On our way home

We have made it through security in the San Jose airport. Our flight boards in about an hour. Hopefully everything else goes well!

Pura vida!

All photos are up!

Every photo has been uploaded to Dropbox.

Time for bed!

One final day in Costa Rica

Our last day in Costa Rica was certainly not uneventful. We started the day with breakfast at the hotel and a trip downtown to shop. The rain came at us with ferocity early on, but it subsided while we visited the town and right through our lunch.

A couple hours after we ate, we met our ATV guides and set out for a tour of the area. With the rain from earlier in the day, we knew we would be dealing with muddy, wet terrain. Trini and I have always done this tour in dry, dusty weather, so this adventure stands out as a rather unique experience. Shortly into our tour, the heavens opened up. Rain continued intermittently for about 75% of the journey. It was muddy, slippery, and super dirty. I’m not afraid to admit that I detest being dirty, but I’m also not afraid to admit that I had a great time out there. This tour was significantly more fun than the dry times (all were dirty, by the way), and the route was better than in the past as well. I took as many pictures as I could, but there were not as many opportunities, given that the camera was wet, and I was more focused on surviving.

It’s now just about dinner time. We will eat at the hotel restaurant and then relax and pack as we await an early morning pickup. We depart from La Fortuna at 6:00am to set out on a 3+ hour journey back to the capital of San Jose. Our flight leaves at 12:40pm local time (2:40pm Mercersburg time, now that we’re two hours behind).

If time permits, and if there is wifi available, I will try to update the blog on the way home. That scenario, though, seems unlikely.

Also, there are still over 100 photos to upload. I will give it my best effort tonight, but if they aren’t all up by then, they will be up late Monday night. They will remain in the Dropbox folder for a good amount of time (at least a few weeks) before I pull them down to save space on my account (there are 5GB of photos, almost 1,500 in total). Parents and friends, if you see any photos you like, download them to your computer. Of course, if you ever want photos later, you can simply ask me for them.

Here's one from today.

Thoughts from Courtney Levins '16

I love Costa Rica so much! The nature and adventure here are different than anything I’ve ever seen or experienced before. The other day I climbed all the way to the top of the strangler tree, and it was amazing! It didn’t even seem real, all the branches intertwining creating a ladder up to an amazing view. Ziplining through the rain forest was also a similar, surreal feeling. I’ve ziplined once before, but this time was different. While flying above the canopy and looking out to mountains, I felt strangely safe. Even when I got stuck on the middle of a line, I wasn’t nervous at all! I just laughed and went with it. That’s what Costa Rica has taught me – life is simple, just go with the flow. Enjoying the present isn’t something to do sometimes on vacation, it’s a lifestyle that I have learned about from the Costa Rican people and hope to embrace in my daily life. Pura vida!

-Courtney Levins '16

Thoughts from Nick Rubino '18

Working and working, walking up and down the windy and winding trails. One simple, but painstaking task to complete is to dig holes. Two meters deep and one meter wide. From inside the hole, scraping at the sides to try and even it out, I looked up and wiped the sweat off of my brow to see Mr. Cohen looking down and reaching out a hand to help me up. The hard work was done, but there was still more to come. I glanced down to see my work, and my glance turned into a gaze. I couldn't believe how much work we had done in such a short amount of time with just myself and four other people. Hiking back to the school, the small group and myself all felt accomplished, as if we had made an impact. 

While playing soccer with the schoolchildren, I could observe the glee on their faces. Salimo, one of the few who really stuck out, was always at the front of the pack, leading the charge for the ball. The immense enchantment of that moment granted a seed of pure joy into my heart, and I know that the only way to let it grow is to volunteer to help more people in need, not for my own personal gain, but for the good of those who will benefit from it. I hope to see Salimo and his friends soon, as I am aware that with more volunteering, they can be helped more.

-Nick Rubino '18

A reward worth the wait

We just returned from the Tabacon hot springs resort, which sits about ten minutes down the road from our hotel, at the base of the Volcano Arenal. You can read more about this volcano HERE. We enjoyed an enormous buffet dinner and then experienced the many natural springs that the resort has to offer. We had a great time, and we even had the chance for a nice non-alcoholic drink in the bar inside the pool - yes, inside, not beside. You can read more about Tabacon HERE.

Enjoy this picture of the ladies with their drinks tonight. They sure seem happy.

We have one more day to enjoy this beautiful country. There should be some more information up tomorrow after our ATV tour, and I will also post last two of our student entries.

FYI: There are over 100 photos yet to be uploaded as of bedtime tonight, and they come from various events over the last couple days. Hopefully we will catch up tomorrow with all the pictures uploaded before our departure from the country. If not, they will be uploaded immediately upon our return to Mercersburg.

Thoughts from Brooke Kinney '16

With dozens of little kids gathering around us wearing faces of joy, I finally realized the importance of our visit. The work our group completed in five days would have taken multiple weeks for the staff at the Cloud Forest School. Many of the students could not understand why my fellow classmates and I took our time to come down and help out, and it is simply because we know that they are in more need than we are. I believe that I speak for the entire group when I say that I wish we could stay longer and work more. Many friendships were made and a lot was accomplished, so even with this trip coming to an end, it has already been very successful.

-Brooke Kinney '16