Quepos

Not too much to see or do here in this little fishing town, but it was close to Manuel so I stayed here another night. My plans were to go to Panama but meeting people that are going north to Nicaragua seems like a better Idea since I may run outta money L. Today I pondered a lot about where I want to go next and how long I should stay in each place blah blah before long I fell asleep by the pool and woke up a few hours later with a sunburn. To lift my spirits I went to explore the little town and I found a small street market and the people were so nice they were helping me with my Spanish. Then in the evening I watched the sun set by the ocean on this sort of board walk of large rocks that were heated perfectly form the hot sunny day we had. Apparently tonight there is another ladies night in town so that is where I am going tonight then tomorrow will be a draw....Panama vrs Nicaragua.... We had some pre drinks it wasn't good white wine but it was "clos" lol (yes momma I pulled one of your puns haha).

Manuel Antonio Nacional Parque

Mannual Antonio National Park

I have to say that National parks suck when there are huge crowds of people.....that and with the storm coming scared most of the animals away so all I saw was a few sloths, a poisonous frog, poisonous plant, raccoon (which is apparently exotic for Europeans lol), one little monkey, toucans and a bunch of bugs. We also missed half of the trail and ended up body surfing for most of the day. It was however the most beautiful beach with the craziest trees so close to the sea. I also went with great company so I did enjoy myself. We finished the day with zip lining which was cool but I wish it was longer.

"Suttle Differences"

Our last day of Spanish, Majela took us to a local elementary school so that we could learn by listening and conversing with the children. It happened to be the most perfect day for it because the children were putting on a play about the Costa Rican National Holiday on Monday April 11^th. The performance was muy lindo (very cute) but crazy things happened for the war scene. A bunch of 5 to 9 year olds went into a pom leave hut and another kid came running at them with a torch on fire. After some fake gun shootings the kid torched the hut and as the flames got big the little kids ran out and played dead. I can’t believe that other countries are so laid back about things that us North Americans go completely psycho over. I’m not saying that I would want my kid to play with fire lol it is just an extreme example of some of the different beliefs in the world. After the show the children were dismissed early but not before the had a hot dog lunch. There were no buns or plates at this bbq, only tortillas and leaves, which I think is a brilliant way to reduce the use of non recyled paper btw.

1 Fish, 2 Fish, Red Fish, BLOW Fish!

We went on an ocean kayak trip today with the school. They took us to to a beautiful white sand beach where there were lots of active tidal pools and when the waves hit the the volcanic rock the spray shot straight up in the air. From there we went snorkling and saw the cutest chubby fish :) I only have a few more days left at the school so I have been actively planning my next moves so if you are comming to visit let me know!

Train roll on, many miles from my home

The road trip home was more pleasant then going because we found an alternative route that aloud us to take the Pan American Highway. Although the name sounds great it was mostly 2 lanes with very poor signage. We did however stop at a cafe on Lake Arenal with the most spectacular views of the lake and the mountains, which honestly took our breaths away. The food was prepared fresh and the restaurant was part of the employees home, it was the most fitting “mom and pop” store I have ever seen. We saw some beautiful scenery on the way back home and then also 2 very bad car accidents. It was a long and somewhat stressful weekend being crammed in a car with four other people, but the views, the adventure and the laughs made it a memorable trip.

In the evening I went to a bon fire on the beach with a Dj. It was a beautiful calm clear night and the stars we so bright and so close it was unreal.

Volcan Arenal

Five of us left the school for the weekend for a road trip north to the Tilaron region of Costa Rica to see the famous and active Arenal Volcano. The driving was stressful to say the least, within the first hour we were pulled over by the cops for excessive speeding. They were the tipical corrupt policia you hear about in third world countries but it the end it ended up only costing 100$ for a ticket (was actually money pocketed by the policia no ticket was actually written).  Moving on, or well in the road trip sense I would say getting lost but it was ok with me because the first place we stopped to pull over was a pet shop where I met the second cutest little boxer puppy (tootsies you get first place).

We were able to see the volcano from afar but you can no longer climb Volcan Arenal because it is active and just 11 years ago a mother and her two children were climbing it and were interrupted by an eruption of lava. The mother died and the children were hospitalized but did end up surviving. People in search of lava and volcanic rock are now only able to view from the National Park or from private properties near the volcano. We hiked for two hours over an old lava trail, to get to a good viewing spot of the volcano. Unfortunately it was not a clear day and we did not get to see the peak as well as we would have liked, but the tropical, volcanic trail was absolutely stunning. It did however down poor for most of the hike so my pictures are not the best but I was still a happy camper.  No lava sightings were in the cards either as the volcano has not erupted for about five months, some are even saying that it may no longer be active. I would hate to know what would happen to the town if the volcano is inactive, so like the tour guide said “we just have to pray really hard for lava.”

Baldi Hot Springs

We stopped at the Baldi hot springs in the northern region of Costa Rica, beside the Arenal Volcano. It was my first time to a hot srpings and I had no idea these places wereso organized and beautiful. There were multiple pools with a large variety of temperatures, jets, waterfalls and swim up bars. The downside was the drinks were outrageously expensive so I just had a few Pina Coladas, but the heat of the pools helped with the buzz :) There was even waterslides, pool chairs (in and outside the water), music and aqua massages for those that wanted to pay extra. It was a magical beautiful place and we were able to go just before it got dark so we saw the grounds in the daylight (while sneaking a peak at the volcano) and was there for the beautifully lite up hotsprings.