Hola from San Jose! We are excited to return home, but also sad to leave.
Our day started out in the Air BnB, where we were woken up to monkeys bombarding the tin roof with missiles of fruit. Breakfast was ready as soon as we woke up, consisting of eggs, toast (with long awaited peanut butter), mango, pineapple, strawberries, orange juice accompanied by some monkeys throwing fruit. We finished the morning by loading the bus and leaving for the National Park.
Upon arrival to Cahuita National Park, we unloaded and embarked on our journey to settle on Playa Blanca. On our walk, we became immersed into the beauty of the surrounding jungle. With views of the ocean, the 2km hike was inhabited by a variety of tropical animals including monkeys, a tamanduas anteater, eyelash viper snake, crabs, lizards, and insects.
At Playa Blanca, we constructed a fort out of beach branches, continued a hike within the park, soaked up the sun, and body surfing. The experience was both bonding and irreplaceable.
On our way back to the bus, we toured the nearby gift shops and stocked up on supplies for our journey. We bought some souvenirs before gathering for lunch at a local park restaurant. The food was a large variety of Costa Rican dishes and fresh batidos (smoothies). Our view overlooked the ocean and landscape of the park.
After lunch, we loaded the bus to begin our five-hour drive back to AMCA house in San Jose. Much like our previous rides, our time consisted of games, sleep, fun conversations, and traumatic bug encounters (shoutout to Luke the exterminator).
When we arrived, we were greeted with another scrumptious dinner. We ate what we like to call “chicken pot-pie lasagna” with bread, salad, and coconut flan. We concluded dinner with a debrief of our trip. There were many emotions upon group reflection and receiving the letters we wrote to ourselves from January.
In concluding the day, we showered up, applied much-needed aloe, packed, and spent our last few hours enjoying each-other’s company. Thank you, Jesus, for this opportunity to glorify you more.
Prayers for our travels, hasta luego!
Bella, Luke, Kerrigan