Day 7 - Beach Day

A few of us have been wanting to go for a run while on the trip, but our mornings have been too early or our bodies have been too exhausting.  This morning with the late breakfast, we finally had our chance.  Blake, Jacob, Steph, Cam, Ashley and I all got up at 6:30 to go for a run to the beach and back.  We stopped at the beach for a little while to watch the tide coming in and we could hear the howler monkeys in the trees.  We went a little closer and got about 10 feet away from them in the trees.  There was one very loud male and three females, one of which was carrying a baby on her back.  It was an awesome thing to wake up to.  We ran back up the rocky, steep driveway and had plenty of time to relax before the day’s activities.

We had to be at our community service site at 10 AM, so we took our time with breakfast.  Today we went to Marino Ballena National Park, which is right by the school we visited earlier in the week.  Our task was to pick up trash on the beach.  The group was divided into two teams to make things interesting.  We went separate ways from the ranger station and had an hour and a half to get as much as we could.  The students thought it was a lot of fun and really rewarding.  The team I was with found all kinds of bottles and shoes and even things like brooms and a broken clock.  We also managed to find a fluorescent light bulb.  The best find, however, was made by Chris: a purse.  We were SO excited to see what was inside.  Helen Hendricks Urban, of Brussels, Wisconsin, lost her passport, driver’s license, credit card, and 5 colones.  We had way too much fun coming up with stories of how she lost them.  I will be sending all of it back to her, along with a group picture and a letter, to let us know how much fun she provided us with.

Both groups brought back their bags and we compared finds.  Sorry, but my team had the coolest stuff and definitely had the most (one bag was bursting).  We sorted through all the items that could be recycled, then placed the rest in the trash on site.  Many of the students said that they had so much fun with this activity and that they would do it again.  Even though Team 1 won, we all agreed with Mateo that the beach was the real winner J

Our relaxing day continued after lunch with an entire afternoon at the beach.  It was nice to have 3 hours to just surf or swim.  Many of the students had the opportunity to go out beyond the whitecaps to catch some swells.  It was great to see how many of them picked up surfing so quickly!  The only problem with catching swells- you have to paddle that much further out.  Surfing didn’t last too long because we got exhausted much more quickly than usual.

When it was time to go back to the surf house, Mau shuttled groups back.  Cam, Steph, Sam, and I opted to walk back so we could stop at the tourism office- which is the shape of a humpback whale.  We took our picture with the whale, talked to some friendly Ticos, and headed back for dinner.

Our last activity of the day was an intense futbol match.  The guides rented out a local “indoor” (covered) soccer field for us to play.  It was an impressive facility that included nice bleachers, a restaurant, and a dance area.  We divided up into 4 teams and played two different tournaments.  Stuart scored at LEAST six goals- what a soccer star! :)  We were absolutely EXHAUSTED by the end of it.  Such a great workout! 

Tomorrow morning we start out early because we will have to change locations.  We will start community service at a local school before 8 AM so we can get back for lunch by 11.  Shortly after lunch, we will hit the road for the long trip to Turrialba.  Turrialba is our last stop on the trip L  Mau will show us around his hometown, then we will prep for whitewater rafting on Tuesday.  Pura vida!