Activities over the last two days mostly occurred in and around water, so consequently my amateur, non-waterproof camera got sidelined. Fortunately for me, many of the students have GoPros and/or waterproof cameras, so in exchange for the dozens of photos they've lifted from my Facebook :) I'll eventually borrow a few of theirs to supplement this post.
Thursday morning, we drove out to Cahuita for a few hours of snorkeling just off of Cahuita Point (about 20 minutes north-ish of where we were staying in Puerto Viejo). The weather was lovely and the water was warm. I know less about fish identification than I do about bird identification (so...nothing and slightly-more-than-nothing-but-not-by-much), so I'll just have to settle for having seen purple fish, yellow fish, blue fish, a nurse shark, brain coral, a bunch of other coral, and a cute little white-faced capuchin monkey that came to visit us during our snack break (on land).
After snorkeling, the students had a few hours of free time before GEO class, so a small group of us walked over to the beach to rent some surf boards to try out our newfound surfing skills. Unfortunately, on this particular day our skills were nowhere to be found. We returned to the hotel humbled with bellies full of saltwater, but we had fun nonetheless.
We closed out our time in Puerto Viejo with a lovely dinner at Stashu's, a Caribbean-fusion restaurant. Junior joined us. Lance, if you're reading this, I'm supposed to tell you "hello" from him. Junior is truly one-of-a-kind. And that kind is awesome. I sincerely hope I get to see him again someday.
Okay, onto Day 14. Actually, I have no idea if it was Day 14. My days are totally out of whack. Anyway, moving on.
Yesterday we left Puerto Viejo shortly after sunrise (well, no, not really. The sun rises at 5AM here. We left at 6:30AM) to embark on our next adventure: rafting the Pacuare River. I didn't really have any expectations for this leg of the trip. My whitewater rafting experience is limited to the southeastern US, and although the rivers are really nice in the Southeast, I've never really been overwhelmed by the experience of whitewater rafting. Well, I can stand before you as a changed person after rafting the Pacuare.
The Pacuare River is touted as being one of the top 10 rivers in the world for commercial rafting. (along with the Zambezi, the White Nile, etc.) Other judges put it in the top 5. Go run the river and decide for yourself. I thought it was pretty incredible. In addition to having loads of class 3/4 rapids, the surrounding scenery was breathtaking.
We rafted with Costa Rica Extreme, and if any of my outdoor colleagues are planning a trip to CR, I cannot recommend this company more highly. The owner of the company and one of our guides, Manuel, has a vision for his company to eventually exclusively work with student groups (rather than general tourists) because of the educational component of their company's mission. The guides would occasionally stop our rafts on the river to let us swim and also teach us about the local ecosystem (plants, rocks, animals, etc. Ecosystem-y things).
We did a 2-day/1-night expedition with an overnight stay at their ecolodge. The ecolodge was awesome. I wish I had a better word to describe it. Rustic, clean, picturesque, comfortable, natural. It was kind of like glamor camping in paradise. The guides (5 total) cooked some of the best meals we've had on this trip, the groups stayed in beautiful wooden bunkhouses with screened windows, and the common area was a pavilion with hammocks overlooking a beautiful view of the river. The company is working on creating a nursery where groups can plant trees if they are interested in completing a service project. Additionally, there a several trails leading in and out of basecamp for hiking--one of which leads to an indigenous community that lives near the river.
Y'all. I just reread that paragraph and I don't think anything I wrote would constitute a properly formed sentence. I'm sorry. Take my word for it, the rafting and the ecolodge were both great. The students clearly expressed that this was among their favorite activities (and food)--if not THE favorite activity of the entire trip. And I love that it didn't feel like a contrived tourist experience. We really got to spend meaningful time conversing and getting to know our guides and the time spent at basecamp made us feel like a part of the CR Extreme family.
And at the conclusion of our river trip, we are once again back on the bus...
...A few hours later, we have officially arrived in San José for the last leg of our trip. We are staying in Hotel Don Carlos, which seems to be pretty centrally located to the downtown (shopping) area and is close to many interesting-looking restaurants. Tomorrow is a free day for everyone, so I will spend my morning trying every empanada I can find before meeting up with my old pals from the University of Costa Rica for an early dinner tomorrow night. I cannot wait to see them!
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