July 19th, 2010 |
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The weekend at the Caribbean Coast was awesome! We spent three days in paradise and now I can understand what Prof. Clarke meant when he spoke about the “paradise syndrome”. Therefore it was quite hard to return to normal life. Everybody seemed to be a bit tired, but no wonder; after the intensive days, and yes also nights, in Puerto Viejo one would expect us to be exhausted. As I opened the schedule I could not believe my eyes: “Week three already began!”.
So it was halftime and it was also the last course day with Prof. Clarke. I certainly think that he could just keep talking for another two weeks, especially if he didn’t have Mr. Clock, his nickname for me, to stop him. I already miss his interesting stories. He concluded his course with an outlook about possible links for a better future.
In the second part of the day our new class with Prof. Viroslav began. The point of view he is offering is very different and therefore very interesting. I am also looking forward to the planned field trips (wind farm and tree nursery). After Spanish class it was getting hot again. Salsa, Merengue y Cumbia estan no problema para nosotros. Salimos por la noche!
by Daniel Zadra
July 18th, 2010 |
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Once again it was time to wake up. The familiar sound of my alarm clock was calling me back to “this world” and as usual, I tried to ignore it for a while. I felt perfectly happy in my bed and didn´t want to get up for another couple of hours. Then I realized that would miss my breakfast if I stayed in bed. This idea finally got me moving and while being still half asleep, I tried to pack everything I needed for going to the beach and went to the hotel restaurant for a breakfast. I enjoyed having my favorite fried plantains, American style pancakes, gallo pinto and tropical fruits with two glasses of orange juice for breakfast. At that time I hadn´t known my plans for that morning were about to change soon.
During the time I was waiting for others to go swimming, I met Daniel who told me he was going to a sloth sanctuary. I decided to join him and a few others. Oscar, our driver, and Fico, our guide, took us to a place not far away from our hotel and we had a beautiful time watching these cute and funny creatures called sloths. There were more than fifteen of them, both babies and adults. You could notice that the baby sloth was much more curious about us than an adult one. The guide let us feed and pet one of the adult sloths which seemed to enjoy it a lot. Time went by fast and we realized we had to go back to our hotel and check out. When I arrived at my room, I found out I still have to pack all my stuff because I didn´t manage to do it during my sleepy morning. I did it as fast as possible but I still came last to our bus. We left for Puerto Viejo de Talamanca ten minutes after.
I have to say that town looked differently in daylight (we were here two days before at nighttime, dining and dancing) but still beautifully when we arrived. After agreeing to meet again at 4 pm we went to look for a nice place for lunch there and we soon found one. As it was my last day in this Caribbean “paradise” I decided to have an extraordinary lunch and ordered shrimps in coconut sauce and fresh pineapple juice. Wow, what a lovely lunch!
I was ready to go to a beach and I did so. Believe me, I have never seen a more beautiful beach in my life. Time passed by quickly and we didn´t want to leave that charming place. And we weren´t alone. When we got to our bus we learned we can stay one more hour. Great! I spent my last hour in paradise sitting on a beach, having Piňa Colada, listening to Latin music and watching people dancing salsa. Suddenly I realized how perfect this actually is and that I want to spend days like this, I wanted to STAY. I felt perfect happiness. And then came the time to say goodbye (probably forever) to Puerto Viejo. For the first time in Costa Rica I felt very sad because I had to leave that place and I really didn´t want to leave. Knowing I don’t have any other option, I got on the bus back to San Jose and let it take me somewhere I didn´t want to go. I felt disappointed and resigned. Few hours later we arrived at Parque de Tibas and I took a taxi “home”. I fell asleep quickly that night and dreamt about Puerto Viejo.
by Daniela Bartakova
July 16th, 2010 |
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The alarm went off way too early again – but I guess the excitement and anticipation for the Caribbean Coast made up for that. We left San José at 7 in the morning (plus tico time) and headed off to paradise. On our way we drove through the national park of “Braulio Carillo”, where I was again amazed by the endless different shades of green, and the only tunnel in Costa Rich, which (according to our guide) used to be the real attraction for Costa Ricans.
At one point we of course had to make a “gallo pinto” stop at a gas station to fuel up with energy. As much as this rice-and-beans breakfast seemed weird at the beginning, apparently we can’t have a day without it anymore. Feeling alive again we were ready to reach the banana plantation. At the plantation, which some observed as Banana Disneyland, we got introduced to the magical number 3 – since everything there consisted of 3 parts, had 3 problems, 3 solutions and 3 reasons. Our guide there was definitely an interesting character, that’s for sure. He took us through the history, the harvesting and the packing of the banana plants; talked about different certification they have, like ISO, SA 8000 and the Rainforest Alliance (3 again) and felt a bit annoyed by our paparazzi at the beginning.
Although we got to taste some bananas, we still felt hungry and therefore drove to Puerto Viejo. I personally felt enchanted by that small place with its sandy streets, it’s beaches with palm trees and little boats, the music and the rasta hairstyle. Plus I also learned some (maybe) valuable things – how to kill and cook a langosta and what it means to be relaxed – “0 3= cero (es)tres” – I love it!
We left Puerto Viejo for a bit to drive to our hotel and check in, but we returned for dinner – where we met a perezoso (sloth) and its baby, which totally made my night. Later on we celebrated Harriet’s and Daniel’s graduation at a great place with local music next to the beach. Felt like dreaming … hmmm … maybe it won’t stop. :-)
by Fanny Artner
