Rest and Relaxationa

After we finished our time in Monteverde, we travelled to Santa Maria de Dota where we stayed with a local family for one night in preparation for our main trek. They were very nice and generous. The daughter, Paola, was going to be our guide for the next three days. We hired 4X4 taxis and a flatbed truck to carry our bags to the trailhead the next morning. We left at 5:30 am with Paola and her 12 year old brother to Las Rejas where we started our trek. Our first day was 9 hours of hiking. It POURED for about 5 hours. We were soaked, cold, and hungry. We slept at a little cabin without electricity in the middle of the mountains. We made mac and cheese for dinner. The next morning we started early for another day of hiking, but not as hard. It was about 6 hours of hiking, with a lot of uphill. That night we stayed at a little village called Tinamu where we met some other American travellers from the East Coast. The third day we started early again and hiked a challenging 7 hours downhill to Londres. In Londres we waited for a few hours for a bus. We said our goodbyes to Paola and her brother Chris, and took a bus to Quepos, then Manuel Antonio. We all had a much needed shower after 4 days without one. We were all horrified by how much we smelled! We had a local dish called Casado for dinner... yum!

On Thursday, we left Manuel Antonio for our Rest and Relaxation in Dominical. We´re in a hostel right by the beach in a quiet little surfing town. Internet is running out, got to go! We´re having fun... and thinking a lot about home!
-Gretchen and Caroline.