After another day spent lounging around the beach in Manuel Antonio, we took the evening bus back to San Jose.  Manuel Antonio was the perfect ending to Costa Rica. There’s nothing like laying around the beach for a few days that makes you want to go home and find a job and be a productive member of society… or maybe that’s just me? After a lazy morning in San Jose, my flight finally left for Portland.  During my layover in Houston, they asked for volunteers to stay the night in Houston as they had overbooked the flight, and while I Read more…

I don’t remember who’s idea it was to leave at 5:30 am, but when you’re within six hours of paradise… chock it up to desperate times.  On the way to Quepos we stopped to walk over the bridge of the Rio Tarcoles, and take pictures of all the crocodiles.  These are totally going to be fueling my nightmares in the future.  *Shudder* We arrived in Quepos around lunchtime, took a quick walk around, and grabbed lunch downtown.  Quepos is totally the type of town that you think of when you picture Central America.  It’s also way more affordable than Manuel Read more…

We traveled from Arenal to Monteverde on Monday.  It was supposed to be a combination of van and horseback riding, but apparently the horses being used weren’t looking too sharp (after reading in the Lonely Planet, this seems to be a hot topic in the area, but a good opportunity for travelers to support locals who treat their animals right).  So we went horsebackriding in Monteverde instead. My horse’s name translated as “has little tantrums”.  Yikes! Thankfully, he didn’t live up to his nickname and we got along fine. Monteverde is one of the most visited areas in Costa Rica, Read more…

Rafting day! After a quick breakfast, our rafting van arrived. We drove out to the Rio Toros, which is a class III / IV river and divided into groups.  I was a little nervous, as my last rafting experience was with a less than professional company in Panama.  After a brief intro and explanation on what we need to do, we hopped in the rafts and practiced a few commands and then we were off! I was a little nervous about being in the front, but after we hit our first huge rapid and our guide yelled, “get in, get Read more…

The journey back to Las Horquetas from Rara Avis, was not as pleasant as the trip up.  It rained all night and poured all day.  A few of us opted to hike out to El Plastico and then get on the tractor there.  Since we were hiking in the rainforest, we ended up staying dryer than everyone on the tractor!  However, since we were the last on the trailer, I had an end seat, which was like sitting in the shower with a raincoat on for 2 hours.  I was glad to be out of the rain when we arrived, Read more…