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| Yes, it is literally a one-road town. |
Two other schools came with Flagler, so we were PACKED into three busses. The busses pulled up to a hotel so we all got out. It looked fun and beachy; however, the Flagler students were told to get back on the bus because we wouldn't be staying there. The bus took a beaten dirt path that led to our hotel: right on the beach! It was a small place, with a large view! I still can't get over how beautiful the view was from the second story balcony. Below, were three hammocks (which I grew to love by the end of the weekend) and palm trees galore. The aquamarine water was crashing over and into the large rocks in the water.
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| The view from my room. (just imagine waking up to the sound of those waves!) |
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| Amanda and me with sand between our toes. |
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| Oh, hey! Just an iguana chilling in the tree. |
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| At night, I enjoyed relaxing in the hammock; just listening to the sound of the waves and writing in my journal. |
Saturday we had planned to have a beach day, but as we were stuffing our faces with gallo pinto, platanos, eggs, fruit, yogurt, bread, granola, etc. (yes, this was all for breakfast), the sky let loose. We didn't expect so much rain so early. Once it calmed down a bit, we laced up our tennis shoes and headed to the cataratas. To be honest, I wasn't completely thrilled to be going to see more waterfalls, because I'd already seen those at La Paz. And we were told to wear bathing suits under our clothes, and I wasn't in the swimming kind of mood; however, I'm in Costa Rica and I'd much rather go out and explore than stay in the hotel room.
Well, let me tell you, I am so glad I went to these cataratas, because they were completely different from the ones at La Paz. We had to hike (or at least it felt like a hike to me) and then walk only on rocks at some points. The rocks were slippery and some demanded that we jump from one rock to the next. Needless to say, there were several people who slipped onto their bottoms, but I was not one of them. By the time we reached the waterfall, I was ready to jump right in...I had worked up quite a sweat to get there. The water was the perfect temperature. We were able to jump from rocks into the water, but considering that I have a fear of heights, I did not participate in this activity.
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| "el grupo de Flagler" after swimming |
After about an hour of swimming beneath the waterfall, we headed towards another one. Since I considered my first trek to the waterfall a "hike," I will classify this next one as "rock climbing." Watch your steps, and travel between tree branches--hold onto one, let go, and quickly grab the next one. I kept looking at how high we were and thinking if I took one wrong step, I would find myself tumbling down the side of the mountain, bumping from tree to tree on my way down. Finally, after risking my life, we reached our destination, which was the top of the waterfall we had previously been swimming beneath. Here the water had literally pooled into the form of a "pool" where we could swim. On our walk back to the hotel, it starting raining again. So it didn't turn out to be a beach day as planned, but it was quite possibly better than a beach day. It's not everyday that I swim beneath waterfalls!
Sunday we planned to go to Isla de la Tortuga (Turtle Island). (There aren't turtles swimming out around Turtle Island, but the Island is actually in the shape of a turtle!) The dark sky did not look promising, but I knew we had an hour ride in front of us, and the sky had to clear up, it just had to. They pulled the boats right up to the shore in front of our hotel. As soon as it was Flagler's turn to load the boat it started to sprinkle. Then the sprinkle turned into a downpour and we all ran for cover. We waited and waited for the sky to lighten up and the rain to lessen so that we could load the boats.
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| With our boats approaching, the sky did not look too promising... |
It was an hour boat ride from our hotel to Isla de la Tortuga and we were getting brushed with rain drops and wind, but with each passing wave, the sky became more clear. By the time we reached Isla de la Tortuga, the sky was mostly clear (not sunny, but no dark clouds were in sight). The island had a white sandy shore which was lined with tall palms; however, our boat did not let us off at the island. Instead, it headed toward a large rock further out in the water. We were given our gear and there was no choice but to jump right in. I'm not a huge fan of swimming, but snorkeling and swimming with a school of brightly colored blue and yellow fish, is something that I will do. I found it quite relaxing to just float and drift with the fish. I don't know my species of fish, so I won't even begin to try and name them, but I saw many beautiful fish and coral too!
After snorkeling, the boat took us to the island. I placed my towel atop the sparkling white sand and began to work on my tan. The sun was still mostly hidden, but I could feel its warmth drying my wet skin. I never fall asleep while at the beach, but I was so relaxed today that I inadvertedly took a siesta. We had lunch, and then returned to our towels. By this time, the sun was out and at full force!
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| Approaching Isla de la Tortuga
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