Earthquake!

Lex

At first I thought the wall had been hit by a truck then realised that we were two floors up so that couldn't be true. Then the bed moved forward then backwards and the headboard slammed into the wall angrily. The time was 7:00pm and we had just experienced our first earthquake.

We jumped up and ran out to the balcony to see what had happened. The pool guy Randall was already on his phone to find out details. He told us in Spanish that it had been a ' terremoto' (earthquake). We shouted the news to all the other inhabitants of the apartments. He told us that if it was stronger later we had to go and wait in the street. I started to shake and had to lie down to stop myself going into shock. I felt sick and panicky. I packed my bag and laid out clothes in case of emergency. I survived the night.

The second earthquake felt slightly different. It was a bit bigger 4.3 on the Richter scale , the other was 3.7. We were in the apartment when the chairs started to move and the windows seemed to wobble in their frames.

The third and fourth earthquakes did not phase us at all!

Fact File

Did you know some of these facts?

80% of all earthquakes occur round the ring of fire .

The ring of fire is around the rim of the pacific coast.

Costa Rica is on the ring of fire .

Each earthquake is given a number depending on its strength and duration .
3-5minor.
5-7moderate.
7-8major.
8 or more is great.
To measure these geologists use a seismometer and it is also called The Richter Scale.

The biggest earthquake ever recorded was in Chile in 1960 it was 9.5.

The earths upper layer is made up of giant rock slabs called tectonic plates.

An earthquake happens when plates pull apart or collide.

Tsunami are huge waves caused by earth quakes or volcanoes at sea.

The epicentre of an earthquake is the point on the surface directly above the origin of the rocks below.

Surf School

Lex
Today we started surfing lessons! Yes,real surfing lessons! We started at 3.30pm and finished at 6pm.It was absolutely brilliant. We learned the basics of surfing on the beach for one hour before moving to the water. We did two methods, the pop up, where you had to jump up quickly and twist in the air and the old style where you had to bend your leg first and worm your way up. I preferred the old style.

When we got into the water we had to find a good wave, white and foamy not green. Unfortunately these were quite a way out and to get there was really hard. We had to put our weight on the end of the board and point it into the wave. Sometimes the board ended up vertical and we had to cling on. When we saw a good wave coming we had to face the beach and lay on the board and start doing a type of front crawl. When we were going really fast we had to try and stand up.

The first time I actually stood up! After that I started to fall off. Dad said I was actually doing better than some of the adults in the other group. When I was coming back I saw a big fish swimming in the water and another one actually jumped out. The best part was when I caught the wave and curved right onto the beach. I know I've already said this but " I loved it!"I was really sad when it was time to go but we managed to get another half an hour. On the way back we had to wade through a knee deep river. When we got back to the apartment we had a very nice tea and then popcorn.Hopefully we will go surfing tomorrow. ( my wish came true! ). :)

Oscar
Today we went to a surf school. Our instructor was called Didier. He was from Jamaica. The surf boards were soft so that we didn't hurt ourselves. When we went over the waves we had to push against the back of the boards. If you fall off you had to make a starfish shape and then cover your face and head. You have to do a pop up or Plan B. I felt proud when I stood up even though I was really scared.

Tortugero National Park

Oscar and Lex

After an arduous journey involving buses, flooded rivers, and boats we arrived in Tortugero National Park. Translated this means " region of turtles". It is located on the north eastern Caribbean coast of Costa Rica and we were staying at Laguna Lodge.

On our first evening we walked along the beach dragging driftwood to create fake snake trails. We paddled in the water that was absolutely freezing. The waves crashed against the shore and we could hear them all night from our cabin. We arrived in Tortugero town and wandered along Main Street ( the only street) looking at the different styles of buildings. We bought a fresh green coconut from a man with a machete who chopped the top off it and we drank it with a straw. It did not taste as we thought it would. It did not taste very coconutty at all. Then we scooped out the flesh that was a bit rubbery and very wet not like the dry coconuts at home.

Tortugero national park was established in 1959 to help the endangered turtle species survive. The locals had been killing the turtles and harvesting their eggs for food. This region is the main nesting area for both leatherback and green turtles. The turtles crawl up the beach desperately grabbing the sand to find a place to lay their eggs. They dig a hole with their flippers in the driest sand near the trees and lay their eggs. The eggs are covered up with sand and left to their own devices. The mother heads back to the ocean, never looking back. The holes in the sand were enormous like mini volcanic craters. The eggs take approximately 60 days to hatch. The babies use a special egg tooth called a 'caruncle' to break themselves free from the prison of their egg. As a group during the night or a rainstorm they climb out and head as fast as they can to the ocean.

Our guide told us that despite being the end of the season there were still eggs hatching. We immediately left the village in the dark and headed out along the beach again turtle hunting. Unfortunately we were not lucky enough to see any turtles but had the best experience walking along the moonlit beach.

We found out that only 1 in 1000 baby turtles survive to adulthood. The obstacles to survival include natural disasters such as shark and seagull attacks, but also the turtles are eating human waste such as plastic and tar balls. Please stop throwing rubbish into the sea and help save the turtles.

To find out more about sea turtles....
http://www.conserveturtles.org/

Bob the Builder!

Oscar

Martes 8 th Enero

We woke up really early to have breakfast. It was scones. They were delicious with lots of butter.

After breakfast we were Bob the Builder except he doesn't build with animal dung, mud and straw!
First we had to dance in the dung to soften it. Then we added straw to make the mixture stronger and some water to stick it all together. We mixed it with our bare feet. It felt weird when it squelched between your toes.

We put the mixture in a bucket and Pablo carried it up the stairs. Our job was to poke the mixture into holes that had dried from last week. It will take two weeks to dry altogether. We were helping to build a house for people to stay in. The walls were made of wood with big gaps in between and we were using the mud to fill the space. To make the job quicker we also added Eco bricks. These were plastic bottles filled with rubbish. To make it look nice we added glass bottles and broken glass plates for windows. I liked the blue glass plate because it was the biggest. I think it will look nice when the sun shines through.

It really hurt when the mud dried on your fingers.

After that we went to town to get biscuits. Finally we played dominoes with Jose.

http://www.la-flor.org/index.html

Insects!

Oscar...
Today we went to a place called La Selvestra. There were 8 bridges. The bridges were at different height sand most of them were above the tree tops. The bridges were made of metal mesh. There was a river below us. We saw some people zip lining.guess how many species of plant can live on one tree? 100!
Next we saw a stick insect and beetles. I held a praying mantis. The female praying mantis chops off her mates head. It's disgusting for boys I know!
After that we went into the butterfly garden and the life cycle is: egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, butterfly. Sometimes butterflies only live for one day or a week.
My favourite part of the day was when I saw the leaf cutter ants crawling across a log. The ants chew the leaves, spit them out then mix them with their poo to make a compost. The compost grows to make a fungus and the ants eat the fungus.

Ecoglide

Lex
Today we went on an exciting tour in the canopy of the rainforest in Costa Rica. We went zip lining with Ecoglide. I was a bit scared when the guide started putting safety harnesses and a helmet on. There were 13 wires, one Tarzan swing and 15 platforms.One of the wires was 400 m long. There were two parts to the course. The experience was brilliant, fantastic,fabulous and one of the best things this week...actually in my life! The wires went zip when we went down them and the vibrations were like a generator.

Top tip...if you ever do this the heavier you are the higher you go on the Tarzan swing.

Oscar
I felt nervous and scared then proud and happy.

Thank you to Ecoglide for a safe and brilliant experience.

http://www.anywherecostarica.com/destinations/arenal-costa-rica/tours/ecoglide-canopy-tour