Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Climbed a mountain and got on a plane: The conclusion to Costa Rica.


Well, the mangoes never ripened. They got close, and we ate lots of green mangoes with salt, but I never got the perfectly Costa Rican ripened mango that I had been dreaming of for months. That just means that I will have to return.

But hey! We made it to the top of Cerro Chirripó! This second time we bought tickets in advanced, I took my ecology final a day early, and bused to the trailhead to check in at the ranger station in San Gerardo. We didn’t want to pay to stay in a hostel and we had to get back home to study for finales, so we left San Ramón Friday morning at 6:30 am, got our tickets, rested for a few hours in a restaurant, and started hiking that night at 8:30 pm.

Hiking through the night made things go by quickly, but we also had a really hard time trying keep our eyes open. It was pretty cold, and we not bring enough clothes for how cold it was. By the time we finished the first 12 miles, and made it to the top at 5:15 am for the sunrise, we were wearing trash bags to try and keep our selves just a bit warmer.
The best part was that my good friend and hiking partner Sam turned 20 on our way up to the top of Chirripó. I brought a slice of cake to the top, and some other hikers sang “feliz cumpleaños” when they found out it was her birthday. Because we had a bus to catch, we headed back down the mountain as fast as our knees would let us, and at one point Sam resorted to walking backwards down the hill to give them a break. We made it just in time, took the three different buses necessary to get back home, and ate dinner with our families.
Next couple of days: finales
We all said goodbye, got on our respective planes, and I headed to San Francisco.
 I kept forgetting and speaking Spanish to all the officials in the airport, and was asked if I lost a bet because of my short hair. Other than that having a hard time letting go Spanish, I have not experienced the culture shock that I was warned about, and have been doing pretty well. I spent a week in Cali with my family hiking, beach walking, and celebrating my parents’ 25th anniversary.


I then got onto a greyhound, and I am back in Idaho for my summer job and school in the fall.
It was a fantastic 9 months.

Ciao, Costa Rica

Nos Vemos



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