Sun, Sand, and Birthday's!!!

On Friday evening at 7pm our group set off to the costal area of Quepos and Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica. We had five girls and my friend from RJI- I’ll call him Memphis. It was raining like crazy the night we left and continued basically all the way to Qupos. The bus trip was down the mountain to sea level and we were all anxiously awaiting our tropical destination.

We arrived at our hostel at about 10:30 that night and immediately set up camp in our dormitory style rooms. Our room had 4 sets of bunk beds on it… nothing fancy, but a cheep place to put our stuff, and somewhere to sleep at night. We unpacked and went right to bed that night, in order to wake up early for the beach the next day. I think we were all up by 6am the next morning, but slightly disappointed by the rain that was falling L The rain didn’t last that long though, by 8:30 it had stopped and by 10:30 we were heading down to the beach!!! This was the beginning of my birthday celebration!!

It wasn’t the sunniest day I’ve seen, but it was hot and humid. There was a haze that seemed to be lingering in the air, almost as if steam was rising from the ground. The moisture in the air clung to our skin making us all a little sticky, everything felt damp. But there was sand and waves ahead of us! It was so wonderful to finally be at the beach. I lathered on my spf 55, set out me beach sheet, and positioned myself for some good rays. We spent the afternoon in and out of the water. At about 6pm we headed back to our hostel to get ready for my birthday dinner. The bus ride from the beach to the hostel was about 15 minutes; a curvy scenic route through the rainforest with plenty of hotels and restaurants along the way.

I can't remember the name of the place we ate dinner but, it was very good. We were set up on the back porch over the ocean (we couldn’t see because it was dark at this time already, but the whole ambience was great). The restaurant was pretty quiet, food was delicious, and pretty cheap too! After dinner we went over to another hotel were there was supposed to be some pretty chill reggae music and some dancing. A bunch of the locals talked to us about it when we were having lunch, and decided to check it out. Well the music ended up not being that great, and so we left around 11:30 and called it a night.

The next morning we were all up early again to make it to the national park- Manuel Antonio. It’s a national rainforest that does tours. The tour takes about an hour and a half, and you have the option to have a tour guide if you pay extra, or you can just pay the park fee and walk through. We were so thankful that we paid to have the guide because we wouldn’t have noticed all the wonderful aspects of the park. Plus our guide was a total babe! It was amazing all the things he could spot and point out to us. He also carried a telescope thing that helped us see things up close! It was really amazing. I loved this experience. Then at the end of the walk through the park we ended at a really fabulous beach! It was an even more gorgeous day than the last, so we were able to get in a few, unexpected, hours at the beach.

By five o’clock we were on the bus headed back to San Jose. I was ready to back at my Costa Rican home, in my bed, with warm water. I had a terrific birthday weekend with the girls and Memphis. It was so nice to celebrate and relax on the beach!

Now it’s back to the real world of internship and schedules. I love you and miss you all!! I’ll update again soon!

-A

Walking through the rainforest at Manuel Antonio

los monos!!! we saw tons of them!!

memphis and i

the girls- at reggae night

kirby, liz, me, beth- before the birthday dinner.

me and beth at the restaurant.

liz and alejandra

The group :)

happiness!

Happy Birthday to ME!!!!!!

Feet in sand- my favorite. The sand the beach was different than I was expecting... Still sand none the less :)

Our first few steps on the beach- pure happiness!

The ocean!!

Pretty happy about this paradise...

Our hostel-Pura Vida

The view from outside our bedroom

On the way to the beach!!!!

kirby, beth, liz, and memphis

YAY!!! alejandra and me