Central Pacific Coast

This poisonous frog was on the other side of glass, thankfully

Our journey today took us from the cloud forests of Monteverde down to the dry Pacific coast. EF Tours, the company we worked with on this trip, has done a wonderful job coordinating the logistics of our group. This organization was evident today as three buses full of students and chaperones pulled out of the parking lot at the exact right moment to catch a break in construction on the one road out of the mountains. Our convoy was right on time to avoid a painful two hour detour.

On the way to the coast, we stopped at one of the many adventure parks in Costa Rica to see a forest via tram. Although the forest was billed as a “rainforest” in the promotional literature and name of the park, we were told this region is actually known as a “transitional” forest as it is located between the dry northern coast and rainy southern coast and has two distinct seasons. Today, the forest was dry, but we managed to see dozens of iguanas and a family of white-faced monkeys before leaving the park.

The tram moved through the forest much like a chairlift

Our final destination for the day was a beautiful, beach-front hotel which is, without question, the nicest lodging we’ve enjoyed on our trip. We arrived in time for the students to play on the beach and witness a stunning Pacific sunset. Although our hotel’s beach is beautiful, the water is too dangerous for swimming so our students used the pools at the hotel and look forward to tomorrow’s trip to Manuel Antonio Park, which has beaches with safe water.

 Lots of smiles on the tram

Tonight, we again have a handful of guest posters who were kind enough to share some... colorful... memories from the day:

Today we visited a supermarket on our way to the Pacific Coast. We were asked to buy water, more than we thought we would need, and any snacks. As my friends and I were moving towards the checkout, I noticed a pack of travel size Lysol disinfectant spray. It reminded me of the night before when we wished we had enough of that. Me and two of my friends had gone to the bathroom and an explosion of odors followed. We did not have any spray or air freshener to make it better. We had to spend the entire night submerged in stench. I‘m glad I could not smell it whilst I was sleeping.
-Colin Powell

Today, we went on a nature walk in a dry forest. It was extremely hot and humid, but the tour was really interesting, especially when we discovered we were being followed by an iguana. Everyone got some good photos, and it was the highlight of our tour.
-Lizzie Brennan

One of our many iguana friends from the day

When we are traveling on the bus, our group stops at stores to get food and water. Most of the food that we have both in Costa Rica and the US tastes exactly the same but everyone was interested in the Cheetos and the frosted flakes. They both taste so much better here! It's definitely interesting to see what brands taste different.
-Naomi Todd