About 4 hours after our departure from San Jose on Friday, we arrived at Los Establos Resort in Monteverde! The Resort was gorgeous! We had an amazing view of the Monteverde Cloud Forest and (when it wasn't cloudy) the Nicoya Bay!
After checking in, we went to our assigned rooms, basked in our nice living quarters briefly, and headed down to the resort restaurant for a huge buffet dinner! All our meals were included this past weekend, which means all of us probably gained about 10 pounds after less than 3 days of the hotel meals. The buffet was big and delicious, and who can resist overeating at a buffet? After dinner, we took a shuttle back up to our rooms (the resort was on a very steep incline), and some of us laid down to look at the stars. I wanted so badly to take a picture of it! It was kind of cloudy, but we could see the majority of the Milky Way. Absolutely gorgeous!
The next morning, I woke up, ate breakfast with some friends, and some of the students then headed out to the canopy tour! It was a blast! After about 7 or 8 ziplines (I lost track), we did a Tarzan swing. It was such a huge adrenaline rush! The workers don't give you time to back out, however. So as soon as you walk up, they start fastening you in, and before you know it, you're free falling for about 5 seconds until the rope catches you and you swing back and forth. The workers also try to distract you while they're fastening you in. When I walked up, one of them told me that I had "ojos lindos" (pretty eyes) and asked me what colors were in them. I loved the compliment until I got to the bottom and the other girls were talking about how he told them they had "ojos lindos" as well -- haha!
After the canopy tour, we returned to the resort to eat a quick lunch, then headed out to the Cloud Forest to go for a hike! I'm still sore from it! We hiked for about an hour and a half, reaching an elevation around 4,500 feet! The trek was well worth it! I actually stood on the continental divide once we reached the top! Actually, only 2% of the Earth's surface is covered by cloud forests. We didn't see a lot of wildlife because we went around 3 (most wildlife comes out at dusk or dawn), but the vegetation was beautiful, as was the Divide!
We returned to the hotel, and a bunch of us went to the so-called "heated" pool. No es cierto! (False!) It was colder outside of the pool than inside, guaranteed. However, my cold-natured body acquired permanent goosebumps Saturday! It was chilly and rainy all day long (hence the rainforest)! As soon as I got back to my room, I filled up the bathtub with piping hot water and jumped right in! Perfect after a long day! I got ready, headed down to dinner, hung out with some friends for a little while, and headed to bed. I wasn't feeling too hot. I'm not sure if it was my lack of sleep or the cold weather, but I felt a bit of a cold coming on, and I wasn't about to push it. Can't be sick in Costa Rica!
The next morning, a few friends and I ate breakfast and walked around for a little bit. I went back up to the room and laid in my amazingly comfortable bed, packed up, ate lunch, and then headed back to San Jose. It was such a relaxing weekend!
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