Thoughts from Felix Eckert '17

This travel has been an exceptional experience for me! The Costa Rican culture has been something I've never experienced before. Sometimes I was a bit annoyed as I love it as a German to do everything as efficiently as possible, and this culture is pretty much the opposite of that... But then you have these beautiful hills, surrounded by daily rainbows, the birds waking you up in the morning and fantastic coffee every morning. And of course incredibly friendly people who always have a smile on their face!

This country has shown me another beautiful side of the world, and I fell in love with it. I'm grateful for every memory I will keep about this place, whether it is my host family, the zip-lining tour over the jungle, a horse ride over many mountains and me almost falling off my horse, as Mr. Cohen couldn't control his horse, the ATV ride around the volcano, or relaxing in the hot springs of the volcano! These are only a few of my best memories of this beautiful place. And even though this journey is over, I know that I will come back one day to this country.

At the airport and through security

Update: We have safely arrived at the airport and passed through security. We are now waiting in the terminal for our flight, which boards in about 90 minutes.

ATV Tour and the final day in La Fortuna

After lunch, we headed to the ATV tour, which happened to start from a hotel at which we have stayed in recent trips. We enjoyed a tough ride through the hilly, rocky, bumpy terrain and then crossed to the other side of the main road to head to the river where we spent about 30 minutes relaxing. Then we drove back to the starting point. It was a fun time for sure, and we got incredibly dirty with dust, as always. Upon completion of the tour, we were served a meal in the hotel. Then we headed back to our hotel.

Getting the lesson, just like we always have to do

Lined up and ready to ride

A look down at the town of La Fortuna from far up on a hill

Group shot alert!

Another group shot! And the entire volcano is in view too!

Trini and I love this spot in the river, and so please enjoy yet another group shot

We had some free time and then headed downtown. After an hour of shopping and walking around, we went to dinner at the Lava Lounge, a very cool spot that was certainly a "happening" place tonight. In fact, young Chris Adams, apparently a huge fan, noticed rapper Lil Dicky in the restaurant when he walked in. After some discussion, he approached the star, got his picture, and enjoyed a state of euphoria that continues as I type. Check out the latest photo in Lil Dicky's Instagram account (as of this posting) for some added proof that we saw the man here in La Fortuna.

Another group shot - in front of the Lava Lounge

After dinner we returned to the hotel. Now we will sleep, wake up early, and depart at 7am to ride to the capital of San Jose. That's where we started this trip nine days ago, and that's where we'll end it by flying home. Into a snowstorm, apparently.

It's been an amazing journey, and the students have been awesome. It's going to be tough adjusting to seeing them less frequently. For now, though, we'll hope for a safe journey home.

Good night one last time from Costa Rica!

Thoughts from Lara Bruninx '19

I like to look back at the first day when we all came together at 4am to start our journey. Tired and exhausted we sat silent in our little bus not knowing much about each other. Now, after a week of traveling, exploring, working and being on this adventure together, we have grown into such a supportive and close group. 

I love to see how from then until now our faces have changed. At the beginning everyone was exhausted from a long winter term, and some of us were probably a little unsure about the group, the trip and the new culture. 

Now, when I look around, I see so many smiling faces. It starts when we wake up in the morning and the first thing we see when we step out on the street to ride the bus to school with our little host siblings, is a beautiful rainbow. Then we arrive at the school and start the day with a peace circle and appreciate the people and the nature. After hours of hard work, I see proud (and a little hungry) faces all around. 

We have done so many amazing things such as horseback riding and hot springs, ziplining over the cloud forest and many more. But even the little things, like the sun coming out after the rain, the unbelievable view we get to have every day, the motivating workers of the school, who make the entire group laugh and spread so much positive energy and all our caring host families who welcome us so warmly, make all of us so happy, that we wear a constant smile on our faces. 

I personally couldn't be more grateful to say that every night I fall asleep, listening to the wind, my face hurts. Not from the sunburn, but from smiling. 

[written while in Monteverde]

Plans for our final day

Today we are enjoying one last full day in Costa Rica. We had breakfast around 9am after sleeping in, for a change. We are currently enjoying some free time before having lunch around noon. Later, at 2:30pm, we will go on an ATV riding tour - our final adventure. We'll go downtown after we clean up. We'll shop a bit, eat dinner, return to the hotel, and get some rest.

This morning, Ethan, Patricia, Chris Doyle and I walked the 50 meters or so to the coffee store down the road from our hotel. It's basically a coffee store/shop inside a garage. It's a pretty unique spot for sure, and even though the beans come from the renowned Tarrazú region of Costa Rica, the cafe/store combination here is the only one that exists. You can check out the Down to Earth company website at this link.

And here's a view of our hotel, in case you're curious.

Around town and Tabacon Hot Springs

After the raft safari, we did plenty of relaxing. Before doing so, though, we finally got a look at the top of the volcano. It was only visible for minutes before disappearing behind clouds again. Here are a couple shots, though - from the outside of our hotel.

And here's a look down the road from outside of our hotel.

Afterwards we went to grab a light lunch at one of our favorite little La Fortuna restaurants. Most of us had nachos, and this place makes them better than anywhere else. Even the birds love them.

Proudly displaying fried chicken and nacho chips as you enter

So close to the camera! - a Costa Rican "bird feeder" 

The rest of the night was pretty awesome. We spent it having a buffet dinner and hot spring adventure at Tabacon, a nearby resort. Enjoy the pictures, and find more from the day in the Dropbox folder (link to the right of this post). Good night from La Fortuna!

Thoughts from Ella Everke '19

Appreciate, learn, and step out of your comfort zone! 

These are the main things that I personally realized during my time in Costa Rica. Before I came here I knew that I was going to learn something. I did not know what exactly, but I was ready to learn. On this trip I learned how to mix cement, ride a horse, and speak some Spanish. I also got to know a lot of new people. One thing that I realized was that I should appreciate everything that I have and not look for the things I don't have. One example would be having no wifi at my host family's house. Without constantly checking my phone for new messages, I focused on the important things and noticed so much more. 

On Thursday I had the most incredible experience in my whole life - zip lining! Because I am terrified of heights I panicked in the beginning. The feeling I got when I did it was incredible, though. Besides the incredible view, I felt pure happiness and gratefulness. I could not stop smiling, just like the rest of the group. It was such an amazing experience that I will never forget.

Raft Safari

We woke up quite early today in order to hit the river. We left the hotel at 7:20am after a quick breakfast. The great thing about the raft safari is seeing the animals in their natural habitat, as opposed to in a zoo or other similar establishment. We never know how much we'll see on a given day, but we did quite well today. The weather was good, too - warm but not hot except for a few moments. And there was no rain, even though it was in the forecast.

On the approximately 25 minute ride there, we stopped to see a sloth that was so conveniently located near the road.

Then we arrived at the site, got ready (sunscreen and bug spray), and hit the water. The rest is history. Pictures don't really do justice to seeing the animals in person, but they are pretty cool. You may need to zoom in to see some of the creatures. Note: we had never seen a toucan in the many times we have done this activity. We saw an estimated 20 or so this time. We saw everything we wanted to see except snakes, and that was fine with most of us.

Getting the lesson

A bird (pretty sure it's an egret)

There is at least one monkey here

Our guides

Jesus Christ! (Lizard)

An owl

One of our two rafts

Another bird (not a clue)

A toucan in motion!

A toucan not in motion!

An iguana

There are four iguanas here...can you find all of them?

The other raft (rode with Cohen and Trini)

A view of the river

A baby crocodile!

We even saw bats (middle of the lower half of the tree)

We also disembarked from our rafts and stopped in the middle of the journey to see a typical Costa Rican house. They served us a snack and gave us a history lesson about how a man named Don Pablo, who lived to be 102 and died in 2014, purchased this enormous plot of land for the current equivalent of a dollar back in 1932. Of course, the 500 colones were worth much more back then. He proceeded to raise his family and live his whole life in a house on that land. They didn't even have electricity until 2014, and still they barely use any. It's quite a story and quite a place. The people are awesome, too. Don Pablo's two daughters still live there and have reportedly never left the property, having been born there too. He had seven children. The oldest three have passed away, and the other two living children reside in an undisclosed city.

Getting off the rafts for the house tour

Enjoying a snack of sweet bread, fried plantains, cheese and coffee/lemonade

  

Don Pablo! (pictured here just weeks before he died in 2014)

Our tour guide talking about the kitchen inside the house

The whole group with the two daughters

Bonus photo! Here is our group two years ago with the same two daughters

After the safari we came home to clean up. We went out for a light lunch and then returned. We are now relaxing in preparation for tonight's activity - a trip to Tabacon resort, where we will enjoy an enormous buffet and a series of natural hot springs sourced by the Volcano Arenal. Trini and I consider it a reward for a week of hard work at the school. Look for a post about the trip late tonight or early Sunday.

Trip to La Fortuna

The trip to La Fortuna was more memorable than usual. We took a back road, and by saying "back road" I am using a very American interpretation. This road would be considered a back road for people who take back roads. We did not pass one establishment of any kind (for the most part) for a good 90-120 minutes. It was just a drive along a winding road that went up and down, but mostly down. We crossed over water three times. We crossed bridges that were tiny, and even crossed one that caused our driver to ask us to walk. Yes, we walked, and he followed, and then we returned to the bus.

The last trip across water was the most fascinating, though. We were really in there, and a bit of water actually snuck into the car. "No hay problema" though! All was fine. In fact, the bus didn't even show the slightest sign of failing in any of these situations. One such crossing even had a herd of cattle and horses in the way, and after a few honks of the horn, we were around them.

Hey, we even stopped to pick up a jacket we saw on the road along the way...and then about 45 minutes later, we saw some folks on horseback. The driver stopped, and we asked if the jacket belonged to them. Sure enough, it did. It was just that kind of ride. Totally ridiculous but lots of fun. Enjoy the photos, and you can also enjoy a video of the river crossing that is currently up in the Cohen's Videos folder.

Amazing view #1

Amazing view #2

That's the bridge we walked over, and there's our bus

Cattle that had to move out of our way to continue forward

Amazing view #3 - this is the Arenal Volcano, and we are very close to it this weekend

Passenger view of the bus driving through what some may consider a river