La Costa Rica

Drinking agua de pipa on the beach

Costa Rica is named for its "rich coasts" and I got to experience them this weekend! Kate, Kim, Tricia and I trekked to Manuel Antonio for a rainforest/beach weekend. We left right after school on Friday and took a bus to Quepos where we hopped on a shuttle to our hostel. Manuel Antonio has a beautiful rainforest on a peninsula bordered by white sand beaches. A tour guide wanted us to pay $20 for a tour but we said no way and he lowered his price- so we each paid $12 and journeyed into the rainforest!



It was beautiful! We saw sloths (can you find
2 in this picture?), lots of crabs, some insects, and a frisky monkey who wouldn't stay still for a picture. Our guide also spotted some bats for us and told us about the different trees, flowers, and animals we were seeing. It was pretty amazing.



Our tour ended at the beach where we spent the rest of the day. We made friends with an iguana (which we saw many of) and then some jungle raccoons got a little too friendly and stole our tortilla chips while we were swimming in the ocean- not cool. The waves were big and the rip current was a little strong so we didn't go out too far, but the water was so warm! We did some exploring up and down the beach, sunbathed, and then trekked back out of the rainforest.

Talk about a picture perfect day!

My first Costa Rican excursion was a great one! It was fun to get out of San Jose and explore God's beautiful creation. Our hostel had a beautiful view of the ocean so every morning and evening was spent on the hammocks meeting people from all over the world. I also had many opportunities to practice my Spanish! Hopefully I will have many more Costa Rican adventures before my time here is done...there is so much beauty here!