Day 5: Sobrevivimos

Today was a very big day! We went travelling!
Leaving the house at 8am, Jose, Brayan, Jorge and I, headed to the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica, primarily to go paragliding. Guisella didn't come because she said she wouldn't be able to watch us do the paragliding, that it would be too hard too watch, oh, and she had work.
Before we got to the coast, we stopped in a little town called San Ramon which had a cool little park in the centre of the town with a church opposite it, and there was a group of scouts in the park singing.
While we were driving the rest of the way to Caldera, the place where Jose and I were going Paragliding, I discovered that not only do they have road signs for the maximum speed but also for the minimum speed that you can go. I thought that was quite different.
We arrived in Caldera at 10am just as the gates of Nemacly's Paragliding were opening. I was very nervous about doing it, just because you know that all that is keeping you in the air is a thin sheet of material and a few clips that keep you attached... We had to wait for about 2 hours before we got to go in there air, because initially there wasn't enough wind, and there were people who had got there before us. But as we took off into the air all my fears went with the wind as it felt so peaceful and very safe. The views were amazing, and I took a lot of pictures and videos from the air. Our landing probably wasn't the best, as normally there are two ways you can land, either standing or sitting. I suppose mine could have been called a type of sitting... it just wasn't the most comfortable.
After this we ate our packed lunch before heading back down the very bumpy road from the paragliding and off to Rio Tarcoles to see some crocodiles in the river. When we arrived Jorge spotted an iguana in the adjacent field and, my, they can move very quickly went they want to.
Seeing all the crocodiles, Jose counted about 30, was both amazing and a little scary too, to think that they just lurk in the waters of the rivers here.
Following this, we went to two beaches in quick succession, Playa Tarcoles and Aguja. At Playa Tarcoles, one of the locals was telling us about how he thought there was a parrot in the trees, but after a bit of searching, it couldn't be found. In Aguja, there were many stray dogs, and one was very persistent with trying to get us to throw a piece of driftwood for him to fetch.
Finally, we went to a very long, very beautiful beach called Puntarenas and walked along the sand as the sun set. Before leaving for Heredia, we had a dessert called a Churchill. It is a type of sundae, that has flavoured shaved ice, ice cream, milk powder, and condensed milk. It was very very sweet, but delicious all the same.
The day was so good that I topped it off with a sleep in the car on the way back to Heredia.


Our friend enjoying the day

P.S. As I was writing this, I was sadly informed that my year 9 Spanish teacher, Mr Weren, passed away yesterday. I thoroughly enjoyed him as a teacher, and believe he was a great help in me settling into Hillcrest and is one of the reasons why I am on this trip in the first place, he instilled the passion in me to learn other languages, and for that I am very grateful.
And to his family, I am very sorry for your loss, I cannot comprehend how difficult this time must be for you, we offer you all the love and support that we can and may he rest in peace.