To Costa Rica and Beyond!: Osa

October 17^th, 2012

Saturday:

Imagine deserted beaches and white sand coves. A hundred monkeys swing from the palm trees and scarlet macaws circle overhead. Its a scene out of Hollywood, and as we were jumping in the bright blue waves or throwing a Frisbee on the beach at sunset, I couldn't help but think how unreal all of this was. Its moments like these that make me truly thankful for everything I have. Just being here is the experience of a lifetime, but my adventure down to the Osa Peninsula and Corcovado was a spectacular weekend that I will never forget.

The trip began Friday night in San Jose, where most of us stayed the night in the hostel in order to get an early start in the morning, and it certainty was early. We woke up at 4:15 Saturday morning and jumped on the bus, stopping around eight in Jaco for a quick breakfast of... Gallo Pinto. I thought people were kidding when they told me all that they eat here is rice and beans, but I eat Gallo Pinto everyday for both breakfast and dinner and I am definitely getting enough. We stopped again later at a “farm”, which ended up being more of a rock farm... It was called Finca 6, and was some kind of archaeological site. Basically it had a bunch of large spherical rocks arranged in triangles. It's possible that the history was actually of some sort of interest, but I'm not sure that anyone was even bothering to listen... And while this was a landmark that I probably would have survived missing, it was amusing to make fun of them.

Finally, our bus stopped for the last time and we were greeted by a muddy river and a much welcomed transfer from land transportation to water. As our little boat motored up its way up the canal, I couldn't help but notice how similar it looked to Florida and felt a slight ping of homesickness as the memories of Thanksgiving with my family flooded back.

After some slight detours through side passages winding their way though the mangrove forest, the channel opened up and gave way to ocean. The view was absolutely breathtaking, and somehow the farther we traveled the more beautiful it got. Most of the time I could not believe my eyes and at least half the time I was absolutely positive that I had to be dreaming. It was about a two hour boat ride to our hotel, and that was definitely the only possible way to get there as the area is completely undeveloped with no roads and only the occasional shack.

The hotel was at the top of a mountain that overlooked the ocean, so we had quite a hike to get there, but it was absolutely worth it. I was definitely happy to have my backpack as I watched other people struggling to pull their suitcases up stairs. Its actually kinda funny; back home I have access to a ridiculousness amount of beautiful, mountain open space a couple blocks away from my house but I didn't really like hiking all that much, but take me somewhere else and tell me I'm not allowed to hike and I have become desperate to go for a hike! I was so happy to finally be hiking again here! We checked in Saturday afternoon, ate a quick lunch, and practically ran back down the hill to the beach where we stayed, splashing in the waves, until the sun went down.

Sunday:

I got to sleep in all the way until 6:15 this morning! While this probably doesn't sound to exciting to most of you, its later than I have slept in a while. Generally I wake up around 5:30 for school and my family likes me to get up before 6:30 on weekends... We left around eight and had a rather bouncy boat ride to the National Park, though it felt more like a roller coaster ride at times. Unlike the national parks in the US, this one actually seemed geared towards protecting the environment, and all there is is a ranger shack with bathrooms, a small grassy field, and some trails leading into the rain forest. We had two barefooted guides that led us on a hike through the forest and along the beach. About half way we stopped at a little waterfall that led into the ocean and learned how to open coconuts without a knife and proceeded to eat so much coconut. It was raining most of the time, but then again we were in the rain forest so... The rain was nice and actually didn't really effect us at all besides making us absolutely soaking wet, and really just made me feel so much more adventurous! On our walk back we saw, among other things, a toucan and a monkey that the guide said only lives in Costa Rica! Later that afternoon we went on another hike up to a giant waterfall and then swan in the river which had its own little waterfall. I honestly forgot how much I love swimming in fresh water until now. We got back to the hotel beach and immediately went swimming without even going up to the rooms to put our stuff away.

Monday:

We had pancakes for breakfast today!!!! And though they didn't have maple syrup or butter (Im almost positive that it doesn't exist here...) they were still tasty and I think we all miss pancakes a little here. Today, the boats took us to a little island where we got to go snorkeling! I was amazed by the brilliantly turquoise water here and as the boat motored its way slowly along the coast looking for a good spot, we all gazed into the water in excited anticipation. By the time we could jump in, the sun was shining and it had finally stopped raining. One of the many things that is on my bucket list of things to to before I can come home was see a turtle, and I am excited to announce that I can finally check it off the list. We also saw tons of gorgeous fish, including Dory and Gill from Finding Nemo, and even a shark swam by! Later in the boat we found a wale and baby calf and were joined by a family of dolphins playing in the waves beside us. Later, we returned to the island and hung out at the beach while the other groups snorkeled, time in which I spent the majority banging a coconut against the rocks trying to get it open, but it was well worth the effort as it was the best coconut I have ever eaten! When we arrived back at the hotel in the early evening, the waves were huge so we dove right back into the water before making our way back up the hill to catch the sunset over the ocean, which was, unfortunately, kinda lacking tonight, but it was still beautiful gazing out over the ocean as night fell.

It was a lifestyle I could have easily gotten used to, but all too soon our adventure had come to an end and it was time to board the boats, say good bye to friends, and make our way back to our families. While I certainly wont miss the challenge of taking a shower here (I had to use a facet about two feet off the floor meant for washing feet, and shower on my hands and knees), I honestly wish I could just stay here forever. For some strange reason my mom here requires that I wear my shoes all the time, even for just hanging our in my room, so it was a treat here to wear them so little (enjoy the little things in life right?) Best of all though, it was amazing to get out of my little cowboy town here for a substantial amount of town and spend time relaxing and traveling with friends!