Costa Rica

Yesterday we arrived in Costa Rica, and instead of docking in Puntarenas, we had to tender from Port Caldera. Puntarenas only has two spaces for ships to dock and I guess the two that were there were regulars and had preference. So anyways, we had to take the lifeboats to shore, and Savannah and I were on an SAS trip to La Paz Waterfall Garden. We didn't realize it was over a 2 hour drive there, but when we arrived it was all worth it. The first thing we did was get a buffet lunch there, which was delicious. They had a mix of American food like pizza and hot dogs, and also Costa Rican food including the most delicious sweet plantains! After that I had to run to the store to get batteries because my rechargeable ones surprised me by not being charged. I got to see monkeys, hummingbirds, and butterflies! The hummingbirds flew so quick and near my head, and one of the butterflies sat on my shoulder. It was so much fun. We also got to see some huge waterfalls. I stood under a few so I got soaked but got some good pictures :) The day was one of my favorites - I really was in awe of all of the nature around me. That night Sav and I had planned to meet the rest of the girls to go out, so we took the tender when we got back to the dock. We were almost at the ship, and they told us we weren't allowed to get off and had to turn around because it was so rocky and would be dangerous. When we got back to land, there were buses to take us to to Puntarenas (the ship would be arriving there at about 10:30 and it was 6:30 at the time). Sav thought maybe the girls were already off the ship and were going to meet us, so we decided to wait for the next group of buses. Well, we realized the girls were still stuck on the ship, and the next bus didn't come for an hour and a half. There were some MAD people. I found it pretty funny actually and just added another experience to the trip.

The next day we woke up early and all 10 of us had breakfast. We went out to the pier and met with a few different tour guides, and ended up splitting into groups of 4 and 6. My group went to go feed white-faced monkeys and these little coati animals. They were both so cute! The monkeys were adorable and took the banana out of our hands and ate it right next to us...I love monkeys :) We also saw a toucan there! Next we went to go see all the crocodiles under the bridge. Apparently the deciding factor of whether a crocodile will be male or female is the temperature of the nest, which I didn't know and found very interesting. Our guide was saying some people were worried about global warming and what that would do to the sexes. After that we went to a little rain forest/nature reserve and saw all kinds of fruit trees (papaya, mango, banana, etc.) and nut trees (cashews, almonds). We found out that cashews come from a fruit and in each fruit is only one cashew nut, which is what makes it expensive. It was beautiful there and very relaxing. By the way, I did not see ONE tarantula the entire trip around the world! In fact, I only saw one small spider about the size of a quarter that was bright orange and actually really cool! I am a lucky girl :) So anyways, after that we ate lunch at a small outside restaurant on the beach called Fiesta de Mariscos (Party of Seafood). We got a platter that 4 of us shared with enough to feed everyone for only $5 each! It was delicious...shrimp, crab, logastinos (not the right spelling, but small lobsters), calamari, mussels...it was so delicious! After that we walked along the beach and saw a beautiful scarlet macaw. Our guide told us there are only 600 left in the wild in Costa Rica! We also stopped at a small stand on the side of the road to get sugar cane juice freshly made. They put the stalk through a little hand machine right in front of us and the juice poured out. It was a little strange at first, but with a little lemon juice it was pretty good. Our guide and driver were so nice. Our guide is actually from Canada, and has lived in Costa Rica with her husband for 2 years as a tour guide and English teacher. That was the funny thing...before I knew that I mentioned I was interesting in teaching English in Costa Rica to get better at my Spanish, and she was excited and said that she's the one who hires English teachers at her school! I got her business card. Our driver (name is pronounced Ro-here...but is spelt Roger!) did not speak any English. It was so much fun conversing with him! I told him in Spanish that I had taken the language for 5 or 6 years but never got to practice and I really liked too. He kept talking to me and told me the key was to practice practice! He talked to me throughout the day and was so friendly, we both were able to communicate with each other and I think he was happy that I was trying. He told me at the end that I was muy simpatica y muy bonita lol After we finished our guided tour, I walked along the beach to look for souvenirs at the different vendors. They were all so nice! I really love speaking in Spanish, it makes me really excited when I can communicate with them. One of the guys spoke some English so we were going back and forth and he would speak in only Spanish sometimes to help me to practice. Sometimes I would say a word and wouldn't be sure if it was right, and he would tell me I was and then ask me what the word is in English because he didn't know. It really was a lot of fun - I would love to become fluent.

That night I went out with all of the girls to have dinner at this place called Kimbos that was recommended to us by our guide. It was delicious! I got a place of rice (with a lot of cilantro!) and huge shrimp for $5! And I also got a strawberry daquiri which was delicious. Once it got passed ten they put the dance lights on and turned the other lights off so we all danced for awhile. Some of the girls wanted to stay, but I left with a couple of the other girls so I could get a few hours sleep. It was a great night - we were the only Americans there!

The next day, yesterday, we woke up early again from breakfast and left to go on a canopy tour - zip lining! I was pretty nervous at first but it was so much fun and really not scary at all! I am so glad I went. It was a lot of fun and a beautiful view! The three days in Costa Rica went fast, and now I am back on the ship for just a few more days before the trip is over :( Last night Brit and I slept out on deck for a few hours (and Tori came out a little later), but when the ship started moving again when we left the port it got pretty cold so we decided to go in at 3am! The Ambassador's Ball is tonight so I will write about that tomorrow and post pictures! Remember that tomorrow I am going through the Panama Canal so if you want to see me, look for me on deck 7 near the pool when we are going through the Miraflores Locks at 8:30 til about 10. ..The link is below in one of my older blogs. I guess that's all for now, I am tired of writing blogs! You will hear it in person soon if you are interested :)