Punta Leona!

So the reason I have not posted in a while is that A) I have been busy with projects and such and B) I WENT TO THE BEACH this weekend! OMG talk about a much needed descanso from real life here in dirty San Jose. We all met up at U Latina at 8AM on Friday to leave for Puntarenas...they failed to mention that our hike would take place before we got to the resort (Thank goodness I was wearing jeans already, but I had to dig out my hiking boots and repellant and such). Talk about HOT it was so humid and warm I thought we might die before ever getting on the hike, but I have started to believe more and more that this glistening glow from the sweat is kind of attractive (just saying).

When we first met our guide he asked for us to quickly get out of the bus and I ran because that meant seeing wildlife...which I am obsessed with. I got to see two King Vultures (baby ones) flying high in the sky and supposedly this is meant to be a good omen....who knows what good may happen this coming week. We had a discussion about deforestation before heading off on our hike, where we were able to distinguish between the new growth and the old forest/jungle. This national park is gorgeous (Carara). Although we did not see a whole ton of fauna, I was able to see tons of interesting fungi, insects, and plant species. The hike was kind of hilarious and the mud was definitely interesting, but it allowed us to all bond and become more close.

After sweating to death in the jungle and not getting eaten alive by mosquitoes (THANK GOODNESS)...we met up with Nina, a professor who would be touring us around Puntarenas and having lunch with us, to go to the most quaint beach side restaurant. I had the most delicious ceviche, garlic shrimp, fresh mango juice and mussels. Lunch was so much fun and the conversation was absolutely ridiculous on our side of the table jumping from plastic surgery to our religious beliefs and upbringing. Our group is super open (for the most part), which makes it easy to get to know one another and have interesting conversations at the same time.

When we left the restaurant I am not going to lie I was ready for bed, but no we had a tour of the small maritime town that is sandwiched between a river and the beach. The town was quaint and very quiet. We walked around and were recounted some history about the town. I was really interested in all of the art/sculptures they have around and took no time in examining them. We finally loaded up the micro-bus and decided to head on down to Punta Leona (the resort!).

Punta Leona is a private club/resort, but the beaches on the property are public beaches, but since it was developed as a club, residents of the town are not allowed to swim there. The property is expansive and also acts as an ecological reserve. I had decided previously to room with Briel, but as fortune would have it we were assigned to the same room already haha. The rooms were incredibly nice (HOT WATER) and after we figured out where the buffet was for our meals, we were set. After dinner, everybody decided it was time to start getting their drink on, but I decided to pay for internet so I could talk to Alex (because we were talking the night before and my internet died...and I missed him DUH).

I am actually really glad I don't drink, it causes a lot of unnecessary problems and I personally think it brings out the worst in people. We had an extra suite because of the 19, so they decided to triple up and use it as a drinking/party hub. The first night I stayed in the whole time and went to sleep, the second night I went to the room for like 10 minutes and realized I didn't even want to be around them (no offense I love them all just not under the influence).

Anyways Saturday=beach day, which was much needed. I spent all day on the playa blanca (white sand beach), some of the afternoon at the playa negra (black sand...in my opinion dirty beach) and finished the night off in the pool teaching Victoria how to swim. I am literally a fish and water is my element. I am so relaxed right now from spending all of this time in the water...I feel rejuvenated. Davis, Victoria, Briel and I played a card game called Killa...it was tons of fun and I won the second round as a rookie. It was pretty exciting...except I totally screwed up the next round haha por supuesto.

The day was action packed and we had Latin dancing lessons in the afternoon and a plethora of activities to entertain ourselves. At dinner we were joined by a raccoon sort of animal, who was very friendly and wanted to make himself right at home at our table. Ben would have nothing to do with it and started to bark at him, but I think that may have been the shots talking haha. Dinner was okay my paella had some more than questionable bites in it and the papaya was not good....oh well I should't be the typical complainer American. I sucked it up and had a smaller meal.

Instead of Karaoke and such I decided it was a more wise decision for me to get to bed early, which paid off in full because this morning I went to breakfast at 7:30 with Briel and we were able to eat with the monkeys and these other raccoon like animals. It was so AMAZING I did more watching that eating. There was a monkey with a baby on its back and they were so playful. At exactly 8AM like clockwork they retreated back into the jungle for safety. We decided to head down to the beach for one last hurrah before heading back to San Jose. While Briel and I were cleaning up our room waiting for the maid to come check us out, a huge branch off of a tree fell on top of roof scaring us half to death. The damage was minimal and we checked out successfully. On the way home we stopped at an estuary and were able to walk across a bridge and look down on numerous crocodiles...awesome!

I am now home safe and sound in San Jose...relaxing and resting up for this week. I can't believe I have been here for 10 days now, but time is going to fly by.