Are you sure it's 5:00??

An early start turned into kinda of an early start. Goodbyes can take some time, and this one certainly did. We got on the road about 6 am with a bag of cinnamon sticks and some rolls for breakfast and set our sights on the beach at Costa Rica’s famous Manuel Antonio National Park. I type as we twist and turn through mountains filled with coffee plants and people on bikes and walking to begin their day. Our first stop was at the Rio Tarcolls to see crocodiles. We saw some but this is the rainy season so the river was high and they were not really out because the sun has not really burned through the clouds yet.
Now as we drive along the coast southwest we see glimpses of the Pacific Ocean along with lots of little tin shacks selling whatever they can to make some money. Mixed in is an occasional resort or a housing project that looks like it belongs around Virginia Beach or some other US beach. Ahh the sun now is coming out. Yes!! We prayed and are believing for our God to grant us sunshine this day. You see for the last week it has rained every afternoon except one. Everything here is green and g!! And did I tell you………..I’m a grandfather………………..very exciting times in my life right now.

Part 2
So after about 4 hours of driving earlier we made it to the beach. Sort of. First we stopped and picked up some lunch for later and some of us got breakfast. Instead of going straight to the beach we decided to go on a hike through the jungle to get to the beach. At first we were a little nervous because our whole group was in swimsuits and flip flops and when we looked around we saw groups with backpacks and hiking shoes…. But it turned out all right. We saw toucans, an iguana, a monkey, red crabby things, a bunch of littler monkeys, and raccoons. Once through the jungle we made it to the beach where we ate our lunch of ham and cheese sandwiches before we hit the beach. We had to be on the lookout for the little monkeys because if you weren’t watching they would come down and snatch something. It happened to one lady not from our group who wasn’t expecting it. She lost two juice boxes to a monkey who then shared them with another monkey. It drizzled most of the time we were there but we swam anyway and had lots of fun. There were some rocks we climbed and little snails that were closely examined. The water was a very nice temperature and the waves were medium size I guess. It was still raining when we climbed out of the water to rinse off. We hiked back to the van and we are now 2 hours into our drive back to the base. Luckily it just drizzled on our hike back… but now it’s raining pretty good. We have one hour left to go. I will definitely miss this country and its people but I can honestly say that I definitely will NOT miss vans crowded with people…. Especially wet people. It can be an interesting experience. Whoever uses this van after us will be blessed with a unique fragrance for their trip. When we get back to the base we are planning on getting some showers, food, and rest. Not necessarily in that order. It will be nice to have more than one bathroom to use again. I’m sure Carlos’s family is also relieved to have their house back after its hostage situation this week. Tomorrow it’s back to the states. 
Proclaim