Chirripo!

I hiked to the highest peak in Costa Rica. 3,820 meters (12,532 feet) above sea level.  It took us 7 hours to hike to our lodge and another 2 to the peak.  It was the most difficult physical activity I have ever done, but the feeling of accomplishment and the incredible view made all the hurt worth it.  We hiked 14.5 km the first day, went to bed at 7 pm and woke up at 2:30 am to leave at 3 am for the sunrise at the peak.  We then hiked back down to our lodge and went to bed around 8 pm to wake up at 4 am the next day to hike all the way down the mountain (took 4.5 hours).  It feels like each muscle in my body has been given a "dead leg" and I got sick, probably from the cold weather, strenuous activity on my body, and contaminated water...but life in Costa Rica is still an amazing adventure :) Can't believe I have only 9 days left.

Halloween Weekend and Playa Hermosa

So Halloween isn't big here in Costa Rica, but there were still a good amount of places celebrating and a handful of people dressed up.  We dressed up as the Scooby-Doo clan.  I thought it was perfect because my friends honestly match the characters so well.  Quinn was Shaggy, Nate as Fred, Kacia as Daphne, and Lindsey was Velma.  That left me as Scooby haha.  

I just went to the fabric store and bought a yard of brown fabric, a little bit of black fabric for the spots, and some foam paper for the ears.  I didnt have a headband so I used a belt to put the ears on haha.  I think it turned out ok...

Lanna was the mummy we were trying to catch...and Kevin was just the out of place ninja haha. We went to a bar called Stan's for a little bit then to this place called El Pueblo...it's just an area with a bunch of bars.  I saw a guy dressed as the Joker and I was genuinely afraid...I was scared to even make eye contact with him.  We ended up going to the bar that had no cover charge and danced.  They played some U.S. music too.  I don't remember which songs but they were oldies and soooo good.  I love how my friends here aren't big drinkers.  I don't really drink so it's funny how we all became friends and it just so turned out that we all don't drink a lot.  But we DO dance ;)  

Sunday of that weekend we were going to go to Jaco, the closest beach to San Jose...but the bus was full.  So Nate, Quinn, Kacia, Lanna, Kevin, and I went to Parque Sabana.  It's this huge park with volleyball courts, basketball courts, soccer fields, playgrounds, a lake, a rollerskating track, horseback riding, and even ziplining.  We played some soccer and a couple tico boys joined in and then Kacia, Lanna, and I ran around the lake for a bit.  It was definitely a good weekend spent at home in San Jose.  It was the only weekend we've spent in San Jose actually :)  

The weekend after that we went to Playa Hermosa.  We stayed at a hostel on the beach.  We hung out at the restaurant that was connected to the hostel for a little while but it was gringoland so we wanted to go out to a bar in Jaco, which we did but actually didn't stay at the bar.  We walked out onto the beach and pranced and skipped around by the water haha.  

In the morning we went out to Hermosa beach.  The water was FULL of surfers.  It looked like Bolsa Chica on a summer morning!  Later we headed to Jaco and Mike and I bodyboarded for a little bit before we had to catch our bus home.  

Too Far Behind

Since my last post I've been to Montezuma, Playa Hermosa, and Nicaragua.  Plus I had a really fun halloween weekend just hanging out in San Jose.

Montezuma was awesome.  9 friends and I spent time hiking and scrambling through creeks and up waterfalls.  We got to hang out at the top of a waterfall, swimming and rope swinging.  The boys jumped off a tree branch that stretched about 25 feet above the water, which isn't that high but they had to walk out onto the branch--sketchy.  I really liked the town of Montezuma...they just had one bar that was open "Los Chicos" but it was the best time dancing I've had.  So the town was great and the waterfalls were awesome but the beaches were terrible and full of trash.  We also stayed at a hostel that had a pool, which was a HUGE plus.  We had a lot of fun taking pictures with Quinn's waterproof camera and playing games.

here's everyone minus me

hiking to the waterfalls (photo cred: nathaniel polta)

first waterfall (i think i took this with lindsey's camera)

rope swing and jumping (nate's camera)

Last ISA Excursion: Manuel Antonio

Oct. 16-18th our ISA group took our last excursion to Manuel Antonio, a beach town/protected national forest on the west coast about 2 hours south of Jaco.  It's the smallest national park but has the most annual visitors--200,000.  Learned that in my environmental awareness class ;)  We arrived Fri. night and walked to El Avion, a restaurant made out of a crashed airplane.  Pretty sweet huh?  It was a nice dinner...more expensive than we've been used to.  Usually we look for a $2 meal so when we see a dish that costs $12, we freak out.  That night we were so tired we just laid back in the hotel and talked until we started falling asleep.  

Saturday we walked as a group along the beach, then inland into the national park, which led us out to the beach inside the park.  I started swimming with Chris and Kacia to some rocks.  Some other people came over after and we just played in the tide pools for a bit.  After the swim back from the rocks we laid on the beach, bodysurfed the waves, and played marco polo haha (way harder in the ocean, duh).  

Photo Cred: Nathaniel Polta

They warned us about animals stealing our bags of food, or just bags in general thinking there will be food in them.  Surely enough, Kevin's bag of food gets stolen by a raccoon!  While we were on the rocks, a raccoon snuck up and grabbed his bag.  Lindsey and Brandon saw the lil rascal take it and tried chasing after him but he was too fast!  Haha.  Luckily my food wasn't stolen and I got to see monkeys, iguanas, a sloth, and tons of hermit crabs!

Kacia, Nate, Lindsey, Natalie, Lanna, Kevin, Quinn, and I hiked the loop that goes around the small peninsula.  It had a few lookouts we stopped at to enjoy the view.

The hike ended at a small cove on the same side as the first beach we were at. Helloooo Brittany gets hurt #3.  Or should I say, I thought I was going to die #1.  I put my stuff down and see Quinn, Kevin, and Lindsey walking along rocks that lead to a higher rock farther out into the water.  One fairly big wave had come in while I was walking out there.  Then right when I got to the edge next to Quinn, a gigantic wave comes up and smacks me off the rock, crashing down and dragging me across the rocks and finally to the shore.  I was scared for my life.  Sorry, Mom.  Lindsey was the smart one and ran away as the wave was coming.  I walked away with scrapes along my back, arms, and hand, and an enormous bruise on my right thigh.  Nate captured the moment. 

That night we went to dinner in town at a small Italian restaurant run by one Italian man.  His gelato was to die for.  I had a flavor called Beso (that's kiss in espanol).  It was a kiss from heaven :)  After dinner we went upstairs to a restaurant/bar that some of the ISA kids were already eating at. They had lounge chairs and music so we just hung out and danced some salsa for a bit.  Kevin and Michael set up a bonfire for all of us so we hung out at the beach roasting marshmallows and talking.  Before we went out to the bonfire a dog came into our hotel room.  We fed her peanut butter and gave her some water then she followed us to the bonfire and back to our hotel room later that night.  She ended up sleeping on our floor.  We named her Ella :)  

Sunday morning we woke up to pouring rain but this turned out to be my favorite day.  Natalie and I put on our bathing suits after breakfast and ran out to the beach.  We jumped into the SUPER warm water then ran along the beach chasing the tide in and out.  It was very romantic ;)  When we got to the end of the strip we laid in the wet sand, kicked our feet up and down into the mud and splattered it onto each other.  I felt like I was 6 years old.  As we ran back, a couple of the tico surf instructors stopped us and we talked to them for a while.  We also danced salsa in the rain with them...is my life a movie or what?  And one guy said he wrote reggae music and started flowing a song about me, but y'all know I'm not a sucker for thatttt. It was a really good song though ;)  Kacia, Quinn, and Nate were running toward us so we ran back with them to the beach in front of our hotel.  Natalie and I played baseball with a piece of wood and a coconut.  Just us two, so it was easy to get each other out.  I got over it pretty quickly so I swam in the ocean during the time we had left.  Manuel Antonio was awesome.  Now I understand why it gets the most visitors.  

I just got home from Montezuma today.  This one's a winner too :)

La Fortuna, Arenal, y Jaco

Last weekend our group went on an excursion to Arenal Volcano.  Before we arrived at our hotel, we stopped in La Fortuna where we hiked down to the waterfall and swam.  Which brings me to Brittany gets hurt #1.  We were all swimming near the waterfall, having a good time, and then I was getting tired of getting knocked around by the waves the waterfall was making, so I walked to the other side where the water was much calmer.  I spotted a log hanging above the water.  Of COURSE I want to climb up on it.  The rocks are slippery but I'm convinced I can climb up them and onto the log.  So I'm almost to the log when my feet slip from under me and I slide only about 4 feet down the rocks before I catch myself.  That's it (nothing too serious, mom).  Just have a scraped knee and a bruised thigh.  But after a sprained ankle in Utah, I was already sick of getting hurt, even if it wasn't a huge deal.  Eventually I got up on the log and some other people followed.  Anyway, here are some pretty pictures of my favorite spot of the weekend :)

After La Fortuna we headed to our hotel, Los Lagos. I wish we had more time in Arenal, but since we only stayed one night, we just stayed at the hotel the entire time.  I was definitely okay with this because it was amazing!  It had hot springs, cold pools, a giant waterslide, crocodiles, butterflies, frogs, and delicious food.  I guess the volcano is usually covered by clouds so many people who visit don't even get to see it.  We were lucky enough to see it upon our arrival and within the time it took us to check into the hotel, it was covered in clouds.  That night a group of us played some basketball in the rain and hiked up to the Arenal volcano and Arenal lake lookout.  After our hike we had dinner then hit up the hot springs and pool.  Brittany gets hurt #2 but this one was worth it.  A group of us decided to go play tag at this 2 ft deep pool that had a volcano structure in the middle of it.  The volcano had water flowing down it and 4 entrances/exits.  It was so much fun running around and through the volcano and hiding in it.  We switched from normal tag to freeze tag (to unfreeze someone you had to swim under their legs) then as I was running through the volcano and exiting it, I didn't duck low enough and smacked my head into the rock.  Needless to say we ceased playing, but it didn't ruin the night...I just sat in the hot springs with a bag of ice on my head haha.

We didn't have school last monday so about 25 of us took a day trip to Jaco, a beach town about 2 hours away on the Pacific  Coast.  Rented a surfboard even though surfing is NOT my forte haha.  But it was still fun and was only $10 for the whole day.  We ate at this place called Papas y Burgers.  They had really good smoothies and soy burgerrrssss.  Yum.  Except this past weekend we went there again and the service and food were no bueno.  But yeah, yay for Jaco!

So LAST weekend was La Fortuna, Arenal, y Jaco.

This past weekend was Manuel Antonio.  That post is coming soon :)

Just keeps getting better :)

I survived the bungee jump! It was exhilarating, awesome, amazing, incredible, and SO much more.  I would do it over and over again if it was free, but I had to settle with one jump (we are going again though).  11 of us got on a bus and rode about an hour and a half out of the city to the Colorado Bridge, which hung over a forest-surrounded river full of rapid water and a few boulders.  

(Photo Cred: Quinn Yost)

Before arriving in Costa Rica, I decided I wouldn't come home without bungee jumping, zip lining, and white water rafting and I was so excited about bungee jumping.  Then I signed up.  And that excitement turned into nervousness and admittingly, fear.  BUT for some reason, as soon as we got to the bridge and I looked over the edge, that fear turned back into excitement and I was ready to jump!  After picking out my "free" t-shirt and getting my nervous pee out, the guys strapped on harnesses on both my waist and ankles.  I was a little nervous that my harness straps weren't double-backed but I trusted that I wouldn't slip out.  I stood up on the platform, brought my toes to the edge, and everyone started the countdown.  5, 4, 3, 2, 1...I had to jump.  I mean, what else would I do when they hit 0?  The countdown really helped the whole process.  At first, I was falling: my stomach sank and my vocal chords resonated.  Then, I was flying.  For that split second I was enjoying the scenery below me and thinking to myself how freaking COOL I am ;) jk. And then I got yanked by the rope which sent me behind the bridge and spun me numerous times as I swung back and forth and up and down.  Awesome.

(Photo Cred: Nathaniel Polta)

Everyone accomplished their bungee experience with flying colors.  One color being yellow--someone got a little sicky and threw up 3 times while still connected by his ankles.  This can be attributed to the fact that he was video taping himself and talking into the camera the entire way down.  Props to him for that!  Such a memorable day :) Video coming soon!

God help me.

I'm going bungee jumping tomorrow.