Days 7-9

Hello Family and Friends!

I hope that you are all having a good week thus far! I heard that it has been really warm at home lately. Go figure- beautiful weather when I am not even in the states. However, it is absolutely beautiful here! I am going to split up this blog into 3 parts. What I did on Friday, Saturday and then Sunday.

Friday:

Today was one of the best days that I could have had. We got up really early in the morning and drove 2 hours on the bus so that we could go Zip Lining! For those of you who are unsure of what this is- I'll explain. There are many long cables that are attached from one tree to another high in the Rainforest. There is (what looks like) a pully system that is attached to your body and you wear a harness. Attached to the harness is 3 "ropes" with Karabeaners attached (you will see these get-ups in the pictures). These 3 Karabeaners attach to the pully system that I was telling you about, and you grab on and just fly across the cable. It is wonderful because you can look all around at the view of the rainforest- Its BEAUTIFUL. We had 3-4 amazing guides that were with us running the Zip Line Trip. The Leader's name was YiYo. He was so fun. The tour guides made all kinds of jokes with us, laughed and played just like we had been friends for a long time before. They also enhanced our trip by letting us do a Tarzan Swing (just like it sounds- you are attached to a giant rope that is not attached to anything else but a tree above you and you fly on one rope over a section of the forest. It was just like a swing.

It was very safe and the boys were very intelligent, they knew what they were doing to a tee! The last part of Zip Lining was possibly the best one. The tip of the Zip (aka: time in the air) was a total of 45 seconds. We did the superman through the air. We were put in a body harness and flew over the rainforest with free hands and all. It was the neatest experience. Some of us were more afraid than others, but everyone made it and it was a blast!

After Zip Lining we drove about one more hour to a beautiful place called THE HOT SPRINGS!!! This place was, As Katie F calls it “Heaven”. It was so beautiful! It was tropical and absolutely wonderful. The water was very warm. I first sat in a spring that was about 103 degrees and then Dr. Kozub and I ventured out and went in a pool about 156 degrees! It was so hot. It took a lot of coaxing to get in, but once we were in it was awesome and felt really good on my back, knees and everything else that is basically killing me. When we got out of this pool, out skin was RED!

After we got out of the hot springs we went and took some beautiful pictures of what was around the area. Flowers, plants, pools, etc…. I will post these pics as soon as the computer connection is strong enough to do so.  I will label the pictures accordingly. After we took those pictures, we all went to dinner as a group which came with the hot springs package that we bought. It was a buffet, all you can eat and let me tell you … it was Delish!

 

Saturday:  

Today we went to la playa!!! (THE BEACH!) Manuel Antonio was the name of it. It was absolutely amazing. A wonderful day- it was so hot and so beautiful! This beach was everything you could ask for in a beach and a THANK YOU to Danny for taking us. It was literally a perfect day and I couldn’t be happier. It took about 3 hours or so to get to this beach but EVERY BIT OF IT WAS WORTH IT! When we first got to the beach we went on the nature tour. It was literally about a 2 mile walk through a jungle area. I saw a ton of animals- I saw Monkeys, Deer, Tucans and I SAW A SLOTH! I was so happy that I saw this sloth that I think I cried tears of joy! After I got out of this national park I went and called home! I went to go and change my bathing suit and Dr. Kozub saw a phone line that only costs $1.00 to call out to the US for 5 minutes. So, I was really missing my family and it was Naunies B-Day (HAPPY BIRTHDAY NAUNIE!) so I made a few calls back to the states. It was really good to hear every ones voice and I was so very happy. After I got to talk to my family I went and got in my suit and headed to the sand. It was gorgeous bright blue light blue water! I loved every second that I was there. I loved it so much in fact that Katie F and I dumped all the money we had out of our pockets and went PARASAILING! We took a chance on something we both wanted to cross off our bucket list, and WE DID IT. No regrets and we didn’t look back. It was one of the most amazing moments of my life being lifted off the ground by the biggest parachute that I have ever seen and then realizing that you are only being held in the air by a thin piece of cloth, realizing at any minute you could fall to the ocean below. It was amazing, and I could see the sea go on for miles and miles. Katie and I ran and ran until the parachute picked us up and I could have sworn that we were flying. We were a half mile into the sky and we both agreed that we felt so alive. Not many people get the chance to cross something off their bucket list at 21 years old. I can say that it was the most thrilling moment of my life. It trumped the fear I have from the Zip Lining. I have learned some very important lessons here in Costa Rica. The most important is to LIVE FOR TODAY. I cannot tell you how many days I spend worrying about tomorrow or what lies ahead in life. You have to enjoy the moment, and I always have been told this, but it never really sunk in until this Trip. I have lived my life to the fullest here and I could not be anymore blessed with the gift that God has given me. I have been blessed to meet Danny, Dona Edith and Don Daniel and have Katie F here to share in some of the memories I will have in my life. I did something so spontaneously today that I even shocked myself and my parents… and Zac  (I don’t think that any of them really believed me when I told them). I learned that you have to be happy right now, in the moment that you have because really we are not guaranteed tomorrow, and if you spend all day today worrying about it- it is a day that you have wasted that God gave you. (I owe someone a thank you for teaching me this- I tend to forget)…. So now that the mushy part is over- I got to finish my day with the most beautiful sunset in the world that I have ever seen, and Zac I wish you were there- you would have loved it! My breath was just taken away by what my eyes were seeing. I have ONLY DREAMED of seeing what I saw today. Thank You Dr. Peterson, Dr. David and Dr. Kozub for pushing so hard to get this chance for us, it’s an irreplaceable gift.

Sunday: Punta Leona!! This is another beach that we went to today! This beach was lovely too, but it was a resort and nothing like the beach we were at yesterday! However, there were some beautiful swimming pools that we got to enjoy. This place was only about 1 ½ hours away so we got up early, had some wonderful eggs and headed off on a bus to Punta Leona. It was an easy bus ride after the two four hour trips we were on the night before. The beach was so big, and we all headed there first to take a dip in the ocean. I wandered around and looked at various things because I was waiting later for the pool. After we all enjoyed walking around and going on the beach we had lunch (buffet style)… I had so much food that I cannot even begin to list of what I ate today! After the lunch we all headed for the beautiful pools and had a blast. I promise that there are pics to come. It took us 3 hours to get home thought because there were multiple accidents on the road and the traffic was almost unbearable and at a complete stop. It was terrible. HOWEVER,  WE MADE IT … and Like I said pics to come!