Earlier in the year, a group of Senior school pupils, accompanied by Mr Bowd & Miss Thompson, embarked on an excursion to Costa Rica. The trip was to learn more about the environment and conservation.

Here we can share with you some pupil diary excerpts and photos of the trip… thank you to Meg for sharing her experiences of their time there.

Costa Rica was amazing. ‘Once in a lifetime’ experience is really the only way to truly describe it. The travelling was long and exhausting, at least 26 hours from leaving school at 3am to arriving in Costa Rica at 11pm local time. For most of us, that was the first long-haul flight we’d done, and by the time we got to our first hostel, it’s fair to say that any of us would have settled for anywhere just to get some solid sleep! 

The following morning was much brighter in every sense. Except from in Leafy’s case (and therefore the teachers) who happened to lose his passport overnight. Crisis soon averted however, as it was quickly found under a suitcase and the trip was back on as planned. 

Our first stay was Monteverde, next to Costa Rica’s famous cloud forest. We stayed here for 2 nights, with several rounds of uno, being introduced to the monkeys living in the trees right next to our cafeteria, and walks around the surrounding forest. However the most incredible part of the Monteverde stay - and perhaps the whole trip - was our tour through the famous cloud forest. The entire atmosphere was unforgettable. The wildlife, the vegetation, the story’s from our brilliant guide of all the things he’d seen there over the years he’d been working, and hearing how passionately he talked about its need for conservation. 

Our next stay was Natua, the animal reserve. This was definitely the most adventurous of our locations. The tarantula in the bathroom, and the fan that swung over the light giving our room a disco effect were definitely memorable parts of the trip. The more significant memories made at this stay however were definitely from being given the opportunity to feed the animals being kept at the reserve, including: macaws, monkeys, tapias, sloths and many others. Going into the sloth enclosure and being less than metres away from them was honestly one of the best things I think I’ve ever done. 

Moving on after one night, our following destination was Cirenas, the turtle sanctuary. We stayed here for 3 nights, particularly focussing on conservation work in the environment; planting trees and building turtle hatcheries. There were also a few 4am beach trips made to search for turtles, but to no avail, except from on the very first night of our stay, where half our group did in fact see a turtle lay its eggs on the beach, and then we’re able to take those eggs and put them in the protected hatchery to keep them safe. Again, unforgettable. 

A couple of other incredible memories of cirenas are seeing howler monkeys swing from the trees just next to us while rations breakfast, swiping a scorpion from Ellie’s back while she washed her sock, the spectacular tropical storms, and Will near enough blowing up the wood chipper on a wooden platform. Another unreal stay. 

Finally, we came to Jakera. By far the favourite in terms of sleeping locations. It was here that we were allowed to swim in the pacific ocean, relax on the fab hammock they had outside our room and lounge by the pool. Definitely our most relaxed place, truly enjoyed by everyone, and the perfect wind down for the final 3 nights of our trip ( still with recycling and litter picking projects to keep in spirit). 

Heading back to the airport was another night of very little sleep, most of us trying to ignore the fact the trip was actually coming to an end. 2 very long flights, three busy and stressful airports, and one never ending coach from Heathrow later, and somehow we would end up back at school exactly where we started. Over the following 24 hours I spent 20 sleeping and the other 4 telling anyone who would listen every detail of the past fortnight. The entire trip felt surreal. The experience was overall unforgettable, from the possibility of spiders having laid eggs in Miss Thompson’s ankles, to the unexpected bonds that were formed. None of it would have worked without the care and attentiveness of Miss T and our wonderful Pastoral Phil, who both in their own way made the trip extra special. Thank you.