NSHSS Monthly Update

FEBRUARY 2006

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03.22.06

Council Corner

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Katherine and her brother in the rainforest

Destination: Costa Rica
Katherine Van Schaik
Claes Nobel Academic Scholarship Recipient and
NSHSS Student Council Member
Harvard University

As the second semester gets underway, many high school and college students begin to plan their summers. Such summer experiences can include volunteering, working in labs, taking classes, and traveling. With traveling in mind, I'd like to suggest a destination that, until recently, I had never considered: Costa Rica.

Central America is known for its rainforests, but few countries in the region have preserved their natural wonders as well as Costa Rica. Last summer, I spent some time in Costa Rica, staying on the Pacific coast near a small village called Jacomo, and I've never see a place with such rich natural beauty. Part of the Andean-Sierra Madre mountain chain runs down the center of the country, and excursions up into the mountains provide breathtaking views of mountainsides and valleys covered by lush rainforests and interrupted only by the occasional small village. Whatever mountain rock is visible (which usually isn't much, given the extensive vegetation) has small rivulets of water trickling down the stone face into the valleys below. In every direction, the view is filled with the uneven green of the mountains and the gentle blue of the sky.

On the plains near the coast, the mountains soften into small hills, but the forest keeps growing, nearly all the way up to the ocean. The Pacific beaches are rocky, but their beauty lies in their ruggedness and their proximity to the Central American jungle. The Atlantic beaches, on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica, have the turquoise waters and the white sand beaches that we so frequently associate with the Caribbean.

Costa Rica rainforest

The country has numerous and well-tended national parks, many of which have active volcanoes. On a clear day, you can look out over massive, steaming craters left by recent eruptions. Although the view on cloudy days isn't as good, there's a thrilling sense of foreboding as you peer through the parting fog down into a crater that threatens ominously just before the clouds obscure it again.

But above all, the rainforest tours are the most memorable part of Costa Rica. Many tours allow you to ride on zip lines through the rainforest canopy, set up in eco-friendly ways that preserve the jungle. Whizzing from century-old tree to century-old tree, I gained a greater appreciation for the preservation and potential of the rainforest than I ever had before. There truly is no ecological system in the world with the complexity and power and beauty of the tropical rainforest. The views from this sort of tour are unprecedented: towering waterfalls, rich mahogany trees, small monkeys, colorful birds, all set against the afternoon rain showers, bright sunlight, and continuous noise and activity of the rainforest.

I returned from my trip still more determined to preserve this beautiful natural paradise, and I am already looking forward to returning.