Month: July 2015
Costa Rica to the Coast
We’ve had a great time our last few days at Rancho Mastatal, between horseback rides to waterfalls, practical classes in fermentation, food prep, and natural building, and small group time learning skills with the farm apprentices everyone is happy and exhausted. This evening we take on the farm team in an ultimate frisbee match before… Read More
Tagged with 2015 Costa Rica
Rio Muchacho
Buenos Dias a todos! Our days at the Rio Muchacho Organic Farm have been filled with excitement and provided us plenty of opportunity to get our hands dirty this week! Every morning, at dawn, we begin our day with farm routines — feeding the cows, pigs, horses, and composting worms –before enjoying a big bowl… Read More
Tagged with 2015 Seeds of Change
Rancho Mastatal
We arrived at Rancho Mastatal on Wednesday night and have been having a great time here ever since. Mastatal is an amazing permaculture farm and educational community. We received a tour of the farm the first day and got to try lots of interesting fruits that grow here on the property. Later we hiked through… Read More
Tagged with 2015 Costa Rica
A Very Aquatic Weekend
Greetings from Hanover. It’s been a very aqua-themed weekend, starting with an aquaponics project at the Dartmouth Organic Farm on Friday afternoon and finishing with whitewater rafting on the Deerfield River today. Saturday found most of the group paddling on the Connecticut in some way, shape, or form: canoe, kayak, or Stand Up Paddle board…. Read More
Tagged with 2015 Dartmouth aquaponics Dartmouth Organic Farm Deerfield River Rafting
Love, life, sustainability
“Love, life, sustainability” ~Jacqui V. We returned to the farm on Wednesday and Thursday to learn about aquaponics, a sustainable method of farming that combines growing plants (hydroponics), and raising fish (aquaculture). We planted cover crops on the farm, which promote soil fertility and discourage pests. We also learned about irrigation, and laid a drip… Read More
Tagged with 2015 Dartmouth Dartmouth King Arthur Flour
Cloud Forests and Quetzals
Two days ago we arrived at Paraiso Quetzal, a cloud forest lodge high in the Costa Rican mountains. On our way we stopped at a flower export company to see an example of a less sustainable company and think critically about their economic, social, and environmental incentives and effects. Everyone was happy to arrive at… Read More
Tagged with 2015 Costa Rica
Scientist for the Day in Costa Rica
Here’s a blog post from the Costa Rica crew: 7/4 – Happy 4th of July! Today we were researcher for a day. We studied the biodiversity of the rainforest. We broke up into three groups to study the plant life in plots we marked out. We gave them cool names like Lou Ellen or Hong… Read More
Tagged with 2015 Costa Rica
Environmental Leadership Institute Orientation
Greetings from Hanover! After a little over 24 hours on campus, our orientation is now complete. It’s been a busy, busy day and a half, with students arriving from all over the US and abroad, and lots of fun-filled activities to kick off the program. We started last night’s orientation with a talk/improv comedy routine… Read More
Tagged with 2015 Dartmouth
Amazon Closing Thoughts
We had a nice last day leaving Huasquila and returning to Quito. The day started at 4am with a Guayusa (traditional indigenous tea) ceremony at the Kichwa village nearby the lodge. Having visited a few times already, we were welcomed like friends and the local kids trickled in to say bye on their way to… Read More
Tagged with 2015 Sustaining the Amazon
The Andean Highlands
Hola padres! Woke up early this morning and after a wonderful vegetarian breakfast, we left to tour a cheese factory. After some sampling, we drove to the beginning of the trail and hiked through the clouds and mountains for two hours before stopping for a bagged lunch. We sat, relaxed, and ate our sandwiches while… Read More
Tagged with 2015 Seeds of Change