Day 17 - More weekend travels

Word of the week: to enjoy -- disfrutar
Percent complete: 9%

Another week means another weekend excursion.  This time though, it was to a couple of different places.  But before I touch on that...

I've started to get into a groove living in Curridabat.  The group has started to venture to some new parts of San Pedro and San Jose, which has proved to be very beneficial.  We found a gem of a cafe last Friday and all sat down after class for some delicious cappuccinos.  The early start class is now officially over halfway over, too.  We have two more weeks of it, and then the rest of the group (I believe there are 7 who did not do the Early Start program) will join us at the beginning of February for an orientation class that will last the whole month.  Nothing new or different really happened this week, but I did buy a Costa Rican National Team jersey (the Central American Cup is happening right now), and a Saprissa jersey as well.  Saprissa is a club team that my host family is a fan of, so naturally I have latched on to that.  Other than all of this, same ol', same ol'.

The National Theatre in San Jose

So, as for this past weekend.  Saturday we all decided to head up to Volcán Irazú, which is northwest of San Jose.  The volcano has been inactive for a very long time, unlike the still active Volcán Arenal which we will visit next month.  It is the tallest volcano in Costa Rica and on a clear day you are able to see both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.  Unfortunately, it was about as opposite a clear day as you could have, but still really cool.  The drive up the mountain was picturesque, and the National Park itself was very nice.  I managed to get a few pictures to come out okay, but not as many as I would have liked.  Can't predict the weather though.

You can't tell a whole lot, but the water color was a mix of aqua blue and turquoise.  This is the "Crater Principal".  It was a pretty steep drop to the bottom.

The crater itself is pretty big...

Just to get a sense of the fog and of the drop off.  I kept having to wipe off my lens because it was so misty.

The "Random Animal Hanging Out of the Day" at Volcán Irazú was a coati, eating a muffin.

San Jose from the mountainside.  Lots of terrace farming, but I couldn't tell exactly what they were growing.

Overall, it was a cool experience.  

Much like the AP college basketball rankings, the AL beach rankings are constantly changing.  And much like Louisville this weekend, the previous number one rank (Manuel Antonio) went down in what is said to be an upset after holding the top spot for just a week (sound familiar, K-State?).  Sunday, our coordinators (Zaida and Isa) set up a tour for us to Isla Tortuga.  We didn't realize it was a all inclusive tour until we got there though, and were with what looked like established couples from the US on vacation, not some students just wanting to get away for the weekend.  We woke up super early and left San Jose at 6:00 am to Puntarenas, where our catamaran was docked.  The company was called Calypso, and they had all of their own facilities the whole trip (if you ever find yourself in Puntarenas and want to do something awesome for a day, I highly recommend it).  We got to the marina and had juevos rancheros and gallo pinto for breakfast with live music (they had the island-y xylophone and bongo drum and everything).  Then we all got on the catamaran for an hour and 20 minute boat ride to the island.  The boat itself was amazing as well... included a bar and some small lounging pools on the deck, as well as the typical netting to lay on over the water.  Our tour guide, Victor, explained to us the situation with the islands (Islas Tortugas): the Costa Rican government has them protected for wildlife preservation, so there is next to no development on any of them.  They get their name from their shape; unfortunately we did not see any sea turtles, but a long time ago they would use the turtle shape of the islands as a landmark to navigate back home.  One of them had a prison that they used to use as a maximum security facility for the area... pretty much the same thing as Alcatraz, and another island is actually named Isla Alcatraz for that reason.  Anyway, they served fresh fruit and drinks on the boat, and made us a fresh seafood lunch on the island.  We went snorkeling as well, and lounged out in hammocks and on the beach all day.  Like everywhere else, they had exotic animals running around.  There were some oddly colored squirrels (white and grey, pictures on my Facebook), different types of parrots and other birds, lizards, iguanas, and one girl in our group took a horseback tour to the peak of the island and saw an alligator, a few big seas turtles and very large python.  I did not do this, but wish I would have.  Just check out the pictures:

View of the island from the catamaran.

These guys played during all of the meals and sometimes randomly.










There was always at least one volleyball game going on.

Very comfortable.  Very relaxing.

There were three different types of parrots on the island.  These are macaws.

Not sure exactly what species these are, but they were fun to watch interact with one another.

The water color was stunning.  It was just like in the caribbean.

Me with our fearless leader, Victor.












The sunset over the water on the way back.







And, as always, there are a lot more pictures on my Facebook if you have access to that.

If these last two weekends are going to be the norm for the next 174 days, then this is something I could get used to very quickly.  I might have a tough time going back.  Hope all is well with everyone back in the States.  Until next week, ¡pura vida!