Friday morning we made the 4 1/2 hour bus ride, for only 100 kilometers, to Manuel Antonio. It's a very tourist-y beach on the Pacific side of the country. We stayed in a beach front resort and it was beyond amazing - the scenary all around us was breathtaking from the moment we stepped outside of our rooms and we were all very excited to take warm showers. As soon as we got there all of us threw on our swimsuits and ran to the beach. After watching the sunset, we went out to dinner at a little diner, and then went dancing.
Saturday was one of the longest and full days. Everyone in Costa Rica gets up early and all of our bodeis are simply used to waking up at 6 am to start our days; being on vacation didn't even impact this. We woke up at our normal time and headed out to get breakfast. Then came a guided 3 hour hike through the rainforest of the Antonio Manuel National Park. It was so neat to see all of those animals (sloth, monkeys, crabs, etc.) and plants that I have seen in textbooks all my life in person. We stopped our hike at the beach and played for the next few hours. Meg, Ellen, Caroline, and I left the rest of the group and hiked a little farther only to discover a sort of "secret" beach. It was only about 25 meters long in total and had the most amazing rocks to climb and get different views of the ocean and jungle. We skipped lunch and went straight to horseback riding on the beach! It was amazing and our tourguide, Roberto told us all about life in Costa Rica. Despite crazy scheduling issues, it was perfect timing as we got to watch the sunset as we rode. That night we went to El Avion, a resturaunt that was built from an old CIA plane that crashed. The food was very American and filling and I didn't feel good after I had eaten because it wasn't as fresh as the food from my house in San Pedro. That night we went out into the city and went dancing which was so much fun. It was such a good day to bond with our whole group.
Sunday was simply us tying up loose ends at the beach and driving home. The roads here in Costa Rica are very narrow and curvy. I got terribly car sick and was miserable the whole way home. Which coming back home, to not my house in Raleigh, really was an eye opener that I am going to be here a long time. It was the first time I didn't feel like I was on a vacation.
I am going to post pictures on here later, but my internet is being weird. So, check back!
Saturday was one of the longest and full days. Everyone in Costa Rica gets up early and all of our bodeis are simply used to waking up at 6 am to start our days; being on vacation didn't even impact this. We woke up at our normal time and headed out to get breakfast. Then came a guided 3 hour hike through the rainforest of the Antonio Manuel National Park. It was so neat to see all of those animals (sloth, monkeys, crabs, etc.) and plants that I have seen in textbooks all my life in person. We stopped our hike at the beach and played for the next few hours. Meg, Ellen, Caroline, and I left the rest of the group and hiked a little farther only to discover a sort of "secret" beach. It was only about 25 meters long in total and had the most amazing rocks to climb and get different views of the ocean and jungle. We skipped lunch and went straight to horseback riding on the beach! It was amazing and our tourguide, Roberto told us all about life in Costa Rica. Despite crazy scheduling issues, it was perfect timing as we got to watch the sunset as we rode. That night we went to El Avion, a resturaunt that was built from an old CIA plane that crashed. The food was very American and filling and I didn't feel good after I had eaten because it wasn't as fresh as the food from my house in San Pedro. That night we went out into the city and went dancing which was so much fun. It was such a good day to bond with our whole group.
Sunday was simply us tying up loose ends at the beach and driving home. The roads here in Costa Rica are very narrow and curvy. I got terribly car sick and was miserable the whole way home. Which coming back home, to not my house in Raleigh, really was an eye opener that I am going to be here a long time. It was the first time I didn't feel like I was on a vacation.
I am going to post pictures on here later, but my internet is being weird. So, check back!
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