Week 3 --- Life in the Tropics
Due to some technical problems in Costa Rica (like the power going out--not once, but twice during my weekly update writing), this update is a few days late. Week 3 was a stormy one here in Jaco. The waves were huge (6 to 10 feet) and very choppy with lightning and thunder all around us. Despite the bad weather, there were some intervals of intense sun and humidity. Ahh, life in the tropics.
It's week #3, and time feels like it is flying by. We are getting used to hanging out with 21 year olds again. Their life mainly consists of going to class, lounging by the pool, and going out until 2 am. Amy and I are able to hang with them about once a week and then, we're recovering the rest of the week. It's been a great group of people to hang out with during our time in Costa Rica.
Our school took us on a field trip to a remote waterfall, which was amazing. After a short hike through the jungle, we came to a beautiful waterfall which had three separate deep pools that you could swim in and jump into if you were brave enough. The jumps were pretty scary at first, but everyone overcame their fears and plunged right in.
One of the students, Jeff--one of two students from Massachusetts who likes the Yankees for some bizarre reason-- introduced us to Quepos, which is a small town down the coast from our place in Jaco. It is also known as the gateway city to Manual Antonio National Park. We squeezed seven people in a SUV taxi on Saturday morning and headed to Quepos. Once in Quepos, we headed to Cafe Milagro where some great coffee and a day old New York Times awaited. After a quick breakfast, we took the bus towards Manual Antonio to find a hotel and ended up at the Banana Tree Hotel. Our room had a funky industrial smell to it, but the A/C and the access to CNN to catch the highlights from the Democratic Convention made up for it.
We lounged in the pool and watched white faced monkeys climb from tree to tree looking for food.
Eventually, we hiked down a steep hill to a secluded swimming beach. Instead of walking back up, we were able to hitch a ride with a crazy Israeli driving a SUV with a surfboard, child seat, and machete in the front seat. Luckily, it was a short ride to the top.
That evening, we joined up with our fellow students at the El Avion bar, which is an old U.S. military supply plane used during the 80´s to supply the Contras in Nicagarua. The other supply plane that Ollie North bought for the Contras was shot down and the CIA pilot was captured. The plane now houses a bar and a small dance floor and is perched on top of a hill overlooking the coast. The sunset was beautiful.
After a night of more drinking and eating sushi made by a chef from Osaka, we finally headed to Manual Antonio National Park. The park is the most visited park in Costa Rica because of its beautiful white sand beaches. To get into the park at low tide, you have to walk across the sand and walk through a small stream. At high tide, there is no sand, only a flowing river with a sign saying there are crocodiles that live here. At this point, a fleet of row boats emerges to ferry visitors back to the mainland for a small fee of course. Amy and I made the boat owners mad when we decided to walk right through the river, which was only waist deep the first time and chin deep the second time, instead of paying for the ferry as it encouraged others to do the same, although not as many the second time. Inside the park there are good trails to several beaches, a waterfall, and a gorgeous lookout, lots of aggressive monkeys who have no apprehension of going into your backpack to steal some food, and other cool animals, like sloths, iguanas, snakes, etc. Amy and I did see a sloth perched way up at the top of tree at the lookout and saw lots of monkeys, iguanas, lizards, and crabs, but no snakes.
After a day of hiking, spotting animals, and swimming, we headed back to Quepos and joined up with our fellow students and took a taxi back to Jaco where we finally met up with Amy´s parents who are also travelling this summer through Central America. They will join us for the first part of our South American trip.
Stay tuned for next week where you´ll hear a story about how Amy helped save a person´s life and our amazing trip to Monteverde--yes, the stories about the road to Monteverde are true.
It's week #3, and time feels like it is flying by. We are getting used to hanging out with 21 year olds again. Their life mainly consists of going to class, lounging by the pool, and going out until 2 am. Amy and I are able to hang with them about once a week and then, we're recovering the rest of the week. It's been a great group of people to hang out with during our time in Costa Rica.
Our school took us on a field trip to a remote waterfall, which was amazing. After a short hike through the jungle, we came to a beautiful waterfall which had three separate deep pools that you could swim in and jump into if you were brave enough. The jumps were pretty scary at first, but everyone overcame their fears and plunged right in.
One of the students, Jeff--one of two students from Massachusetts who likes the Yankees for some bizarre reason-- introduced us to Quepos, which is a small town down the coast from our place in Jaco. It is also known as the gateway city to Manual Antonio National Park. We squeezed seven people in a SUV taxi on Saturday morning and headed to Quepos. Once in Quepos, we headed to Cafe Milagro where some great coffee and a day old New York Times awaited. After a quick breakfast, we took the bus towards Manual Antonio to find a hotel and ended up at the Banana Tree Hotel. Our room had a funky industrial smell to it, but the A/C and the access to CNN to catch the highlights from the Democratic Convention made up for it.
We lounged in the pool and watched white faced monkeys climb from tree to tree looking for food.
Eventually, we hiked down a steep hill to a secluded swimming beach. Instead of walking back up, we were able to hitch a ride with a crazy Israeli driving a SUV with a surfboard, child seat, and machete in the front seat. Luckily, it was a short ride to the top.
That evening, we joined up with our fellow students at the El Avion bar, which is an old U.S. military supply plane used during the 80´s to supply the Contras in Nicagarua. The other supply plane that Ollie North bought for the Contras was shot down and the CIA pilot was captured. The plane now houses a bar and a small dance floor and is perched on top of a hill overlooking the coast. The sunset was beautiful.
After a night of more drinking and eating sushi made by a chef from Osaka, we finally headed to Manual Antonio National Park. The park is the most visited park in Costa Rica because of its beautiful white sand beaches. To get into the park at low tide, you have to walk across the sand and walk through a small stream. At high tide, there is no sand, only a flowing river with a sign saying there are crocodiles that live here. At this point, a fleet of row boats emerges to ferry visitors back to the mainland for a small fee of course. Amy and I made the boat owners mad when we decided to walk right through the river, which was only waist deep the first time and chin deep the second time, instead of paying for the ferry as it encouraged others to do the same, although not as many the second time. Inside the park there are good trails to several beaches, a waterfall, and a gorgeous lookout, lots of aggressive monkeys who have no apprehension of going into your backpack to steal some food, and other cool animals, like sloths, iguanas, snakes, etc. Amy and I did see a sloth perched way up at the top of tree at the lookout and saw lots of monkeys, iguanas, lizards, and crabs, but no snakes.
After a day of hiking, spotting animals, and swimming, we headed back to Quepos and joined up with our fellow students and took a taxi back to Jaco where we finally met up with Amy´s parents who are also travelling this summer through Central America. They will join us for the first part of our South American trip.
Stay tuned for next week where you´ll hear a story about how Amy helped save a person´s life and our amazing trip to Monteverde--yes, the stories about the road to Monteverde are true.
posted by chris at
Tuesday, August 03, 2004
1 Comments:
Hey Amy & Chris,
Sounds like you're having a blast! Amy have you had any of their Margaritas? Well if you do, drink one for me and the girls!! lol :-)
Take care.
Shaina
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