Hiking and Driving

Despite having no air conditioning, I got a decent night's sleep. I actually got a little cold during the night and pulled up the covers.  The breakfast from Alex was phenomenal! The brownie bead and homemade bread were to die for!!

After breakfast, we all departed to head to Cahuita National Park. This is another national park and is located right on the Carribean coast.  We took a hike through the forest to hopefully see different types of wildlife. We managed to see some blue crabs throughout the trail. About halfway through the walk, we crossed a wonderful beach where the cool water was natural air conditioning and very refreshing. Our group then split in halfm, with one group going forward and another group heading back to the beach. 

I was with the group that headed back the beach. During our down time, I had a very good conversation with Mr Mike from Nicholls.  We discussed his job and his past with the study abroad program in Costa Rica.  We also discuss my masters program and my graduate assistantship on campus. While we did not get to see snakes or monkeys, we did manage to spot a black and red toucan which was exciting. 

While we were waiting for the rest of the group to return, we meet a very nice couple. The woman was from Malaysia and the man was from London and they live in Kaula Lampur.  They were telling us about how they were wanting to take a taxi from San Jose to Cahuita I believe.  They couldn't get over how expensive the trip was and weren't willing to the pay the $100. I think they finally got a ride with another cab driver who wasn't as expensive but they still thought the trip was expensive. We also discussed the different cuisines in Malaysia and Louisiana and Costa Rica. I know we all throughly enjoyed the discussion.

After regrouping, we went back to El Encanto and checked out. It was a little sad to leave because it was just so picturesque. We then had lunch at a local restaurant. After lunch, we had about an hour drive to Limón. Limón is one of the two biggest ports in Costa Rica and handles about 80% of Costa Rican exports. We walked through a local park and got to head right up to the coast where we all took group photos. We also walked to a shopping area where we got to treat ourselves to ice cream which was very yummy. 

We left Limón to begin the journey back towards Earth University.  We also passed right by Moin, the other big port on the Carribean side.  After another hour or so long ride, we finally arrived to Earth University.  While it doesn't have A/C, our rooms reminded me a lot of past summer camp experiences.  After dinner, we all had an amazing time playing Heads Up.  We all broken into groups and got to act out and do impressions for our partner to try and guess the answer. It was a really fun experience and another group bonding moment. 

Ready for the next experience, 

Katie Simon