"She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy"

So today was awesome! It started off pretty early and thankfully we had a full breakfast to start off the day. The fruit was amazing! I'm not a big watermelon fan, but the watermelon here is so sweet! and the pineapple was awesome too, as expected. I also had rice and beans, a traditional breakfast item here in Costa Rica… and surprisingly I actually liked it! Coffee was also amazing as expected; I will definitely be drinking it multiple times a day as we have jam packed itineraries and I expect I'll be exhausted by tomorrow.

At 7:00 we headed off to the rainforest where we would be white water rafting. The drive there was about two hours and full of beautiful scenery. San Jose did not have the scenery I was expecting at first as its full of buildings and not much wildlife, but the drive definitely started to get me excited because I knew I was about to see something special. We finally got to the rafting adventure center and got all strapped up in helmets and life jackets and was given instructions on what to do during the rafting tour. We finally got in the boat and was on our way down the river that was full of class III rapids. The first rapid we went down I swear I almost fell out, but it was so fun! At one point when the water was calm our whole raft jumped out and went for a swim for a minute or two, but we quickly had to jump back in the boat before we hit another rapid. We stopped for a break at the river bank for a little while and enjoyed some pineapple. We also got the chance to jump off a cliff (not too high) into the river… I jumped three times because I had so much fun doing it. The tour finally ended and we got to change into dry clothes and eat lunch. I tried pretty much everything they had, although I didn't like a lot of it. My favorite was some kind of squash and corn mix. Some of the other things I tried included a potato salad, cole slaw, a few different vegetable salads, fish, and noodles with sauce. After lunch we went explore around the grounds and found a butterfly garden, but quickly had to get back to the bus to get to our chocolate facility tour.

We were shown the traditional way of making chocolate, which is VERY traditional… not machinery or anything. To get to the demonstration site, we took a 20-30 minute hike through the rainforest which I loved! It was hot and humid and wet, but nothing could ruin my good mood in such a beautiful place. We had to cross a suspension bridge which was pretty scary because it was so wobbly, but when we finally crossed it we actually got to see monkeys playing in the trees! There were two baby monkeys playing and they were so cute! We got to see some other wildlife out there, but the monkeys were by far the highlight! We finally got to the demonstration site where they showed out where the cocoa beans come from and how they are fermented, roasted, and prepared to make chocolate. We got to try all kinds of chocolate, including chocolate powder and chocolate drink! It definitely tastes different from a Hershey's chocolate bar. We hiked all the way back to the gift shop where were gathered for a lecture on Ecotourism from our tour guide, Willie.

The Ecoturism lecture taught us about how the Costa Ricans are so involved in protecting their environment in order for the next generation to be able to enjoy it. It allows them to give back to the community, their environment, and their economy all while keeping their country beautiful and their wildlife safe.

After the long drive back, we finally got back to the hotel and had pizza and wine. Another day done!
Cant wait to see what else we'll get into in Costa Rica.