Costa Rican Adventure Part 1

Costa Rica was the deciding factor for my trip around the world. I had always gone on trips with family and friends before, but it was the first time I went out of the country with one other friend and didn't know anyone else. To help me dip my feet in the traveling solo world, in 2012, I booked my Costa Rican adventure with EF College Break. I took the trip with 34 other people my age from all over the US and had the time of my life. Even though I wasn't technically "solo", I went without my family and knowing one other person. That's as solo as I had ever gotten. I was there for a short, activity filled ten days and had not had near enough of the country. While there, it reassured me that I would be able to travel on my own when the time came.

Costa Rica was different than any place I had been and it has been my favorite destination so far. I love that the people truly care about their country and take care of it. The few locals I met and talked to were kind and surprisingly funny.

San Jose was where the tour began and everyone met up. We stayed in the main city square area, which was perfect because we could walk everywhere. I loved walking around and seeing how different it all looked compared to what I was used to. The only thing I was not fond of in San Jose were the constant cat calls, lewd comments and leering all of us girls received walking down the street.



San Jose is the capital of Costa Rica. It's full of people and full of love. The numerous parks located throughout the city are packed with couples (and PDA is obviously not an issue with people here). As we walked through the city and getting turned around on side roads, we came across amazing graffiti and street art. There's none of that kind of stuff where I'm from and I enjoyed seeing it in person. The thing I loved most about San Jose was that we could see a bunch of green parrots chilling in the trees next to where we ate dinner.

After leaving San Jose the next day, we headed to INBioparque.



There are different tours you can take through the park and we did the group tour. Our guide was very informative on the biodiversity of Costa Rica and pointed out many things in the park. We saw a sloth, deer, spiders (EEK!), iguanas, butterflies and many other animals and bugs I had never seen. He also pointed out what I thought was the coolest plant called mimosa plant or "sleepy grass". Whenever you touch the plant, it's leaves will close up and then spread out again a moment later.

I was bummed when we got to our next destination, Poás Volcano. It has one of the biggest craters in the world and I was looking forward to seeing it. But instead, all we got was mist and so much fog you couldn't see fifteen feet in front of you.



We still had fun and found a path to a lake that, of course, we couldn't see because of the fog. But the forest we walked through looked like something straight from Snow White.

The next day was a big, tiring, activity filled day. We started with kayaking in Arenal Lake. We kayaked for about 30 minutes or so and got a small little island area. The kayaks took a rest while everyone enjoyed a nice little swim. Arenal lake was man made and provides about 20% of Costa Rica's electricity. Standing in front of the massive lake made it hard to believe it was man made.



On one side of the road, you have the gorgeous lake and on the other, you have the Arenal Volcano. It was funny because when we took our group picture, a car stopped in the middle of the road to take a picture of all of us. I'm assuming they hadn't seen many Americans?

I LOVED our next stop even more, La Fortuna waterfall. This 230ish foot waterfall falls into a stunning turquoise pool of chilly water and provides a backdrop to the lush, green jungle that is just a short distance away from Arenal. The current near the waterfall is extremely strong, preventing anyone from getting close enough to go under it.

The hike down to the waterfall isn't too terribly bad, the stairs are just steep. Heading back up is a different story. After being tired out by getting my butt kicked by the waterfall current, climbing back up was a rather difficult task.

To soothe our aching muscles, we headed to a place called Baldi Hot Springs. There are 25 hot springs varying from cooler pools to extremely hot (felt like boiling to me) ones. It was nice to go there, but I would have enjoyed it more if it were somewhat chilly outside. While there, we met an interesting group of guys from Holland that was visiting Costa Rica as a fraternity trip.

Choosing to relax that night, my friends and I found a nice little restaurant and had some freshly made juices and local food (except I got a burger and learned my lesson about ordering American food in Costa Rica).

I had only been in Costa Rica for three days and already fallen madly in love with the country and people. I knew I would never want to leave. The remaining seven days flew by in a blur, but it was jam packed with more adventure and tons of activities!