Day 4 - Pura Vida

Today we woke up early, had breakfast and got on the bus to Puntarenas. We went to a beach called Punta Leona and we were looking forward to a fun day at the beach and zip-lining. The other option for our free day was to go white water rafting. The bus ride was about 2 hours and we saw beautiful mountain scenery and saw a river with salt-water crocodiles in it. After we arrived, we went straight to the beach, played Frisbee, took some pictures and went walking on the beach. We found some coconuts, broke them open and tried the milk inside. We then walked to the other beach nearby, Playa Blanca with white sand. We took a shortcut and started walking down the beach in the waves. As we were walking in the waves, somehow I walked straight into a hole and fell 3 feet deep into the water. My camera was soaked. We kept going down the beach and then returned because we had an appointment for zip-lining at 11am. We got into our harnesses, had our helmets and went on a 10-minute hike through the rainforest. We arrived at the first platform and flew down the 10 cables in about an hour. After the 6^th cable, they let us go upside-down. It was a great feeling. Every time we arrived and they unharnessed us at that platform they would say “Pura Vida!” a saying common in Costa Rica. Then they asked if the girls we were with were single. I just told them no. We then drove back to the main restaurant for a buffet lunch and we had some great pasta, pork, and fish tacos. I asked the people at the buffet for some uncooked rice and a small bag. I put my camera in the bag and we will see if it is ok tomorrow. After lunch, we took a shuttle up to the Playa Blanca. On the way we saw some iguanas and some strange animal that is like a large cat /raccoon thing with a long tail. Apparently later in the day one would eat a Luna bar out of someone’s backpack! Then Forrest, Catherine and I rented snorkel equipment and jumped in. We saw tons of brightly colored fish, some were quite large, maybe 3 feet long. We also saw an eel. After snorkeling, Strud and I went around the bay in a kayak and had a great time. As we walked back down the beach, we saw an awesome palm tree and took some pictures. Then we went back by the shortcut to get back to the bus to come back the SCORE Coronado facility where we are staying. As we got over the hill of the shortcut, we noticed that the beach that was previously there was gone! The tide had come up, and now it was just rocks and waves for about 50 yards. Forrest and Catherine and Andrew went ahead and braved the waves and rocks, and Strud and I helped the other people we were with to make it safely across. We had quite an adventure and we almost fell into the water with all of our stuff several times. We made it safely yelling “Pura Vida” the whole time because it was quite an adventure! Then we had a 2 hour bus ride home, had dinner and small group and I talked to Tara for a while and now it’s time for bed. Here are some of the pictures I was able to get before my camera fell in the water. The memory card works, but we will find out tomorrow if the camera works!