Day 9: Awards Season

It's hard to believe today was our last full day in Costa Rica. After a delicious breakfast of rice and beans, eggs, bacon, and fruit many of us went out to raft once more, while a few hung back and enjoyed a relaxed morning of card games, hammock time, and possibly the longest game of Uno on record. After the rafters returned we ate our final meal at the Pacuare Outdoor Center and said goodbye to all of our incredible guides. 



A quick truck ride out of the lodge later and we were en route back to San Jose. On the way we drove through the original capital city of Costa Rica, Cartago, and made a quick pit stop in an souvenir market. Shortly after we arrived at Soda Tapia (reminiscent of a 1960's diner) of a for our final dinner. When we arrived at our final hotel (which doubles as an art gallery) we had one final reflection where we discussed our overall "pura vida moment" and something that we will take back with us from our experience in this beautiful country these last 9 days. We closed the night with an awards ceremony (ask about their pin!) and we presented Luigi with 15 hand written cards as a thank you for all of the work, expertise, and energy he has given to us since the moment we stepped off the plane. Now we're off to bed for one final siesta before returning home tomorrow!

Comments

  1. fredjkuoJune 21, 2025 at 5:28 AM

    We cannot wait to hear about all your stories and adventures. Thank you for these great updates! Have a safe trip home. See you all soon.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 4: ¡Siestas y Fiestas!

Image
Mr. Thomas here with today's blog! Today was our service day, which started bright and early with a delicious breakfast at our hotel before bathing in sunscreen and heading off for Sitio de Mata. Not only was this the local community we were working with, but it is also the town Luigi lives in! We spent our morning cleaning and refurbishing local bus stops. With many of the locals relying on the public busses to get in/out of the city, we were happy to help restore some of the stops to their original beauty (or more!).  For lunch we were welcomed by "The Blue Angels," a collection of mothers from the community who put us to work by having us prepare the pico de gallo that we had with our chalupas (which were delicious).  After lunch we found ourselves on a soccer field where we were joined by some local kids for a pickup game of  fútbol ("soccer" for our American readers) . Paul, Javi, Meghan and Antonio were particular stand-outs (our Athletes of the Week, if y...
Read more

Day 2: Yucca-n Do It!

Image
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 ...
Read more