Belize

March 18 – 27, 2011

COST: $2,449 (not including airfare) with Blue Water Ventures

Belize is an Extraordinary Adventure!

This trip combines the very best of Belize – Rainforest, Reef, and Ruins.

Your 10 day Belize adventure is a special trip for women travelers.   You will have extraordinary experiences: boat upriver to the Mayan ruin Lamanai, have an optional overnight with a Mayan family, raft through the caves at Blue Hole National Park, photograph or observe animals in the Jaguar Sanctuary home to jaguars, tapirs, kinkajous, leaf-cutter ants, toucans, marmots and curassows, and snorkel the brilliant barrier reef. For more information and a registration form – check out our website at www.mclus.org/eco-tourism and click on the “Belize 2011” tab or call our office 314-941-1257.

Costa Rica – San Gerardo

on the Pacific side of the Children’s Eternal Rainforest

July 2 – 15, 2011

COST: $2,195 (not including airfare)

From the scenic peaks of the Tilaran mountains to the warm sandy beaches of the central Pacific coast – travel with us to glorious Costa Rica. This 14 day adventure shows why Costa Rica is a popular destination for eco-tourists worldwide and a biological Mecca for researchers, nature lovers, and conservationists for nearly 50 years. Stay in the Children’s Eternal Rainforest – a 54,000 acre preserve, take nature hikes into the rainforest to see a variety of species from howler monkeys, coatis, morpho butterflies, swallowtail kites, leafcutter ants, crested curassow, to the endemic Orange-bellied Trogon. This trip is a feast for all your senses and will most likely transform you! For more information check out our website at www.mclus.org/eco-tourism and click on the “San Gerardo – Costa Rica Trip 2011” tab or call our office 314-941-1257.

Costa Rica – Pocosol

on the Atlantic side of the Children’s Eternal Rainforest

June 25 – July 4, 2011

COST: $2,095 (not including airfare)

Educational opportunities, community service, exploring different cultures and rainforest immersion await you in Costa Rica. This wonderful 10 day trip will inspire you to want to return to Costa Rica again and again. Float above and through the rainforest on an aerial tram, visit Earth University, cruise the Sarapiqui River, visit one of the indigenous Maleku villages, and spend 3 nights in the Children’s Eternal Rainforest at the Pocosol Station walking trails to volcanic mud pots and waterfalls, mist-netting birds, taking part in bird walks in the early morning air and 2 nights at Finca Luena Nueva Lodge – a model organic farm and sustainable eco-lodge – these are just a few of the adventures in store for you! For more information check out our website at www.mclus.org/eco-tourism and click on the “Pocosol – Costa Rica Trip 2011” tab or call our office 314-941-1257.

School and Family Trips

Your school or family can enjoy a fully customized trip around your special interests. Come to Costa Rica to visit the Children’s Eternal Rainforest – a 54,000 acre preserve in the mountains. We have had groups from ages 8 – 85 delight in their shared experiences. For more information contact our office at 314-941-1257 or send us an email at: info@mclus.org. We would be happy to assist you in planning a unique, educational, inspiring trip to the rainforest!

Come take the trip that you’ve always been meaning to take! Maggie Eisenberger will lead the trip to the Children’s Eternal Rainforest from June 11-24, 2010. The trip itinerary includes learning about the tropical moist forest ecosystem of the Children’s Eternal Rainforest from the San Gerardo field station and comparing that with the tropical dry forests of the lowlands in Carara National Park. For more details visit http://mclus.org/eco-tourism/

The balance of $1995 is due April 1, 2010. An Early Bird Discount of $100 applies to those who send their deposit prior to Dec 31, 2009. To reserve your place or ask questions, contact Maggie at meisenberger@tfssa.org or by phone (cell 608-217-5288 or home 636-532-3290).

Your eco-tourism dollars are a wonderful way to support the BEN. The talks you might give upon your return are a great way to help us get the message out and inspire additional contributions for this special worldwide collaborative project that has spanned over two decades.

Maggie Eisenberger and trip members on the Corobici River.

Missouri Botanical Garden Teacher Workshop a Success. Rainforest Kit Available to Borrow

Over 40 teachers participated in free rainforest education workshops, and reviews were high! Here’s what one teacher wrote: “The new rainforest tubs are very exciting for any teacher doing a unit on the rainforest. A teacher would not have to buy any other materials to carry out the unit. The tubs are at two levels. They were put together some years ago and have been updated with new or revised activities and new books such as The Forever Forest: Kids Save a Tropical Treasure. The materials are fresh and crisp and very hands on.” Visit http://www.mobot.org/education/strc/kits.asp to learn about the Rainforest Kit and for a $25 fee you may loan one. Curriculum for grades 2-4 and 5-8 are available for download at: http://www.mobot.org/education/web.asp For further information, contact Tracie Cain with the Education Division of the Missouri Botanical Garden at 314-577-5147.

Teachers at the Rainforest Workshop at the Missouri Botanical Garden talk with Rachel Crandell, former MCLUS President. Rachel was involved with updating the kits and preparing for the workshop.

The Forever Forest Group Reaching for Their $5,000 Fundraiser Goal

This small but dedicated bunch of students and parents have been striving to raise $5,000 for the Children’s Eternal Rainforest since August 2008. Comprised mostly of former ‘student ambassadors,’ or students who won free trips to the BEN, these kids have used their photographs from the trip to make blank notecards. They have been selling them at a variety of fairs and even have gone door to door selling them. They have also given a number of talks about their trip. For more information about the group, feel free to contact Terry Sheets at dtsheets@sbcglobal.net

Two members of the Forever Forest Group sold notecards at the Alton Earthtones Festival.

For the forest,
Friends and Board of MCLUS

Monteverde Conservation League US is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
All donations are tax deductible. Donate at the Network for Good.