Packed and ready to go!!
I bought myself a good pair of hiking boots at Kittery Trading Post in Maine. I'll be doing a lot of hiking, sometimes through rough terrain, especially in the rainforest. I've been breaking them in so I don't get blisters. I'll definitely need these, a raincoat and umbrella. Costa Rica is entering its rainy season which is called Invierno. It is the period from May to November, and during this time, in many locations, it rains constantly. There are only two main seasons in Costa Rica: a dry one and a wet one. By the way, the dry season is the Verano season and is from December to May. It still rains during Verano, but not as much. Costa Rica receives about 120 inches of rain a year. That's about ten feet!

I bought a new headlight to wear. In the packing guides from the folks at IIE, one of the mandatory items was a flashlight and/or headlight. One reason we need flashlights is because we will be in areas where the danger of running into snakes is likely. There are 135 species of snakes in Costa Rica. Tropical snakes are beautiful creatures and I will feel fortunate to see any, however, 17 species of snakes in Costa Rica are venomous. We were told, "The best way to prevent a snake bite is to take precautions by carrying a flashlight, staying on marked paths, wearing hiking boots and long pants, and keeping a distance if taking pictures or observing snakes in the wild. I love my mini-mag flashlight!
Costa Rica is home to thousands of plants and animals. In the Monteverde Cloud Forest alone there are over 2000 types of plants. Throughout Costa Rica there are 25 reptiles species, 250 species of mammals including monkeys and slothes, and there are 894 bird species. That's more than all of the United States and Canada combined. I'll need these binoculars to observe all the amazing flora and fauna. Although I'm sure I'll have no safety issues, I'm bringing a first aid kit with medications, band-aids, blister bandages, and after sun-lotion. I'm also bringing bug repellent- there are thousands of species of insects. Ahhhhh!!!
Packing in plastic bags. OK, so you probably can figure this one out. Bugs and dampness! Costa Rica is very humid and rainy, so this will help keep my clothes dry. And even more importantly, I don't want any creepy things in my clothes. My friend, Kathy, was bitten by a scorpion in Costa Rica; it was in her clothes. She said it was kind of like a bad bee sting. Scorpians in Costa Rica are not the lethal kind. Of course I need my camera. I'll use it for both videos and stills.
I love my little Flip Video camera. It takes about an hour of video and has a flip-out USB connector to connect right into my computer. They only cost a little over a hundred dollars, and are small and easy to use. Check out their website: http://www.theflip.com/ And last but not least, my computer. I have a great, padded backpack for it, so it will be with me when I want to update this blog.

 

Home - About Costa Rica Wiki - About This Project - Student Blog - Ms. MacNicoll's Trip Blog - World Stories Project - McLaughlin Middle School - Learn to Speak Spanish - Environment Quotes