Bloomington High School South, The Gothic, 2015, Page 8

Description:	I. Junior Taylor Loring photographs a giant beetle. Costa Riea accounts foronly 0.1 percent of the worlds landmass but contains 5% of the worldsbiodiversity. II. Senior Kara Rogers pets a friendly perro during a hikingbreak. III. A sloth hangs from a branch in the jungles of Costa Rica. IV. Ablue crab enjoys its time on the volcanic sands of Tortuguero. PHOTOSBY ARIANNE KELLEY*Bon[d] VoyageOver the summer students fromSouth adventured to the lush land ofCosta Rica on a school trip.River rapids rush on a current of up tosix miles per hour, water spewsviciously over the inflatable raft,summoning the passengers into itsdepths. Luckily, all 30 BloomingtonHigh School South students dominatedthe white water of Costa Rica and livedto tell the tale.Five chaperones accompaniedthe group, who set out on the vacationof a lifetime to the Central Americanparadise. The first thing that comesto mind is lush green stuff, and all theforest we hiked in, junior AlexandriaConger said. The 7-day nature-cationtook students across the country,which is roughly the same size asWest Virginia.The students began their trip inSan Jose, then promptly departed tothe river village of Tortuguero, ahighlight for juniors Ian Johnson andAdrain Adams. Johnsonremembered the rain forest, andAdams recounted their tour guide.[Tour guide] Bernie was a good guy;he knew everything, he said.Whenever we would go see snakes ormini alligators (Caimans), he would beable to see them before anyone elsewho was actually looking for them.While in Tortuguero, a fewstudents went on a nighttime turtlehike on the beach to see the matinggrounds of the different turtle speciesin Costa Rica. It was spectacular,senior Kara Rogers said. The part Iwas most fascinated with was thesheer size of the turtles; their trackswere probably about the length of mybody, if I laid down on the sand.Senior Sydney Barnhart was alsoenamored with the wildlife which wasadmittedly vastly different than that ofIndiana. Everything was ten timesbigger - the bugs, the trees, theanimals/Barnhartsaid.A great huzaah closed the tripwith white water rafting on thePacuare River. Going whitewater rafting was my favorite part,Adams said. It was my first time, andit wasnt really that scary. In additionto the Tortuguero rainforest, raftingwas a highlight for Johnson as well.Its something Ive never experiencedbefore and it gave me a thrill, he said.As the trip wound down, thestudents returned to the first hoteland basked in the bittersweet feelingof returning to Bloomington. Overall, itwas a great experience; I had mixedfeelings going home, Johnson said.The entire group experienced anassortment of emotions as the tripwound to a close. Mainly, however, itwas unforgettable. I really liked itexcept for the spiders, Conger said.-ARIANNE KELLEYI8 ACADEMICS
Source:	http://cdm17129.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/hs-bloomsouth/id/8841
Collection:	Bloomington High School South

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