Volcan Poas (ecotourism)

Volcan poas is a very popular volcano near Alajuela Costa Rica, one of the main reasons people go see it is because its very easy to drive up the mountain and walk a very short paved road, with hardly an incline to see the top of the volcano. It has a massive crater, with an "idillic" lake. Th road up from Alaljuela winds past coffee fields, pastures, screened-in fern plantations, and near the summit, thick cloud forest. The Volcano's main crater is 1.5 Km acrossand 1,000 ft deep. It is one of the largest active craters in the world. The Volcano had a multicolored pit and smoke rises. People loose its sense of scale because a lack of vegetation within the crater. The summit is usually covered by mist, and many people who come  up only see a bit of the crater. If you wait a while the clouds will disappear quickly and its easier to see. The earlier in the day you go the better. 

The park itself "Parque Nacional Volcan Poas" protects "epiphyte-laden" cloud forest on the volcano's slopes and dwarf shrubs near the summit. There is one trail which leads just fifteen minutes off to the right where you can see Laguna Botos, it used to occupy to an extinct crater. Mammals are rare , but there are many birds, including insect sized  hummingbirds. It is a great example of Ecotourism. There are many resorts nearby for people to stay, such as La Providencia Lodge, which has more trails for exploring cloud forests. As far as shopping there are many roadside stands on the way up to Poas that sell strawberry jam, cajeta, and biscoches. The Neotropica Foundation has a store in the visitors center of the park which sells plenty of souvenirs. 

Fodor's 99 Costa Rica, editor Caragh Rockwood

Parts to a banana tree

Like they demonstrated at Chiquita, growing bananas is not an easy task. Like corn it requires humans to take care of them. Bananas have four important parts, The leaf, flower, seed, and the bulb. First three seeds must be planted at different times but together in the same spot. This makes the “banana family” . Interestingly enough for humans to eat bananas they must be grown asexually. They are “parthenocarpic” ( the production of fruit without fertilization of an egg in the ovary) because they have one diploid parent and one tetraploid parent, so they cannot grow seeds.
Banana tree leaves are used all over the world for different kinds of recipes, most familiar to me, the cover to tamales we have every Christmas. The leaves are strong and durable, they are sold frozen and have been known to predate to the Iron Age in South East Asia. There are also a wide range of different banana flowers, which yes make the banana look and maybe taste different (just an assumption) such as, the Ornata which will produce yellow or orange flowers. The Musa beccarii is also called the Orange Flame Banana, a popular flower. A Musa velutina is often called a Baby Pink Banana because it grows small pastel pink bananas. Humming bees and insects pollinate the banana flower by eating its sweet nectar.

my conclusion (personal)

My cousins esteban y quinillo
my cousin/primo Luis David 

Victoria! que gogaaaa
Well here is my last personal blog. Things in costa rica have changed a lot since i was younger. It feels less safe and issues seem to be piling up but no one does anything about it. I now understand why tourism here is so important for the stability of the country and the good of the people. I used to be opposed to cafta but i honestly think costa rica does need to see that there is alot of competition in the world, and we have no choice but to be further globalized. Since it is a developing country it really needs the push from cafta. 

This experience is really priceless for me, i have seen so much and i cant wait when i come back with my immidiate family to show them some of the things we have seen over the last four weeks. The rafting was what i feared most and it ended up being my favorite activity. And yesturday was so priceless. We went to this place called La Paz waterfalls garden. It was so cool, I mean it must have like 10 stars. I walked in thinking we were hiking to a water fall and going home, but no. We walked into this resort were they gave us walking sticks and off we went to the Aviary, where I got to see a red macaw from a far. I thought that was indescribable, but then!, a green macaw was on my arm trying to eat my fingers, as another bird sat on top of my head. And just when i thought it was over the red macaw came over and stared at the blue macaw, i looked at them both just like 4 inches from my face, it was SO cool!!!! then we had this really great lunch and i had some rice pudding, my favorite. Anyway i need to go to alajuela and see family now! my last lunch at veritas in a couple minutes :( 

Osa (ecotourism)

Ecotoursim in Osa rainforest region is encouraged, but must be done with caution. I say this because there are bad people going not just after trees but the very rare and beautiful animals, such as the macaw that we were able to witness. Adventure and nature activities are provided for tourists, boating, snorkling, hiking, even scuba diving. It wasnt until I heard the tour guide say that the macaws found there can be worth more than 10k dollars each. I realized that area must be closely watched for poachers. It really must not be too hard for a poacher to pose as a tourist and go hunting at night, they probably use silencers, ( I dont really know just things I was imaganing during my hike) Anyway there is an organization called the Osa campaign program which quote, ``hopes to raise awareness and funds from guests to help support the Osa Peninsula Region Conservation Initiatives. Nicuesa Lodge priorities include:

-Conserving properties in and around Piedras Blancas National Park under the threat of development,

-Sponsoring more park guards to protect the area from illegal hunters/poachers,

-The completion of wildlife corridors between Piedras Blancas National Park and Corcovado National Park.

People are also encouraged to donate to the Nature Conservancy

here are two great sites to look at for Osa
http://www.nicuesalodge.com/ecotourism/osa-peninsula-conservation.html

http://www.osacampaign.org/osa2/index.html

Chiquita Bananas

We arrived at Chiquita today at Guayacan farm in Sarapiqui, near Puerto Viejo, Limon. As the bus was going Professor Platt pointed out how close the bananas with dangerous cancer causing pesticides were not even a meter or two from a neigboring community. I looked down at the people who did not seem to have much money at all, and I wondered who they were. Because of the pesticides I was automatically skeptical of Chiquita so I asked the representatives lots of questions. How much they pay the banana workers (40-50% more than minimum wage or around $400/month) but in the packet given to us later on it said they get 13 dollars per day. So I asked if the workers get any special work benefits (some depending on which area they work on the plantation, will get tested for abnormalities every 3 months) and I asked who lives so close to the banana plants (the banana workers and families) and I had to ask what physical damage do the pesticides affect humans (cancer and infertility)
The representatives were part of the Chiquita Nature and Community project. They first showed us a video which at first I thought was "green washing", well I still do a little. Especially after showing us their tree refuge, a special place they "save the trees", well this place was not big at all, about 150 acres. However according to the guide they are helping La Celba (which we toured this morning) to connect their primary and secondary forests to another forest really far away. I automatically remembered how Monte Verde is trying to raise around 300k dollars for conservation and I wonder how much Chiquita actually gives to the forest. Considering thier community projects are not as big as they make it sound. I could tell by the gift shop, they have community people make souvernirs for tourists to buy, but I know they can do more than that. Seeing the shitty areas the men and women have to live in I know Chiquita could pay them more. The representatives would not tell us how much Chiquita profits, but Im sure these profits can give more than shacks to the workers. One out of the 6 small community groups this project helps is the Grupo Nogua , eleven women who put on a "Chiquita banana show". I loved how they began the play with the song "la maza" , very depresssing, as if they were trying to hint at us how hard their lives were, but nobody seems to see that. It is just a cute show to make Chiquita look like good people. Dont get me wrong they did a good job of showing the crowd the history of Chiquita and how bananas reach our stores, but Chiquita could provide them with a decent stage and better a better stereo. I just couldnt help but imagine what their real lives are like and how hard it is to stay in a place that will never pay them enough probably.

Puerto Viejo (personal)

Puerto Viejo was so much fun, I had never been to Limon before, and I felt a culture shock actually. It really did feel like I was in Jamaica, and I loved it. The people are all called Afrocostarricences. There is Bob marley gear and surf boards everywhere you go. As soon as we got there a lady asked us if we wanted braids in our hair. We told her that we had to get dinner first and that we werent sure where at. She said, dont worry ill find you. That was kind of creepy but it made me realize how small puerto viejo is. This map I got shows less than 50 places for tourists. But it is a great example of how the people of puerto viejo come together to make money off tourists. There are souvenir shops, scooter rentals, hair braiding, internet cafes, reasturants, cabins or motels, ice cream, adventure tour shops, jungle cottages, bars, lodges, surfing, an even an art gallery. It is very close to Playa negra, and just 13 km from Manzanillo, where we stayed at a really really nice hotel called the palms...to be continued..

Chiquita Corrupt!

A year-long investigation by The Cincinnati Enquirer has found that Chiquita Brands International Inc., the world's largest banana company, is engaged in a range of questionable business practices.

Chiquita, based in Cincinnati at 250 E. 5th St., has disputed suggestions that any of its practices are improper.

The Enquirer investigation took reporters to the sweltering lowlands of Central America, where bananas are grown, as well as to Canada, Belgium, New York and Washington. Findings are outlined in a special 18-page section in today's Enquirer.

These findings include:

• Chiquita secretly controls dozens of supposedly independent banana companies. It does so through elaborate business structures designed to avoid restrictions on land ownership and national security laws in Central American countries. The structures also are aimed at limiting unions on its farms.
• Chiquita and its subsidiaries are engaged in pesticide practices that threaten the health of workers and nearby residents, despite an agreement with an environmental group to adhere to certain safety standards.
• Despite that environmental agreement, Chiquita subsidiaries use pesticides in Central America that are not allowed for use in either the United States or Canada, or in one or more of the 15 countries in the European Union.
• A worker on a Chiquita subsidiary farm died late last year after exposure to toxic chemicals in a banana field, according to a local coroner's report.
• Hundreds of people in a Costa Rican barrio have been exposed to a toxic chemical emitting from the factory of a Chiquita subsidiary.
• Employees of Chiquita and a subsidiary were involved in a bribery scheme in Colombia that has come to the attention of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Two employees have been forced to resign.
• Chiquita fruit-transport ships have been used to smuggle cocaine into Europe. Authorities seized more than a ton of cocaine (worth up to $33 million in its pure form) from seven Chiquita ships in 1997. Although the company was unaware and did not approve of the illegal shipments, problems were traced to lax security on its Colombian docks.
• Security guards have used brute force to enforce their authority on plantations operated or controlled by Chiquita. In an internationally controversial case, Chiquita called in the Honduran military to enforce a court order to evict residents of a farm village; the village was bulldozed and villagers run out at gunpoint. On a palm plantation controlled by a Chiquita subsidiary in Honduras, a man was shot to death and another man injured by guards using an illegal automatic weapon. An agent of a competitor has filed a federal lawsuit claiming that armed men led by Chiquita officials tried to kidnap him in Honduras.
• Chiquita Chairman and CEO Carl H. Lindner Jr., his family and associates made legal but controversial contributions to political figures at a time the company desperately sought U.S. backing in a trade dispute over banana tariffs in Europe.
• In a statement issued through its attorneys, Chiquita said the company "has been an active and enthusiastic engine for a better way of life throughout the region (and) is a leader in preserving, enhancing and cleaning the environment through Central America."

http://www.mindfully.org/Pesticide/chiquita/chiquita02.htm

here are more articles related to Chiquita's bad ways 

Chiquita Banana Company Admits Paying Colombian Terror Groups Over $1 Million to Protect Farms 

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,258804,00.html