My experience abroad would be nothing if it wasn’t for the amazing places I visited during my time abroad. I am going to talk about some of my favorite places I visited. Overall traveling around Costa Rica is not hard. There is nearly a bus that goes to any part of Costa Rica that you are interested in visiting and but tickets are $10-$15.
Manuel Antonio
Manuel Antonio is a one of the many beaches in Costa Rica frequented by many tourists and home of Manuel Antonio’s National Park. This was the first place I visited outside of Heredia. If you like beaches and you like the heat then this is the place for you for sure. It was extremely hot there and I am not the greatest in heat so this trip was a little rough after the first day. However, this is the place where I had one of my best meals, Blackened Tuna (hhhmm soo good). The bus ride was not that bad considering the bus was air conditioned but it was about a 5 hour commute.
Puerto Viejo
Puerto Viejo was definitely one of my favorite places to visit. We stayed in this really fancy hotel that I would stay in again in a heartbeat. It definitely was hot here but the temperature of the water was perfect. I went snorkeling and we were also able to go on a chocolate tour as well (highly recommend). The bus ride there was also about 5 or 6 hours.
We saw a SLOTH !!
Sarchi
Sarchi also was one of my favorites. Sarchi is one of the only cities in Costa Rica that stays true to their artesanal background. Students study for years perfecting their craft and details of their paintings that are a part of their traditions. It is home of El Boyeo or the traditional wheels that people would use back in the olden days. Sarchi was maybe 2 or 3 hours away.
Monteverde
This is my latest little adventure with my program. Once again this is one of my favorites. Monteverde is definitely a beautiful community and something that everyone has to experience. In the early 1950’s Quakers from the United States migrated to Costa Rica and created a peaceful community of what is now known as Monteverde. They have kept pacifist ideology alive and have become one of the biggest eco-tourism communities in Costa Rica. We did a coffee tour and also had the opportunity to go zip-lining. I will be talking about my favorite part of Monteverde in an upcoming blog.
Volcan Barva
Volcan Barva was probably one of the closest adventures we did, but also the only one we did not have a game plan for at all. We ordered an uber in order to get to the entrance of the volcano, but the roads got so bad that the driver could not continue. So we hiked the rest of the way. In total we hiked about 10 miles that day and if you know me you know that I do not hike so this was definitely a struggle but it was definitely worth it. I got amazing pics and was able to accomplish something that I did not think I could.