June 4 - Kayak, Snorkel and leave for San Jose

Kayaking out in the ocean and then snorkeling for hours was probably the highlight of my trip. Although I learned a lot of new things, this activity was so much fun and I was happy we saved it for the end of the trip. We saw so many beautiful fish and kayaking was fun, even though in the beginning Jeff being captain was a little scary. In the end though, our kayak didn't flip, thanks to him! More sun and some really good food for lunch, then we headed off to San Jose (4-5 hr drive) After we reached San Jose, we had a few hours to relax. Tomorrow we are able to go shopping around downtown for our last day and then we have one more lecture.

June 3 - SAMARA

Early morning wake up to head to the bus and travel to the beach. We only have 1.5 days at the beach so I'm going to make the most of it. As soon as we got to the hotel it was time to take a hot shower (finally) then hit the beach for the rest of the day. The weather was amazingg and the beach was outstanding! Being able to lay out, each a delicious lunch and then play in the waves was a perfect afternoon. That evening we all enjoyed a good dinner together then came back and all passed out I think from too much sun. We had an exciting morning planned with a kayak trip and snorkeling out in the ocean.

June 2 - Hiking Activity with our host family and River tour

Thanks to the Howler Monkeys, it was easy getting up at 4:45 in the morning to go eat breakfast and then head off to meet the rest of the group for our hike. Kimberly the daughter in the host family Bri and I were staying with came with us. Kimberly is one tough kid, she did the whole hike no complaining, always smiling and kicked most of our butts! It was a very tough and tiresome hike, but the views and the cavern at the top were definitely worth it. The way down was a little rough because I was very tired and dehydrated and got a little frustrated, but I still enjoyed it. After we got back from the hike, we ate a quick lunch and then headed to meet the group again for a tour on the river. The river was very pretty and we got a great view of the wildlife out there. We stopped over where they produced most of their clams and dumped the shells. There was just this hill of clam shells which was very cool. We saw a few crocodiles which was scary, but I was glad we got to see some! During the boat tour, we had a torrential down pour of rain which lasted the rest of the night into part of the morning. After the boat tour, we took a nap woke up for dinner and then watched a movie with our host mom and then went to bed. It was a very exhausting day and the mosquitoes were just making me even more tired. I wish we could have experienced more of their day to day lifestyle, but being able to hike and go on a boat tour with them is going to be a very memorable experience. We were the first group to stay with most of the families in this community and I think they did a good job at hosting us. Our host family was very accommodating. Although I am ready to go to the beach, it will be sad to leave in the morning.

June 1 Ad Astra and 2nd homestay

We woke up to a rainy day which spoiled our canopy tour so we instead headed off to Ad Astra early. Franklin Chang-Diaz developed an idea in college for the plasma motor for rockets and planes during space travel. This company was very interesting because they showed how the idea began and also provided information on what they've done and what they plan to do in the future. I really enjoyed the fact that they have programs for waste management and detection. They have developed so many new ideas and are trying to get the younger generations educated so they can continue to provide more knowledge and progression in their discoveries. This new plasma rocket will save time, energy and help protect the health of the persons who will be traveling. As a part of NASA, they are working together with their department in Houston, Texas to attempt a travel to Mars by 2030. I was very interested in this lecture and was eager to research more on my own. I really appreciated that we were able to see how the plasma motor worked and that he really helped us understand every component in the product. As we left Ad Astra it was time to visit our 2nd home stay family at corral de piedra.

We were greeted by our families with all the little girls in the community performing traditional dances they have been practicing. We were separated in to 2's for each house. Brianna and I were set up together to join our family. We were kind of passed off between 2 different families during this stay, but it was very nice getting to know the both of them. They did not speak any English at all so Brianna and I had to really be confident and spit out as much Spanish as we could. They were very understanding and easy to talk to. They fed us a very interesting meal for dinner which consisted of Cauliflower dipped in eggs and then thrown into some rice. The mosquitoes here are very very very bad and repellent must be worn at all times. It was a very tiring day and we had to get up to hike for 5:30 so we went to bed early.

May 31 Ricon de la vieja national park and eco-lodge

After Arenal, we headed to Ricon de la vieja park and went on a very nice hike to view the volcanic mudpits and wildlife. The trees, birds, monkeys and lizards were amazing. I can't believe the pits and water can reach up to 249 degrees Fahrenheit. Again we had to pay for park entry which really bothers me since we go to school in an area where parks and trails are free everywhere. After our hike, we got settled into our rooms at the eco-lodge and did some P90x abs and yoga. After our workout we had a nice dinner and just relaxed the rest of the night. The next day we had planned a horseback ride up to the canopy tour and zipline early in the morning then off to Ad Astra to learn about rockets.

May 30 La Catarata

In the morning we spoke to the manager of the Eco-lodge and got a history and an explanation of what they actually do there as far as running the lodge with sustainable energy and what times of the year they are most popular. It's time to go check out the waterfall! Supposedly it was only a couple of Kilometers away so Michelle and I decided to hike it and enjoy the views of the Volcano. Unfortunately we did not bring enough money and had to return to the eco-lodge to get more and then make the trek back up to the waterfall. It was very hot, but definitely worth it. The waterfall was amazing and it was even more rewarding to get in the water! The waterfall is another example of how the national parks are a part of the tourism industry because they charge to enter the parks. After the waterfall we were able to visit the Indigenous replication of the Maleku Tribe. This tribe is actually located about 40 or 50 Kilometers from this location. I was a little disapointed with this presentation because I felt like it was very over done and was a little fake. I understand that they did perform dances around fires and most of the information they told us was real, but it was too theatrical for me. I did really enjoy their art work and bought a little souvenir for my parents and the money went to different families in the tribe. After the tribe we entered into town for a dinner. We found a place that had pasta and pizza!! So exciting, even though rice and beans was good and fit the culture, I was in need of some comfort food. PASTA! It was a fun night to get together, eat and relax.

May 29 Cataratas Eco-Lodge La Fortuna

It was very sad to leave the home stay. I wish we could have stayed at least a couple more days to really get a feel for their day to day lifestyle. We left San Marcos to head to La Fortuna and arrived at Cataratas Eco-Lodge. This eco-lodge was beautiful and had a super view of the Arenal volcano. We got to take a break and relax at the pool for a little while at the pool, go to lunch at this delicious restaurant with the coolest drinks. I got a pina colada which ended up being in a carved pineapple and was decorated with fruit to make a face sooo cute! After a great meal and a couple of fancy beverages, we headed to the hot springs for a couple of hours and it was sooo relaxing. The water in the hot springs was naturally heated and having different levels of temperature was really cool. After we ate dinner at the Hot Springs we returned to the Eco-lodge and just relaxed.