Day 9 - The Calm After the Storm

After waking up early to finish packing and getting ready to leave Finca La Anita, we hiked over to enjoy our final breakfast of eggs, potatoes, and juice. Once everyone was fed and the panic of running over to our cabins to collect the rest of our stuff was over, we said our goodbyes and loaded up into the vans and left for Horizontes.

Like any normal bus ride through Costa Rica, the trip was full of dance parties and weird music. Understandably, everyone was hungry, so we stopped at a shopping mall to get snacks from nearby stores. Knowing full well we would have a have lunch once we arrived our destination, we still filled up with chips, coconuts, and fresh quesadillas. Every time you looked out of the window while driving through the Costa Rican countryside, all you would see is beautiful trees surrounding high mountain tops with clouds breaking through the peaks.

Since arriving at Horizontes, we ate lunch, found bugs and snakes, and ate mangoes fresh from the trees surrounding our cabins. Until our lesson, we were free to roam around and discover all different kinds of wildlife, including massive ant colonies, snakes, and wasps eating the dropped mangoes under the trees. Continuing our experience at Horizontes, we went into the classroom to begin our education on sea turtles and how the process of researching them goes. Kindly introducing herself, Veronica educated us on the different species of sea turtles and instructed us on the process of patrolling the beach for sea turtles tonight. Supper will come soon; until then, we have time to play soccer, hang out, and explore more of Horizontes. 

Despite being in a completely different environment, there was still clear variance in the different species on wildlife. Interestingly enough, our day is barely half over, as tonight after dinner we will be heading over to the beach to try and find sea turtles. Considering our time at the beach, we will be bringing blankets and red light flashlights (because white light repels sea turtles) and breaking up into three groups to patrol the beach. Knowing how to go about our searching and research tonight, we are ready for a fun-packed and long night at the beach keeping an eye out for sea turtles.

Jake Rizzo

 (You should really zoom in on Rhys's face)

                                                                      (Good game)

                                                             (Almost missed these guys)

                                                               (Logan being helpful...I think)

                                                        (The coalition of soccer-moms)

                                                                 (An intense match)

                                    (Rhys makes the most dramatic faces when playing soccer)

Photos by Mariah Farley