I forgot to mention in my last post that my lodging with the host family included a not-so-comfortable bed. It was basically a plywood board covered by a thin foam pad with sheets and a blanket. I had a little trouble falling asleep because the bed was so hard but I eventually managed because I was so tired.

A rooster woke me up at about 5:30am. It made the very stereotypical cock-a-doodle-doo sound… over and over and over. I tried to sleep a little longer but the rooster was a fierce combatant and eventually won out. I got up and the family was already up and milling around. I was offered coffee, which I happily drank, and then I watched them cook breakfast. Ocksan helped cook this meal; he made the traditional beans and rice. Beatriz made the eggs. I was served a few minutes later and then a little while after that Chris showed up. I guess the food woke him. He was served the same thing I got and then the family started serving themselves.

Henry got up a little while later and joined us for breakfast. We hung out for a little while and then it was about time for us to leave (we had to catch a taxi at 8am to get up to the Eco-Lodge). Before we left I arranged the whole family for a photo.

Chris, Henry and I set out down the road after giving hugs and saying our good-byes to the family. The home stay was definitely an awesome experience, probably one of the best of the trip.

We walked down the road and when we reached the plaza we saw the taxi waiting on us. We all boarded and were greeted by everyone else in the group. The only people who hadn’t made it yet were Hudson and Jason. We waited and waited, and then realized at about 10 until eight that they must not have known about coming to the plaza to catch the taxi. Hunter volunteered to go and fetch them. The rest of us waited nervously while the cab driver kept checking his watch. At about 8:10 Hunter made it back with Jason and Hudson. We all gave them a little crap even though they didn’t know we had to meet the cab.

When we got back to the Eco-Lodge they were serving breakfast. I noticed that they had chocolate chip pancakes, so I helped myself. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. I also had my last taste of the heavenly fruit they served at the Eco-Lodge… oh how I will miss it. After breakfast we all met Johnny, our driver from the beginning of the trip, and loaded up the van. Within minutes we were off and everyone waved good-bye to the Eco-Lodge.

Johnny took us on a really strange route back to the Pan American highway. Instead of going the way we came we went over the other side of Monte Verde through Santa Elena. The road on this side of the mountain was especially bumpy and made everyone motion sick. It was also a much longer route. After we got out of the mountains we got to a point where Jack was really upset because of his motion sickness. I am sure everyone felt bad for him and I know I definitely felt the same way. We stopped at a convenience store for air and some food and then we set off for the rest of the journey. It was pretty much uneventful; I just listened to my iPod and slept the rest of the way.

We got to the Rip-Jack hotel a little while after 2pm I think. As soon as we got our stuff into our rooms we all went upstairs to eat lunch. I had the shrimp po-boy and was VERY happy that I got a meal without rice and beans. I also had a mango smoothie, which was wonderful.

All we had on our agenda the rest of the day was playing at the beach, which I gladly did. I made sure I applied sunscreen liberally and then set off for the waves. I was in for a little bit of a surprise. I had never been in the Pacific Ocean before, and man it was different from the Atlantic. First off, the salinity was much higher. Second, the waves were really strong and there was a strong rip-tide to go along with it. I went out pretty far with Chris at one point, far enough that the water was up to my chest. Too bad that the waves were big enough that at their breaking point they were about 4-5 feet above my head. I dodged a few and then tried to body surf one, which instead tossed me around under the water and into the ground a few times before I was able to come get some air. At that time I decided that I was done with playing in the water and accompanied a few people over to a large rock that was on the other side of the beach.

The rock was cool, to say the least. There was a lot of Coral around it and in the places where there was standing water. Crabs were abundant as well. When I walked to the edge of the rock I saw about 200 crabs about the size of my hands scurry away. It was a neat sight to see. A native then educated Henry, Hunter, James, Caitlin and I about the rock and how to climb up. It was all in Spanish but everyone understood him well enough. Henry and Hunter climbed on top of the rock. I wish I had had my camera with me to take pictures.

After that I decided to go back to the hotel to shower and get my camera so that I could catch the sunset. When I got back to the beach I was right on time to set up for the sunset. I got several cool pictures.



Then I arranged everyone for a group shot. It didn’t turn out as well as I would have liked because I didn’t have a studio light to illuminate everyone. But I did the best I could.

I got this last, and my favorite, picture of the sunset when there was a pink light cast on the clouds. I also like how someone is with Jack in the blurred foreground. I love the effect it adds to the picture.

After that we all went back to the hotel. Everyone else in the group showered and we all eventually met up outside in order to venture over to this restaurant/bar called Kike’s Place. We thought we were lost along the way so James and I asked for directions. When we finally found it we realized that it was free karaoke night, which made the restaurant all the more fun. We were all seated and ordered food and some drinks that we were able to drink in Costa Rica. Chris, Hunter and I decided to split a pizza. The pizza was a nice treat, especially because it was pretty good and relatively cheap. The whole group ended up hanging at Kike’s for a couple of hours. We all sang karaoke songs and had a merry time. After all of that fun we made our way back to the hotel. A few of us decided to go hang out at the beach for a while where we talked. Then we all went to bed.