On the road

We are enjoying being on the tour of Costa Rica with the students from the field station. We are thankful that our family is feeling well. We did not bring a laptop, so blog updates will be thin until we're back in San Gerardo. Typing on my iPod is not my idea of fun.
We are at our 3rd location of our trip. First Vern hiked with the students and a guide down the mountain to visit a sustainable, family-operated farm that grows over 80 types of plants. A very different approach to agriculture that is attracting the attention of the community. The hike was too far for the kids so I stayed back with them and we drove with the van on tues morning (with the students luggage).
Our 2nd location was in the Pacific rainforest area on the coast; near the town of Uvita if you look on a map. We had a beautiful cabin overlooking the ocean. Vern's been doing field exercises with the students each day and teaching the students the local birds.
We are currently in the dry deciduous forest of the Nicoya Peninsula, at Playa Ostional. It's very hot and dry here. You sweat by the time you've sat up in bed in the morning! Speaking of which, there's troup of howler monkeys living here that wake us up each day. The sound is similar to a lions roar! Tonight we are checking out the turtles that lay eggs on the beach here; we are excited to head out after dark to do that!
(Laurenna, we spent yesterday in playa Guiones!)
Interestingly, we are only about 30kms from where my brother and his family are staying right now!
The kids are enjoying time with the students when they are not busy. The kids have travelled on the bus wonderfully, and any issues they struggle with are nothing they wouldn't deal with anyways.
Photos will have to wait until we are back at our cabin.