Yesterday afternoon our buses split duty again and my group went kayaking and the other group did the waterfall. The waterfall group really extended their excursion by stopping for sugar cane on the side of the road and drinking coconut juice (again!). I suppose Whole Foods had best stock up on these two essentials of Costa Rican life, because their local demand went up by 50+ customers.
Another pasta-based dinner last night at this hotel (food not a specialty, but the view makes up for that) and then before you could say "remember that curfew is at 9" the students were crawling for their beds and snoring contentedly. This morning's wake up call was at 5:30 - and the trick, of course, is to both see their faces as they sit up and then follow-up with another chaperone visit one minute later. This works remarkably well.
Today, we are enduring our last big bus ride. We leave here in an hour and a half and head towards San Jose and the handicrafts market of Sarchi. This will be the big souvenir trip for most of the kids, although a number have been carefully selecting from the limited array of Costa Rican crafts to bring home prizes for you and their siblings. Costa Rica is not well known for the variety of artisanal crafts, but I am not sure our travelers care that much - it is fun for them to bargain.
Sarchi is followed by a last sojourn on the Pan American Highway towards the northwest. We are stopping at Rincon de la Vieja park, which apparently is Yellowstone in miniature - hot springs, gassy fumaroles, and the like. Since neither I nor the kids even vaguely remembered this stop (I don't even think I put it on the itinerary or researched it at all) it should be an unexpected pleasure. They have enjoyed so much on the road they will surely be surprised and, I hope, delighted with this side trip.
At day's end, we reach the Pacific Coast, having shuttled along the top of Costa Rica. We are staying at the Nacazcol Hotel, and have a full day tomorrow of sunburning and Frisbee-tossing. A few kids have been sunburned in spite of large supplies of sunscreen. A "nurse" someone met somewhere on this trip suggested that vinegar was the best solution for these minor injuries. The restaurant crew has bemusedly handed out cup after cup of vinegar ("vinagre") - its magical properties apparently involve actually extracting the heat from the sunburn! Someone, call Proctor and Gamble and get their staff working on this!
Pura vida!
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