Today was a good day. Mostly traveling. We packed our bags, left them at the top of our campsite and headed down for breakfast. Fruit and pancakes. The pancakes tasted like cake mix. I don’t remember them being this sweet at the Santa María Inn. I wonder if I just didn’t notice because I was too excited as to what this trip would have in store for me. They were delicious nonetheless. So good I just had to have two.
It started to rain as we left, of course. What was one last time anyway? After breakfast we said goodbye to Soltis and drove out to Puntarenas where we caught the ferry to Curú.
The ferry was fun, the bar was open. It was hot and the sun was strong. About an hour later we pulled into port and the cars unloaded first, then the people. Just like the Port Jeff ferry from home that goes from Bridgeport to Long Island.
This new clean air is definitely clearing my head. It feels so good to be able to breathe through my nose again. Just in time for tomorrow when we snorkel and I get to wear the mask that will cover my nose anyway. Oh well. Once we arrived in Curú we stopped for lunch at another open-air restaurant called Soda Esmeralda. I like these buildings.
I got the chicken with rice and beans of course and lemon juice to drink. It tasted more like lemonade than I thought it would. A few other people and I ran over to the store across the street for Gatorades because it was so hot. I picked up a bag of candy too for my family. I enjoyed walking around the store looking at all the different kinds of food they have here, or some of the same. I noticed they had a coco krispies too but they advertised it differently. I thought it was pretty neat. I like discovering differences like this between cultures. This was also another good opportunity for me to practice my Spanish.
After lunch we got back onto the bus and drove a little ways down the road to the place we are staying. All the girls are sharing one cabin and one bathroom. This will be interesting and a good bonding experience for sure. As soon as everyone was ready we went down to the beach until it was time for dinner. The water was surprisingly warm. I stayed in the entire time playing in the waves with Laura and Chelsea. We saw lots of hermit crabs and found some snails along the shore. The sunset was quick and before anyone knew it, it was time for dinner. Dinner was good, we had rice of course, and chicken that was so tender it fell apart, potatoes, fruit and salad. To drink, there was coconut water and a tropical juice whose name I cannot remember right now. But it tasted a little like kiwis and Guava and was green in color. It was very good.
After dinner we put on some bug spray and headed out on our walk. The mist nets were set up and we caught a bat! It was so exciting. I’ve never seen a bat up close before and I’m glad I got to touch it. It was so soft! And the wing felt really neat too. It was extremely soft, thin, and delicate. I was almost afraid of touching it for too long. I was afraid my finger might go through it no matter how gentle I was.
Along our walk we saw a caiman, a crocodile, an olingo, some deer, some raccoons and some frogs and scorpions. And a snake briefly.
On the way back I helped take down the mist nets with Chelsea and Sam and Dr. Holt. On our way back we stopped at the beach to see if we could see any bioluminescence, but the moon was full and too bright so we didn’t see anything. Tomorrow we go snorkeling! I can’t wait! I’ve gone before to the Great Barrier Reef and when in Zanzibar. I can’t wait to see what the reefs look like here!
A Life Full of Laughter 