The Final Stretch!

Wow, the past week has flown by!! Here I am, one full day until I leave for home... This past week I took a tour of southern Costa Rica. Our travels involved boating to places by river and by ocean. In fact, to reach our final destination, we took a boat out on a river, that dumped into the ocean. It was a blast. One minute, we were enjoying the view of the mountains of green on both sides of us, and the next, the river became wider and wider and the waves bigger, and choppier.. and vua-la! We were in the ocean. 

The place we stayed at had an incredible view of the ocean too. 

One of the best activities was a guided tour through the Rain Forest. We saw Tucans, 2 kinds of Monkeys, lizards, termite hives and a sloth-like creature.

 We learned that coconuts can actually grow new plants without actually being under the soil. The roots grow out of the coconut, and make a system under ground, while a plant grows out of the top of the coconut to find sunshine. 

Look at that coconut grow!!

We learned that termites are actually good for the trees because they benefit each other (look for the small brown termites on this gigantic hive). The tree provides nutrients, while the termites destroy the dead parts of the tree. 

Helpful fact: If you are ever stranded in the jungle, you can eat termites to survive!

You can seriously make a small home inside some of the trees..

Apparently these kind of trees grow vines that hang down and eventually grow into the ground to form firm extensions of the tree. They are also continually growing in width and enveloping the tree. 

These guys (hermit crabs) are everywhere!! They migrate in and out of the water all together in the morning and evening, disguising themselves as small shells.

One night, some friends and I decided to check out the beach just after sundown and then realized we had just walked into a huge hermit crab migration!

We had several venders at our hotel. They make their own jewelry, using a lot of beads, coconut, and wood. Costa Rica has some of the most beautiful wood products I've ever seen.

This was my FAVORITE activity--horse back riding. Those of you who know me know that I have my own horse, but this was especially cool because we got to ride through jungle areas, and then raced our horses along a gravel road.. so much fun. I've always had this dream of racing horses and this was the closest I've ever been. Holding my camera in one hand, and the reins in the other, I let her fly!! 

(ps. I know I'm a complete horse nerd.. just let it be :)

Don't let this clean trail fool you, we got to get into messy secluded roads too!

So many wonderful experiences in this beautiful place..

One of the biggest things I will miss here is their concept of time. They run on "tico time," which means they are almost always 20 minutes or more late to any given event, even school. People do not get all stressed out about time. I'm not saying that I just want to have an excuse to be late, I just think it is so cool that their lives are not managed by time. Life is relaxed and less stressful. One down side of "tico time" though, is when it comes to getting things done. After a storm, a tree laid in the road for a good few days before anyone began to remove it. It's funny to me, but I enjoy the atmosphere. 

I think we Americans are too fast-paced, and then when we find that we have nothing to do for a while, we don't know what to do with ourselves. I guess it's all about that fine balance between work and relaxation, we really need both.

Of course, I will miss the abundance of vegetation and flowers, the mountains covered with green, and the diverse animal life. 

Costa Ricans use the term "Pura Vida." "Pura Vida," translated means pure life, but here it is their way of life. People use it to say "what's up" or "life is good." It is used in many ways, but the main point is that life is good.. 

don't worry, be happy.