After a very early morning breakfast, meaning 4:45am, we met up and and began our trek up the mountains of the community around 5:30. The hike was difficult to do with a walking stick, but the views of the valley were incredible. What I always enjoy about hiking is looking out and feeling minuscule compared to what is before you - makes you reassess things, in a sense. The community guides were very helpful and always made sure everyone was keeping up, so you could tell this was part of their tourism business of the home stays. It makes me wonder how many people actually come for these home stays, because from what I think of Americans, many of them that can afford Costa Rica for a vacation would not choose to live in such rugged and rural areas. The home stay so far was very rough; as in there was an ant farm in my bed and it was so humid you could hardly breathe. This is not complaining by any means, because I prefer these kinds of trips to see how people around the world legitimately live, but for those who enjoy the comforts they often take for granted, this would be an entirely new type of vacation.
In the afternoon we took a boat tour, complete with a blinding thunderstorm, and it was very refreshing to be drenched in all the water. What was great was to meet a few fellow Americans studying at the University of Costa Rica; they really seem to be enjoying what they are doing so far. We saw massive iguanas and crocodiles in the river as well; overall it was a very pleasant afternoon.
This evening we took the time to enjoy our host families, including watching a Sylvester Stallone film "Cobra." Dinner was great, as usual, and after watching the film Kristen and I went to bed instantly. We are on the road again to Samara Beach in the morning - and I don't think this blog post can express the communal excitement to finally get to the famed beaches of Costa Rica.
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