Students return from Costa Rican eco-mission
IT’S back to reality for a group of King’s students after a once-in-a-lifetime trip to South America.
The students took part in a working expedition to the rain forests of Costa Rica to learn about the most bio-diverse region on the planet.
A party of 27 students took part in a month-long expedition where they spent a week working with the local Ticos, in the remote and traditional village of Dos Brazos De Rio Tigre. The community project is a central part of the World Challenge experience, allowing students access to dramatic and untouched parts of the planet.
Their role was to clear a dense patch of overgrown land, dig out and build the foundations before local builders put up two family houses to improve housing stock for villagers in The Corcovado National Park.
Though it was incredibly tough work reward came in the heartfelt thanks from the villagers and the stunning grandeur of the sights and sounds ahead as they trekked into the interior.
Students divided into two teams to explore separate parts of the country. Team one, an all-female team, undertook the four-day Zona Santos trek, which winds its way towards the Pacific Coast, covering over 45km of dense, mountainous rainforest, farmland and coffee plantations.
The second party took another four-day trek up Cerro Ena, covering 3144 metres altitude including passage across a eerie setting of the Páramo, an alpine tundra ecosystem that sits just above the clouds with some stunning views over miles of flat, white clouds with distant mountain tops poking through in every direction.
Then for rest and relaxation an experience that will live with the teenagers for the est of their lives was a visit to Tortuguero National Park, a protected area of rainforest on the Caribbean coast, where they spent a night watching endangered Green Turtles lay their eggs on the beaches.
The students were also lucky enough to spot monkeys, tropical butterflies, tapirs, dolphins, whales, turtles, toucans and sloths.
Alice Taylor, expedition leader King’s careers officer, said: “There were mountains to climb both physically and mentally, and each individual rose to the challenge set out for them.
“Our students were a credit to themselves and to King’s and should be incredibly proud of themselves for all they achieved and the positive attitude they maintained throughout.”