Pura Vida

I leave for the U.S. in just one day.  Time has flown by so fast, I wish I had 4 more weeks to do some more traveling. I have truly had such a mind opening experience, and my Spanish has improved more in the last 4 weeks then all of my semesters in college combined. … Continue reading →

Costa Rican Cuisine

I decided to save all of my cuisine photos from Costa Rica for one big post.  Basically, rice and beans are served with every meal (even breakfast) but there are some other great foods as well.  Plantains and mangos are EVERYWHERE. Literally I pass around 4 mango trees just walking to school every morning. And … Continue reading →

Wildlife at Arenal

All of the wildlife I saw at Arenal was at Los Lagos, our hotel, because we didn’t venture far from there. As soon as I got off the bus at Los Lagos, a little girl ran up to me and said, “There are monkeys back there!” and she was pointing violently and telling me of … Continue reading →

Horseback riding

Los Lagos (our hotel) provides a horseback ride to the ‘lookout’, which is supposedly a really great spot to view Arenal, the volcano.  I’m an adventurous girl, so yeah, sign me up!!! Keep in mind, I have never been on the back of a horse in my life. On my way down from my room … Continue reading →

Volcan Arenal

It is sad to think that this is our last excursion, and my time in Costa Rica is almost over. ISA again provided us with the best accommodations possible at Los Lagos resort.  Complete with hot springs, an almost zoo, and a room smack dab in front of the volcano.  We were fighting clouds throughout … Continue reading →

Guide to Volcanoes

Our next and final excursion is to Arenal Volcano, one of the most active volcanoes in the world.  Here are some tips to surviving volcanoes in Costa Rica: 1) Don’t be afraid. – The chances of a volcano erupting exist, but the chances of a volcano not erupting are even greater. 2) Beware of the … Continue reading →

Touring the mangrove, and the sea

As a part of our excursion, we got to take a cruise to a remote part of the beach to do some snorkeling and noodle-ing.  I had so much fun being able to relax with my friends in ISA and forget about the stress that class can sometimes bring. Our final morning in Tamarindo, we … Continue reading →

Surfing in Costa Rica

Finally, we get to spend an entire weekend at the beach!!! There are lots of beaches in Costa Rica, but we are going to Playa Tamarindo on the Pacific side. It is a really popular tourist spot, so it can get pretty crowded.  The difference between the Caribbean side and Pacific side is that the … Continue reading →

Wildlife in Monteverde

I was so eager to meet some animals in Monteverde, that I took some buddies and we walked for what felt like days to find the sloth rescue, and the hummingbird gallery.  My guidebook listed these as the best places to look at, so I didn’t think it would be too hard to find it. But…walking … Continue reading →

Monteverde

On the weekends, we go on excursions which are little mini-vacations.  Our first excursion was this weekend to Monteverde, the cloud forest.  If all of Costa Rica had real highways, it would have only took about 3 hours to get there, but it took us 6 because outside of San José, some of the roads were … Continue reading →