Where in the world is "el Bori"?: From Cataño to Costa Rica Part II
Hola guys and welcome to my traveling blog. I would like to first apologize for my tardiness in posting the second part of my travels in Costa Rica. My computer died on me after being on my side for 3 years. Thank you Apple products ha, ha, ha. Thank you to my buddy Ryan for letting me borrow his computer to write this blog.
Day 4: Monteverde Region
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| Monteverde National Park |
On this day we visited another national forest, it's called Santa Elena Cloud Forest. It was really foggy and the tour guide told us to stay together because sometimes they had seen jaguars walking around the trails we were walking. There weren't any fences or walls separating us and them it was just the path. The next morning our tour guide told us that the park ranger called and told him that they saw two jaguars walking the path that we were walking on in their camaras.
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| Students with traditional customs |
On of the last things that we did before going back to the hotel was visiting an elementary school called Escuela Cebadilla in Monteverde. They welcomed us with a nice traditional Costa Rican dance and they showed us around the school. It was surprising for myself to see how the older kids will help the teacher with the younger kids from the village. The ration of teachers vs students is not really fair but all of the children were really humble and nice. I really appreciated coming to this small school and seeing the different perspectives of education systems between Costa Rica, Puerto Rico and the USA. We also donated some school supplies for the school and they were really happy for everything we gave them. They were really shy at the beginning because they heard us speaking English but as soon we started speaking Spanish they felt more comfortable. They didn't want to stop playing. Sadly it was time for us to head back to the hotel and rest but this was one of the better days just because I had a one on one with reality in Costa Rica for at least a day. It's been 5 years since I visited this school and I still remember their faces with a big smile showing how happy they were for us to be there.
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| David and I. He liked his personal space. |
Day 5: Horseback Riding and Canopy Zip lining
We started our day horseback riding. It was awesome. I had a great time. My horse's name was David and he was the smallest one out of all the horses. He was also one of the most hype and he always wanted to be in the front. It got to the point that I went out of the path and went down the hill and David, the horse, didn't want to stop. When he did I had to wait for 5 minute for everyone else to join me but gladly it was the end of the trail. My legs hurt so much but it was a good experience. Before David's episode I really enjoyed the mountain view. It remind me of the mountains back in Puerto Rico.
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| Getting ready for canopy zip lining |
After horseback riding we headed to do the Canopy Zip lining. I was really excited because it was my first time doing it. Everybody was scared but I was ready. I'm an adrenaline junkie. We did it for a whole hour and even though the rope around my legs and waist were tight I didn't mind because I was having too much fun. The only thing that surprise me about this experience was how high we were from the sea level. I remember crossing a river before arriving to the canopy station and when I was going from stop A to stop B I saw the river that we crossed and it was really small. The only thing that came to my mind was " Ok Steven, if this rope breaks you are done so don't think about it". Another amazing thing that we did while zip lining was doing the Tarzan Jump. We were literally jumping off a cliff to the forest and we were just holding on a rope where all of our gear is adjusted to. I was just hanging there and it was great.
Day 6: Puntarenas Region (Crocodile Tour)
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| Chilling with the crocodile |
After a really active day with the horses and Canopy Ziplining we started our day going to a Crocodile tour. Yes, I said it, Crocodile. I honestly don't remember a lot of the tour but I remember two things. First I remember walking to the boat towards the swaps and I saw a sloth in the wild and it was awesome. It took the sloth 10 minute to move from branch to branch and it was really surreal. Then later we saw a Toucan and it looked so beautiful but it flew away real quick because everybody was making noises. The other thing I remembered was seeing this huge crocodile at the delta just chilling at the sun and moving towards the boat and the tour guide telling us to be quite. Out of nowhere the freaking boat shakes and it was because the crocodile was below us and was curious with the boat. So, yeah, that was one of the most scariest 10 seconds of my life. One thing I liked was being able to take a picture with the crocodile. I just remember being super hot, sticky, and surrounded by a lot of mosquitos. After the tour we went back to hotel and enjoyed our day at the pool.
Day 7: Manuel Antonio National Park
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| At the Manuel Antonio National Park beach |
On this day we went to the Manuel Antonio National Park. This part is on the Southwest side of Costa Rica on the Pacific Ocean side. This was our only beach day in Costa Rica and I enjoyed it to the fullest. While at the beach the tour guide told us to be careful on what we are leaving near the trees because the wild monkeys and raccoons can steal anything and everything from us. Of course some of the students didn't listen to him and what do you know the monkeys and raccoons stole their shirts and towels. Also they pulled one of the guys hair for trying to get his belongings. It was hilarious! One of the things that I loved about this beach was the nice white sand and that there were rocks of all shapes and all colors. The one that stood out was this beautiful turquoise rock. I wanted to take them with me but the tour guide said that is a national park and I couldn't take any rocks with me. I wasn't the happiest guy but I had a great time. We spent the entire morning and afternoon at the beach then on our way back to the hotel we stopped by a shop that everything in it was homemade of natural woods from Costa Rica and painted by locals. I didn't buy anything because I was broke and I wanted everything that was made in that small shop. It was pure authentic Costa Rican art. Then we got to the hotel and packed all of our stuff together to get ready to leave to San Jose because sadly our trip was coming to an end.
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| Dancing on my last night in San Jose. |
Day 8: Back to San Jose, Farewell
On the morning before departing to the capital we met the national soccer team in Costa Rica. I had no idea who they were but I took a picture anyway. They were super nice and really humble. We didn't have the time to play with them but it was nice to have a 5 minute conversation with them. After a 3 hour drive back to Costa Rica we just got into the hotel and rested. In the evening we went to a restaurant on the top of the city of San Jose and enjoyed the amazing view. On the last dinner we had more of traditional Costa Rican dances and this time we had a chance to join the dancers. It was a wonderful night. Best night ever that I will never forget. These new adventures, experiences, and friends I will never forget. This is one of the countries that I would love to visit again and see how much it has grown and changed in 5 years.
Next week I will be talking about my 7 months studying abroad in Burgos, Spain and all the cities that I visited while in Spain. I promise I will be doing my best to do it as soon as possible.
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For those who follow my blog and read my post about my mission trip to Honduras I got a nice surprise for you. I was looking through some old pictures of mine and I found a picture of my friend Jose. The last thing I heard from him was that he moved illegally to the United States. Where in the United States that I don't know. But here is a picture of him:
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