Read day 11 here.

I’m awake really early again, around 4:15 this morning! I stay in bed and read for a while, waiting for my space heater to warm up my room. I find out later that some of my group mates have fireplaces in their double rooms and for a second or two I’m a little envious. I finally get out of bed and head in to my bathroom for a shower. The water coming out of the shower is nice and hot! Hallelujah!

When I step outside this morning I’m greeted by a crisp cool, sunshiny day. I walk around and take photos of all the beautiful flowers and I spot a few hummingbirds flitting about. Unfortunately they’re a little bit tough to get photos of with my digital camera – I just don’t have the skills! I finally head to the dining room for a great breakfast. Right outside the dining room there is a small patio area with several hummingbird feeders. I get the chance to sit and watch some of the lodge’s many beautiful hummingbirds enjoying their breakfast.

After breakfast we head to Parque de las Quetzales. Everybody is so excited at the possibility of seeing the quetzal, especially those in our group who have been birding with Pedro every morning. As we walk along the road in the park we run into Marino Chacon who is guiding a pair of professional photographers this morning. He has already spotted a male and female pair of quetzals in the nearby miniature avocado trees and he quickly shows them to Pedro who sets up his spotting scope so that we can all get a chance to take a look.

The birds are absolutely beautiful and their colors are so bright and vibrant! The colors on the large red breast and the blue green feathers almost don’t look real. Pedro and Marino help those of us with cameras to take photos through their spotting scopes – a process called digiscoping. Marino finds some miniature avocados on the ground and he breaks them open so that we can see what part the quetzals actually eat.

Soon another quetzal is spotted in the trees on the other side of the road. This one is a youngster that is in the process of molting. He’s not quite as pretty but still we are so happy to get the chance to see him.

After a while we walk back down the hill to get back on the bus to take us back to the lodge – what a great morning!

We have a little free time before we have to have our luggage outside our rooms. Even though our time spent here has been short it has been a great experience. We have another great meal and then we are on our way back to San José. It’s another steep, curving ride, this time down the mountain, and I will have to admit I don’t spend too much time looking down out of the bus windows but Didier handles it with no problems. Within a couple of hours we reach Cartago, the first capitol city of Costa Rica.  We get the opportunity to visit the Cartago’s largest church, the Basilica de Nuestra Señora de Los Ángeles, where the statue of the Black Madonna can be seen. The inside of this cathedral is absolutely beautiful and some of us just sit inside and experience the peacefulness.  Soon we are back on the bus for the rest of our ride to San José.

As we ride I can’t believe how quickly time has gone by for me. This is my second visit to Costa Rica but I have seen and experienced so many new and wonderful things on this program – and to be honest I would love to come back!

Soon we have reached our final hotel, the El Rodeo, and we have about an hour before our final lecture. My room is beautiful with 2 queen sized beds, AC, TV, room safe, refrigerator, a large bathroom with hair dryer and complimentary toiletries.

After our lecture Pedro gives everyone their transfer pick up times for tomorrow morning and then we all go to our final dinner at a the hotel’s steak house located at the front of the property. We all enjoy a large meal and I even talk everybody into letting me get one last final group photo!

As we walk back toward the hotel I realize that this is the last time we will all enjoy a meal together. I have really enjoyed spending time with everyone and meal times were especially great for getting to know everybody.

Our group has had a good time together and I will treasure some fond memories that will include each of them.

I’ll never forget getting to see a green turtle laying her eggs on the beach at Tortuguero, or waking up to the howler monkeys at Pachira. The fun river raft ride on the Sarapiqui River with Edy, Gay, Marilou, Pat O and Merrily – we made it and nobody fell in! All the fun bus ride chats with Jessie, Lynn and Pat O. All in all I think everyone had a good time and really came to appreciate everything that is Costa Rica.

How can I describe what was an absolutely great time in a beautiful country? As the Costa Ricans say – Pura Vida!!!

Post-program >