Just when I thought I was ready to go home...

More Tamarindo please!

My last full weekend here was perfection--I couldn't have asked for a better ending to my trip. (Okay, no ending at all would have been more perfect). But seriously, the beach we went to was awesome, and I've never stayed at a nicer resort. Ever.

After we got there and the cute bellmen carried up our bags, we sat on our balcony admiring our view of the beach. Then we got ready and walked down the streets of Tamarindo. It was a cute little town lined with cafes, clothing stores, and hot surfers. Food was a priority though, so we found an Italian restaurant and grabbed some dinner. Definitely got my pasta fix.

Saturday morning we woke up to go zip lining. We had 8 cables to zip across, one of which I did upside down. I don't remember the last time I laughed myself to tears like that. (Click on the first picture of me zip lining) It was that hilarious. Another cable I got to go across "superman style." That was also pretty fun...

We got back to our hotel around noon. But before we headed to the beach, we went by the supermarket and discovered Cuba Libre--ready-to-go bottles of rum and coke. We spent the rest of the afternoon laying out on the beach, staring at hot bodies and shopping. Sounds like a terrible day, I know. It ended with a really ugly sunset too. It did start to pour later on in the night. But by that time, we were in a cozy restaurant right off the beach. No complaints here. I ordered a macadamia-crusted tilapia with a side of gallo pinto and a salad. I couldn't have been happier. Got my wine fix too.

The following morning was quite the experience. Up at 5:00 am, we were ready to see some animals. But first, we walked along the beach (as the sun was rising) towards a cove where we were met by some swamp boats. Ten minutes into the boat ride, we all felt like we were searching for an anaconda. We did see some blue herrings and a crocodile, but our tour guides told us that we needed to hike if we wanted to see any howling monkeys. So we drenched ourselves in bug spray while others prepared their Jessica Simpson flip flops for a hike in the mud. Mud. Ha. That's an understatement. But in the end, it was totally worth it. We got to see some howling monkeys. (Thanks to our tour guides screaming at them and acting like monkeys themselves). We even got to see the crabs that were nesting all over the place. That was pretty cool!

Since we were back at the hotel by 8 am, we were able to get to the beach by 8:30. The rest of the day went more or less like this: beach, ocean, pool, beach, ocean, pool, beach, ocean, pool, shower, lunch, bus. Yet again, another horrible day. Getting on the bus definitely wasn't a highlight, but the weekend was so great that I smiled the whole way back.

Here is what's in store for the weekend

This weekend we are going to Tamarindo, a beach on the northern pacific side of Costa Rica. Unfortunately it is my last excursion, but I think it'll be a good one. :)

Again, it sounds like we're staying at one of the nicest resorts possible. I think out ISA program got really lucky this term. Because our group has more students than usual, we tend to stay at the hotels that can accommodate all of us...the bigger ones.

And as for my "cool experience that I can't have in the U.S.," I signed up for the canopy tour. With this I get to zip line across 11 cables surrounded by, hopefully, more monkeys and other wildlife. I'll be doing that early Saturday morning, so we should have the rest of the afternoon to just relax by the beach. I think a majority of this weekend will consist of laying on the beach and soaking up that last-minute equator sun. We don't get much of it around here in San José.

At 5:30 a.m. on Sunday morning we have the chance to see some howler monkeys! There's a boat that will be taking us around in order to see some birds and other things too. What's cool about this is that it's optional...and free. So even though it's at the crack of dawn, it's totally worth it! Plus we don't leave until noon that day, so we can spend even more time at the beach. I may even take some surf lessons too.

¡Hasta luego San José!

"I wanna see it turn on"

I cannot get over where I was and what I did this past weekend. It was unreal.

Our excursion started with a waterfall...La Fortuna, straight out of a movie--insanely beautiful. Getting there wasn't all that easy though. We climbed down at least 400 steep steps just to get close to the waterfall. Once we took a few pictures in front of it, we had to maneuver around these slippery black rocks in order to get into the water, just a warm 60 degrees. Ha! People were calling it refreshing. Numbing was more like it. But with water that gorgeous, temperature didn't matter. I could have stayed in that waterfall for the rest of the weekend. Especially if that meant not hiking back up those 400 steps. Talk about exercise--talk about refreshing.

The weekend only got better. We were told that we'd be lucky to see Arenal Volcano. Most of the time it's too cloudy, too foggy, too rainy, etc. They were right about the rain, but it cleared up and we got the most amazing view of Arenal for the rest of the trip. Not to mention our hotel was right at the base of it. It couldn't have been more perfect.

Los Lagos is an amazing resort! Our rooms were awesome with front and back patios, therefore views all around. It had three major pools all equipped with water slides and 4 private hot springs that we all took advantage of at night. One of the coolest parts of this hotel was its landscaping. All different types of plants and flowers covered the resort. I can't even describe the work that must have gone into making that place look the way it does. A specific area of the hotel was dedicated to the butterfly garden and ant farm. But along the way you could find insane plant life, colorful frogs, turtles, iguanas, and crocodiles. We saw some pretty cool looking things in there. The baby crocodile was my favorite and the ants were pretty sweet too. (You can see them carrying the green leaves up the tree branch on the left). And okay, the best part of the hotel was, of course, the spa. I took full advantage of that within the first three hours we were there. First I got to take an amazing shower, solely based on the fact that it was warm 100 percent of the time. Then I laid down in this incredibly peaceful room that looked straight out into a jungle. Yes, a jungle. Words can't describe.

After a fun night of drinking and relaxing in the hot springs, we woke up bright and early Sunday morning for our "canyoning" tour. I was so excited about this, but I honestly hadn't put that much thought into the process. At least not until we were strapped into a harness, clipped to a wire and standing on the top of a cliff staring down at a 200-foot waterfall. (No, I did not have a panic attack for those of you who are wondering. Brittney, Lauren, and Cassidy) It was pretty incredible to repel down 5 different waterfalls on a rope backwards. I would easily do it again. It's a must for anyone that has the opportunity! The end of tour was met with, yet again, another exhausting hike up a mountain. What goes down must come up? Har, har, har.

There were two downsides to this excursion. One, that no picture does this place justice. And two, it was way too short of a trip. A day and a half just didn't cut it. But the time that I did spend there was incredible. I am so thankful.

Here is what's in store for the weekend

This Saturday we're going to Arenal, an ACTIVE volcano in Costa Rica. I've heard amazing things about it.

We don't get to leave on Friday. However, we will be on the bus by 6 am on Saturday. Once we get there, we'll hike straight to what looks like a crazy beautiful waterfall called La Fortuna. There we get to swim and relax the rest of the day.

Our hotel sounds really nice too. Being so close to the volcano, we get to enjoy the natural hot springs that are heated by the ground. Our hotel is supposed to be surrounded with them, each with a swim-up bar. There's also a spa, so I'm definitely going to take advantage of that.

I also signed up for "canyoning." I am so stoked. With this tour, I get to repel down four waterfalls and apparently "trek through the forest on magical trails." It sounds pretty great.

So unless there's a catamaran that takes us on a ride through lava, I'm pretty sure this trip is going to be even better than the last.

"I should have brought my goggles"

Sand in between my toes, check. Sunburn that will turn into a nice tan, check. Motion sickness on that badass catamaran I blogged about, check. Bee sting to the forehead, check.


We left for Manuel Antonio Friday afternoon right after our classes. (First, I grabbed a calzone from that guy). It was about a five-hour drive--NOTHING like the Lubbock drive, I assure you. Everything outside our windows was gorgeous and it didn't smell like cow manure. Not to mention we watched The Hangover and Friends the whole way there. At the halfway point, we stopped at this little place to pick up snacks and other munchies. I bought a bag of mini empanadas filled with pineapple jelly.

At about 6:30 we arrived at our hotel. We dropped off our suitcases and went straight to the beach. Afterward we had dinner and drinks at the hotel then hung around the pool until we were ready to go sleep in our (AIR CONDITIONED) rooms. It was really nice getting to know some of the girls more and we had a lot of fun together the rest of the weekend.

Before our 7:30 breakfast on Saturday, we managed to get a bazillion pictures of these super cute monkeys that were hanging around our rooms. They were everywhere.

By 9 am on Saturday we were sweating, waiting to get on the "Tom Cat," a catamaran from hell. Okay, I take that back. It was pretty sweet. The boat was huge, the alcohol was free, and the ocean was sublime. And for the first time in Sane José, we were surrounded with 100 percent sun. About an hour into the trip, we stopped to watch for dolphins. We were warned beforehand that we might not see any at all. Well, we saw tons. They were beautiful. It was really cool.


Unfortunately this is where my experience took a turn for the worse. At this point, I had less than one drink in my system. So when I started getting queasy, I knew it had to be motion sickness. There were a good handful of us that weren't feeling too hot though, so at least we were in it together. By the time they started passing out snorkeling equipment, I was permanently bent over my knees praying for the spinning to go away. But I mustered up some strength, sat up, put on those flippers, and hopped into the water. It was incredibly refreshing and instantly I felt better. And I got to see even more aquamarine life--tons of fish!

For the bumpy ride back, I found a nice spot to take a nap in. It ended up being in the sun, hence the red skin. By the time I woke up, we were back at the dock preparing to unload. Huge relief. And we were back by 2:00, so we spent the rest of the day shopping at this cool little souvenir market and swimming at the beach. It started to pour while we were in the ocean, so naturally we wanted to stay in. :) So fun! And then I got stung by a bee. Not so fun.


That night me and some girls went out to dinner and got to the restaurant just in time before happy hour was over. Fresh calamari, juicy steak sandwich, and two strawberry daiquiris. 16 bucks. So far, that was the first time I spent more than 8 dollars on food, and that still isn't bad.


The same adorable monkeys came to our Sunday breakfast. This time, they got even closer--taking bananas directly out of our hands. Later we went to the National Park of Manuel Antonio. We took a neat 30-minute walk through all sorts of greenery. Further up on the left you can see that we even spotted a couple of sloths. At the end of the trail we got to swim in this private little cove that had an even prettier beach than the one we'd been at all along. It was a perfect ending to the weekend.

Here is what's in store for the weekend

This weekend me and my fellow foreign friends are going to Manuel Antonio, a beach on the Pacific side of Costa Rica. I CANNOT wait to get there.

¡Quiero que la arena entre mis dedos de los pies!

We should get to our hotel some time Friday night. It's right on the beach, and apparently our rooms are all supposed to have an ocean view. The hotel itself sounds pretty small, so I think everyone staying there will be from ISA (my program). This gives me a better chance to meet some more students. Hopefully I'll cross more Ticos too.

On Saturday I'll be going on a tour that includes dolphin-watching and snorkeling. All the gear and equipment is included. And get this. We're gonna be sailing on, at least, a 37-foot catamaran while being served fresh fish, fruit, salad and alcohol! Yo Ho. Yo Ho. A beach life para mí.

South Padre, you're about to get your ass kicked. Miami, I think you are too.