good it isback home, and that having more doesn’t make you any happier.on a completely sustainable and off-the-grid farm. The Seelye family built by FoREST DownEY photos by hARRISon RohRER system. They grow their own veggies and raise their cows for milk and meat. They live off their land with the combination of animals and plants. Every morning at 6 a.m. we got up to feed the animals and milk the cows. On the second day, we built a staircase into the cliff and paved it with rocks Suddenly, it hit me: I was that we crushed ourselves. That night we went fishing and caught four rainbow sitting in my math class, their guests could cross the streams. The Seelye family, in choosing to live offtrout that we fried for dinner. Over the next few days, we built two bridges so daydreaming as usual, and I the grid, inspired me.Our next destination was the Pacific coast. We traveled to a marine biology had a thought and desire center where we learned to track and identify dolphins. The goal of this center is to preserve the Golfo Duce and make it a protected area as an environmental to work with monkeys. sanctuary. We spent seven days in the area. I learned from a documentary that This inspired a summer 100 million sharks a year, the balance of the ocean’s ecosystem is endangered.shark finning is highly dangerous for our ecosystem. With the killing of over journey to Costa Rica before. So, please, if you have an adventurous teen I strongly recommendThis trip has taught me many things about the world I had never known sending them off to Costa Rica—or anyplace that they can make a difference. Costa Rica Green poison dart frog giant purple grasshopper Yellow eyelash pit viper Very friendly three-toed sloth S E P T E m B E R / o c T o B E R 2 0 1 2 57
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