Braving the Rapids - slideshow

Just border for MSP

...I cried as I put the most outstanding group of 39 middle school students and 5 teachers on their American airlines flight. It was an amazing week; smiles, laughter, encouragement, teamwork, inquiry, thoughtfulness, service and risk taking. They ALL arrived With great attitudes and a willingness to try anything- and they tried EVERYTHING! Thank you to the moms, dads, brothers, sisters, grandparents and supporters who entrusted your loved ones to Discovery Student Adventures!

PURA VIDA! -Alix Lee

Back in the USA

Our last trip with Julio

Heading to the airport!

FLIGHT INFO

We arrive in Dallas at 2:40pm, after clearing customs we'll head towards our gate. Flight Leaves DFW for Minneapolis at 6:20pm. We ARRIVE in Minneapolis on AMERICAN FLIGHT 1344 at 8:40pm. We will head straight to baggage claim. Please meet us baggage claim at TERMINAL 1.

get ready to greet some tires kids!
see you soon!

Last night in costa rica

Today was our last full day in costa rica. It was a ton of fun especially rappelling down the waterfalls! They were absolutely beautiful and we got pretty drenched! Later while we were driving back to San Jose we got to stop at a souvenir shop and a wood shop. It was fun buying souvenirs and getting colones back! I'm definitely going to miss costa rica and all the travel guides and people that were with us along the way! :)

Meagan McRae
EC, Wisconsin

this was easily the best vacation ever!!! this place is sooooo cool. its warm during the day and cool at night. then yesterday we were in these little huts at the base of the volcano!! we were zip lining the the other day and that was so cool!! oh i forgot i already blogged about this. hah. well today we were repelling down a water fall and that was also amazing!!! Adios bros i'll see you when i get home.

The end to our week is here ;-)

This week has been wonderful! The kids have been great-not whining, doing all activities, and trying many new foods and juices. Thank you to all of the parents for allowing us to share in this fabulous experience with your children. They are amazing young adults and it has been a pleasure getting to know each and every one of them better. As they say here in Costa Rica "Pura Vida", see you mañana!
-Mrs. Traynor

Costa Rica=love<3. Maddi S.

Today we woke up late compared to usual!:b we drove to a canyon and went repelling!:) it was so nice and way fun! I was pretty nervous at first but it was way worth it to go!!! I'm super sad that today was the last day though:( I want to see family because I miss them like crazy but I want to stay in Costa Rica because it's a ton of fun!:D I'll see you tomorrow parents;*
Love you lots! <3 Maddi Scheppke

Allison once again

hello everyone! It is so sad to think that today was our last full day in costa rica!! I miss home but I love it here too! I did not blog last night because I was so tired. I thought it would be better to get some sleep. Today we got up pretty early in order to get to the waterfalls to repel off of. I was so nervous at first but every time I finished a waterfall I loved it even more! I all it was definitely my second favorite thing! Move over ziplineing! The rest of the day we spent driving I the bus and getting out places to souvenir shop. I think I did a good job! Tonight Aubry and get to room together in a fabulous room! Today was a fabulous day! Yesterday we went to go milk cows and learned about pineapples and we made cheese, visited the school and went to this cool waterfall! Mr. Traynor was upstream and we were all downstream Nd he said you guys I just peed! Omg who does that! Then we went to go get a coke that our fabulous travel guides bought us! We saw cool iguanas there and then we went to the hot springs! They were really warm! I went into allnof them!!! Then we ate dinner at the restaurant there and went back to our hotel. We got back at about 8:30 and we all crashed! That is why I didn't blog! You should all be very excited to hear from me this weekend! I know I cannot wait to see you! Love Allison :D
Sent from my iPad

Last Day:(

Alright, I'm pretty bummed that today was the last day! I am excited to see my family again, but I don't want to leave. The canyoneering was super fun! We repelled down 5 waterfalls and I was drenched. I took a lot of pictures of each person repelling. I want to go back! I'm super tired though so I'm not going to blog a huge paragraph. So goodnight! Miss my family! See you tomorrow.
-Danielle Carruth

I love Costa Rica

Pura Vida! Is just one of the things they say here, and I've learned so much here its been absolutely amazing. Our time here has been filled with experiences i thought i would never get to try but i did here in Costa Rica! White water rafting, ziplining and lets not forgot what we did today, repelling down waterfalls! This is definitely one of the best things I've done here! We arrived their and got fitted for our helmets and our harnesses then they gave us a quick demonstration and then we were off! They explained that the first platform was the steepest one out of the 5. It was exactly 165 feet in the air. Once i was over the edge i tensed up, but quickly adjusted, and had a great time!! The 5 platforms got easier as we continued on. It doesn't seem like it's our last day here and I'm sad to leave! I had an fantastic time this week! Cya tomorrow parents! Love, Anika Reinsch

Last Night In Costa Rica

Today went to the rappelling place and it was so much fun! We took the bus for a few minutes and when we got there we split up into groups of eight and sat in the back of this wagon truck thing. It was kind of a bumpy ride but it wasn't that bad. The first rappelling wall was the worst. I mean it's not like it was absolutely horrible but it was kind of rough going. All of the other ones were much better and once you got used to it it was really fun! After rappelling we stopped at two stores and went shopping. I got some things I really think that my parents and brothers will like. After shopping we went to the hotel we stayed at on the first night. Tomorrow we have to get up really early and head to the air port. That makes me sad because this place is pretty mint. So bye for now. Oh wait mom or dad can u please bring my phone with when u pick me up. Now that's all bye. It's going to be really mint to see my friends again.
Emma T.

Had a great time

Wow! It's been a great week.
Logan

This vacation has been the absolute best vacation that I have ever taken. Thank you Mom and Dad for your hard work to raise the precious money that has allowed me to have such a great experience. Happy birthday Macey!

-Brandon Wekkin

paranormal

while on the night hike sam f kevin h and i saw a creepy white shadowy figure at the end of the suspension bridge and the ziplining fast and fun same with the rapelling today and i am so ready to head home

Deric A

Dinner at the Hot Springs

Mmmmm GOOD! Steak, chicken, rice&beans (shocker), salad and tortillas! Wonderful food with wonderful friends...Lots of laughter!!!

Ice cream stop!

Following planting trees, visiting and learning about pineapple farming, enjoying a traditional family lunch, milking cows, making cheese, and eating some...we headed for the hot springs...but a stop was needed! We stopped to see about 50 iguanas hiding in the trees (do u see the one in the backgrround?) it was really cool!

Leslie's Day 6 Blog!!

Pura vida!!

Today has been very, very fun!! It's crazy to think that the day after tomorrow we are going to be coming home!! I have had an amazing time!

This morning we left at about 7:00 to start our busy day! Breakfast was yummy, again, where we had watermelon, pineapple, pancakes, toast, and, guess what else? Yes, you got it! Rice and beans!!

We started out with planting some pineapple trees. Because of recent storms, many of the pineapple plants were killed, so we were helping reforest Costa Rica.

After planting the trees, we went to visit an elementary school. It was pretty small (in 1st through 6th grade there were about 45 kids), and the kids spoke very little English. They knew as much English as we did Spanish, so it was hard to be able to communicate with them. After we all introduced ourselves and we gave them the supplies we brought, we all started playing different sports. A soccer game was going on (very fun!), jump roping, and so on. Then I went and got my string off the bus and a bunch of us taught the kids to make bracelets (without talking because no one understood the other language) and gave them all some finished ones we had had from before. They all seemed to really like them!!

Next, we went back to the pineapple plantation to learn about how pineapples are produced. It was crazy how much he a pineapple was worth though - a 1 pound pineapple only cost 28 cents, about 60 cents if it was organic. Back in Wisconsin, it costs about $5 to get a one pound pineapple!

Then we went for a small hike to a waterfall! It was very pretty and super fun to swim in!!

After that, we went to a different part of the farm to have lunch. After a delicious homemade lunch, we milked cows and learned how to make cheese! It was very interesting to see how it went from milk to cheese. And it only takes a few hours!

On our way to the Hot Springs, we stopped and our tour guides bought us all ice cream or pop! It was very good!! The hot springs were very relaxing and the strawberry smoothies were very yummy! It was probably my favorite swimming experience in the whole trip!

And now we are all sorting through and packing our suitcases and blogging!! Tomorrow is repelling down waterfalls and then souvenir shopping!! Very excited!!

With love,
-Leslie K.

Today we got to help replant the rainforest and we planted 2 trees each. It was really cool, but i couldn't believe how dry the soil was. Then we got to milk cows and learn how to make cheese. We also walked to a really pretty waterfall and swim in it. Then we went to the hotsprings and they were so warm, it was really relaxing. They had really good strawberry-banana smoothies. They also had very good steak and chicken.

Deidra Gibson