Costa Rica - Day 8
Our last day in Costa Rica is over, how sad!
We are leaving the hotel at 3:30 am, so I will definitely fall asleep on the airplane.
I have really enjoyed this place, the trip and my class but I am also excited to go home now. It's going to be the first time I'm in Sweden since the end of December... Long time no see!
I have learned so much about chemistry and biology and I am so glad that I went on this trip.
This morning we woke up at 5:30 to go look at parrots. We saw a whole bunch of them, wild in nature. It was really cool!
If you look closely you can see them on this picture that I unfortunately couldn't turn...
After breakfast it was time to get in the bus and head back to San José. We made several stops along the way. At the first stop we went over a bridge and saw around 30 wild crocodiles, and they were big too! That was awesome.
We stopped at a province called Sarchí which is Costa Rica's most famous craft center, it was founded in the 19th century. Their speciality is oxcarts. We went on a tour in the woodworking factory, it was still powered by water and we watched the impressively skilled people paint the crafts.
It was very interesting.
We also saw the world's largest oxcart which was in a park in the same city.
Impressive craft!
After this the bus drove us to a coffee plantation where we had a guided tour in which they explained the whole process of making coffee. We got to try many different kinds of coffee and it was all really good and fresh. It was very interesting and I learned a lot. For example that you should always keep the coffee in the bag that you bought it in and seal it after use to protect the coffee from moist and oxygen.
This is how the coffee plant grows from a white seed to a plant.
Tomorrow by this time I will be in Lakeland, and on saturday I will be home, finally.
This is my last journal notes about this trip and I want to thank my professor, Dr. Banner, for making this trip possible, and to such a great experience!
From now on I will be writing in Swedish again and therefore be able to express myself a little more clear.
Lastly I would like to recommend everyone to go to Costa Rica, it is a beautiful country that has everything that a vacation needs, wonderful beaches, surfing, rain forests and nice people.
Costa Rica - Day 7 (again)
I messed up the day counting a little someway...
Anyways,
Beach day!
We woke up early to drive to the Central Pacific Coast and Manuel Antonio National Park. Yesterday I messed it up a little, again, we stay at the Central Pacific Coast too, not the other side, I was a little lost... Anyways, Manuel Antonio National Park is one of the most popular national parks in Costa Rica, and it was founded in 1972.
It was a very beautiful place and we stayed at the beach there all day. Before we entered the park we got warned about the monkeys, our guide said that they are really smart and they will work together to try to steal your food. At the end of our stay a group of Capuchin monkeys came and tried to distract us to steal our food, too bad we already ate it all! But it was very interesting to watch. We also saw a so called Jesus Christ lizard, which runs on its back legs and can also run on the water surface. And a raccoon stole a banana from one of our group members.
Common basilisk or Jesus Christ lizard.
Looks kinda like a dinosaur?
The cute monkeys.
We also say some baby monkeys and they were even cuter.
The beach in the national park, my group is enjoying the water.
When we went back I had a coconut to drink for just a dollar, great deal.
I've heard that's supposed to be really healthy too.
I has been a great day and even I got a nice tan. Tomorrow we are going back to San José which means that this trip is almost over, how sad!
Costa Rica - Day 7
Today we drove to a new place located at the beach on the north eastern coast.
It was about 4 hours in the bus but I think time went by pretty fast since the nature outside our windows was so beautiful to watch. We stopped by the sea in a little town and I bought a smoothie that consisted of milk and guavana, it also had guavana slices in it. I have never had guavana before, it was a pretty sour fruit but still delicious!
We arrived at our new hotel, which has two swimming pools, and one of them has a bar in it! It is also right next to the beach and the rooms are really nice. I really like this new hotel.
Since I did not sign up for the crocodile tour I had the afternoon off. I spent the rest of my day walking in the town, walking on the beach and laying by the pool.
Costa Rica - Day 6
What a day!
Even though the scorpion scared the crap out of me I was able to get a good nights sleep. The first thing we did today was planting a tree for EF tours. This is a symbloic thing they do to show that you care about nature and the preserving of the forest. Costa Rica was badly affected by the shoveling of forest and the total area of forest was down to 30 % of the country's total area. But now Costa Rica consists of 54 % forest because of many projects to conserve the wildlife and diversity. I planted a tree that was related to avocado and it will in about ten years (if it survives) serve as a food source for mammals and birds.Unfortunately the internet connection is pretty bad so I cannot upload any pictures.
After we all planted our different kinds of trees the bus drove us to a cloud forest. There are three main typed of forests in Costa Rica, rain forest, cloud forest and dry forest. Cloud forests are, as it sounds like, up in the clouds. Therefore it is very humid and moist and also a lot colder than the rainforest since it has a higher altitude. The cloud forest had even more plants and seemed even more living than the rainforest that we went to the other day.
After this we headed back to the hotel for lunch, and changed to long pants to go and do what I have been looking forward to the most with this trip, the zip line canopy tour!
It was one of the most amazing but also scaring things I have ever done. We went on 13 zip lines, high up in the air, the longest one was 1 km, over the trees and literally through the clouds. It was so awesome and I already want to do it again. You had a belt around your waist and a bunch of safety ropes and also a helmet. The guides attached you to the zip line and then you flew away. It was really cool to see the cloud forest from that prespective and something that I will never forget.
An unpleasant surprise
Last night I went to wash my face in the sink, and I as I had my head down in the sink I opened my eyes and saw a GIANT FREAKING SCORPION crawling up the drain!!!
I have never ever had a chock like that one I had last night.
I though I had a heart attack!
I screamed out loud and jumped up on Liana's bed. I was so chocked and shaky that I couldn't get a work out. I was just breathing really hard and shivering. Since I didn't say what it was my roommates thought it was a cockroach and went to go check the bathroom. Dr. Banner also came in right when all this happened and she confirmed that it was a scorpion in our sink.
A freaking scorpion.
A big one too.
I have never even seen a scorpion before, and to see a 1 dm long one right in front of my face was not really a pleasant experience.
But I'm alive, haha!
Costa Rica - Day 4
Today has been a day of traveling.
We drove for four hours to Mont Verde, where we are going to spend the next two days.
After lunch at the hotel we had class for two hours where we learned about Shamans, alkaloids and frogs.
After class we got the rest of the day off to do whatever we wanted so me and some other girls walked to downtown and bought ice cream.
That's pretty much it for today!
Hope all of you back home are ready to welcome me back when I arrive to Karlskoga in exactly one week!
Costa Rica - Day 3
Today has been another really exciting day in this wonderful country.
We started up the day by waking up way to early since we put the alarm in the wrong time zone... The second wake up call was right though, 5:30 am.
After a breakfast consisting of rice and beans we took the bus to go look at a real rainforest. The forest we went to yesterday was not a rain forest but a cloud forest.
There are two main types of rainforest, primary and secondary. Primary rainforest has never been touched by humans so all the trees are very tall and old. A secondary rainforest is a forest that has once been cut down, or partly cut down, by humans and is now slowly growing back. The main differences between these two types of forest is that the old one has higher trees, and not as many things growing on the ground since the high trees has leaves that let almost no sunlight pass through to the ground. A secondary rain forest though has a lot of things growing on the ground and seem to be more impenetrable.
Sadly, for some reason, I took all my pictures in the wrong format today, camera RAW, and I cannot convert them on this computer and therefore not upload them. I'm sorry about that.
So at our first stop in the rainforest we walked in both secondary and primary rainforest and we saw a lot of different plants and animals, for example; monkeys, lizards, rainforest pigs, poison arrow frogs, bullet ants, cashew nuts, cacao trees, and also a lot of mosquitos.
Rice and beans were served for lunch at a local restaurant.
We made the second stop at a waterfall. The most fascinating and beautiful of nature's creations that I have ever seen. To get down to the waterfall we had to walk on 500 thin and slippery steps, it wasn't too bad to get down. It was worse to get back up. Since I am such a competitive person I didn't hesitate when D'Anna purposed that we should try to run all the way up. So we did. And I made it! Even though I got really sweaty and my legs were burning... People probably though we were out of our minds but hey, that's fine! And I got a great work out.
After that work out we went to a SPA kinda thing, with several pools, jacuzzis, waterfalls and bars that were all heated up by water that came from near a volcano. Some pools were so hot I couldn't even get in them. We spent about three hours in the water and it was refreshing, relaxing and awesome in general.
After this day with so many great experiences I am now looking forward to a good night sleep and a not so busy day tomorrow. We don't have to go to breakfast until 7 and we also have a four hour bus ride that will take us to the next city.
Costa Rica - Day 2
Today has been another long but exciting day.
We woke up at 6 am, packed our bags and went to breakfast. We had fresh fruit for breakfast, something that I really like with Costa Rica is all the fresh and delicious fruit.
It has been many hours on the bumpy bus today which unfortunately made me a little motion sick sometimes.
Our first stop was at INBio, which is "The National Biodiversity Institute (INBio) of Costa Rica is a private research and biodiversity management center, established in 1989 to support efforts to gather knowledge on the country’s biological diversity and promote its sustainable use. The institute works under the premise that the best way to conserve biodiversity is to study it, value it, and utilize the opportunities it offers to improve the quality of life of human beings."
We went on a jungle safari, looked at butterflies, frogs and snakes.
It was really cool to be so close to the "jungle".
Jungle picture that wouldn't turn...
After looking at lots of interesting medicinal plants the bus drove us to a coffee plantation and of course I had to try a cup of their own coffee. It was simply the most delicious coffee I have ever tried in my entire life.
Our third stop was at a volcano. Luckily it was not foggy outside today so we got a good view of the crater. Though I have to point out how terrible it smelled with all the volcanic gas that filled the air.
We had beans and rice for lunch at a cute little Costa Rican restaurant and I gave them a 20 kronor bill from Sweden since they had a collection of international bills on the wall.
When the sun set the bus took us to our next hotel, Carmela Hotel, which is super cute and has a swimming pool.
We had beans, rice and mango juice for dinner.
Tomorrow we are going to walk a lot in the nature.
I am excited!
We have to wake up at 5:30, which I'm not as excited for...
All pictures are taken with my Sony alpha 35.
Costa Rica - Day 1
I am attending a course in Costa Rica right now.
The course is about medical compounds in the rain forest and as part of the grade we are asked to write a journal. I figured I would just use my blog as my journal, so that you all can read too, and I would not have to write about my day twice. Smart, huh?
As you all understand for it to be graded I am required to write in English, hopefully that is not a problem for anyone.
So, journal time.
Yesterday and today has both been travel days for me. Because of that I am exhausted right now and the bed that I'm sitting on is very inviting.
I left Los Angeles at 6 am yesterday by taking the local bus to the airport. My flight left at 9 am and after a connection in Miami I arrived at Tampa airport around 7 pm. Since we were leaving for Costa Rica early the next day I decided to stay the night at the airport. Therefore, I got zero hours of sleep last night.
The flight to Costa Rica left at 9 am this morning and I slept like a baby during almost the entire flight.
My class consists of 19 students from my school, and we are all interested in chemistry, of course.
We arrived at the airport in San José at noon today. The mountains covered in forest that I could see through the windows on the plane was an extraordinary view that I will late forget.
After a bumpy, though pretty short bus trip we checked in at Gran Hotel and went to look around in the city and grab some food.
I haven't experienced that much of this country yet but I've realized that it would have been a lot easier if I knew some Spanish since many people here do not speak English very well. Another thing a noticed is that everyone is very friendly and they all seem to really enjoy and be proud of their beautiful country.
Right now I am sitting on a giant bed compared to the hostel beds I've got used to and waiting for dinner that will be served in an hour. After dinner I will probably pass out right away...
It's really not that much more interesting stuff to write about today. I've just been extremely tired all day.
Or actually, one thing, a surfer from Cali sat next to me on the flight and gave me his e-mail adress?! Random.
So this is kind of how my journal will proceed. Hopefully my grammar and spelling is not to terrible!
Utkast: Maj 16, 2012
Nu sitter jag på Tampa flygplats och väntar på planet till Costa Rica som inte går för än om 10 timmar...
Måste spendera natten här.
Är lite nervös, men det blir nog bra.
USA trippen jag gjorde med Anna Värn var en av de bästa/roligaste/galnaste resorna jag har gjort och förmodligen kommer att göra i hela mitt liv.
Det har tyvärr blivit dåligt med bloggande av de enkla anledningarna att 1, vi har haft fullt upp, 2, internetuppkopplingen har varit hopplöst svag.
Vi åkte först till Miami och bodde på South Beach. I Miami blev det en del shopping men det jag kommer att minnas mest är vår Seg Way-tur.
I Miami drog jag på mig en trälig snuva så när vi kom till New Jersey spenderade vi de första två dagarna framför tvn hemma hos Urban & Catarina. Efter att jag kvicknat till åkte vi in till NYC och kollade runt på alla kända grejer och stora hus.
Tredje stoppet blev Long Island där vi bodde hos en simmarkompis och knallade runt på stranden.
Sista veckan nu har vi varit i LA, mer exakt Santa Monica. Det har varit strålande sol och mycket solkräm har konsumerats. Vi har tittat på surfare, Hollywoodskylten och kändishus. Vi har varit på Venice Beach, Walk of Fame och Hooters.
Jag har bott på hostel (vandrarhem) för första gången utomlands. Det var en upplevelse minst sagt.
De allra flesta som bor på vandrarhem är folk i min och Annas situation, ungdomar som reser runt och inte har så stor budget. Men vi har också träffat på en del knasiga typer... Alla har varit trevliga och hjälpsamma dock.
Några gånger har vi kommit bort oss eller gått vilse, men som tur är är Anna modig och vågar fråga så vi kommit tillrätta...
Jag har lärt mig mycket denna resa, men framförallt att allt löser sig till slut och att det inte lönar sig att bli nervös eller att få panik. Vi har lärt oss att klara oss själva i stora världen men jag har också varit extra tacksam för att jag har så generösa föräldrar när pengarna tar slut.
Jag har fått känna på hur det känns att ha noll komma noll kronor på kontot.
Jag har därmed insett hur desperat behov jag är av ett jobb just nu.
Jag har även lärt mig att leva snålt och att klara mig på enbart 20 kg packning i en månad.
Det är svårt att knappa fram ett enda blogginlägg som sammanfattar allt jag har sett och lärt mig, och att ladda upp alla bilder skulle ta ett decennium. Därför kommer jag antagligen berätta fler detaljer när skrivlusten attackerar mig. Just nu är jag bara trött och hungrig, eftersom jag sitter här på en död flygplats.
Jag vill också passa på att tacka Anna för att denna drömresa blev verklighet.
Många är bra på att snacka och planera men sällan tar någon tag i saken. Jag är så glad vi verkligen genomförde denna egentligen sjuka idé.
Jag och Anna har varit tillsammans dygnet runt i 26 dagar utan att bli trötta på varandra. Det känner i alla fall jag är en ganska speciell vänskap.
Nä nu blev det smörigt här.
Nu ska jag ta en tupplur på mitt bagage.
Hollywood
Tiden går fort när man har roligt.
Nu är denna resa snart slut.
Helt galet.
I alla fall har vi varit inne i Hollywood och kollat på en massa kändishus i Beverly Hills.
Skylten har vi även skådat.
Här tänkte jag lägga ut en massa massa bilder men det trådlösa internet i detta hostel är alldeles för långsamt...
I alla fall.
Jag har äntligen blivit frisk och tagit min sista antibiotikatablett.
Tackar Urban och Catarina för att de tog mig till farbror doktorn och för sin gästfrihet i New Jersey!
Central Park/Long Island
Vaknade just upp i Los Angeles.
Kunde inte bli bättre.
Här kommer lite bilder från föregående dagars äventyr...
Bussen in till NYC.
Vi tog en promenix i Central Park.
NYC
John Lennons minnesplats i Central Park, Strawberry Fields.
Anna skaffade husdjur i Central Park.
Och vi åt glass.
Vi hälsade på min simmarkompis Evan på Long Island.
Han visade oss runt på ön.
Tack vare mumin har jag en konstig rädsla för fyrar...
Long Island.
Vi vill skicka ut ett tack till Evan och hans familj för gästvänligheten!
Det var härliga dagar.
Nu sitter vi i lobbyn på vårt hostel i Santa Monica och är redo att knalla ner till stranden.
Imorgon blir det Hollywood och Anna ska fixa en stjärna på the Walk of Fame.
Long Island
Nu har vi varit på Long Island i två dagar och det är idag dags för oss att bege oss till LA.
Bilder och längre inlägg kommer.
Förhoppningsvis.
Manhattan
Idag mådde jag bättre så vi tog bussen in till Port Authority och utforskade södra Manhattan.
KUL JUL.
Vi träffade en svensk från min skola som bodde på Brooklyn, han hjälpte oss och guideade oss i smeten. Tur det.
Times square.
Lunch i China Town.
Ris såklart.
Sne bild på Brooklyn Bridge.
Rak bild på Manhattan.
Sko fetish?
Kartläsare?
Vi har promenerat en hel del idag minsann. Stora vader kommer vi få.
Imorgon blir det norra delen av Manhattan.
Nu ska jag sova bort resterna av min bihåleinflammis.
Krasslig
Jag tror att amerikanska mediciner är ganska mycket starkare än de svenska för jag har känt mig groggy hela dagen.
Vi åkte inte in till Manhattan idag heller, jag kände mig för krasslig. Men en shoppingrunda i New Jersey lyckades vi med.
Imorgon är jag förhoppningsvis bra igen så att vi kan åka in till the Big Apple.
