Submitted by Isiah Hiatt on the 2019 winter session program in Costa Rica sponsored by the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures…
This past weekend, we went to Manuel Antonio, which is one of Costa Rica’s National Parks. At the park, we walked the many trials and relaxed on the beach. During my walk around the trials with one of my friends, we got a chance to see some of the wildlife that live in the park. We saw tapirs, white-headed capuchin monkeys, and the mantled howler monkey. We probably did see more than that, but those are the three names of animals that I saw for sure. One time when I saw the monkeys, I thought that they were going to steal something from someone. The reason I thought this was because the monkey was sitting there while people were taking pictures of it, while another monkey snuck up behind the photographers. The monkey that snucked up behind just ended up walking past the photographers though.
While at Manuel Antonio some of the people from my program and I went on a boat ride. During the ride, we were able to some whales swimming which was really cool because I have never been so close to whales before. The guy who was talking during the ride said the reason why we were able to see them so close to the surface was because they had a baby and the baby can’t hold its breath as long as the adults. So the baby needs to stay near the surface. The adults stay near it in order to protect the baby, which I found really interesting. The second week is done and over with. I honestly have enjoyed my time here so far and have gained a little bit more confidence in my Spanish conversational skills. I hope to gain even more confidence by the time this program ends.