 Construction
of the Aula Global Research Station/Lodge began in 2000, when volunteers
from all different parts of the world came together to begin an incredible
task. The research station/lodge is
now a fuctional building that comfortably sleeps 20. It is situated
right
in the middle of our Aula Global Reserve on a newly forested slope, surrounded
by some of the most pristine, untouched cloud forest in the world. Many
visitors
choose
to sleep out on the porch where they can wake up
to a
cacophony of birds, howler monkeys, insects, and other jungle noises.
You will find that the lodge was designed with conservation as a first
priority; Aula
Global
is
100%
eco-friendly,
with solar-powered lights, local spring water, and a composting toilet. |
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An endangered Resplendent Quetzal flutters by, his
voluminous tail streaming far behind. A scintillant hummingbird
does a complicated aerial display for his prospective mate while
howler monkeys roar from a ridge across the stream. Nestled discreetly
in an area of Costa Rica pulsing with life, the Aula Global Biological
Reserve is the perfect place to experience the wonders of the rain
forest. The reserve is located close to Monteverde and Santa Elena,
but well off the beaten tourist track. The Aula Global reserve
and field station consists of over 500 acres of virgin
rain
forest
and regenerating secondary
forest.
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Three large trees fell due to natural causes in the
land that was to be Aula Global, before we purchased it. What luck!
The Global
Classroom and it's clan of conservationist volunteers had been
hoping to build a lodge on the slope of pasture on one corner of
the property and would now be able to do so without causing
any disturbance to natural ecosystems. Upon finding the fallen
trees, The Global Classroom arranged for the trees to be cut, at
the sites where they fell, into 2 x 4's and 4 x 4's and so on.
Once the cutting was complete, volunteers went to look at the three
piles of beautiful, redish-tinted wood hidden sporadically in the
deep jungle. No one knew exactly how many boards would be produced
from the fallen trees, but after visiting the lumber sites and
attempting to carry just one piece of wood to the place where we
were to build the lodge, it was clear that this would be no trivial
task.
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With just six or ten volunteers, it would have been years before
we were ready to begin building the research station, so we put up
posters in the nearby towns of Santa Elena and Monteverde and spread
the word through our international connections. Soon enough, we had
volunteers from six nations joining us to begin an incredible task.
With Costa Rican native Israel Mendez at the lead, we hand-carried
each piece of lumber on our shoulders to where the lodge would be
built. Nearly 700 hours later we were finally ready to begin. Enthusiastic
volunteers hammered and sawed, accompanied by crickets and mimicking
woodpeckers. When they finished the lodge (at least for the time
being) there was so much lumber left over that they had to build
a separate shed to store the wood until it was needed for other projects
and additions to the research station. |
  
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