18 May 2015

On the Pacific Coast

The first day we arrived in Uvita, Costa Rica and we had a more relaxed day on the beach. Many of the students were playing soccer, swimming in the ocean, and walking the beach. Several students had surfing lessons in the morning. After lunch at the Flutterby house, where we were staying, we hosted a soccer clinic at a Christian school in Uvita for children under the age of 14. There were three different stations where the kids learned passing, juggling, and teamwork skills.

Later, we went to a turtle reserve in Dominical, and learned about the different types of turtles in Costa Rica, and the ways they protect the turtles. Then we did a service project at a primary school down the road from the turtle reserve. At the school we painted two classrooms, we did cleanup around the school, and then made a garden. Overall it was more of working with the community by working hands-on and interacting with them.

For our next destination, it was a different type of traveling. Instead of taking a bus to our location we took a boat to get to the Osá Peninsula. At the Osá Peninsula we spent the majority of our time on the beach. Some people would read a book in the hammocks, some would swim in the ocean, and others would walk the beach. Our first adventure took us to a rainforest hike. During our time hiking we saw many types of animals such as howler monkeys, macaws, spiders, and the Costa Rican raccoon.

After the hike we went snorkeling at Caño Island, off the coast. While on the way to snorkeling we saw two different pods of dolphins; it was an amazing sight to see in the crystal clear water. When we arrived at our destination for diving we saw a variety of animals such as a manatee, parrot fish, angel fish, etc. After our first adventure of snorkeling we went to a turtle rescue. At the turtle rescue we made a safe place for the turtle eggs to hatch by filling bags of sand and making a rectangular enclosure. The Osá Peninsula was a lot of fun, we made unforgettable memories, and it was the perfect adventure to end the cross-cultural.

-Becca Borg