(I wrote this two weeks ago, but it took me a while to get all the photos up...)
WOAH so much has happened in the past bunch of weeks! As I mentioned in my last post, we had two weeks of spring break, during which I did three main trips. I then returned to Monteverde for four days of school then had bonus vacation- a long weekend camping on the beach with my host family! I would love so much to write out every detail for you all, but I’ll spare both your and my time and instead let my photos do most of the talking this time. They're all in the slideshow below!
Part One: Nicaragua
I spent most of the week in Granada, which has all the feel of a Latin American city that I’ve been missing being in Monteverde. I could have happily walked around the entire week just gawking at the breathtaking colonial architecture, visiting all the phenomenal historical and art museums, eating sliced mango in a bag. I was fortunate enough, though, to be able to do a lot of other incredible things, too!
Part Two: Camping on the Beach with my Host Family #1: Unexpected
After a long, sweaty, day-long trip busing over the boarder and through Costa Rica to meet up with my family in Quebrada Ganado, a beach town, all I wanted was a shower and a comfy bed. I should know by now to not have such ideas when it comes to doing things with my family! I was picked up from the bus station by my host dad and whisked away to the beach, where there was no bed or shower or relief from the heat in sight- we were camping! It was totally unexpected, but turned out to be a blast.
Part Three: Mt. Chirripó
I went with another intern down to Chirripó National Park in hopes of climbing Mt. Chirripó. Standing at 3820m (12,533 ft), it’s the highest peak in Costa Rica and the 38th most prominent peak in the world. Good thing I don’t have to use many words to describe this to you because I honestly don’t sufficient enough adjectives to tell you how incredibly beautiful this trip was. Though choosing which pictures to share isn’t much easier…!
After two mornings of waiting early in line outside of the park office and two days of lazing around San Gerardo, we managed to get a two-day pass to hike up the mountain! We started our hike early on Thursday morning to get up to the Crestones Base Camp (15 STEEP km) before there was any chance of rain in the afternoon. Turns out we didn’t get any rain the whole two days (though it apparently poured all day in San Gerardo on Thursday- how lucky that it didn’t reach us!). Once we got there, I spent the afternoon outside napping, reading, and mostly just staring in amazement at the views around me.
After a cold, restless night of non-sleep, we started at 3:30 on Friday morning to hike the remaining 5km to the peak, so we could get there as the sun was rising. Lighted only by the rounds splotches of light from our flashlights, the hike went by pretty quickly. It was so incredible to see the sun slowly lighting up the towering mountains and shining lakes around us. Then, any tiredness that I was feeling from all of the hiking and lack of sleep was completely washed away climbing up those final rocks to get to the peak. I won’t even try to explain with my words- I wish the photos could capture for you the feeling up being up there so high!
This was definitely the longest (approx. 27 miles), most exhausting (about a 7,000 foot ascent), and sweatiest hike I have ever been on, but also the most phenomenal. How does this world hold so much beauty?? Also, fun fact to put the soreness of my body in perspective: There’s an annual running race up the mountain, from the center of San Gerardo to Crestones Base Camp (15 km up) and back down. The men’s record time is right around three hours and the women’s is at about four and a half. Can you believe that?! I can’t even imagine.
BONUS Part Four: Camping on the Beach with my Host Family #2: Prepared!
We had a long weekend following our two weeks off, so my host family brought me with them on their trip to the beach. This time I was prepared to be camping, and oh how prepared my family was! I should have taken a photo of all the bags we brought with us- a total of twelve four five people spending not even three full days at the beach! It was a wonderfully restful weekend full of eating, reading, swimming, talking, and taking long walks along the beautiful and empty beach.
I hope you've all been having equally enjoyable days! <3
WOAH so much has happened in the past bunch of weeks! As I mentioned in my last post, we had two weeks of spring break, during which I did three main trips. I then returned to Monteverde for four days of school then had bonus vacation- a long weekend camping on the beach with my host family! I would love so much to write out every detail for you all, but I’ll spare both your and my time and instead let my photos do most of the talking this time. They're all in the slideshow below!
Part One: Nicaragua
I spent most of the week in Granada, which has all the feel of a Latin American city that I’ve been missing being in Monteverde. I could have happily walked around the entire week just gawking at the breathtaking colonial architecture, visiting all the phenomenal historical and art museums, eating sliced mango in a bag. I was fortunate enough, though, to be able to do a lot of other incredible things, too!
Part Two: Camping on the Beach with my Host Family #1: Unexpected
After a long, sweaty, day-long trip busing over the boarder and through Costa Rica to meet up with my family in Quebrada Ganado, a beach town, all I wanted was a shower and a comfy bed. I should know by now to not have such ideas when it comes to doing things with my family! I was picked up from the bus station by my host dad and whisked away to the beach, where there was no bed or shower or relief from the heat in sight- we were camping! It was totally unexpected, but turned out to be a blast.
Part Three: Mt. Chirripó
I went with another intern down to Chirripó National Park in hopes of climbing Mt. Chirripó. Standing at 3820m (12,533 ft), it’s the highest peak in Costa Rica and the 38th most prominent peak in the world. Good thing I don’t have to use many words to describe this to you because I honestly don’t sufficient enough adjectives to tell you how incredibly beautiful this trip was. Though choosing which pictures to share isn’t much easier…!
After two mornings of waiting early in line outside of the park office and two days of lazing around San Gerardo, we managed to get a two-day pass to hike up the mountain! We started our hike early on Thursday morning to get up to the Crestones Base Camp (15 STEEP km) before there was any chance of rain in the afternoon. Turns out we didn’t get any rain the whole two days (though it apparently poured all day in San Gerardo on Thursday- how lucky that it didn’t reach us!). Once we got there, I spent the afternoon outside napping, reading, and mostly just staring in amazement at the views around me.
After a cold, restless night of non-sleep, we started at 3:30 on Friday morning to hike the remaining 5km to the peak, so we could get there as the sun was rising. Lighted only by the rounds splotches of light from our flashlights, the hike went by pretty quickly. It was so incredible to see the sun slowly lighting up the towering mountains and shining lakes around us. Then, any tiredness that I was feeling from all of the hiking and lack of sleep was completely washed away climbing up those final rocks to get to the peak. I won’t even try to explain with my words- I wish the photos could capture for you the feeling up being up there so high!
This was definitely the longest (approx. 27 miles), most exhausting (about a 7,000 foot ascent), and sweatiest hike I have ever been on, but also the most phenomenal. How does this world hold so much beauty?? Also, fun fact to put the soreness of my body in perspective: There’s an annual running race up the mountain, from the center of San Gerardo to Crestones Base Camp (15 km up) and back down. The men’s record time is right around three hours and the women’s is at about four and a half. Can you believe that?! I can’t even imagine.
BONUS Part Four: Camping on the Beach with my Host Family #2: Prepared!
We had a long weekend following our two weeks off, so my host family brought me with them on their trip to the beach. This time I was prepared to be camping, and oh how prepared my family was! I should have taken a photo of all the bags we brought with us- a total of twelve four five people spending not even three full days at the beach! It was a wonderfully restful weekend full of eating, reading, swimming, talking, and taking long walks along the beautiful and empty beach.
I hope you've all been having equally enjoyable days! <3
RSS Feed