Day 8

Today was our last day in Costa Rica. We have a 5 hour fight on United Airlines. When we arrive back to NY it will be around 6:45pm, which will be around 4:45 in Costa Rica.  During this trip we learned new things, explored Costa Rica, and made new friends.  Overall we had a lot of fun on this trip and we are grateful for this opportunity to come here. We are sad to be leaving Costa Rica but we are happy to return back to Lake George to see our families.  We appreciate everything that has been done for us. One of our favorite parts of the trip was going to the schools and meeting all the kids. We loved learning about their culture and teaching them about our culture. We hope everyone had as much fun as we did.

-Christina Mastrodomenico and Aileen Dinu

Day 7

Today we went on a boat ride, and saw a lot of native wildlife. We were lucky enough to first see a 17 foot long alligator, who the guides named "Osama Bin Laden," because he hides and is often difficult to spot, despite his size. We also saw many interesting birds, like a blue heron, and the white iris. We then went to lunch, before taking a tour of an ox cart factory, where we learned about the history of the ox cart wheel and how they are made. After, we went to a painting class, and had 45 minutes to paint an image done by a local artist. Once we were finished, we visited the world's largest ox cart. We then drove back to San José, and checked back into the final hotel. We watched local dancers perform, and they taught us several dances; the whole experience was really fun.

-Julia and Rachel

Day 6

We started off our day by waking up to monkeys climbing on the trees outside our balcony.  Then we headed to the beach.  To get to the beach, we had to walk 1.5 miles along a stone pathway enclosed by trees.    In the trees we saw monkeys and sloths.  We were at the beach for over 3 hours.  The water was very warm and it was very sunny.  After the beach,  we went to lunch at a restaurant called Si como no.  Attached to the restaurant was a gift shop with an art gallery inside.  There were many beautiful paintings of animals such as turtles and butterflies.  There were numerous options for lunch including fish, chicken, steak or pasta.  For dessert there was ice cream on top of a huge brownie or coconut flan.

For the rest of the day we were free to hang around the hotel and we had the option to head to another beach.  However  a few hours afterwards; it started to storm, so we had to leave the pool.  We then sat on the balcony and watched the rain and lightning instead.  Dinner was at 7:00 at a hotel nearby.  As we were eating, girls dressed in traditional clothing were dancing.  When we got back to the hotel, a few of us went night swimming in the pool and that wa the end of a great day.

-Shannon and Alena

Day 5

Hola from Costa Rica!  Today we woke up in Hotel El Establo in Monteverde.  We ate breakfast at their restaurant.  Then we got on the bus and traveled to the first school that we visited.  This school was named Centro Educativo Fernández.  This school held 25 students in grades 1-6. The students introduced themselves and we spoke about the United States.  We then took photos with them and left for lunch.

We ate lunch at the El Jardín restaurant, where we ate a variety of foods including rice, beans and chicken.  Afterwards we enjoyed smoothies from a nearby shop.

We traveled to the second school we visited that was larger with  around 400 students. We participated in a Zumba activity and played soccer with the students.  We had many interactions with the students  at the school and the students were excited to see us.

After this visit, we arrived at our next hotel El Parador in Manuel Antonio. We saw wildlife such as monkeys, iguanas and birds near the hotel.  We ended the evening with another delicious dinner.

-Logan and Maxim

Day 4

Hola and Pura Vida from Costa Rica!  Monday was a very busy day, full of unique and thrilling experiences.  We were in the cloud forest of Monteverde.  We started our day off with breakfast in the El Establo restaurant.  We enjoyed gallopinto (Costa Rican black beans and rice), plátanos, cas fruit juice and many other Costa Rican traditional foods.

After breakfast we went on a zip line tour.  Both of us decided to do all 3 parts.  The first part was a 13 line course of zip lines.  The second part was a Tarzan swing where you had to jump off a platform and swing back and forth.  The third part was a 1 kilometer Superman style line.  This was my favorite part (Alex) because I got stuck in the middle of the line.  It gave me the opportunity to stare at the view face first for a few minutes and it was breathtaking.

Soon after we went to a family run restaurant and we all had the opportunity to cook our own traditional Costa Rican foods which consisted of empanadas and horchata.  We had a chance to see and learn how to cook these delicious foods as a group.  We then went on a night nature walk, while learning about the incredibly beautiful and unique plants and animals.  We saw many insects including the notorious tarantula.

After the walk, Alex and I (Lenny),  got to witness consecutive lightning bolts.  After an amazing day full of activities, we were glad that it was still Monday and that the week was still young to have new experiences.

-Alex and Lenny

Day 3

Happy Easter from Costa Rica!

We all woke up this morning to mist, but with a nice warm breeze and headed down to a breakfast buffet.  Lynnaya and Jean went out exploring and encountered a field with cows and horses.  A group of approximately 30 horses walked only 2 feet away from us, while being hearded down the road.  So cute!

Afterwards we hopped on the bus for a 3 1/2 hour ride with various stops.  Thankfully our driver was very skilled because the gravel roads had sharp turns and were very narrow.  Outside our windows we could see Las Pampas (sort of like an African savannah with more trees).  Colorful houses, cows and horses and stray dogs that wander around but are taken care of by the towns people.

For lunch we went to El  Heliconia ranch.  The wor heliconia is a beauty flower related to the bird of paradise.   We saw traditional dances by 2 fourth grade boys, 2 senior girls and a few other locals.  They wore beautiful dresses and we joined in with them afterwards.

Next we drove through pastures covered with clouds.

We stopped in Santa Elena to buy gifts and souvenirs.  We went unto a supermarket and bought unique snacks.

Then we arrived at our Monteverde hotel, El Establo.  There are such beautiful views of the mountains.   We explored and rested.  We saw a capybara.  The sunset at 5:45 was so pretty.

Lastly, we went to dinner at a local house that the family opened up for us.  We ate delicious rice and chicken, and homemade tortillas and for Rachel's bday (as well as for others later this week) we ate cake!  Buenas noches!

-Lynnaya, Maddie, Morgan and Jean

Day 2

Today is our first full day in Costa Rica. We are in San José, the capital of Costa Rica. We walked around the city and learned about its history and how important coffee has been to their success. Then visited a market where all the locals go to shop. (Like a farmers market).  We ended that with a short walk in the city.

We then started our very, very long journey on the bus to Arenal. We made some stops at El Jardín to do some shopping and to check out their magnificent gardens. We continued our very long and windy trip through the mountains. 

The trip was worth it when we arrived at the hot springs in La Fortuna. There were about 20 of them and the higher on the mountain you went up, the hotter they got. There were slides into the hot springs as well. The night ended with a nice dinner and bed shortly after because the hot springs put you right to bed.

-Deme and Brooke

We're off!

Friday April 14, 2017

We boarded our coached bus at 9:30 am and headed  to Newark International Airport.  We had a direct flight to San José, Costa Rica leaving at 4:30 pm and arriving at 7:45 pm Costa Rican time (5 hour flight).  Things went very smoothly.  We were greated at the airport with a Worlstrides guide and then escorted to our beautiful hotel for a nice meal.  We met our guide Roberto and bus driver Christian.  Tomorrow be wake up early for 7:00 breakfast and head out for a San Jose tour at 8:00.  Volcano Poas visit was cancelled due to volcanic eruption.  Check it out!  http://www.ticotimes.net/2017/04/13/poas-volcano-eruption

 Off to Arenal volcano tomorrow for thermal hot springs!
-Sra Cornell