Costa Rica!, birthday and some sad news.
I'm back from Costa Rica! Overall the trip was amazing, and despite my intense whiteness I managed to only burn myself once. Pretty impressive huh? So in an attempt to not bore you with everything we did I'll try to hit the highlights.
We stayed in four different hotels so I guess I'll divide it up that way...
Peace Lodge: Only stayed here one night. It was beautiful though. It was up in the mountains and they were big on preservation so they had a whole bunch of animals on the premises. We saw a large number of birds and got to feed toucans. We also saw an ocelot and a couple other wild cats that are native to Costa Rica. We fed hummingbirds which was really awesome and took a hike to see five different waterfalls. We were pretty busy for only being there one day.
Arenal Kioro: This hotel was near one of the volcanoes in Costa Rica, it's actually the second most active volcano in the world. We could actually see it out of our hotel room's window. Here we hiked around the volcano, did a zip line tour (650 ft. above the canopy), went white water rafting (class 4 rapids), and walked around La Fortuna. The zip line tour was terrifying. The first line was 650 feet above the canopy and the last one was over 1/2 a mile long. Our one guide was nick named Loco, which was just so reassuring. We took a sky tram up and on our way up Loco and Ricardo (our other guide) asked if this was our first time doing zip lines, we said yes and they were like 'oh, ours too!'. Nice. It was awesome though, you got some great views. White water rafting was also insane. I fell out of the raft because I'm just so graceful, but my family pulled me right back in. Okay moving on...
El Parador: This hotel was on the beach where it was insanely hot. The best part was it was at the end of this really crappy road that was barely wide enough for one car, it was like taking your life in your hand ever time you drove down it. Also Costa Ricans are crazy drivers who love to pass anyone going too slow. While here we hiked around Manuel Antonio which is one of the most popular national parks in Costa Rica. We saw monkeys which was pretty kick ass. We also did a jet ski tour where we got to swim with tropical fish.
Finca Rosa Blanca: This was probably the coolest hotel we stayed in. It was originally a house that the owner turned into an in to display her art collection. Since becoming an inn they've had a lot of people come and paint murals. It was really beautiful. We didn't do much here because it was our last day and we were tired. The most interesting part was that dinner was served family style so all the guests ate together. It was a little awkward at first but ended up being a lot of fun.
So overall the trip was amazing. I took about a million pictures, most of the will be up on facebook. I gotta say this was probably one of the coolest trips we've ever taken.
So the day after we got back (yesterday) was my 20th birthday. It was a pretty average day actually. I sadly did not get to unwrap any presents but I did find out three things that I'm getting. My parents are buying me a tv for next year, my nana and papa are getting me a dvd/vcr player, and my sister is buying me the first season of heroes. All very exciting things.
Unfortunately, the day was also kind of a downer because my Aunt Barb called to tell us that my Great-Grandmother (who is 99) is doing a lot worse. They think that she may only have days. While this isn't that surprising since she's been in bad health for the last 6 months or so it's still really upsetting. I think my mom is taking it especially hard. So if you do pray please keep her in your prayers.
Well I guess that's about it. Guess I should go home and start packing for school. Boy oh boy!
We stayed in four different hotels so I guess I'll divide it up that way...
Peace Lodge: Only stayed here one night. It was beautiful though. It was up in the mountains and they were big on preservation so they had a whole bunch of animals on the premises. We saw a large number of birds and got to feed toucans. We also saw an ocelot and a couple other wild cats that are native to Costa Rica. We fed hummingbirds which was really awesome and took a hike to see five different waterfalls. We were pretty busy for only being there one day.
Arenal Kioro: This hotel was near one of the volcanoes in Costa Rica, it's actually the second most active volcano in the world. We could actually see it out of our hotel room's window. Here we hiked around the volcano, did a zip line tour (650 ft. above the canopy), went white water rafting (class 4 rapids), and walked around La Fortuna. The zip line tour was terrifying. The first line was 650 feet above the canopy and the last one was over 1/2 a mile long. Our one guide was nick named Loco, which was just so reassuring. We took a sky tram up and on our way up Loco and Ricardo (our other guide) asked if this was our first time doing zip lines, we said yes and they were like 'oh, ours too!'. Nice. It was awesome though, you got some great views. White water rafting was also insane. I fell out of the raft because I'm just so graceful, but my family pulled me right back in. Okay moving on...
El Parador: This hotel was on the beach where it was insanely hot. The best part was it was at the end of this really crappy road that was barely wide enough for one car, it was like taking your life in your hand ever time you drove down it. Also Costa Ricans are crazy drivers who love to pass anyone going too slow. While here we hiked around Manuel Antonio which is one of the most popular national parks in Costa Rica. We saw monkeys which was pretty kick ass. We also did a jet ski tour where we got to swim with tropical fish.
Finca Rosa Blanca: This was probably the coolest hotel we stayed in. It was originally a house that the owner turned into an in to display her art collection. Since becoming an inn they've had a lot of people come and paint murals. It was really beautiful. We didn't do much here because it was our last day and we were tired. The most interesting part was that dinner was served family style so all the guests ate together. It was a little awkward at first but ended up being a lot of fun.
So overall the trip was amazing. I took about a million pictures, most of the will be up on facebook. I gotta say this was probably one of the coolest trips we've ever taken.
So the day after we got back (yesterday) was my 20th birthday. It was a pretty average day actually. I sadly did not get to unwrap any presents but I did find out three things that I'm getting. My parents are buying me a tv for next year, my nana and papa are getting me a dvd/vcr player, and my sister is buying me the first season of heroes. All very exciting things.
Unfortunately, the day was also kind of a downer because my Aunt Barb called to tell us that my Great-Grandmother (who is 99) is doing a lot worse. They think that she may only have days. While this isn't that surprising since she's been in bad health for the last 6 months or so it's still really upsetting. I think my mom is taking it especially hard. So if you do pray please keep her in your prayers.
Well I guess that's about it. Guess I should go home and start packing for school. Boy oh boy!