Finally, Some Beach Time!!

This weekend was the most relaxing weekend we have had so far and it was marvelous! Throughout the trip I have wanted to just hit the beach, catch some waves, and soak up the sun. I know we are here for class but who can blame a girl for wanting some beach time. Well we for sure got it this weekend.

On Thursday we went to La Selva research station which was pretty uneventful and we were only there for one night. Though some of us decided to go on a night walk on our own in the pitch black darkness which was pretty cool until I thought I saw a snake right by my face. Luckily it was just a crazy tree who's limb happens to greatly resemble a snake. I do also have to admit that it was pretty cool to be at a research reserve like that. I always here about scientists doing research in the rainforest to find new medicines or cures for diseases for something, but I don't know anything about it. Well we got to see just where some of this research is taking place in Costa Rica and we even saw some scientists in action, haha.

Poison Dart Frog

Clearly Looks Like a Snake

Friday saw a little more action. We started the day by visiting a banana plantation. A Chiquita banana plantation to be exact, which I thought was pretty cool because I love bananas and we always get Chiquitas. I was kind of surprised with the Chiquita tour actually. I guess I expected it to be a bit more like the Cafe Britt coffee plantation because it's such a large company but it did not appear to be that commercial at all. It just seemed like a small family-owned place that happened to use the Chiquita name. But it was interesting and we had some killer banana bread. After the banana tour we head to Puerto Viejo which is a unique little beach town. It's pretty small with just a few hotels, restaurants, and shops. Well that and the bars. I get the feeling that the inhabitants of Puerto Viejo, along with the tourists that visit it, surely like to party.

The Chiquita Production Line

Saturday was when the real fun began in my opinion. We traveled to Cahuita and went snorkeling for the second time. This time the water was a lot shallower so we were super close to all the sea creatures. Close enough that I scraped my knee on some coral. Although we were closer to the diverse sea life the water was kind of dirty and not nearly as clear as the water was at the Osa. But it was still a good time. When we finished snorkeling we took a break on a little island to have a snack and sit in the sun. There we saw some awesome creatures that we had all been wanting to see the entire trip. We saw a bright yellow snake, a sloth that actually moved, and we even got very close to some humerous little monkeys that tried to take stuff from people. The next time we stepped off the bus in Manzanillo we were at the nicest hotel we have stayed at by far. Las Palmas was right on the Caribbean coast and we had amazing views of the beach from our rooms. It was such a nice change from the places we had been staying. Every other place was cool, but this hotel was very chill and perfect for a relaxing weekend on the beach. So we spent the rest of the day splashing around in the ocean, playing beach volleyball, taking naps, and just relaxing. Then a few of us decided to stay up all night so we could see the sun rise over the ocean. So we stayed up until 6 in the morning having a great time and then saw no sun. It was bright out, but it was also super cloudy so we couldn't actually see the sun, though we did have an interesting debate over whether the sun was actually up or not. Then we went to bed for a couple of hours, had an awesome breakfast and started another relaxing day.

The View From Our Room

Stayed Up All Night

Sunday was spent in beach chairs on the beach and in beds napping because of the lack of sleep the night before. It was so awesome to just hang out and do a lot of nothing because all of our other weekend trips have been so active. I have loved everything we have been doing and I don't mine being busy at all, but it was great to just have time for the beach. This time instead of staying up all night we decided to set an alarm for 4am and just get up in time for the sunrise. But yet again, it was cloudy and we had no luck. So Monday morning we hopped on the bus and traveled back to Puerto Viejo to spend some time shopping and getting lunch. The bus ride back to San Jose actually seemed quite short. It was probably because we were watching movies the whole time. Throughout the course of the weekend we managed to watch about 6 or 7 movies on the bus which was a great way to pass the time.

Orchids Are My Favorite

Now it's back to class time and life in San Jose. We are leaving in just a few days so we have a lot to do to wrap up our classes, especially since we haven't actually had many classes.