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SFS Costa Rica practices sustainable tourism – yes we do! SFS Costa Rica practices sustainable tourism – how about you?

For the past week SFS Costa Rica has been experiencing a different type of abroad experience in Nicaragua. First we stayed on Ometepe Island at a beautiful resort called Charco Verde, where we were spoiled with warm water, air conditioning, and WiFi (all used within moderation of course). Best of all – were able to watch beautiful sunsets on Lake Nicaragua each night. Some students woke up early to bird watch with our professor Edgardo Arevalo in Charco Verde’s ecological park, which is the same park we used to learn how to map trails with the QGIS system!

Later in the week we visited the Ometepe Foundation where we learned how to make crafts out of recycled materials. Nicaragua currently does not have any infrastructure for recycling and in order to come up with their own solution, this foundation collects materials that should be recycled and makes them into crafts to sell and raise money for their foundation.

We were also able to visit the beautiful city of Granada for a few days. While in Granada, we were able to explore on our own visiting beautiful churches, perusing bookstores, and eating at various restaurants. Later in the week, we traveled to the artisan’s market where a number of us spent the rest of our córdobas on souvenirs and gifts for friends and family.

During the trip we participated in two hikes. The first one was the hike to the montane forest of Volcán Maderas where we were greeted with a rewarding waterfall shower. We also hiked at Volcán Masaya where we had our own mini photo-shoot featuring the beautiful volcano, the lookout, and of course our photogenic students and staff!

All in all it was a successful weeklong educational trip in Nicaragua, but it’s good to be back home in Costa Rica!

→ Sustainable Development Studies Semester Program in Costa Rica