Buenos!

I´ve been in Costa Rica now for 3 weeks. I have 2 weeks left until I´m home…

Last Friday, we went white water rafting in the Pacuare River- it was AMAZING! If you ever go to CR, you have to go there! The rapids were awesome, but the scenery was just unreal! I took my waterproof camera, so I´ll be able to post pics once I get it developed.

After that, we took a long ride to La Fortuna, the town surrounding the Arenal Volcano. When you think about a typical volcano, you probably think of something similar to Arenal. We tried to get a room at the hostel, but it was full. Instead we got to stay at a nice, cheap hotel with an amazing view of the volcano. Apparently, it erupted a little bit on Friday night but we were all sleeping. On Saturday, we walked around the city in 107 degree weather, and then went on a tour in the rainforest surrounding the volcano. After that, we went to the Baldi Hot Springs. The hot springs were really neat. It was a huge complex, with a ton of different pools to go in. However, I think there would be some serious problems with this park if it were in the US. First, I saw only about 3 lifeguards. Second, there were tons of creepy paths that were too dark to walk down. Third, there were very few lights in the pools, and fourth, the waterslides were very painful. Also, we made the mistake of not wearing shoes while walking around- the ground was not meant for bare feet! But other than that, it was a lot of fun, and very relaxing!

The next day we visited Catarata La Fortuna, the waterfall by the volcano. It was so beautiful and pristine. We swam in the water surrounding it, and it was so refreshing after climbing down about 1000 steps to get there. Pics will be up eventually...

Then, it was back to San Jose. There was nothing eventful that happened during the week, besides taking care of crying babies and cute kids. We did go to see the Prince of Persia, though. After volunteering on Thursday, we caught a bus heading to Puerto Viejo. Puerto Viejo is a small beach town on the southern Caribbean coast with a very Jamaican feel.

On Thursday night, we checked into the hostel- Rocking J`s. The hostel was huge! It had a whole floor of just tents. You could sleep in a tent or a hammock for a few bucks a night, but we rented a private room for the 3 of us. There was a bar and a restaurant attached, and the hostel sat right on the beach.

Friday, we rented bikes and rode 7k down to Playa Uva and Playa Manzanillo. They were both beautiful, but we decided to stay at Manzanillo for the day. The water was clear, and there were tons of palm trees and a few fishing boats in the water. There was also very few people there. But, it gave me the worst sealice I have ever gotten in my life :(

After a few hours on the beach, we rode back to the hostel, cleaned up, and explored the town. We went shopping and got dinner. We hung out at the hostel for the rest of the night. There was a live band that played for someone´s birthday party. It was a fun night!

On Saturday, we slept in some and then walked down the road about 10 minutes to another beach. It was also beautiful, but the weather was really overcast, which was disappointing. After a few hours, we headed back to the hostel, where I read and fell asleep in a hammock. Once again, we went out for dinner and then came back to the hostel and hung out with people from all over the world.

Sunday morning we left the hostel and headed back for San Jose.It was sad to get back to the city because I really didn´t want to leave Puerto Viejo. But, this weekend holds a new adventure, probably to Playa Tamarindo on the Pacific coast.

"If Heaven´s not all it´s cracked up to be, send me back to Puerto Viejo!"