Quepos, Costa Rica
5/31/19
We started our drive to Manuel Antonio very early today. With so many people, it was pretty tight. When we stopped at a hostel that also had a restaurant close to Manuel Antonio in Quepos, we waited for our food for a while, only to find out that the staff could not cook for such a large group. Therefore, they were only going to cook four more meals and then we had to leave. Luckily, I was one of the people who got to eat before leaving. I felt a little bad for the other people because they were only able to buy snacks at a nearby grocery store before we entered the park, which did not allow food because of the monkeys (they steal any and all food, apparently). When we got to the park, I applied a lot of sunblock and bug spray and was ready to go. It was a very jungley sight and it was very humid. We walked the path, and different people would peel off at different beach sights along the way. I was able to see several monkeys along the way, some pretty up close. I also saw crabs with pretty colors and various lizards. I walked as far as I could on the path before I reached a stopping point. I sort of went with a few girls up a tour that was intended as a looking point. There was a beach on either side of the tower, but most people went to the beach closest to the path on the left. Me and three other girls went to the other beach, which had very strong waves, but almost no people. It was very beautiful and the waves were a lot of fun. We took pictures and spent some time there. We then walked further down the beach in the opposite direction that the path had taken us. We slowly started to make our way back to the start of the park, getting ice cream and seeing a couple sloths along the way. I actually really enjoyed this day, and I preferred the beaches here over those in Puerto Viejo, even though the waves were a little strong. I remembered my host mom telling me that the waves are very calm on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica, but very strong on the Pacific side and she was right. We made our way back to hostel pretty slowly. I stayed up to try and socialize a little, but then went to bed. It was a super fun, but also a tiring day.
6/1/19
We all woke up around 7 to eat breakfast. I had pancakes with a little pineapple. We then packed up all our stuff to leave at the hostel lobby area while we went to the beach. We went to a beach outside of the national park. It was a lot sunnier outside today, in comparison to yesterday, because it was earlier in the day. I applied sunblock religiously because I did not want to get burned even worse than last week. The waves were fun, I ate a coconut, I bought some sunglasses (which I talked the price down for in Spanish), laid out in the sun, and ate lunch at the end with a couple other girls that hadn’t eaten yet. Our food was taking a while to be ready, so we asked for it to go. I don’t really like how everything is so expensive in the touristy areas, but it’s everywhere. More in Puerto Viejo, but I definitely feel like people here in touristy areas think that all Americans have a lot of money and charge for everything (making food more expensive, charging for bathrooms, etc.). It’s sort of the price you have to pay to see really popular/beautiful places in Costa Rica. We actually talk a lot about this in my culture class (SPA 323). We all met around to 12 to return to the hostel and go back to San Jose. My ride back was more comfortable, mostly because I was so tired. I immediately fell asleep with my airpods in. I was so deep asleep that one of them fell out without me noticing. I was scared I had lost it, but I found it directly under my seat (thankfully). We got back to San Jose and my host mom forgot that she left the padlock on the gate (which we don’t have the ability to open). I texted her and they returned fairly quickly to let us in. I still find it crazy that there is a need for so many locks here (we talk a lot about this in SPA 323 too, in Spanish of course). My host family has a lock to the front gate, a lock in front of the door, and a lock to the door itself. At night, they apply an additional padlock to the outside gate. Overall, I was very tired and had a massive headache, so I went to bed immediately following dinner. I enjoyed this trip very much overall.