~First taste of Costa Rica~

I didn't know what to expect when our tour guide Olman told us our day was starting at 6:30 AM. We woke up and were prompt to get our luggage down to the lobby by that time and loaded it in the bus. We went back into the hotel restaurant for breakfast at 7AM. I don't know why but I expected to see a whole variety of different foods that I wouldn't recognize however, the selection was all very normal. There were eggs, toast, cereal, and a lot of fruit. There was one thing that stood out to me which was the black beans. I would not have thought that black beans would have been beans for breakfast. As the day progresses I would come to find out that black beans are served with every meal.

We hopped on the bus and started on our journey to the Biopark. On our way over we noticed that the streets in San Jose are total chaos. "Our driving system over here is called 'MD', move or die," Olman said. And from the bus ride we could tell that was very true.   

We arrived at the Biopark in no time and were split up into two different groups. Our group consisted of the MVHS students and the three Texas students. Our guide there was named Diego. Both groups had to undergo an introductory presentation which in this case happened to be a really interesting light show. On our way to the presentation we were able to see a sloth up in the trees. He looked as if he was just another part of the tree until we saw him moving. It was incredible to see this rare and magnificent creature.

As we toured through the Biopark Diego talked about all the different vegetation and animals that we encountered. There was this tree called the Parasite Tree and it had a vine like thing wrapped around it (Ficus). Diego explained to us that the host tree would eventually die from the parasitic Ficus tree, however it was a very long process. We also came across the Red Eyed frog. We learned that it was a nocturnal frog kept in a tank enclosure away from the sun and at a constant temperature of 56°(F). Maybe the most interesting experience we had at the park was the butterfly enclosure, there  were iridescent blue ones, 2-eyed blue ones, paisley blue ones, and mottled blue ones... and that's just the blue butterflies!  Costa Rica has over 14,000 different types of butterflies and 12,000 of them happen to be nocturnal. We were able to enter this area surrounded in net that had many butterflies enclosed in it, which was pretty awesome.

After the butterflies we began the last bit of the tour. We saw a Caimen, which if you don't know looks like a baby alligator. Even though it looks like it belongs to the alligator or crocodile family it is actually a species of its own.

Last but not least we encountered iguanas throughout our tour. Diego taught us that the iguanas first defense is to run away and if it feels it can't escape it's second defense will be to whip its tail, which is said to be very painful.

After taking our group pictures and "picking flowers in the garden", which in Costa Rica means going to the bathroom, we were on the road again. We headed to Poás Volcano. The bus dropped us off at the main entrance and we hiked up the rest of the way which was only about 1/2 mile. When we reached the top we were higher than the clouds and let me tell you the sight was just breathtaking! We looked over the edge and saw the crater of the volcano which was a light blue and had steam coming from the side of it. It was beyond amazing to see. We hiked up a little farther to a lagoon nestled in the top of the volcanoes crater, and even though it looked like any other lake, it was located at the top of a volcano, and it was a magnificent sight. Just being at the top of the mountain and seeing the lagoon surrounded by green was a really great sight to see.

We returned to the bus and started our three hour journey to our hotel on the Atlantic side. On our way we stopped at a supermarket to buy snacks and go to the pharmacy if anyone needed to. Let me tell you that was an experience. This was the first time that many of us had tried buying stuff with American money. Needless to say we survived it and now know how to figure out how much money to give them.

We arrived at our hotel around 6, got settled in, and went to dinner at 6:30. This hotel is really cool because the dining area is just under a canopy with no walls, and our rooms are like little individual huts. In each hut there are two twin beds and a single bed. I don't think we are going to be spending much time in there because there because there is two pools and the weather is beautiful even at this time of night.

We have to be ready again at 6:30 for tomorrow’s adventures which consists of kayaking, visiting the town, a waterfall, and hot springs. I cannot wait to see what fun and exciting adventures and memories tomorrow brings.

~~~ Ashtyn ~~~