Playa Tamarindo

This weekend was the first excursion to Playa Tamarindo! We took a 6-hour bus ride to the beach town on Friday afternoon, after Spanish classes. Tamarindo is on the northwest coast of Costa Rica:

The area is very Americanized and touristic, but very beautiful! The first night we got there it was pouring rain, but we went out dancing anyway!

After getting our fill of seafood, we had an amazing time dancing the salsa and merengue with the local Ticos. We went to a club called the Crazy Monkey with a live band--it was a great night! 

It had been so dark that night, that when we woke up on Saturday morning we were amazed to see how close our hotel was to the beach. 

Tamarindo Diria

We spent the first half of Saturday on the beach. I loved swimming in the ocean and checking out the tidal pools. Luckily it was a sunny day, and the water was warm.

The local surfers taught us the hang loose sign

The second half of the day was a tour on a catamaran. 50 of us spent the afternoon on the boat, traveling out to an island where we were able to jump off the boat and swim in the ocean! It was so neat to look out and see nothing but the horizon.

The Catamaran

The Island

On the way to the island we saw dolphins, sea turtles, and even a whale.

The sunset was absolutely beautiful, and the people in the program are so adventurous and fun to be around. I'm really thankful to have them here to experience this with me. 

Sunday morning we went on a tour of the mangroves! I loved this part of the trip because we were able to see some wildlife. We went out in motorboats and toured through some tributaries that lead into the Pacific. (If you click on the pictures you can make them bigger!)

Mangrove-dwelling crabs

Crocodile #1

Crocodile #2

Our tour guides docked the boats and we were able to walk into the bush and see some howler monkeys! The guides would clap and yell and the howler monkeys would howl back at them in these hoarse, ghostly voices. The monkeys were surprisingly small compared to their echoing voices. 

Here's a video of the howler monkey's voice:

Haha it cracks me up now, but it was pretty scary while we were standing under them.

It was a really nice weekend! I can hardly believe it has only been about a week since I arrived. With all the acclamation and adjustment, experiences to have, and new people to meet, I feel like I have been here for a month. I'm very thankful to be here. If you are thinking of studying abroad or traveling, do it. Life is so interesting--as long as you keep an open mind, you'll be happy no matter where you go.