BUCKLAND - They danced in a waterfall, studied  wildflowers, were surprised  by an agouti and literally  spent time with their heads in the clouds.
The cloud forest of Costa Rica, that is.
But mostly the small band of 10 student explorers from the Mohawk Trail Regional High School who returned from Costa Rica Tuesday learned about themselves and how they fit into the world- both at home and away.
Any trip far from home into a new culture where incredible natural wonders abound has to it an exotic quality that could be misconstrued as a vacation for a bunch of lucky stiffs.
But these ten ecology students of the "Understanding Nature and Yourself Through  Experience," group, came away touched by what they  saw and experienced and ready to make it their mission to share the wealth.
The students paid $375 each toward the trip, and the remaining $925 was sponsored by the Mary Lyon Education Fund with private grants. 
Ellen Dandeneau and Heater Gould are writing about the trip.
"You learn so much about yourself and those around you and the environment,"  marveled Dandeneau, “It's just such a moving experience.” Gould is anxious for others to know just how much the group learned.
“ Not just to inform other students,” she said, “But the community.  A lot of people think we were just going down there to party, but it's such a learning experience.” Her sentiments were echoed by the others.
“The preserve blew me away,” said Chris Tilly, who worked on photographing and naming the myriad epiphytes – plants that derive their moisture and nutrients from the air and rain and usually grow on the trees – with Jonathon Leitner.
“You can't learn anything like this in a textbook,” said Leitner.
“There are no words to describe what it's like down there or how it affects you,” said Betsy Cranston.
who is trying to find those words for a poetry and picture essay of her experience.
“Everyone was so amiable and willing to accept  strangers,” said Adam Hinds.  “They laughed with us as we tried Spanish and we laughed with them when they tried English.”
Roger Kent spent his time discovering the difference between a rain and cloud forest.  He, like the others, says he “didn't know what to expect” on arrival, but “after seeing the bio-diversity” he became interested in the rain/cloud forest question.
And he knows the answer.
“The cloud forest is on the Continental Divide and winds come in from the Caribbean and the Pacific, forming a constant mist with 100 percent humidity,” he says.  “There's a lot more rain in the cloud forest with 270 rain days a year.”
Will Patiove started out study diurnal plants but couldn't find enough information at the Santa Elena Reserve where the group was studying, so he went to work with Emily Nichols to work on the drawing section of her journal.  “I’d like to put it in the library so people going later would know what to expect,” said Nichols.
While at the reserve, which was set up to encourage student groups as well as economic stability for farmers about three years ago, the group also helped move about a ton of tiles in their backpacks and then pour cement to make trails for visitors.
They hiked 120 miles through the jungle, crossing a river in 12 different spots, ate rice and beans and bananas, and saw the Arenal Volcano, which has been erupting almost daily since 1963.
And they made friends with Rosa and Don Carlos Rodriguez, who welcomed all of the group into their home for three days.
As the group sat watching their video made by co-leader Colin Garland of the Earthlands Institute of Petersham, they laughed out loud and smiled to themselves, and seemed like a group that had really learned to work together.