We began the day with breakfast of waffles, eggs, and cereal at 8:00 AM. In two buses, we headed to Valle Escondido. We were given a short class on what permaculture is and how following its principles and ethics leads to sustainable food production. We also learned about sector analysis, zone analysis, and the scale of permanence used to maintain the animals and plants.
During the tour, we got to see and learn about so many animals, like white-nosed coatis, leaf-cutter ants, Melipona bees, motmot birds, tilapia, and agoutis, as well as plants like banana trees, angel’s trumpet, water hyacinth, mint, and rosemary. They also showed us how they compost and how their mini recycled greenhouses operate. Everything we saw and the tour we had were only possible due to the nonprofit Aver (@Aver.cr).
Around 12:30 PM, we headed to lunch, had orientation, and afterward went for a tour of the campus. We got to meet chickens, cows, and pigs while learning how everything on the campus is environmentally sustainable in some way, shape, or form. We got to till some soil and see the gardens where the kitchen staff were preparing our salads.
At 4:00 PM, we headed to the laboratory to look at some of the insects of Costa Rica under microscopes and learn more about them. We saw beetles, butterflies, stick bugs, and bees. Lastly, we ended the night with a dinner of papas rellenas (stuffed potatoes), fried fish, salad, and chocolate cookies for dessert.
