Alrighty folks, the countdown has started for me to come home. Not including today, its 11 days. Yikes! Well, along with the semester ending, classes are winding down pretty quickly. I'm pretty much done with my work, so there isn't much to report on that front.
Alrighty, the rest of the weekend was interesting to say the least. Beyond going on the field studies. Friday was a great day, because I got my new tattoo. Its a really cool outline of a Guanacaste tree (the official tree of Costa Rica). The artist who designed was super nice. I got tattooed in her apartment, which was funny. She had candles and incense everywhere. And she brewed some of the strongest coffee I've ever drank. But it was great.
That nigh Marissa and I stayed in San Jose, so we could catch a direct bus to Montezuma the next day. Marissa had us at some hostel she saw on tiktok. It was honestly so cool. We slept in these pod bed things like you see in Japan. There was a really friendly German girl there as well, so we made a friend. And that night we had the BEST Lebanese food ever. We split this refreshing salad and falafel wrap thing, and the waiter gave us free fig cookie things. 10/10 overall incredible experience. And funny enough, no one else was in the restaurant. Its a little hidden gem.
We had an early start Saturday. We were up at 4:45 to catch the Montezuma bus. Getting to/ on the bus was a whole ordeal. A taxi driver scammed us out of $25. A nice man at the bus stop gave us 1 mil colones as a gift. And we ended up having to rush to a new ATM for bus fare. But, we made it on the bus. The journey from San Jose to Montezuma took 6 HOURS. And we had to get on a ferry across the gulf at one point.
In Montezuma we met up with Sebastian, Conner, and Erin. It was a good time in that town. Our hostel was very much set up in the jungle. Which meant the great views of the greenery and animals came with a ton of bug bites. But, everyone at the hostel was friendly as always, and there was the cutest little hostel cat. We went to a waterfall after we checked in. It was a dangerous hike. We were climbing ropes and forging across streams and scrambling over slick rocks. It was an awesome adventure. And, the waterfall was quite pretty, but very brown. That's because of the rainy season though, and all the mud washing into the stream.
We cooked at the hostel that night. Conner and Marissa whipped up some chickpea/ tomato pasta that was banging. And, we played cards with the Europeans staying there. I was dead-on-my-feet tired though, so I headed to bed early.
The next day, we headed out and met up with Jorge and them for the field studies. We met him at Curu nature reserve. He originally said we would just be hiking around the tropical dry forest. Then, when we got there he switched it up and said we were snorkeling. No one could snorkel, some didn't have a swim suit, and others (myself and Erin) couldn't because we have fresh tattoo. It was a disappointing turn of events. But, we looked around the reserve. Eventually we actually did go on a short hike. We saw white tailed deer, howler monkey, and other strange animals. The forests was lovely and green, and not oppressively hot, because a storm was blowing up. We could hear the thunder rumbling in the distance. The grey sky, the thunder, and the absolutely terrifying howls of the monkeys made the experience very creepy. But, it was hard to really be creeped out, because we could see old growth mangroves. The mangroves were so cool, with their thin root systems and dark, nutrient rich water all around. Towards the end of the hike, we made our way across this ancient wooden boardwalk. I truly thought one of us was going to send our leg through the walkway. But, the view from it was spectacular. We could look out into a cove with crystalline waters. We had to take the ferry back to San Ramon. It was absolutely storming the whole time. The rain was intense, and the lightning over the gulf was a little concerning. But Erin and I sat in the covered area on top of the boat, and it was honestly a good vibe watching it all.
The second field study was much better. Sunday, we all piled into a van and actually went to Jorge's property in the mountains. He had reforested a large plot, while also making it a productive flower farm. The hydrangeas were incredible. The blues and purples and whites were more vibrant than any other ones I've seen, and they were the biggest ones I've ever seen as well. It was actually chilly up at his house, because we were in the clouds. So, we built a fire in a little pit he had. It made for a very cozy vibe, especially when it started to rain. Jorge cooked pineapple over the fire, and we just sat and discussed how to make eco-friendly, but productive properties. There were also two of the cutest dogs in the world on the property. Absolutely beautiful German Shepards. It was a very chill, cozy day.
So yea. This weekend was a mixed bag. But overall, a very good next-to-last weekend here.
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