Bus rides and beaches and crocs, OH MY!

There's nothing like a beach and a frisbee to bring people together. A long bus ride and several games of contact don't hurt either. Today we crossed the continental divide from the north, Caribbean side, to the slightly dryer central pacific coast. Just south of Jaco we stopped at a small, rural grade school and met the children. They danced for us and the students threw around a football that one boy had. With 54 students, only a few teachers, and minimal funding, they do the best they can with what they have. It puts into perspective how lucky our students are to have the opportunities they have. Asking what she needs, the principal/teacher/counselor said simple things: shoes, notebooks, textbooks, pens, pencils, basics that facilitate the learning process. Simple things that make a big difference. I took her information and told her we would be in touch. Hopefully we can foster a lasting partnership and help in whatever ways we can.

Instead of a 2 hour hike in Carara today in the hot hot weather, we instead went on a crocodile cruise down the Sarapiqi river.  We'll go to Carrara another day. Our tour director, Margel, is very responsive to the needs of the group.  We watched as our guide, Santiago, walked right up and fed raw chicken to 3 different crocodiles.  Que impressivo!  Video forthcoming once the rest of the pictures upload to the Picasa album.

Playa Bejuco, our new hotel for the next 3 nights, is quite nice and only 100 meters away from black sand beaches of the Pacific Ocean. (FYI, black sand comes from the surrounding volcanos, which is awesome!).  This was Matt and my first time seeing the Pacifico, so we high-fives accordingly.

Tomorrow: Manuel Antonio National Park