Manuel Antonio

Hey everyone!! 

I had another super fantastic weekend!! I can hardly believe how wonderful it was. =) 

This weekend some of my friends and I went to Manuel Antonio National Park. It was absolutely beautiful. Such an amazing place. We went for just a short trip, left at 6am Friday morning and left at 5pm Saturday evening. However, it was just great. We went to the free beach Friday, which isn't in the national park, and chilled out for awhile. We made it back just in time to watch the sunset from our hostel look out. The hostel this weekend was again another success. It was called The Vista Serena, and yes, the view was quite serene! =) 

After the sunset we made dinner (which I'll talk about later) and watched this movie that literally everyone in my group quotes and I was the only one who had never seen it. We watched Bridesmaids, and it was really funny haha I'm smiling just thinking about it. Anyways, it was just so nice to hang out with a bunch of girls and watch a movie. It reminded me a lot of being at home with my Indiana friends. But back to dinner, this weekend we only spent $10 for 5 meals...2$ per meal! Awesome! We ate sandwiches, made guacamole, quesadillas, eggs scrambled with veggies, and had some fresh cut pineapple, watermelon, carrots, tomato, and cucumber. It was all so delicious, and so fresh, and so kind to everyones wallets. Mmm just writing about it makes me want another sandwich! (Avocado spread on bread, with tomato, cucumber, red pepper strips, and lettuce, POR FAVOR). Mmm Que rico amigos.  

We went to Manuel Antonio National Park Saturday morning and got a super great deal on our tour. We had talked to them Friday afternoon, inquiring about prices, and the guy told us he would give us a discount since it's the low season. We only had to pay the standard, no bargaining, $10 park entrance fee, and $10 each for our tour. We got to the tour place Saturday morning and as we were buying our park tickets the man we had talked to previously came over and told us to keep our discount hush, hush because he didn't give the group that was also there the same discount...he also gave us the best guide (which the other group was really mad about, because they were under the impression that they would have him).  

This guide was so great because he actually lived in this park (before it was a park) and grew up walking to school, searching for animals, and imitating their calls, since he was a child. He's studying to become a lawyer, but in the meantime works as a tour guide, just like his dad did. However, it was really sad because about 35yrs ago his dad died while trying to remove a dead tree that was threatening to fall over and kill some gringo. Instead, when he began to cut the tree, it fell on him instead. It was such a sad story, but now there is a plaque in the park in his memory.  

We saw a TON of animals that we wouldn't have seen without this guide. Sloths, baby sloths, a ton of cool insects, tree crabs, several kinds of monkeys, several kinds of lizards, and so much more! IT was a 2 and a half hour tour! So amazing. The tour ended at the beach front, which is 10x more beautiful than the free beach (which is hard to believe because the free one was amazing too). 

Hard at work

  

Ruined... 

 

Final Attempt: Success!

 

We saw these monkeys literally right in front of our faces in a tree in this random parking lot!! 

They're called Squirrel Monkeys and they're sooo cute!! 

There was about ten of them just jumping around on low hanging branches. 

We could've touched them if we wanted. 

Amazing

 

Pure Beauty!!

 

Sunset from our hostel!

 

View from the hostel balcony!

 

The hostel balcony

 

Beautiful Manuel Antonio National Park

 

Park again    

Sunday was an entirely different day for me. I, and 5 of my friends woke up and went to a 5k for breast cancer!! It was so amazing. We were supposed to have 7 in total, but one girl is sick right now. =/ However, it didn't make the experience any less. This was the first year for the 5k and it was so incredibly successful, with tons and tons of people there. I couldn't believe the amount of people there!! Some of my friends did the 5k walk, and some did the run. They all had a great time, and really enjoyed it too. So great. Here's the photos:

 

Waiting in the super long line!

  

Tons of confetti that was shot off at the beginning!

 

The mass amount of pink

 

Mis Amigas!!! 

I'm SO glad I was able to do this with them

Perro

This is the dog that just walked around my drawing class for 30min yesterday! Classes are so different here...

She's just a little pecosa!!
Aka a freckley pup!

Death by Weather!

So Costa Rica is officially trying to kill me.

Lately I've been walking home in literally rivers of streaming water. I'm serious. This is not an exaggeration in the least, the water literally is past my ankles. Suddenly with all of this rain stairs turn into waterfalls, umbrellas are used as weapons, cars in the streets literally cover you with waves of water, and the streets turn into rivers. Yesterday I walked home in the daily downpour, and got basically beaten up by an old women with an umbrella. Today I gave in during my walk and got a taxi because my umbrella was being useless and I was freezing. A car was coming from the other side and literally created a wave so big that it covered the entire taxi!! I will be pretty lucky thought if my umbrella continues to hold through, almost all of my friend have had to buy new ones at least once. I've resisted complaining about the weather until now. This evening Costa Rica just went too far. Madre Naturaleza threw a second earthquake our way! A level 6.2 or 6.6! Crazy!

But everything is good still, so no worries.

Oh, just another reminder...After this week it's not a good idea to send me mail unfortunately. =/
So if anyone has plans to send something time is running out haha.

Perfecto

I couldn't have had a better weekend!! Really, I don't think it could've been any more fantastic. I can hardly believe I managed to do the things I did in only three days.

It begins with:

Waking up at 4:00am to take a bus at 5:00am to San Jose, and a 6:00am bus ride in San Jose to La Fortuna, Arenal (which was 5hours). Here are some photos of Arenal in general (Monteverde and Arenal are now tied for first place in my favorite CR locations).

 

Arenal is of course known for this Volcano.... 

I mean really...just look at it!!  

It's so humbling. 

 

I loved this view of the church with  

the Volcano Arenal in the background. 

Perfect.

 

Lake Arenal  

When we arrived to La Fortuna (the little town of Arenal) we headed straight to the Hostel. Our Hostel plays a HUGE role in our amazing time in Arenal. We see the sign sticking out from a little ally way and wonder what we've gotten ourselves into, when all of a sudden the ally leads to this super beautiful secluded hostel. We walk in and are greet by the Hostel owner and told that we can head to the bar for our free cocktail (Free cocktail? Bonus!). The cocktail was this tropical mango drink and it was AMAZING. Not only did we enjoy a free drink, but we also realized that the bar was connected to a pool. Yeah, this tiny secluded hostel had a swim up bar, Crazy.  

The Hostel: 

 

View of the Volcano from the Hostel!

 

Swim up bar...

 

See the hammocks?! Sweet!

 

The fun doesn't stop there with this great Hostel. That night we got back from kayaking (more coming about that soon) around 4:30pm, went to the grocery store, got back at 5:15pm, and then at 5:30pm the Hostel owner took some of the guests to a free visit to the hot springs river. By this time it was pitch black outside. We were all a little sketched out by the trip at first. We got "there", which was just the hostel guide parking on the side of the road, and were led to this pitch black path through the forrest. So we're still a little hesitant about this whole experience, but the hostel man was in good humor so we were a little more at ease with the situation. We get to this river and our hostel owner passes around candles for us all to light so we can finally see where we are at. We get them all lit and place them around the shallow water and a small waterfall. We're all just chilling in this ankle deep, hot water, when the guide starts joking about someone wanting to jump off the waterfall. I was like ooh yeaah sure I'll do it (expecting it to be a joke) and the hostel owner is like okay go sit on the edge of the waterfall. At this point I'm still thinking he's just messing with me and trying to freak me out (because literally you couldn't see a thing past the waterfall it was so dark. So I'm sitting there, thinking the joke is over, when he pushes me over the edge!!! I scream for my life, until I realize I can stand in the water...it only went up to my belly. After that everyones just jumping over this waterfall like it's no big deal, but of course I was the fool. Oh well.  

The scene was so perfect though. The hostel owner set out more candles surrounding the bottom of the waterfall and it was just such a great experience. It was a very romantic setting, until the hostel owner started to hand out beer haha. The beer people had to pay for, but he also gave us a TON of free pineapple! My friends and I (4 of us in total) got an entire pineapple to ourselves. Let me remind you that this entire event, transportation and everything was completely free. So cool. After the hot river we head back to the Hostel, completely satisfied, and make some dinner while listening to people do karaoke. Then we got a free piece of cake. This entire Hostel experience was only $10 a night (we only were able to stay for one, but wanted to stay for the whole week!) The rooms were super clean with A/C, the showers super hot, we got free travel soap (which never happens in hostels), and free towel usage (which also never happens in hostels). So worth 10$. 

At 1pm before the hot river two of my friends and I went Kayaking in the beautiful Lake Arenal: 

 

We received an entire pineapple and watermelon to eat for a snack!

 

We also got to swim in this amazing lake! 

It was so great.

 

The next morning we woke up super early to cook some breakfast and head to one of the most fantastic experiences I've had so far in CR. The secret swimming hole. So yeah, it's not really a secret anymore, but you do have to ask the locals where it is in order to find it. You have to take a path at the side of this bridge that leads down to this beautiful scene: 

 

Jumping into this was the most thrilling, and exhilarating experience ever. It took me a bit to work up the courage to do it...but it was so amazing. Someone had tied a rope to the top of this huge tree and it was perfect for swinging into the water with.  

Click here to watch the jump! I was clearly nervous.....The Rope Jump into the Watering Hole 

After this super fun experience we finally met up with the rest of our group and program directors at the central park. No one came early but the four of us (which made it super easy for me to plan everything)., but now the rest of them really regret it after seeing all of the photos and videos. Anyways, we met up with them and headed to the Baldi Hot Springs Resort.  

Photos: 

 

The resort was really nice, very upscale and elegant. It had tons of hot pools, jacuzzis, a sauna, slides, and more. But after experiencing such amazing things just simply sitting in nature this place just didn't compare. It was great, don't get me wrong, but just so different. They were playing some great merengue and cumbia music too! We were served a great lunch, stayed for a little longer, and then headed home. 

Here's two animals that I saw in Arenal! 

This ends my day on Saturday. However, I didn't get to sleep in yet. 

Sunday morning I woke up at 5:15am to leave a little after 6am for the 5k in San Jose. The race was sponsored by Mcdonalds and is in a lot of Latin American countries, it's pretty famous I guess. I actually met a woman who came all the way from Venezuela to run it! Anyways, it was so cool and I was driven to San Jose by my host sister because she volunteered to hand out the medals at the end. My friend Alannah went with me too! More photos: 

 

The line to use the only bathroom available... 

for 2,000 women haha

 

You can see that the women in front tore the tape already and are just holding it to make it seem like it's still intact.... I'm not kidding, Costa Ricans are SO serious about winning races.

 

That was my weekend! It was so perfect. I was so blessed to have experienced it.

Food... Of course

To my avocado loving friends and family: Proof of how cheap avocados are in CR! In this photo they're 66 cents each! 1000 colones= 2$

Also last night Alannah, Jonathan, and I made dinner for Jonathan's grandma! We made squash stuffed with a moroccan quinoa mixture. I'll post the the recipe later! We also made homemade pita chips, and hummus! And then had fresh carrots, celery, and green beans for the hummus. It was all good.

Here's a photo of the smallest apple ever. Apples in CR are pretty bad. Only the imported Washington apples are good. Go Washington!

Fruit

 

I saw this Banana display at the Auto Mercado a couple of days ago. It's so cute! It tells you a little tid bit about each type of banana and their benefits!  

Another tid bit about fruit. When I first came to Costa Rica my Mama Tica asked me if there's anything I don't specifically like. I told her I like just about anything, but emphasized that I love eating lots of fruit and vegetables, especially fruit for breakfast. Ever since that day I receive a big plate of strawberry, banana, pineapple, and sometimes kiwi every day with other food. Within the last couple of weeks my Papa Tico has been eating a plate of fruit too, but I didn't think anything about it. A couple days ago he was like Sara, look! I'm eating the same fruit plate as you. I said something along the lines of oh wow that's great...I didn't really know what he was getting at. Then yesterday he explained it a little more. He told me that he has NEVER eaten fruit for breakfast before and the majority of Ticos don't either. He had never even thought to eat it for breakfast apparently until I came. I was SO shocked! Costa Rica has so much fruit it's almost ridiculous and the majority of people aren't eating it for breakfast?? Anyways, later into breakfast I mentioned that he looked so much healthier and that his personality/well being seems so much happier as well. (My Papa Tico hasn't been the same since he got back from the hospital but within the last week and a half he has completely changed into his usual self). He told me his daily fruit in the morning is making him well! Haha now I understood why he brought it up. I'm really glad he's reaping the benefits of those extra fruit vitamins in the morning, I wish the rest of Costa Rica was!  

Today he went to the hospital for some sort of thing...He described it to me but I'm not sure what it is. He made it sound like they were going to separate his lungs or rib cage? I'm not sure why. I hope it goes well, part of me didn't want him to go because he really seems like he has recovered in full. I hope this thing doesn't set him back. 

 

I found this book at the hostel we stayed at this weekend! Naturally I picked it up and brought it to the beach. Unfortunately I didn't really read very much of it. But I liked the title =)

Race!

Haha here's a photo from the race I did in early September. My papa tico found it for me. I'm running in a 5k for Mcdonalds next weekend! I'm excited. Hopefully I will run one for breast cancer research the following weekend too!

 

I look pretty happy actually haha. This must have been after all of the hills! 

Roughing it

Thank God I went to camp when I was younger. I've spent many a summer at camps either being a camper, or a volunteer, and this weekend made me realize how much I appreciate that.

This weekend a lot of people from my group and I went to Puerto Viejo to enjoy the beaches, and attend the Carnivals that were an hour away. However, some people had some problems with the conditions of the hostel. Here's a quick description of the hostel: 

-It was HUGE. It housed hundreds of people. It's hard to imagine that being true, but literally this place had three different huge outdoor hammock rooms with at least 50 hammocks that a person could rent for 5 dollars. Also there two floors of tents that people could rent, and 6 different cabin like rooms varying in number of occupancy. Along with all of that, the hostel had a campground for people to bring their own tent with them. This weekend, the hostel was completely booked.  

- The hostel is entirely decorated with paints, mosaics, random artifacts, and more.  

-The weather in this area was super hot and humid, and the place in general was sandy 

-The kitchen was less than sub par 

-The bathrooms weren't the cleanest 

-Last but not least, the water wasn't potable, so forget about quenching your thirst on a whim. 

So that being said, I managed just fine. Sand in the bed? No worries, brush it off. The waters not potable? No worries, we'll just cook everything. The showers filthy? Wear shoes. There's mosquitos and bugs in the room? Eh, wear bug spray if you want. Okay, so that sounds a little cocky. I really do have my limits, but I like to think I can handle enough. It was actually really fun cooking in the kitchen with hardly any "usual" items. Also, the water wasn't potable, but I still rinsed my carrots in it and just shaved off the outer skin with a knife.  

The hostel was really cool though, take a look: 

 

The hostel was called "Rockin' Jays"...so I guess the owner wanted some "J' shaped shrubbery.

 

We received a band for every night we stayed

  

and a locker for our things! 

 

Joe and I attempted a sand castle... 

But I gave up, and it ended up being just a giant hole 

This weekend was pretty cool. It definitely had its ups and downs. I won't mention the downs. =) 

Pura Vida!