On 23rd of July we invited the kids of our local forest school to meet students and staff of Lincoln University which are currently staying in our reserve.
The Lincoln students are here on a field course, learning about the cloud forest and running projects investigation different aspects of flora and fauna in Santa Lucía. We'd asked them whether "our" kids could come by one day maybe get a quick introduction on what makes a nature here interesting for international students.
Also, for the first time, each participant had to propose a mission, series of small achievements, that they would be trying to reach on our expedition. This ranged from "observing five different bird species", across "finding water sources" to "learning about three scientific projects".
We had thirtheen participants this time and Denisse, Graciela and Holger were coordinating the tour, being colleagues in the expedition. We found a great many things on the way up and many of the kids certainly learnt something new on the way.
When we reached the lodge we found out that the Lincoln students and staff had actually prepared a proper program for the Forest School. This included creating artwork with some aspects on what is necessary for a living being to live, thrive and "be happy", as well as an introduction into some of the projects that the Lincoln students are running. The forest school kids could use microscopes, taste "Dragon's Blood" and could also practice their skills with an insect sweep net.
It was a fantastic event for everybody and we are deeply grateful to the Lincoln staff / students not only playing along, but also creating this terrific program.