Day 2: Yucca-n Do It!

Antonio here for day 2 of our blog! Luckily we all made it to breakfast on time at 8 am (and avoided the dance punishment). After trying a bunch of the option the french toast won out as the favorite, although accidentally grabbed corn flakes thinking they were frosted flakes (an unwelcome surprise). After breakfast we drove to the largest man-made lake in Costa Rica where Luigi explained the energy efficiency plan to become carbon neutral by 2050. This lake featured hydroelectric wells that provide power to tens of thousands of locals. 

After the lake we had our first thrill of the trip- ziplining! After a scenic gondola ride up to the starting point and a safety briefing we were off. While they explained the manual braking system, I ended up not needing to break at all. After the training zipline, the first real one was relatively fast and pretty high up, but the view was incredible- so much better than I expected. The next few after that were similar, but the fifth line was the fastest which made it very cool. Number six (which they call "big daddy") was easily the best. You got to soar through the trees of the jungle, before the 7th and final line which was pretty short and just brought you back to the parking lot. Overall the ziplining was really great.

Ziplining was followed by a visit to an organic farm. Lunch was good, and I got to try another unique fruit drink (I forget which one, but it was my favorite so far). The coconut ice cream they served for desert was more coconut than ice cream, but still cool. We met a green talking bird that Paul ended up talking to for a while. The farm tour was very hot with a lot of standing, and we were given a lot of very sour medicinal leaves (which were not as good as lunch). At the end we made our own sugarcane juice. This was easily the #1 juice I've tried so far (and I've tried a bunch of new ones). We also ate raw sugar cane which was similar to gum, but didn't last as long. 

(Right after pulling this yucca up from the ground)

(Carl is currently M.I.A.)

After the farm we had some free time in La Fortuna to explore the city on our own. We didn't do a while lot, but it was interesting to see the culture. Despite the lack of crosswalks or signs, everyone is really well self-managed. People are really good at communicating about when to cross/not cross the street, and a lot of the stores are just open to the street. Unlike a city like New York where everything is kept behind locks and doors. We spent most of our time at an ice cream shop, where I had the best quality ice cream that was cheap in value but expensive in taste (I made sure not to have too much, since im lactose intolerant).

To end the day we went to some hot springs near the hotel. Me and Max were trying out every single one to try and find the hottest one (which ended up being too hot). While we were there I tried out the water slide, which was physically and mentally essentially a rollercoaster. The aggressive banks and water being splashed on my face made only one thing clear: I was going very fast. We had dinner at the hot springs and it was phenomenal. The chicken rice I got was delicious, but I got full halfway and unfortunately couldn't finish it all. 

Fast forward to now as I'm writing this blog, and today was much better than yesterday. It gave me a better sense of what the trip will be like, and if this is mostly what the trip will be like then I'm really glad I came.