Montezuma

Peace and Love Costa Rican flag out in front of the hotel

View from the Hotel Luna Llena

In honor of Costa Rican Independence Day we got Friday September 17th off.  So, 14 of the teachers from the school took off to Montezuma for the weekend.  Six of us stayed at Luna Llena (Full Moon) which is owned by the mother of one of the 11th graders.  It was a beautiful weekend.  It didn´t really rain at all, which was a change from what we are used to in Monteverde, where it rains daily, and lately it has rained almost non-stop.  Some of the highlights of our trip was the animals we go to see.  I got some great pictures of the white faced monkeys when they came to visit us at our hotel.

White faced Monkey

We also were visited by an iguana who was sun bathing on the roof outside our hotel room one morning

Sunbathing

But, without a doubt the best part of the weekend was the hiking.  We found some rivers, springs and waterfalls that were absolutely beautiful.  One of the interns and I hiked up to a spring we had been told about.  It was a very fun hike up stream through a few small waterfalls and lots of rocks.  We hiked up and back without a problem.  Then we started to walk back along the beach towards our hotel when we ran into a couple of our co-workers.

The Montezuma Coast

We decided to show them where we went because we knew that they would enjoy it.  We hid our belongings under a bush by the beach and hiked back up.  Again we trekked through the terrain without problem.  Then however, when we came back as we reached the beach I fell.  Beverly, the 2nd grade teacher was apparently convinced that I had died, until I jumped back up and ran into the water to wash myself off.  The 3 of them wanted to take pictures because I bruised immediately and as they thought that "my kidney was going to jump out of my body," and handed me the box of wine to ease the pain.  I walked back, bought some bandages and had a friend bandage me up.  Then I laid down because I was feeling lightheaded and started to black out.  But once I had a few minutes rest I was better.

The following morning a group of us went hiking up to a waterfall.  It was beautiful.  There were several layers of waterfalls.  From the first one Steve (the 6th grade intern) and I jumped from some of the larger rocks and then went behind the waterfall.  We later climbed up higher to see another 2 levels of waterfalls.  We also ran into a group of german students we had met a few weeks earlier at the volcano.  All in all, it was a great weekend and I would repeat it even if I knew I´d fall and get hurt again.