SCRD Coursework

CRD 302

 Westward Ho Journal 1

Before the first day of Westward Ho I was nervous but excited. I was excited because I genuinely love spending time with elderly people. I’m always spending time with my grandma and my elders because I love learning new things about time and how it was back in the day. I was nervous because this is a new community that I’ve never been in and I don’t know how they’re going to treat me. I know the African American population in Arizona isn’t the largest minority. So I’m really hoping now one is racist. I feel really comfortable and no one has made me feel uncomfortable so I’m hoping it stays like this. I think Make a Friend Friday will not only mean a lot to the residents of Westward Ho but also us as students. I love meeting new people so I’m very excited to spend time with them. I know the women there like to teach students how to crochet, so I’m excited to learn. We didn’t meet Stacy yet, but we met Mimi and it was such a pleasure to meet her. Mimi has been through so much here, and to hear her story and for her to inform us how excited she is that we’re here made me feel really welcomed. I’m really looking forward to next week because we’ll really be spending time with the residents. To meet all these new people and play games with them makes me happy. I’m very excited for next Friday. 

Westward Ho Journal 2

Today was the first official day of Make a Friend Friday and I had a lot of fun. There were about five residents that joined us today. At first it was a little awkward because we didn’t know each other but as soon as the introductions were done people got more comfortable. I was actually pretty excited to spend time with the residents and my classmates. Some residents were teaching people how to knit, one played pool with some students, and the other played a card game with students. I met Quinton, also known as “Q” or “Elvis”. I heard he sometimes plays Elvis. Some students and I played “Farkle” with Quinton. It’s a card game and is similar to “Yahtzee”. I never played either, so it was a learning experience, and I love learning new things. At first it was so confusing even after I learned the rules, but Quinton helped all of us to play and learn the game. He was so helpful and nice. He had hearing aids so we had to talk louder so he could understand us, but I didn’t mind it. It was definitely a new and interesting experience. I played with classmates I never had a conversation with and learned we have more classes together. I really enjoyed today and I’m excited for next Friday. 

Westward Ho Journal 3

    Today at Westward Ho was fun. A group of us played "Farkle" again with Quinton, and while we we're playing, he told us some of his background. Quinton's memory wasn't the best, but what we learned about him was cool. He was born and raised here in Arizona, and then in his elementary years moved to California. He moved back to Arizona years later, but he doesn't know how old he was when he moved and he's 59 years old. After he told us a bit about himself, we started playing again. I was struggling today while playing, I just couldn't get a lot of points, but it was fun hearing about Quinton's background. The funniest part of today was when Quinton was talking about his past and was struggling to remember he said, "Well I'm too old to remember all this." It made everyone at the table laugh.

Westward Ho Journal 4

    Today was fun, but a little uncomfortable at Westward Ho. I played "Skipbo" for the first time today with a new group of people. It was fun learning the game and I plan to buy it for my own house. I played with classmates I know from class, but we never played any games together at Westward Ho. We also played with a new resident named William, this was his first time at Westward Ho. He came to our table, and we all introduced ourselves and asked him if he wanted to join and play with us, he said no. He said he just wanted to talk, everyone said okay we all assumed he was going to talk about his past and how he grew up, but we were mistaken. He first asked me "What's wrong with the world?" I told him everything stems from hatred. He asked me where's all the hatred coming from, I told him everyone has hate inside them, but only some people act on it. He asked me who specifically is hating because not everyone is. I felt like he was trying to pull a racist answer out of me. It was all just very uncomfortable, everyone at the table was of a different race and he was like targeting everyone to ask them a question. He went on to talking to my classmate about republicans and how their Nazis and if we don't do something the Nazis were going to take over America. Just in the middle of him about to go more in depth about Nazis it was time for us to clean up and go. At that point I was so ready to go, but it was still a good day.

Westward Ho Journal 6

Today at Westward Ho was amazing! I had so much and everyone was making jokes and building bonds. Today I played Farkle again with the resident “Q” and other classmates. I was actually playing terribly today, I was in last place. It’s okay though because it was a good day. Q was trying to help me win today but it wasn’t working. I’ve played Farkle for weeks now and even though it’s fun, I think next week I’ll play a different game. I’ve only talked to about 2 or 3 residents, so I think it’s time to talk to more residents and get to know them better. Also, while getting to know them, I can maybe learn a new game and learn more about them. I’ve never spent time at the crochet table, so I’ll probably go there next week. 

Westward Ho Journal 7

    Today was a little different. We haven't been to Westward Ho for a couple weeks due to a few reasons. So it was great to see everyone. There were also new residents there and it was amazing to see new faces. There was a man playing his guitar and he was actually pretty good. He was playing different songs the whole time for students. It was great hearing live music, it's a rare occasion when you hear it. Mostly people just listen to music on their phone or through earbuds. There were also a lot of women crocheting. It was great to see new residents. I was again playing Farkle with Q, it was a lot of fun again. I asked him how his day was, and he said he doesn't know because the day isn't over yet. He was just making jokes all day, he's pretty funny when he wants to be. Usually when we play Farkle no one wins, because to win you have to get to 10,000 points. The highest someone has ever gotten was about 7,000 points, yet today my friend won. I was so happy for her, because it took her a while to learn.

Westward Ho Journal 8

    It was a great day at Make a Friend Friday. First, we started off the day with listening to a speech from MiMi. She is one of the residents at Westward Ho and we haven't seen her for weeks. The last time we saw her was when we first came there, she gave us a speech about how important it is we come and that we bring life to the residence. She told us a story about how she met someone and judged them right off the back and thought they were crazy. It was pretty good story, but one of the other residents was fake snoring during the speech. I guess he didn't like MiMi, or didn't want to hear her speech. It was honestly pretty rude. MiMi wanted to just give us advice not to judge people right off the bat, like she did and get to know people better before judging them. After she was done with her speech, we went back to playing games. Today we played UNO, I played it with all new people except for the resident "Q". I always spend time with him every Friday. I could tell he wanted to play "Farkle", but we've been playing it for weeks and I was around classmates that I haven't played with before. It was a good game, and "Q" was really good at UNO. We played like five rounds; everyone was joking, and it was like we've known each other for a while. It was a great day.

Westward Ho Journal 9

Today at Westward Ho was a little different. I didn't play any card games, nor did I play with the resident "Q" today. I just really didn't feel like playing any games today. I just colored with some friends. We just talked about our plans this weekend and talked about our backgrounds. We were just getting closer with another and opening up. Actually, a lot of students were coloring today, I don't know if I realized that because I was participating in it or not. It was really relaxing and chill. It wasn't loud in the room, there was some chatter, but it wasn't super loud. Most of my classmates were really excited about Halloween weekend. They were talking about their plans and their costumes, I'm excited to know what everyone dressed up as. At the coloring station I was coloring a turtle, and it was really pretty. I didn't get to finish it because of time, but I wrote my name on it. Today was a pretty good day I hope I get to finish my coloring next Friday.

Westward Ho Journal 10

    Today was fun, but I almost thought class was canceled. I got to the Westward Ho at the time that I usually come. There was no one there though I ringed the doorbell to try to get in the building, but no one answered so I waited outside. I waited about 5 minutes, and no one came so I texted my classmate to see if we had class or it was canceled. She said she was on her way, so I waited another five minutes and then she showed up. Together we waited some more and then some random lady let us in the building. After that everyone started showing up, like 5 minutes before the class even started. Today at westward ho I wanted to play charades I started asking people and they said yes so we got into a group and started playing. Then the resident "Q" came to our table and wanted to play "Farkle". We just decided to play it with "Q" and we had some new people and taught them during the game. It was fun teaching the new people how to play, even though I was losing. I love teaching people new things as long as their patient and respectful. So it was fun teaching them.

Westward Ho Journal 11

Today at Westward Ho, I met someone new. I met a resident, and her name was Margeret, but she goes by "Margo". Originally there was a group of students, and we were all going to play "UNO", but Margo came to our table, and she said she didn't like card games. So, we stopped playing "UNO" because she wanted to talk. She was actually a joy to talk to. She told us about her life and how she got to Westward Ho. She is originally from Connecticut and went to a fashion school in New York for college. She was married and she has one daughter. She got divorced from her husband and moved to Michigan with some family. Her daughter went to USC for college and Margo was so sad and lonely after her daughter left. She moved to Arizona with a friend to be closer to her daughter. After a while she was homeless and living in her car. She was living in her car for a while and finally she came to live at Westward Ho. She was so great to talk to and she was funny. She had a little humor when talking about her life story. I hope she comes to Make a Friend Friday when we come back.

Westward Ho Journal 12

Today was the last Make a Friend Friday at Westward Ho. It didn't really feel like the last day, it was so chill and there weren't a lot of residents there. There wasn't a lot of chairs, so my friends and I decided to play Uno on the couches. A resident that we haven't seen for weeks decided to come sit next to us. His name was William the last time I saw him he wanted to talk about Nazis. This time he had a mask on that said, "don't talk to Nazis". We asked him if he wanted to play Uno with us, but he said no he doesn't know how, and he just wanted to talk. We told him we would teach him, but he said he's too dumb to learn. We told him no and that it's easy to learn but he still said no. So, we continued on playing Uno and he just sat there. Someone else joined us to play and he was talking about the election coming up and about Nazis. They talked for a little bit I wasn't listening, but then I heard her say that were not allowed to really talk about politics and he got a little upset and asked why. After that we waved Christina our professor to come play with us, once she came he stopped talking about the Nazis. Uno went really smooth after that we played like 4 rounds. I even won a round of Uno, it was really fun. I've enjoyed Westward Ho this semester I hope to do something like that again.

Westward Ho Reflection

    This semester was amazing yet stressful. Going to Make Friend Friday at Westward Ho was so amazing. I met so many great residents there, everyone’s story is different and how they got to where they are now. It was great to hear everyone’s story and touching to hear of their trials and tribulations. One resident that I made a really good connection with was with the resident “Q” and Margo. They told me of their life stories and were so relatable and funny. I am so thankful that I got to spend time with these residents. I'm thankful that I got to make an impact on their lives. The only thing I would change is that we could play some music. I think music is great and it brings people closer. My advice to the next group is to get out of your comfort zone, go up to the residents and say hi. They love meeting new people and would love to get to know you. I really feel like these residents need a friend all the time, not just during the school year. One group that goes out to help older people is “Friend to Friend America”. They are people who volunteer to spend one on one time with elderly people. They visit them at least 2x a month and at least a year. This would be so beneficial to the residents. 

Note to residents: I had such an amazing time spending Make a Friend Friday with you all. You impacted me so much and this experience will stay with me the rest of my life.

TDM 205

Costa Rica Sky Adventures: A Global Attraction

Young, Quilla

TDM 203/ McWilliams

Fall/ 2023

Abstract

In this paper the global attraction that I chose to gain insight and research on was the Costa Rica Sky Adventures at Monteverde Park. It is a global sustainable attraction in Monteverde Park, Costa Rica. I chose this global attraction for multiple reasons. I am a tourism development & management major so I’m always looking for a possible destination to travel to. I also have never heard of this attraction and I’ve also always wanted to go to Costa Rica. So this might be a possible destination.  This global attraction gets thousands to millions of tourists a year. I will be writing about the in-and-outs of the park. Touching on their strengths & weaknesses, their impact on the community, statistics, critiques, etc.

Sky Adventures Costa Rica: A Global Attraction

Section 1: Sky Adventures Costa Rica Overview

Sky Adventures Costa Rica Description & Significance

Sky Adventures Costa Rica is an attraction in the Monteverde Park forest where they offer many different types of sky tours. Sky Adventures offers four different categories for their sky tours. The first is Sky Trek, this is a zipline course, they have multiple ziplines in Monteverde Park. The second is Sky Walk, these are tours across hanging bridges and trails above tree tops. The third is Sky Tram, these are tours on gondolas to see views from the top of the tropical forest. The last is Arboreal, these are opportunities to climb the giant trees in the Monteverde park forest. The Sky Adventures Park is known as one of the top five ziplining tour companies in Monteverde, Costa Rica (Costa Rica Sky Adventures, n.d.). The park was opened about 20 years ago by three siblings and now has become one of the most popular sky touring companies in Costa Rica (Girling, 2019).

Sky Adventures Costa Rica Geography and Climate

Sky Adventures is located in Monteverde Park, Costa Rica. The park is over 35,000 acres. Monteverde Park is a cloud forest. Cloud forests are very rare to come by and cover only 1% of global woodlands. Cloud forests are forests “within tropical or subtropical mountainous environments, where the atmospheric conditions allow for a consistent cover of clouds” (Monteverde Costa Rica, n.d.). In Monteverde, the cloud forest is a mountainous region and has an elevation of 4,364’ and low clouds which literally allows visitors to walk through clouds. It is constantly cloudy, moist, and foggy there. It gets pretty cold in the cloud forest; the average temperature is 65F (Mytanfeet, 2016).

Classification & Ownership of Sky Adventures Costa Rica

Sky Adventures is classified as a natural, man made, and recreation global attraction (Costa Rica Sky Adventures, n.d.). Monteverde the park itself is a natural park forest. The activities built in the park, ie the sky trek, tram, and walk are all man made. The activities at the park are recreation activities. So the park is all three natural, man made, and recreational. Sky Adventures is family owned. The owners are Fernando, Victoria, and Rodrigo Valverde; they have been the owners for the past 20 years (Costa Rica Sky Adventures, n.d.).Their family is known for their contribution to their community.  Baez states “These 3 siblings are known in the community for their leadership, their great sense of responsibility, their futuristic vision, and their passion for work of high quality” (Baez, 2002).

Key Features of Sky Adventures Costa Rica

Sky Adventures is known for a lot of key features in Monteverde Park. At Sky Adventures one of the biggest things that attracts tourists other than their activities is their biodiversity. Due to the owners relying on biodiversity to attract tourists, this has contributed to one-fifth of the country’s tourist income (Girling, 2019). The Valverde owners were also innovators, they invented the first hanging brides for tours in the world (Essential Costa Rica, n.d.). Sky Adventures is also known as the safest zipline touring company in Costa Rica (Monteverde Tours, n.d.).

Transportation Systems to Access and Navigate Sky Adventures Costa Rica

Transportation is not included in the fee for the activities at Sky Adventures (Monteverde Costa Rica, n.d.). It is available to add transportation to your experience at Sky Adventures for an additional price and it is only for certain locations. You can also drive and pay to park there (Costa Rica Sky Adventures, n.d.). With additional training and safety procedures Sky Adventures is very accessible (Baez, 2002). 

Tourism & Tourists at Sky Adventures Costa Rica

At Sky Adventures they have a couple different niches of tourism. This global attraction is also for only certain types of tourists. According to Plog’s Tourist Typology theory, only allocentric or near-allocentric tourists come to Sky Adventures (McWilliams/Ologies of Tourism, 2023; Plog, 1974). This attraction is only for people who like to try new things and like adventures (I Love Travel Costa Rica, n.d.). Sky Adventures is recreational, eco-tourism, sustainable, and adventure tourism (McWilliams/Types of Tourism, 2023). 

Sky Adventures Costa Rica Key Statistics 

Sky Adventures is known to be one of the most expensive zip lining companies in Costa Rica. It’s average for adults is $85, and for children it's $58 without transportation. Compared to Aventura zip line commany, they include transportation and are cheaper than Sky Adventures. They are known as the most affordable in Costa Rica, where you get your bang-for-your-buck (Monteverde Tours, n.d.). They are also known to have the fastest zipline in Costa Rica (goes up to 50 mi/h) (Monteverde Costa Rica, n.d.). Sky Adventures gets up to at least 1,000 people a day. Annually Sky Adventures averages about 100k- 5 million  (SignalHire, n.d.). 

Section 2: Impacts, Strengths & Weaknesses of Sky Adventures Costa Rica

Strengths & Resources of Sky Adventures Costa Rica & Its Surrounding Destination

Sky Adventures is known for its environmentally friendly attraction and how sustainable it is for all of Costa Rica (Costa Rica Sky Adventures, n.d.). Sky Adventures is advertised as eco-tourism and they are committed to being sustainable.They are certified in Sustainable Tourism.  One of their strengths is their views and scenery in Monteverde Park. They are leading in sustainability in Costa Rica (Girling, 2019).

Weaknesses & Barriers of Sky Adventures Costa Rica & Its Surrounding Destination

One of the biggest weaknesses of Sky Adventures is the prices. They are known to be really expensive and tourists do not like that they do not offer transportation in the price of the attraction (Monteverde Costa Rica, n.d.). That is the biggest thing that is bringing them down, people will go to other zip lining companies because they believe they are paying too much for their experience. Additionally the zip lines are stated to be really fast, and it doesn’t give tourists enough time to embrace the scenery (Mytanfeet, 2016). 

Section 3: Critiques/ Reviews Associated With Sky Adventures Costa Rica

Sky Adventures has both positive and negative reviews. Positive mentions of the place include; felt very safe, a lot of fun, and adrenaline rush. Michelle H from California states

 “I've been ziplining a few times before in other countries and this location was the most exhilarating! It's higher than what I've done before which was a bit scary. However, something about zipping through the clouds was a whole new feeling. About halfway through our tour it started raining really hard which doesn't feel great on your face, but that no fault to the tour guides or company. They were awesome. Went over safety precautions and helped me feel at ease” (TripAdvisor, n.d.).

This review highlights the company’s safety procedures and how fun it is to the tourist. Even though there are positive reviews there are also some negative critiques. It is stated in some critiques that the customer service is not the best. Kasey from New York states “They literally stole our money and never refunded us. After "bad weather", they canceled our reservation and refused to give our $400 back” (TripAdvisor, n.d.). It is said in multiple critiques that they could not get their refund for months and couldn't get in touch with customer service (TripAdvisor, n.d.)

Section 4: Personal Perspectives/Review/Final Thoughts on Sky Adventures Costa Rica

I personally would travel to Sky Adventures. They are ranked in the top for safety, sustainability, and the fastest zip line. I do live trying new things and I love zip lines so I could go. I’ve also never been to a cloud forest and it looks and sounds beautiful so it would be a wonderful experience. The price is very off putting, compared to other zip lines in Monteverde Park. Yet, I feel like in this global attraction you are getting what you pay for. I just hope I do not need to get a refund because their customer service isn’t the best. Other than customer service, I like Sky Adventures. I feel like it’s worth the money.

References

Baez, A. (2002, May). Sky Walk–Sky Trek: A Successful Community Project in the Mountains of Monteverde, Costa Rica. BioOne. Retrieved November 5, 2023, from https://bioone.org/journals/mountain-research-and-development/volume-22/issue-2/0276-4741_2002_022_0128_SWSTAS_2.0.CO_2/Sky-WalkSky-Trek--A-Successful-Community-Project-in-the/10.1659/0276-4741(2002)022[0128:SWSTAS]2.0.CO;2.full

Costa Rica Sky Adventures. (n.d.). Monteverde Park At The Cloud Forest | Sky Adventures. Sky Adventures Costa Rica. Retrieved November 5, 2023, from https://skyadventures.travel/monteverde/

Essential Costa Rica. (n.d.). Sky Adventures – Essential Costa Rica. esencial Costa Rica. Retrieved November 5, 2023, from https://www.esencialcostarica.com/eng/business-directory/tourism/sky-adventures/

Girling, R. (2019, March 9). The Good Company: Sustainability in Hospitality, Tourism, and Wine. Google Books. Retrieved November 5, 2023, from https://books.google.com/books?id=-XVjCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT34&lpg=PT34&dq=sky+adventures+monteverde+park+revenue&source=bl&ots=rbbZj6wB3q&sig=ACfU3U1Wf0yEIu5P9ko_bFdkfkRTQkY-zA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwifubS7vq6CAxVgJUQIHW06DfM4KBDoAXoECAIQAw#v=onepage&q=sky%20adven

I Love Travel Costa Rica. (n.d.). Sky Adventures: SkyTrek Canopy. ILT Costa Rica. Retrieved November 5, 2023, from https://iltcostarica.com/zip_lining_arenal_sky_adventures

Monteverde Costa Rica. (n.d.). Monteverdes Cloud Forest. Monteverde Costa Rica. Retrieved November 5, 2023, from https://www.monteverdeinfo.com/cloud-forests

Monteverde Tours. (n.d.). Sky Adventures Monteverde: Fantastic Nature Park in The Clouds. Monteverde Tours. Retrieved November 5, 2023, from https://elbosquemonteverde.com/sky-adventures-monteverde/

Mytanfeet. (2016, December 30). Sky Adventures in Monteverde: Sky Trek, Sky Walk and Sky Tram. MytanFeet. Retrieved November 5, 2023, from https://mytanfeet.com/activities/sky-adventures-in-monteverde/

SignalHire. (n.d.). Costa Rica Sky Adventures Overview. SignalHire. Retrieved November 5, 2023, from https://www.signalhire.com/companies/costa-rica-sky-adventures

TripAdvisor. (n.d.). Treetopia Park Monteverde - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos). Tripadvisor. Retrieved November 6, 2023, from https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g951347-d15892537-Reviews-Treetopia_Park_Monteverde-Monteverde_Province_of_Puntarenas.html