Maeve on the Costa Rica Trail

<--Maeve and Gus bravely explore the rainforest at night.

Below are excerpts from Maeve's journal.

"Every morning the howler monkeys wake me up at about 5:00 AM. They are very loud with low screeches. They are small and have long tails for wrapping around the trees." ...Maeve

"When we were on our way to INBio Parque I saw many coffee trees and some trees had orange blossoms on them . At INBio Parque I saw some boas. There were two females and 1 male in the pen. And someone else was holding a little boa. I petted the little boa too," Maeve

Costa Rica Index Page 

"Many different types of plants and animals live in the rain forest. The humidity and rain or temperatures helps the plants grow.  Some places are warmer or colder than each other even if some are only 15 miles away. Many animals are not as shy as the animals in Michigan USA. The butterflies will land on you if you are wearing bright colors.

One morning I went on a bird walk. I was the first person in our group to spot a toucan. We also saw an iguana and many birds." ...Maeve

"The trumpet tree has ridge like things on the bark. It is also the tree that the sloths climb up and eat the leaves. The leaves are shaped like a big hand reaching out for you.

"Many of the rain forest trees are being cut down. I think that half of the rain forest should be rain forest and the other half should just be the banana plantations. I think there should be rainforests because that's where many animals live. Some of the animals are very close to being extinct and if they cut down too many of the trees they will be extinct. I also think that there should be room for the banana trees and still have both bananas and the rainforest trees." 

"Today on the boat ride we saw a crocidile, swollows, iguana, a 2 toed sloth with its baby, and some Howler monkeys. Today I did not go frog hunting, but I had a conversation with the monkeys. It was a very private conversation. Only Gus and Mrs. Ramsey know what they said to me.  The 2 toed sloth with its baby and the monkeys and the iguana were all in the same tree."  Maeve, February 2004

(While Maeve was writing her Journal in Costa Rica, the rest of the fifth grade class was writing about their virtual trip on the Oregon Trail )

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