Costa Rica Day 6: Thursday 4-20
We had another early wake up call to leave by 7:45 am. Although this doesn't seem to be a problem for this group, as they are so dedicated to keeping up their training for sports, most have been getting up at 5:30 am to run. Today they were able to run on the beach. We left the hotel and drove a few miles to the nearest town of Quepos, to go on our kayak adventure. They drove out to an area full of mangroves called, "Isla Dama." We got arranged in our kayaks, and proceeded to enjoy about a 2 hr kayak through the mangroves. We saw many types of birds including hawks and herons, a massive snake, and the best part was seeing the white faced monkeys. We learned about the interesting and important ecosystem of the mangroves and how they protect the land, absorb carbon dioxide, and filter out the water. Luckily for us on this trip we didn't see any of those crocodiles close up!
We had a nice lunch they serve in the area where we get the kayaks. I'm getting the feeling that the students are sick of rice and beans- lol. The sun is quite intense here, and even though we've been applying liberally on the sunscreen, we have a few red legs after the kayak. Our guide arranged a special visit to a pier to have an ice cream dessert, and then we came back to the hotel to get ready for the beach.
The students spent about a good 3-4 hours on the beach, and were even brave enough to go on a special tubing ride. The boat brought them way out of view behind one of the rocks. They all fell off at least once, but said it was amazing! I was happy to see them back on the beach :) We have a dinner planned at the hotel, and maybe we will take another evening walk along the beach. Manuel Antonio is a beautiful place packed with people enjoying this special climate, and special country.
We had a nice lunch they serve in the area where we get the kayaks. I'm getting the feeling that the students are sick of rice and beans- lol. The sun is quite intense here, and even though we've been applying liberally on the sunscreen, we have a few red legs after the kayak. Our guide arranged a special visit to a pier to have an ice cream dessert, and then we came back to the hotel to get ready for the beach.
The students spent about a good 3-4 hours on the beach, and were even brave enough to go on a special tubing ride. The boat brought them way out of view behind one of the rocks. They all fell off at least once, but said it was amazing! I was happy to see them back on the beach :) We have a dinner planned at the hotel, and maybe we will take another evening walk along the beach. Manuel Antonio is a beautiful place packed with people enjoying this special climate, and special country.