Paradise by the dashboard light...

Hokay, so it's been about a million-and-a-half years since I last posted. I didn't even finish the photo-a-day challenge (*sad panda*). Truth be told, it was the last two weeks of summer school, and I had a paper and two finals, so I was a bit distracted and confined to my room. Not much inspiration for photography. The summer session went really well, and I learned a lot, but I'm ready to have a break from school for a bit.


I've been meaning to post some things about my trip to Costa Rica, but haven't had the time to sit down and recap, so here we go!

5 things that amazed me about Costa Rica

1. Its beautiful. Everything is so green, and fresh, and the air is so clean

2. Every house has a hammock

3. Every native carries a machete

4. All the food was so rich and delicious, and most importantly, it was fresh. There was fruit growing everywhere, not to mention, all the fish we ate was caught that day

5. The sheer number of hermit crabs. The ground was littered with them. At first I kept thinking they were spiders... *shudders*

5 things that changed me after being in Costa Rica

1. I actually like thunderstorms

2. I now think that coconuts are delicious, and I learned the green ones are better for drinking, and the brown ones are better for eating and making coconut oil with :)

3. I want/need a hammock

4. I was amazed at how little I missed having electricity

5. I am also quite interested in plants, particularly their medicinal uses.

5 things that scared me in Costa Rica

1. Getting stung by things in the ocean we couldn't see

2. The cliff-side hike of doom

3. The scorpion on the cliff-side hike of doom hiding in the fallen tree we were scrambling over

4. The ENORMOUS spider hanging out above our beds. Unfortunately, the reflective eyes told me this was still alive, despite missing several legs

5. The possibility that snakes were seeking refuge from the rain storms in our beds each night

5 of the most fun things we did in Costa Rica

1. Early morning hikes to find animals

2. Snorkeling with eels, sharks, turtles, jellies and fish, only to come ashore to trees full of monkeys...

3. The art, and arduous process of making coconut oil (the fun part comes with the feeling of accomplishment)

4. Mud-bath, rain dance. Sadly, the rain gods missed the call, and had to check their voicemail... 24 hours later we had a storm, and a waterspout!

5. Drinking straight from coconuts, taken right off the tree. One of the reasons to carry a machete....

"Jose's Beach", haha. Said he'd set up shop here to sell things. This is also where he taught us to fish.

Into the rain forest!

Mmmm... breakfast. Those eggs were so good.

Some form of plantains were also involved in nearly every meal, and they are delicious (any way you slice it! :-P)

The art of making coconut oil

Just a little slice of paradise to call home

One of the many hikes, this one to a water fall

Hammock, ftw.

Oh, yeah.. this is Jose. With a machete. Cutting open a "pipa" for us to drink.

The following photos were taken by others on the trip:

Home sweet home (main house)

Mud bath :)

One of the many hikes (and Jose learning how to use a camera)

Incredibly long snake... just passing through

Water spout!

We survived!

At the docks in Sierpe, waiting to get on the bus to head to San Jose

Tune in next time, for "A blast from the past: a look at Tanda's childhood"