07/14/2026
Today was a travel day, but in Costa Rica even the travel days turn into an adventure.
We left La Fortuna and made our way to the coast in Cahuita, with spectacular views and a few fun stops along the way. We grabbed pastries at a local panadería, took in the changing landscape, and eventually arrived at Casa Marilulu, an incredible ecolodge tucked just inside the forest.
The house itself feels like part of the rainforest. It has an open-air design that lets you look in almost every direction and see birds, monkeys, butterflies, and movement all around you. On our first day, we saw toucans, howler monkeys, spider monkeys, and huge blue morpho butterflies that were so big they honestly looked like birds flying through the trees.
After dinner at a local restaurant, we headed into Cahuita National Park for a night hike. The forest in the dark is a whole different world. It feels alive in a completely new way.
With our guide, Ariel, we saw scorpions glowing under a black light, red-eyed tree frogs, several other frog species, a sloth, a screech owl, tarantulas, tree-climbing crabs, walking sticks, grasshoppers, massive millipedes, green basilisk lizards, a tiger rat snake, and an eyelash viper that was only about a foot away from us.
And yes, sloths are just as cool as you think they are.
One of the most fascinating surprises was the eyelash viper. In pictures, they seem much larger, but this one was only about the size of a little finger. Ariel explained that they are generally calm when left alone and do not attack unless provoked. Seeing one that close was incredible.
What stood out most, though, was Ariel’s respect for the rainforest. He invited us to observe, notice, and look closer, but he also reminded us that our experience should never come at the expense of the animals. He explained that some guides will pick up animals, like rat snakes, for tourists to see more closely, but that kind of stress can disrupt the animal’s natural patterns. His point was simple and powerful: our curiosity should lead to respect, not disturbance.
That really stuck with us.
We ended the evening back in our open-air living space, listening to the sounds of the forest and debriefing as a team. So many lessons from today go far beyond language and school. Curiosity, observation, patience, respect, communication, and shared discovery are all part of meaningful learning.
Today reminded us that what we do for our multilingual students is what we should be doing for all students. Good strategies are good strategies. When students are invited to observe, question, communicate, make connections, and learn through meaningful experiences, everyone benefits.
These are the kinds of experiences that remind us what we want for our students: opportunities to wonder, ask questions, look closer, make connections, and feel part of something bigger.
Thanks to Funds for Teachers!
Pura Vida!
