The cost per tree is US$20 which will be donated to the “Bajo del Tigre” elementary school located a 45 minute horseback ride away. Donations will be used to purchase materials, help with maintenance, and to educate the children about how they can protect the environment.
Participants will take part in a tree planting event at the lodge and also receive a certificate to commemorate the tree planting. Your tree will include a small plaque with your name and date of the planting.
One World Expedition
“An Arctic adventure in the tropics”
Pacuare Lodge Presentation December 5th, 2006.
Amid a romantic candlelit ambiance, with the soft murmur of the Pacuare River a stone’s throw away, Lonnie Dupre and Eric Larsen began their much anticipated “An Arctic Adventure in the Tropics” presentation at the Pacuare Lodge in Costa Rica. This surreal encounter was the culmination, for us anyway, of a nearly two year long wait to meet these intrepid explorers in one of Costa Rica’s most paradisiacal locations.
Just a few months earlier, on a frigid, windswept snowscape, Lonnie and Eric had just reached the North Pole (a couple times) after a grueling 62 day trek over broken ice and water. Now, under a palm-thatched roof where hammocks sway to a warm tropical breeze, it’s hard to imagine the brutal conditions these two men had to endure.
Yet endure they did, and the slides and video projected unto a white bed sheet surrounded by flickering candles gave vivid testimony to their historical first ever crossing to the North Pole in summer.
As both Lonnie and Eric took turns recounting the events and impressions of their epic journey, a small but mesmerized audience hung on every word, honored to be offered a small taste of what it feels like to be an Arctic explorer.
Yet the overriding theme of the presentation was not about Lonnie and Eric, or their impressive accomplishment. It was about global warming. Carbon levels are rising and the world is getting warmer. There is no doubt about this. And though its effects may be much more noticeable in the Arctic, the truth is that it is wreaking havoc across the globe, and its insidious touch is felt even here in Costa Rica.
But, you may be asking, what can I do? And will it really make a difference? Well, a drop of water may not do much; however, when it becomes a torrent it can move mountains. And that was the goal of the presentation - to get the message out to as many people as possible so that our efforts take on the force of a raging river.
What can you do? The key is to do something; take a first step. Conserve electricity by using more energy efficient light bulbs or less hot water. Insulate and weatherize your home. Ride a bike or walk instead of using a car. Plant a tree, which, by the way, is what the One World Expedition members did the next morning before leaving the lodge by raft down a raging white water river.
