Submitted by Scott Eisenhart on the 2014 winter session study abroad program in Costa Rica sponsored by the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures…
¡Qué pasó, mis amigos! I hope everything’s alright back in the States. Still cold, I’m guessing? Gah, I don’t know how I’m going to survive the transition in weather. How am I supposed to acclimate from sunny and 70 everyday to cold and seemingly sub-zero temperatures? Well, I’ll cross that bridge once I reach it. In the meantime, I’ve got some updating to do, so let’s get started.
On January 21, the group visited Cafe Britt, which is a place where they grow and produce coffee. We were led on quite an interesting tour; if any of you have been on the Chocolate Tour at Hershey Park, it was very similar to that. The best part had to be all of the free samples of coffee. I probably had one too many, because by the end of the tour my fingers were starting to twitch.
The majority of this blog post, however, will focus on one excursion in particular. On Thursday, January 23rd, we left for the Manuel Antonio National Park. Located in the western part of Costa, Manuel Antonio is known for its diverse jungles and tranquil beaches, both of which I had the opportunity to visit.
From our hotel, it was a mile-long walk through the jungle to the beach. All along the trail, we could hear a multitude of animals. Seeing them, however, was a bit more tricky. Due to the high volume of foot traffic on the trail, the animals tended to be shy and stay hidden. However, we were able to see several sloths lounging about high in the tree tops.
Once we emerged from the jungle, the view did not disappoint. The beach didn’t look anything like what I had come to expect a beach to look like, certainly different from the Jersey shore. Photographs cannot begin to do the view any justice, but I tried my best.
An interesting thing about Manuel Antonio beaches is that people aren’t the only ones who visit. Yup, racoons and monkeys also enjoy the beach, but they’re not there to swim or tan. They travel in packs and swipe food from unsuspecting sunbathers. Several times, we had to dash out of the water and scare off a monkey or two who was attempting to rob us of our treasured lunches.
We ended up staying at Manuel Antonio until Sunday, January 26th. On the way back, we stopped along a bridge. When we got out, we saw that we were directly over a river full of crocodiles! It was a very exciting experience, but the bridge wasn’t exactly the most stable structure (because it wasn’t built by UD civil engineering students), and I was relieved once we crossed the bridge.
If you enjoy reading my updates, I have some sad news for you: next week will most likely be my last one, as I return to the States on February 6th. I hope to fill this last week with tons of crazy and exciting things so that my last post can be a memorable one!
Peace out friends. Until next time, this is Scott saying, ¡Adios!