Saturday, June 29, 2013


Can you believe that today was our last day in Costa Rica? Attention parents: Your children are coming home tomorrow. Have your washer, dyer and vacuums ready to clean up sweat and sand.
An ambitious group of girls woke up at the cringing hour of 5:30 am to milk the cows at Horizontes. It was a new experience for the seven of us, including your two trusty writers. It is obvious that we come from the city because of our lack of technique that the owners proudly showed off.
After breakfast, the group set off on the tractor for one hour. The ride was quite bumpy but in the end we had a guided nature hike. Our guide, Freddy, was very informative and pointed out the characteristics unique to the dry rain forest. We saw bats, fungus, and millions of types of vines that call the dry rain forest their home. Just as we thought we were not able to see monkeys, they appeared out of the trees on our way back to Horizontes. We were able to see a white faced monkey leap from tree to tree. That was really exciting!
The final event in Costa Rica was a visit to the beach. We spent a great 5 hours body surfing, hurdling and tumbling around in the waves of the Pacific Ocean. After some of us were tired of being crashed into the sand, we wandered the shoreline in small groups. We found seashells and puffer-fish that unfortunately saw the end of their days.  Many of us also tossed around a Frisbee in the ocean.  We did our best not to lose the bright orange disk in the overwhelming foam of the waves.  Dinner was served on the beach; it was a delicious barbecue of  chicken, beef, and sausage with tortillas.  The sun began to set and fill the sky with vibrant blue, purple, and orange.  A plethora of pictures were taken within the 30 minutes as the sun sunk into the horizon.  It was a bittersweet end to a wonderful trip.  It was beautiful.
Many of us are excited to return home to eat cereal and pizza, but we will miss our arroz con frijoles.  Adios Costa Rica! Pura vida! Hopefully there is a round 2 for us!
With love from your two Minnesota-bound beach girls,
Erica Salhus and Sarah Hooogenboom


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