Our CR Roadtrip

One of my favorite things about this trip is that we don't stay in one place. Although a homestay experience would also be nice, we see more locations and we share all the moments, the good and the bad, together. I think we’ve passed through a good portion of the country, from south to north, along the Pacific coast. We're basically on a Costa Rican road trip. 

It allows us a chance to stay in many unique areas of Costa Rica and wherever we go, we’re always connected to nature. Eating breakfast at Campanario, I've looked outside to see morpho butterflies with their stunning blue wings flying by. Earlier this week, our lesson was interrupted by a pair of scarlet macaws screeching as they flew by. On a morning run in Santa Rosa, there were 2 agoutis that casually passed by in the woods. Everywhere you look, if you look carefully enough, there is some species waiting to be found. I wish this were something I could bring home with me. It is very different but fascinating (at least to me) to hear the waves crashing on the shore or howler monkeys howling while lying in bed at night, about to fall asleep. It seems surreal sometimes, that I'm physically in the middle of a very diverse ecosystem, surrounded by creatures that I used to only be able to look at through photographs.

A (not-so) brief review of the week: We started out the week with a trip to Manuel Antonio National Park. Two days later, we dropped by Caracara National Park on the way to Santa Rosa National Park.  After spotting many iguanas and green and black posion dart frogs, we were back on the bus and arrived for our four night stay of cold showers (and much more rice and bean) at Santa Rosa. In the region, we learned about the dry forest, the value of biodiversity, went to the beach (with not only more iguanas, but also jumping fish), sung at the top of our lungs on the bus ("Don't Go Breaking My Heart" is a must), went to Rincón de la Vieja National Park to look at volcanic activity, swam by waterfalls, and learned a bit about Costa Rican history. To wrap up the week, we boarded the bus again, stopping by Las Pumas rescue center to learn about the work they do, and after some hours of napping, reached Monteverde at last. 

Something that I've started to do, along with many others, is have different sleep schedueles. Not in a bad way though. Because everyday is full of activities, we're drained (but happy!) at the end of each day and tend to sleep early. This was especially true when we were staying in Campanario last week as well as staying in Santa Rosa National Park this week (the last four nights). As soon as it gets dark, everyone's eyelids starts getting heavier, and it's often just us and nature so sleeping early beomes extremely appealing. This means that naturally, we get up early as well. Like waking up around 6 is quite normal. Although early, it now makes me appreciate the mornings, having some quiet time to relax at the start of every day. I hope that this habit also comes home with me, because I'm generally not an early bird, but I'm starting to like it. We'll see how that goes.  

¡Hasta luego (una semana más)!

Helena

\(>-<)/