Nine weeks. If you were to tell me nine weeks ago that I only have one week left in Costa Rica, I wouldn’t believe you.
We began building our own turtle hatchery at Banana Beach in Santa Teresa on Monday. Jakera decided they would like to take on the mission of helping out the turtles themselves. With our shovels and rakes we cleared out an area and began digging as well as made signs for the new hatchery. We continued this project up until Thursday. We spent a couple of our mornings this week surfing. With the help of Chris, we rented a couple of surf boards, got up early in the morning and headed down to the beach. Since Henry surfs almost daily back home in California, he acted as our surf instructor and helped us attempt to catch a couple of waves.
Most of us actually did better than excepted. I was only able to catch a handful of waves but it was still a lot of fun and I proud that I was even able to paddle out. Also this week Kat and I attended another yoga class. This one was also at sunset. The yoga classes always make us feel very relaxed and, while some of the stretches may be strange or difficult, it’s very enjoyable.
On Friday, as a group, we decided to take a short weekend trip to a town called Tamarindo. It’s about a 4-5 hour drive north by shuttle. Tamarindo was much more touristic than Santa Teresa but we all appreciated the change of scenery. I was impressed to see paved roads and sidewalks. The first day we arrived, we didn’t waste anytime finding a place to eat lunch. After lunch we found a place with the best milkshakes in town and we throughly enjoyed them. As we explored the new town and the new night life, we started the night off with a toast to our friends that couldn’t be there with us and to the ones that have already made their way back home. We were very pleased with the Mexican restaurant that we ate dinner at. When the night finally came to an end, on the walk back, we were losing our minds when we saw two stray horses in the middle of the road. That’s not something I would normally see at home. Saturday was spent relaxing at the beach and visiting the shops in town.
Sunday we booked a boat tour on the river. Tamarindo is known for its crocodiles and we saw a few on our tour. We also were able to see monkeys, different types of birds and iguanas. To see the monkeys our guide had us get off the boat and walk through the jungle. Not only was it muddy but it was invested by mosquitos. We all walked out with many more bites than when we walked in with. We also discovered a new kind of insect this weekend. On a journey to the ATM, we were rounding a corner when a huge bug decides to practically hit me in the face. Only to find out there were more where that one came from. I do not speak of these things lightly. They took the shape of a grasshopper but they were black and about 5-6 inches long. Later I found out that they actually are grasshoppers and some call them Langostas. At the scene of the battle were Kat, Henry and I. These huge grasshoppers were sitting all around the ATM. We did survive and we also won because we were able to withdraw money as needed. Also on Sunday we went to a sports bar just a couple minute walk from our hostel to watch my hometown football team, The Kansas City Chiefs, play on T.V. The rest of the night was pretty laid back. We got another round of milkshakes and some french fries to go along with it. Our time in Tamarindo was a great way to spend the weekend and I felt that we were able to bond in a different kind of way then before. The next day would be spent going back to Santa Teresa for a final week before we all head our separate ways back home.