San Jose

Well we arrived today in San Jose!  I´d have a better post for you today, however my computer died, making that difficult.  I´m using the hotel lobby computer to make this post so it will be a quick one.


This morning we packed up and had a late departure, away from the Caribeann coast.  It was so hot an warm, but some of the kids got too much sun.  I´m not sure if they didn´t listen and didn´t put sunscreen on, or forgot to reapply, but most of the kids were a nice shade of pink this morning.
We drove for about 3hr, putting us back in San Jose, our arrival city and at a new and nicer hotel.  Arriving much early than when we landed the kids had some time to try their bartering skills and shop at some of the local stores.  There seemed to be a trend towards skate and surf shops, which suited the kids just fine.
After a nice supper the kids did some last minute socializing as the North Carolina group was heading out around 4AM.  Then the rest were off to bed.
I´m headed that way now!  I might be able to fire a post off in Dallas if I´m lucky.  24hr and I think we´ll be in Calgary!  What a wild trip.

Cahuita National Park

While you could consider today a beach day, it turned into more than what we expected.

The part in on a peninsula with a reef extending off the tip. It creates a sheltered bay where the swimming is excellent with warm Caribbean water and moderate waves.  Before we hit the water, a few of us took our tour director up on an offer of a hike.  As we headed along the waters edge towards the tip of the peninsula we encountered more wildlife than we experienced on the whole trip.

If this wasn’t enough, a white faced monkey was hanging around our beach site providing plenty of entertainment. 

For hours the kids played in the waves, swam in the water sprawled on the sand.  I think with how busy they’ve been on previous days they didn’t know what to do with all this time to themselves.

The kids spent way too much time out in the water and on the beach.  I think you might be able to pick the lobster out of the crowd!

Last Day Quickly Approaching

With our day on the beach and in Cahuita National Park today, the last of our touring will be over.  Tomorrow we will be driving back to San Jose to catch our flight home.  It's been a whirlwind tour and the kids have all had highs and lows I'm sure, but all had a good time.  I will hopefully have some good pictures today of the kids enjoying the Caribbean water!

And then there was a Beach…

With a nice late start, we were on the road by 9AM and said our goodbyes to Sarapiqui.  It would be a 3hr drive to the coast and our hotel, the Colon Caribe.  We had a quick stop at the supermarket to pick up snacks and water as our hotel was somewhat isolated and we would have limited option for groceries.  Arriving at lunch, the kids enjoyed the usual…. rice and beans, or beans and rice.  Afterwards they dispersed to several options including, the pool, the beach, the basketball court or the soccer pitch.  Most kids headed to the beach to check it out.  While they weren’t suppose to swim in this water a few of the kids did wade out in the shallow parts to feel the water, the warm water!

While the water was warm, the conditions were not conducive to swimming.  Tomorrow we will head to an area where the swimming should be perfect.  Most of the kids got plenty of sun today, so hopefully they lubed up with sunscreen.  I guess we’ll find out tomorrow.

Much like the rest of the trip, insects and animals are abundant,  The grasshoppers we found here were 4” long and hissed at you when you tried to pick them up.  Hailey choose a nicer option.

 

Leroy the lizard enjoyed the company! (no lizards were harmed in the taking of this picture)

LaSelva & the Wild Mile

It was a short drive to the research station this morning, almost too short.  I’ve started to enjoy the bus rides just for the air conditioning.  This bus can really lower the temperature.  Maybe down to the low teens!

Upon arriving at the research station, we were divided into smaller groups, our school on it’s own.  With a local guide we were treated to a 2hr trek through a tropical rainforest.  Lizards, frogs and insects were abundant with the sound of howler monkeys to invoke terror in some kids.  I try and reassure them that their howl is worse than…. well actually their bite would hurt, but you know, they’re not that scary.  Here are some of the sights we were treated to.,

After the hike, most of the kids had melted into puddles of their former selves.  I watched them chase the bus like little kids chase an ice-cream truck in search of reprieve from the heat.  While the high was only suppose to hit 28^oC, with the humidity they said it would feel like 38^oC!  It will feel even hotter on the coast.

After lunch, everyone got ready for the white-water rafting.  I got lucky and was allowed to kayak alongside the group.  It truly was 2hr of rapids and fun.  The kids and adults enjoyed their time while I managed to tick off something on my bucket list, kayaking somewhere with warm water!  See for yourself.

Ants go marching 36 by 80,000

so your probably wondering about the title of this posting.  Ants don’t always march 2 by 2.  Last evening we saw some leafcutter ants, working hard on 3 different trees. 

It was pretty cool to see this amazing ant at work, carrying these gigantic pieces of leaves.  They were working on three different trees, joining together to make a trail that was 8” wide and extending 20 to 30 ft before disappearing underground.  Way to cool!

This hotel was made up of several huts or cabins and each one is separated by trails.  In addition, they varied in design too.  Here us a quick shot of a couple of them.

While the cabins lacked air conditioning and were a bit more rustic, the wildlife was more abundant.  Here are a few highlights.

Today we are off to LaSelva Biological research station and some white-water rafting.  Should be a great day!

Fortuna Waterfall

With a later start, we were in the bus at 8:30 to drive to a spectacular waterfall where we could go swimming at the base of the falls.  The temperature was already too warm for me as we began or descent to the base of the falls.  I’m not sure how many steps there was, but it felt like too many when it was time to head back to the bus.

When we got down to the river, people were a bit timid to jump in the water, but in reality, it was the temperature of a pool in Stirling.  Pretty soon everyone was in the water having a good time.  After that, they looked like seals sunning themselves on the rocks!

 

This afternoon we have a boat ride on Lake Arenal.  Should be fun!

Poas Volcano & Beyond

As mentioned in the previous post, we weren’t the strangest thing on the road.  I’m not sure about everyone else, but this was my first ox cart I’ve seen on the road.

The climb up to the volcano took us to 2500m and into the clouds.  Because of the cloud cover, we could not see into the crater.  The kids were pretty good about it and made the most of it by… jogging?!?  Yup, they must have gotten enough sleep!

While the landscape has been phenomenal, the view was pretty limited that day.  Surrounded by clouds we couldn’t see the crater lake, so we headed by down after a quick look.  I do have to say that the “cloud forest” had it’s own appeal.

We continued on our journey, stopping in for lunch in a local restaurant on the side of Poas volcano.  It was probably our best meal of the trip to date.  Deep fried plantains, roast chicken, rice… oh and the green salsa that Mrs. Teramura is so found of!

As we continued on to the Arenal area, we stopped in at a shop where we could buy gifts for the people back home and see the worlds largest ox cart.

 

After we picked up some shirts, trinkets and regional specialties we head to our hotel in Fortuna.  it was much better than the previous one, with an inner courtyard and a pool.  While the kids enjoyed their evening, they were somewhat contained for the night.  Hopefully they got some sleep.

INBioparque

Our first stop on day 1 was a tourist site called INBioparque.  It would be the equivalent of a zoo for us, but with a focus more on insects and plants.  I think the highlights were the two and three toed sloths and the butterfly tent.  It was a nice quick overview of the biodiversity within Costa Rica.  One thing that struck myself and some of the kids were the living conditions that the people endure.  Razor wire and metal fences were found everywhere with bars on the windows and doors.  Apparently crime has been on the rise since the 90’s due to illegal immigration from other Central American countries.  In addition, slum like housing was also visible.

Our second stop today was a coffee plantation on the slopes of the volcano Poas, a shield style volcano with a large crater or caldera.  Our tour director gave an informative talk about the history, growing and harvesting process in coffee production.  I personally purchased some to try at home.  The espresso that I tried was awesome!

The drive up to the Poas volcano was typical Costa Rican driving apparently.  The traffic backed up, so we drove in the wrong lane to reach the parking.  Not to worry, we were the biggest thing on the road.  We weren’t the strangest!

San Jose… we made it Today

What a group of troopers we have!  Most of these kids are running on cat naps in buses, airport terminals and plane seats over the last 48hr!  We finally arrived in San Jose after a long layover, clearing customs around 8:30PM.  Our tour director, Jonathan, was there to greet us and get us on the air conditioned bus.  The muggy climate was warm, not hot, but definitely thick as we took a deep breath of the tropical air.

We arrived at our hotel, quickly dropped off our stuff and headed to the banquet room for supper.  I have to admit, the menu was pretty plain, but considering my hunger, palatable.  After the meal, we had a quick discussion about rooms.  Apparently, like people, not all room are created equal.  We quickly found out that the furnishings and size of the rooms varied enormously.  While we were debating who had the smallest, worst room, someone from another group asked us if we had a washroom in ours.  She won.

I’ll have to cut this post short as I’m getting tired, but here are a few pictures from outside our hotel.

You might note some colourful night life in one picture.  Not to worry, we didn’t let him join our group, and we did experience the local police force in action.  Not quite RCMP style taser, but unique in its own way.

Dallas…how to kill 5 hours

with two 3hr+ flights on either end of our stay in Dallas, these 5 hours seemed to take forever!  Several of the kids wandered through the terminal several times just to temper the boredom.  Others resorted to playing cards.

There were few points of interest that we found, thought I would post a few.

 

Here is a short clip of the action!

Just think what they could have been doing?