Day 1: Arrival Day

We have arrived! After two remarkably smooth flights, we landed in San José at 11:15 a.m. (1:15 p.m. Eastern). The students were exceptional travelers from start to finish, and when we stepped out into the warm Costa Rican air, there was nothing but smiles on all their faces. After fifteen weeks of dreaming about this moment, it felt that the journey had truly begun.

At the airport, we met our guide, Chito, who greeted us with an easy warmth and quickly got us settled onto the bus that will be our home base for the week ahead. He immediately jumped into an orientation of the country, it's history, as well as our plans for the coming days. 

Today’s focus was simple. We were making our way to Selva Verde Lodge and Rainforest Reserve, tucked into the lush rainforest of Sarapiquí, where we’ll spend the next two nights. The drive was glorious, moving from the cityscape of San Jose to crossing the mountains while staring out the window at the deepening shades of green. One minute the sun was shining and the next we were engulfed in a cloud listening to the thunder overhead. 

We stopped for lunch at a restaurant for some authentic Costa Rican food. At this point in the13 hour journey, everyone was quite hungry and devoured the food. You can always tell the hunger of a group by how quiet the table conversation gets when the plates are placed in front of us. Troy had the courage to order the Beef tongue in gravy, which he said tasted quite wonderful. The rest of us took his word for it. 

From lunch, we had another 2 hour ride to the hotel. It took less than three minutes for most of the group to be fast asleep, choosing to catch up on as much lost sleep as possible. 

Arriving at the Selva Verde Lodge and Rainforest Reserve, a 500-acre private reserve, was magical. It is difficult to capture the brilliance of the property, and we look forward to attempting to do so over the next two days.  Sitting along the Sarapiquí River, the lodge truly offers an immersive experience in nature, with forest trails, and constant sounds of birds, monkeys, and the jungle to lull us into a relaxed state of mind. It already feels like a place filled with relaxation and discovery (the pool certainly helped with the relaxation), where we get to being our exploration of the Costa Rican ecosystem.

Hopefully everyone has been in touch with loved ones to let you know we've made it. We will post more in the coming days, but for now, it is off to dinner and then an early bedtime for all. We have a 6:00 am birding walk to get excited for.

Every room has a hammock

Hotel lobby