Jose Wonka and the Chocolate Farm

Hi to all, we are passing back through town on our way back from the organic farm, so we are getting in a quick blog while we can. Sorry, no pictures today since we do not have time to edit all the pictures. Everyone is doing great - the day was very educational for the students and adults. Franklin is our student blogger and will give you all the details. The students are doing a little souvenir hunting while we get this blog in. Tonight is dinner early by the beach hopefully around 5 before it gets dark. Our flight out is at noon tomorrow and we hope to go downtown in San Jose to the central market after we check in to the hotel. We will post a full blog, unfortunately our last, in the evening.

Our best to all of you,

CB out

Salutations! It is Franklin blogging from Puerto Jimenez. I am going to talk about our adventures here on the Osa Peninsula from last night and today. Last night after dinner, instead of a game, we had a wonderful talent show. There were several acts, including singing, and magic tricks. We then stargazed for a bit, and Mr. Dankenbring told us about some of the stars. We then cleaned up and went to bed. We all woke up this morning and had our breakfast consisting of pancakes, eggs, sausage, and an assortment of fruit. We then relaxed for a bit before we all hopped on to our bus and headed to Finca Kobo Farm. The farm consisted of secondary and primary forests as well as farmland. We were greeted by our guide for the day, Alex, and headed offf to the fields. While we were walking to our first destination, Alex spotted a boa constrictor in a compost pile about 30 feet away. We took a few pictures of it and continued on to our first destination. The first area we visited was a small area consisting of fruit trees and herbs, and we smelled and tasted them. While in that area, we learned that organic pineapples take 14 months to grow, while nonorganic take 9. The chemicals and pesticides used in nonorganic pineapple slice the growing time by 5 months, but can cause cancer. We then moved to a forest consisting of cacao trees, along with many other vegetation, including a giant ficus. Alex told us about the vegetation and animals in the area, and gave us a brief history of the cacao trees. We then continued along the dirt trail, which eventually moved into the open, and saw some more cacao trees, and got a chance to taste the beans. After this, we moved to an area in which Aex showed us the process that produces chocolate. We then moved back to the main building and had a snack of various fruits and chocolate sauce, which was muy delicioso. After this, we departed from the farm and headed to town which is where I am now.

Hi dad and Leah, mom and I are doing great and we are both safe. We both miss you and love you and cannot wait to see you when we get back. I hope Fallon is doing okay, also. See you soon! Adios everyone!