Tamarindo

Una pipa-Coconut 

This weekend myself and the other students at Veritas took a trip to the Pacific Ocean. The town we went to is called Tamarindo Beach and is located in Guanacaste, Costa Rica in the northwest of the country. In this beautiful paradise I spent an entire day and two nights exploring another part of Costa Rica. In Tamarindo, the people truly embody the idea of Pura Vida (Pure Life). Pura Vida is a popular phrase here in Costa Rica that they use for everything. The phrase shows the "pure" culture here. Costa Ricans pride themselves on eating naturally and organically, not worrying about things all the time, and respecting and conserving nature. 

On Saturday I spent a large chunk of time on the beach. A group of us went out into the ocean and floated around in the waves. The water was very salty, far saltier than I've ever experienced and the sun felt amazing. The sun is extremely intense here because Costa Rica is contained within the 10th parallel and very close to the equator. While walking down the beach we bought pipas (coconuts) from vendors for 1000 colones or $1. At first I was leery but they cut them open right before your eyes. The water is very sweet and the meat inside tastes amazing (although I know people who would disagree with me). 

  

In the afternoon we spent time shopping around Tamarindo but everything was very expensive. However, the food was very good. I tried lots of all naturally fruit smoothies with new types of fruit. My favorite was Cas which kind of tastes like an orange. After awhile we went to the pool at our hotel. At the hotels in Tamarindo they don't have hot tubs because it is very humid and hot there. So we sat in the "jacuzzi" (a smaller pool with jets) for a few hours and talked up a storm. That night a few of us bought ice cream and just walked along the beach. In Costa Rica the sun sets at 6pm everyday all year round so walking on the beach at night is pitch black but when your eyes adjust the view is spectacular.

   

On this excursion I saw lots of wildlife. The hotel we stayed at was up in the rainforest away from the beach and the owners were involved in saving the monkeys. In Costa Rica there are a lot of monkey and also a lot of power lines. Because of the land the power lines are all above ground and the monkeys use them to cross roads, rivers, and paths. The consequence is that most monkeys will be electrocuted, severely injured or die because of the human impact on their environment. To help with this problem locals are collecting funds and building rope bridges to help the monkeys cross safely. We also saw black iguanas and scarlet macaws the last few days as well. 

 

 

 

Mono-Monkey

The salvemonos website is linked below if you'd like to learn more.  

http://salvemonos.org/