This post features student writing.
Las Ocho Actividades Mejores (Top Eight Activities) Since Our Last Post:
- The Scenery and Views
- Horseback Riding
- The Night Hike
- Our guide Walter
- Swimming in Hot Springs
- Boys v. Girls competition milking a cow
- The cow pooping while Freddie milked it
- Warm showers
Getting ready to ride some horses
On Wednesday, we left La Fortuna. We had a three hour bus ride to get to Rincon de la Vieja. Our bus rides have always been fun as it’s a great time to bond and sing along to music. When we arrived at our eco-lodge, we went to our rooms, got settled, then went straight to the pool. Swimming with everyone is always fun, especially when the water is really cold! After our quick swim, we all went back to our rooms in order to change for our night hike. We met our guide Walter, who loves Costa Rican nature — it’s his passion to teach us all about the wildlife. While we may have not seen a lot of big animals, we saw many beautiful trees and some really interesting frogs and insects like the Dung and Steele beetle.
Dana had a hungry horse
Once we finished our long night hike, we were greeted with a delicious meal, a real treat. The next morning, we had a nice breakfast and then met up with Walter again to go horseback riding. We met our horses, and started our scenic trek to the National Park, where our destination was the hot springs.
Here we go!
We crossed a difficult terrain, then reached a stopping point after a beautiful ride, where we began our hike (in the national park) to the hot springs. We crossed three rivers on the way to the hot springs. Tired and hungry, we finally made it to the hot springs. The astounding view and beautiful water made all of us disregard the sulfuric smell. The first thing we did was sit down and eat a picnic style lunch. After an hour of swimming in the pools and applying sulfur mud to our faces (to cleanse our pores and make our faces feel soft), we hiked back to our horses and traveled back to our hotel.
Facials
Our leaders Emma and Zack trying a clay facial
Post-facial
The next morning we got up early to test our farming skills. We had a contest to see who could milk a cow faster between boys and girls – the girls won! Rincon de la Vieja has been an amazing experience for all of us. We’ve loved the views, the activities, and the break from hot weather!
Filip trying out his milking skills
Watch out, Freddie!
Adios,
– David and Maddy