Amazing Adventure at Veragua National Park

The first day of our Discovery Student Adventure was truly amazing. On our drive to Veragua National Park, Mayer shared his vast information about Costa Rica with our group. We learned so much about the local infrastructure, history, everyday life, and more. We truly are learning every moment!

We spent our day exploring the Veragua National Park. We experienced a sky tram ride above the rainforest canopy, witnessing troops of howler monkeys, tucans, sloths and leaf cutter ants in their natural habitat. At the base of the sky tram ride, we hiked to Cougar's Waterfall. On this hike, we saw a variety of frogs, birds, and lizards in the rainforest. The experts shared information about every animal we saw.

After our hike, we learned about frogs, snakes and butterflies through very unique exhibits. We were fortunate enough to have an exclusive experience with the biologists at the butterfly garden on very special projects. In the butterfly house, we collected butterfly eggs and picked up wings from butterflies who had passed away to contribute to research efforts. We also had a chance to put out a special meal consisting of mostly bananas for the butterflies. Then, we headed into the research center to work alongside the biologists to catalog cocoons and place them in the "hatchery" cases. The icing on top of the cake is we were able to release butterflies who had just emerged from their cocoons into the butterfly garden. It was awesome!

We then headed to a new lodge, Almonds & Corals. It is a lodge with a very unique concept and is "green". Before our delicious dinner, we were able to go to the beach to dip our toes in the water and explore the sand. The sunset was beautiful!

We will share photos with you soon - the group is having more fun than we thought possible, and are eagerly awaiting our trip to the Bribri village tomorrow.

It is nearly impossible to convey everything that was learned into one blog post. We can't wait to share our memories!