La Caleta

Wednesday through Friday we studied eco-tourism and did a case study of La Caleta (about an hour away from the capital). La Caleta has a national park right on the ocean. It has problems with trash (like all towns here), protecting the national park, local caves and the wildlife just off-shore.
Wednesday we learned about the park and took a tour of it. Then we did surveys of community members on local resources. Thursday we learned about native fish and other sea creatures and most importantly the reef. To go along with the national park work, the volunteer in La Caleta is trying to preserve the reef there, which is being affected by over-fishing and global climate changes. Then in the afternoon, we got to go snorkeling (my first time) and see everything in action. It was really cool (No Mom I didn’t see any Nemos but I did see a Dori)! Friday, we presented our results from Wednesday to a representative of the mayor. Then we went cave exploring!!! The caves were very cool but, of course, I didn’t have my camera!