Students from Rising Starr and Whitewater middle schools and Fayette County High School recently participated in an ecological tour of Costa Rica.

According to the participants, the tour provided an opportunity for them to explore a nation that, despite its small size, contains 6 percent of the world's bio-diversity.

The students' adventures included a close-up study of volcanic activities, a horseback ride through reclaimed forests, rappelling though a rainforest canyon and snorkeling on a reef in the Caribbean Sea.

The students said they not only gained a greater appreciation of the world's rainforests, but returned home with a renewed spirit of adventure and a newly adopted philosophy: “pura vida,” which means “pure life.”

The tour was documented on a web site created by Fayette County High student Ryan Caron and can be located at costaricatrip.cjb.net.