Day 18 Graham and Mina

Hello everyone!! This is Mina and today Graham and I will be doing a joint post. I will be primarily doing the writing and Graham did a lot of photography throughout the day. This morning was busy and tiring but also extremely rewarding. We had breakfast at our hotel. Some of us ate gallo pinto and others had pancakes and fruit. After breakfast we got on a bus to head to the Children’s Eternal Rainforest. We spent the first three hours of the morning fixing the railings on the trail to make the pathway more accessible. We were fortunate enough to have a very friendly staff member helping us along the way and making sure we were doing what we could to be as helpful as possible. 

We also learned about the importance of forest conservation and how essential forest maintenance is for the wildlife species that inhabit the area. We walked to lunch around 12 and ate at a local Italian restaurant. After lunch came the moment where we had to say goodbye to Hector (our guide for the past two weeks).

This was a very emotional moment for several people in the group considering how incredible Hector has been and how close we all have gotten through the adventures we’ve shared with him. Hector if you’re reading this: we already miss you so much and can’t stress enough the positive impact your stories, lessons, jokes, and knowledge had on our journey:). We gave Hector a hand written card that we all wrote our goodbyes in and Zoe took the time to make a beautiful painting on the front (Zoe your so awesome). 

After our goodbyes to Hector we met our new guide Nilson! Nilson is just as friendly as Hector and it became clear right away he’d fit right into the group dynamic. Nilson led us on an afternoon hike through the cloud forest at Children's Eternal Rainforest. This was a very bizarre and unique experience considering many of us had never been in the clouds. Although we got rained on, the views we saw were worth it.

 After the hike we went back to our hotel and had free time until dinner. Dinner was at Tico y Rico which served a variety of Costa Rican dishes, American food, and Italian food. On our walk home from dinner we stopped at a nearby market to get anything that people in the group were in need of. Afterwards, several of us went on a night hike which was a very amazing experience that I personally never expected to have the chance to witness during our time here. Our guide helped us spot out colorful toucans, porcupines, tarantulas, a poisonous snake, and a frog! 

Although we got back to the hotel later than usual (around 10) and many of us were falling asleep on the bus ride back it was an adventure I’m sure no one who went will forget. Thank you for following along! 

 -Mina and Graham