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New flight Aa916 to DCA we're still getting picjed up by the bus and dropped off at arundel middle.

Day 7

Today, we went to the beach.  We saw raccoons and monkeys eating people's food.  The water was clear and salty...very salty (says Nathan).  Naya says that she had a long hike to the beach.  It was very tiring but worth it. 15 minutes later we arrived at Manuel Antonio National Park.  The lunch was awesome.  The white white faced monkey snuck up on a person while they were sleeping and took their crackers.  The monkey had a baby on its back.  As the monkey was running back to his tree, Deshawn tried to catch the monkey before it climbed up the tree but didn't succeed.  30 minutes later, a raccoon went into a lady's bag and, on two legs, opened the zipper and snatched her headphones from her bag!  Then Garrett cracked open a coconut and Miss Beheler let me drink the coconut water and it was disgusting to me (Imanuel).  When we got to the beach we had a long talk about rules from Mrs. Beheler about safety precautions.  We could only stay 3 hours but it was fun.  We had fun body surfing.  There were more animals than in the beach at home like Ocean City and VA Beach.  There was corral in the water.  The water was cleaner, warm and there were no life guards (except the chaperones).  (Nathan said this).  

The teacher and students from the other group taught us how to make chocolate bread pudding. We learned that stale bread doesn't have to be thrown out! Many of us helped in the cooking process. It was fun and the dessert was delicious.

After our day activities we learned how to dance the salsa and merengue and had a dance party! Then some of us played pool, others went swimming at the pool, while others played cards or just hung out.

Day 6

Authors: Cynthia and Heaven

The howling wind, roaring sounds from the vehicles and gentle taps on the doors were the morning awakening sounds to begin our day.  Lining the luggage along the wall, eating our final breakfast at El Sueno was the start of our adventurous day.

Perhaps tiredness or the fact that illness has claimed a traveler.  The journey to our next destination is somber and serene, at least for now.

Our first stop today was at the crocodile tour.  We arrived and got on the boat.  We saw a few crocodiles, the biggest one we saw was named Osama Bin Laden and another was named Hugo Chavez.  Some of us even got to touch Osama.  The male crocodiles are much more docile than the females, so we were allowed to touch Osama.  We also saw a few lizards, pelicans and some crabs.  

Next we headed to the adventure park in Jaco but on the way we rode along the Pacific coast.  At the adventure park we took an aerial train.  We saw a sand box tree nicknamed "dynamite" because of the fruit that grows on it.  Somehow the fruit explodes and makes a sound like a gunshot.  We white-faced monkeys, toucans and a sloth.  We saw a few frogs after in our later hike.  We also got to observe a butterfly sanctuary.  Some of us got to see snakes too!

It started to rain, but we've gotten used to the rain at this point in CR.  It will rain for a few minutes and then stop and then start again and it's never anything to seriously worry about.  We eventually made to our hotel, La Isla.  We had dinner with the sounds of the Pacific Ocean and thunder and lightning in the background.  We played games and played pool to close our evening.

Please comment!

Day 5

First, we went and planted a tree.  What I liked about it was thinking about how the tree can get to be 400 years old, so even though we personally might not get to see the tree again, it's fun to think that our kids and grandkids could go see it.

Then we went and visited the Hummingbird Sanctuary (Colibri).  The birds drink sugared water.  Anyone who puts out hummingbird feeders with sugar water need to change the water every two days because if you don't, it ferments and it acts as an alcohol to the birds and can die from cirrhosis.  They're the only bird in Costa Rica that can move in every direction (forward, backward, etc.).  They move very quickly and swiftly. 

After the sanctuary, we had lunch which consisted of chips that tasted like cool ranch Doritos, salad and a chicken stew.

In the afternoon, we went horseback riding and zip lining.  Garrett's horses' name was Tequila it was an alpha and kept trying to get in front of the leader and then eventually did let him go by for the last bit of it.   Tequila was a beautiful white horse that cooperated very well but he liked to eat and run.  It's cool how the horses have an Alpha and a Beta and they will follow whatever he or she does. Deshawn's horse was slow.  When he tried to make it move, it was very stubborn and kept eating grass even though he tried to move it to stop.  

In between zip lines there were long hikes.  Being above the forest was definitely a different perspective.  At first many of us were scared and even some were afraid of heights but once we started it got more exciting each time.  The walks were tough but worth it.  Cool fact: we actually all rode on the longest zip line in all of Latin America!

Garrett thinks that he will definitely do more horseback riding in the future.  Deshawn feels more confident horseback riding as well and thinks that he will definitely ride again.  

Tomorrow we are looking forward to the scenic drive around the Pacific and seeing the crocodiles!!

Please comment!! Hasta luego!

Day 4

Today, we got up and we went on a 5 1/2 hour ride.  It was a very rain day.  We left later than usual.  When we got here, we got our keys and went to our rooms and dropped off our stuff.    We met other tours from ÇA and NH.  The rain prevented the driver from taking the usual rugged road, so we jumped on the Panamerican Superhighway.  We made an unscheduled stop and the driver checked the bus and hopefully all was well again.  Mountain roads were steep and winding with hairpin turns. Our driver Mario is the best we've ever seen .  We went up and down these mountains with heights reaching clouds and a view whose opulence only God could deliver. The journey was quite long.  It The journey took 5.5 hours.  It was chilly and a hot lunch was waiting.  It was delicious.  The afternoon activity was a hike and free time at the stores at Monteverde.  

Dinner was different because there were no rice and beans tonight.  It was chicken, vegetables, chick peas and rice.  Some of us had eaten pizza before dinner!  Then some of us participated in a game of football and the others wrote the blog.

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Day 3

Today, we learned about the chocolate making process.  We learned how it goes from seed to chocolate and we also tasted it at the varying stages of the process.  After that, we went kayaking and saw the Arenal Volcano.  It was humid and on and off raining, but that didn't stop us.  We had lunch and then we visited an elementary school.  They danced for us and then we danced with them.  We taught them how to dance the Cupid Shuffle and they taught us two dances.

We then had ice cream.  Later, we went to the La Fortuna waterfall after we had ice cream.  The waterfall was extremely beautiful and it was a strenuous trek and not for the faint hearted.  Most of us thought it was worth it.

Then we visited a hot springs which was really relaxing after the hike.  It soothed our upper and lower muscles from the exercise of the day.

Day 2

We started the day with the coffee tour. We saw the demonstrations of how the coffee is produced. Today the clouds obscured the Poás Volcano. While we were traveling we saw some howler monkeys and an iguana and an orange bellied bird and one with yellow legs. We we went to lunch and ate rice and beans (Gallo pinto). The drinks were fruity and delicious. We rode on the bus on really windy roads.  We passes the La Paz waterfall and other smaller waterfalls. Once we arrived at the hotel, we went to the pool, we ate more rice and beans, we got some snacks for game night.

It rained on and off all day and the rain sounds very loud in the cabins.