Happy Holy Week!!
How are you all? Well, I just passed the 90-day mark here in Costa Rica. Crazy, right?? I've been here for over 90 days now...man time flies. I'll be home in 27 days for graduation! I was looking back at my pictures from Westmont and I think it finally hit me that I'm done with college. I really can't believe it. No more dorms, no more meal plans, no more riding the shuttle to State St., no more late-night roomate heart-to-hearts. There are a million things I'm going to miss about Westmont. It's been my home through some of the hardest years of my life, and it's going to be sad to really say goodbye in a few weeks. But, it's on to bigger and better things, right?!?
Ok, so let's recap the past two weeks. First, a small group of us took a weekend and went to Montezuma for a couple of relaxing days. We started out with like 8 people and it ended up only being 4 of us, which was super nice. That was the smallest group I have traveled with so far and it was great. Montezuma is way up on the Nicoyan Peninsula, which is just like Baja California, but in Costa Rica. The bus ride wasn't too bad. We claimed the back row for ourselves, which was amazing. We had tons of leg room, which is non-existent on public buses, and there were no seats in front of us because there's a back door to let people out.
The bus ride was about 3 hours and then we had to get off and take a ferry across the gulf. If there wasn't a ferry to take you across, the bus ride would be like 20 hours, which is insane. The ferry ride was pretty cool. We got there just before sunset, so we watched the sunset as we rode across the gulf. After the Ferry ride, we had another hour on the bus until we reached Mal Pais.
Once we got to Mal Pais, the bus stopped. It was supposed to take us all the way to Montezuma, but they apparently changed the route and didn't tell us. So we missed the next bus that went to Montezuma. We had no choice but to take a taxi the rest of the way to Montezuma. Luckily, it was only another 10 minutes away, so it barely cost anything. The taxi dropped us off at the first hostel, which was the scariest place I've ever been. There were cockroaches EVERYWHERE, no locks on the doors, no pillow or sheets...yeah, gross. So we kept looking. We tried a few other hostels before we finally found one that was cheap and clean. We had our own room, with a lock, pillows, and sheets.
Saturday was our day to explore. It's a pretty small place, so you can walk everywhere. We wandered around for a bit before hiking to some waterfalls. The beach was beautiful and was deserted. I'm pretty sure we were the only one's there that weekend!
We asked a few locals about the waterfalls that were around this area. Everyone told us that the best waterfall was only a 15 minute walk on a trail, so we decided to go for that one. As we started the "walk" we saw no trail whatsoever. We were literally rock climbing through a river bed, dodging loose rocks and trying not to fall into the water. It was terrible, but we had gone so far already, we had to finish. We finally reached the waterfall after and hour and a half of hiking through rocks. Once we got there, everyone told us where the actual trail was. It took 10 minutes to walk back. Lame. But it was a good metaphor for life. How often do we make things more difficult than they need to be? I'm pretty sure God was looking down on us and was laughing. But the result was worth it. It was beautiful.
We left on the Saturday night bus, which was nice because we still had Sunday to go to church and do homework. When we got on the bus, there were already people sitting in the back row, but after the ferry ride, we RAN to get on the bus first and reclaim our back row. It was comical. Once again, another wonderful weekend!!!
Ok, now this past week. SEMANA SANTA!!!!! For spring break, we decided to spoil ourselves a bit and take a really nice vacation to PANAMA!!!! We met this guy at church who plans trips for students. Since we are here for so long, we have to clear our visas after 90 days, which means we have to leave the country for 72 hours. So we told Mark what we wanted to do and he planned the entire trip for us. We had a private microbus, which is AMAZING after taking public buses everywhere. We could spread out, sleep without anyone stealing our stuff, listen to the radio....it was total luxury. The ride to the border was about 4 hours, which was a fraction of the time it would have taken on a public bus. Something we didn't know was that the border actually closes. Closes? That's right, it closes at 5 pm. Well, wouldn't you believe that we got there literally at 4:55 pm. Once you get to the border, you get a stamp for leaving Costa Rica, then you walk across the border, and get a stamp for entering Panama. We had five minutes for 8 people to do all of this.
We had to walk on foot across the border, which is Rio Panama. So to cross, you have to walk on this bridge, which was a little terrifying. And we basically had to run across because the other side was about to close. 
Once we crossed the bridge, we had to wait in line for a tourist visa and a stamp in our passports. The lady had already packed up and was locking the door and we ran up. We begged her to let us cross before she left for the day. She was nice enough to re-open her office and let us cross, even though it was technically closed for the night! After we got our visas, we went back outside to get our passports stamped. It was ridiculously hot. 
All in all, our border crossing was eventful and successful. We all made it across and got our visas cleared. After we crossed the border, we had another hour ride in the car. We were going to a place called Bocas Del Toro, which are a group of Islands off the mainland of Panama. So to get there, we had to take a water taxi. I hadn't done this since being in Italy a million years ago, so I was excited! After the water taxi ride, we arrived on Bocas Del Toro, the most popular of the Panamanian Islands. It's a pretty small place, so the walk to our hotel was only about 5 minutes. By all American standards, our hotel would have been considered average at best. But after staying in Hostels for so long, this hotel was wonderful. We were split into two rooms of 4 people, and we each had a nice bed with real sheets, an amazing bathroom, a TV, and fridge, a safe, AND most importantly, AIR CONDITIONING!!!!! This was the sole feature that sold me. I can't explain how hot it was, so the AC was a lifesaver. It was pretty late by the time we got there, so we just got some dinner, walked around town for a bit, and hung out in our hotel room. Day One: The next morning, we woke up early to figure out what kinds of tours we wanted to do. All of the tours cost $20, but we were able to talk them down to $15 per person since there were 8 of us. Oh yeah, they only use dollars in Panama, which was really strange. I've been using colones for so long, it was weird to use dollars again! So our first day, we took a water taxi to Dolphin Cove, Crawl Cay, Red Frog Beach, and Hospital Point.
Dolphin Cove was the first stop for day one. The cove itself is pretty big, so I wasn't expecting much. As we pulled into the cove, our driver turned of the boat and we just sat there for a few minutes. Next thing I know, dolphins are coming from everywhere! They swim in groups, so you see like 3 or 4 at a time. It was amazing. They came right up to our boat! It was really cool to see them so close. 
Before we went to Red Frog beach, we stopped at this little restaurant for lunch. It was this awesome deck that went around the whole place and down to some other place. It was perfect for taking pictures, so we had a little photoshoot!
After lunch, we went to Crawl Cay to snorkel. I don't really know what Crawl Cay is, but it was a perfect place for snorkeling. The water was pretty deep in some places, but it was so clear that you could see everything! We saw all kinds of sea cucumbers, starfish, cool fish, shells, and lots more.
After snorkeling, we went to a place called Red Frog Beach. This beach is known for all of the tiny little red frogs that live here. While it was beautiful, we saw no red frogs! Some of the locals said that it was too hot, and the frogs were buried deep in the forest to stay cool. The water perfect for swimming. Not too warm, but comfortable enough to float in. It was also very shallow so you could walk out like a mile and still be touching the ground.
After red frog beach, we started on our way back to Bocas. We stopped at this island called Hospital Point. There isn't really anything there except a hospital (shocking, right?), but it was a very beautiful island. Then it was back to Bocas. That night, we went out to dinner and shopped for some souvenirs. We got some ice cream for dessert and headed back to the hotel. In my room were Hannah, Serena, and Jessica. We had a great time goofing off in the room. I think we were all a little loopy from so much sun, so were being silly. Then it was bed time.Day Two: Bird Island, Bocas Del Drago, and Playa Estrella. The second day, we did another tour with the same guy for another $15 per person. So instead of spending $40 on tours, we only spent $30!! We started off by going to Bocas Del Drago, which means dragon mouth. This place was really cool. There were different beaches that you could walk to, and a bunch of cute little hotels. After we had been walking around for a bit, we all started to feel things poking our feet. I sat down and looked at the bottom of my feet and saw a million little pieces of something like fiber glass sticking out. Apparently, it's called Bocas Del Drago (dragon mouth) because of these little creatures that live in the sand. They shoot these spiny splinters into your feet when you step on them. It feels like you are walking on shards of glass. Not nice, spiny creatures, not nice. Even with sandals on, they manage to get you somehow.
After Bocas Del Drago, we had some lunch and went to Playa Estrella. This beach is famous for its starfish, hence the name "Star beach". They are huge and are everywhere! They breathe in the water, so there weren't any on the sand, but there were a million in the water. You could pick them up and move them, but they could only be out of the water for about a minute.
Playa Estrella was one of the highlights of the trip. I have never seen anything like it. After looking at all the starfish, we snorkeled in the deeper water and saw sting ray's! It was totally cool! After Playa Estrella, we went to bird Island. I'm not sure what the significance is for Bird Island, but apparently it's pretty famous. I had never heard of it before. On the way there, we passed this "hotel" that is on stilts in the water. They are little bungalows that you rent for as long as you want. We thought it was cool until we hear how much is costs...then it's appeal went waaaaay down.
Bird Island was pretty cool. I was a little bummed that we couldn't walk around or anything. I guess you aren't allowed to swim or anything here. There really were a million birds though. I'm not a fan of birds, but this was pretty cool. It reminded me of a scene from Pirates.
After Bird Island, we headed back to Bocas for the night. We found this American sports bar where we had dinner (chili cheese fries and hot dogs, yum), watched some baseball, and played darts. We walked around town one more time looking for any last minutes deals, and headed back to the hotel. Again, we had a couple hours of goofiness before crashing for the night.
Monday morning, we slept in for a bit, had some breakfast, and headed home to Costa Rica. This was probably my favorite trip so far. I had an incredible time with my friends, and experiencing Panama was amazing. If you are looking for a cheap vacation, GO TO PANAMA!! I barely spent any money and had the trip of a lifetime. I took a gazillion pictures and had the greatest time.
Here are two links for more Panama pictures!
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2029190&id=65800791&l=27246d373e
and
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2029193&id=65800791&l=c5124b016f
xoxo
