University of Delaware Costa Rica 2014

Greetings from Savegre!

We've been having a ton of fun on the mountains of Costa Rica. Our current elevation is approximately 9,000 feet! Yesterday we visited the top of Cerro de la Muerte (the "Mountain of Death") which was over 11,000 feet in elevation and the 3rd highest peak in Costa Rica. The 7-mile hike up was braved by a majority of the group (but not me!) followed by an 8-mile hike back down. The elevation and its influence on habitat types and bird species ranges is really cool!

In chronological order, pictured from the top:

Jackie with a local cow on the walk back from counting birds!

Abby, Whitney, and Sierra at the top of Cerro de la Muerte

YouDee enjoying the peak of the mountain

Abby at a viewpoint on the mountain

Sarah on the trail to the waterfall at Savegre with some horseback riders in the background

Zack and Sandra (with Alex in the background) on the trail

Luis and Marc adventuring in the river at Savegre

Tomorrow we leave for Selva Beninito! There will be no electricity there, but we will all be sure to take plenty of pictures to blog with once we get an internet connection.

Pictures from the trip so far! It's been one awesome week. In order from the top: group shot after the 10 mile hike to Nancite beach in Guanacaste National Park; Sarah with her long-lost luggage, rest stop on hike to Nancite next to a natural spring, Sierra with a bromeliad at Monteverde, and Luis stretching on the porch outside the dorm in UGA's campus at Monteverde.

Greetings from Monteverde! Yesterday, we visited some local and sustainable coffee farms (pictured at top) and learned about all of the stages of the coffee bean. Today, we hiked through the Cloud Forest and saw a lot of awesome animals. Sierra and Kim are posing in front of the waterfall at the end of the trail. Later in the today, we walked to the suspension bridge and saw a fantastic view of the forest, scenery, and an unsuspecting porcupine.