My first week and a half in costa rica was a whirlwind! I thought for this blog post, I’d walk you through the activities I did and things I saw in the first leg of my Costa Rica May Term group study trip!
Our first stop was Turrialba, the hometown of our tour guide, Madri. We spent 2 nights here, where we visited a local coffee brewery, the Cabécares indigenous tribe, and shopped in the farmers market for local fruits. Turrialba was a great introduction to the country!
From there, we drove to the beach town of Puerto Viejo. Located on the Caribbean coast, it had beautiful beaches, vibrant rainforests, and a calm but bustling city life. We explored all three of these things in the 3 days we spent there. We also visited the Bri Bri indigenous tribe. The cherry on top was the wildlife we could see from our hotel, like sloths and monkeys!
We drove from there to Sarapiqui. We only stayed for a day, but our time was well spent. We white water rafted here, and we could see many colorful birds from our boats as we rowed across the rapids. We also visited a chocolate farm that produced “the best chocolate in Costa Rica.” I have to admit that it was very good! The next morning we visited a pineapple plantation, then made our way to Fortuna.
Fortuna was the last stop on the first part of the trip. It was definitely my favorite part of the trip so far! We spent lots of time in the natural hot springs, generated from the heat of the Arenal volcano. We hiked to the La Fortuna waterfall (seen at top), explored the city, and zip lined over the rainforest! It was probably the most beautiful place I’ve ever been.
My time in Costa Rica so far has been a blast, keep posted to see my time spent in the Blue Zone of CR!