A spider monkey I worked with in Bolivia. This is a species I'll soon be working with again!
In three
days, I’m off on my next trip abroad. My spot at the Costa Rica Animal Rescue
Center is confirmed. My flights have been booked for months. Yesterday was my
last shift at work before I leave. Travel insurance is confirmed. My tour of
the Arenal Volcano and hostel stay at La Fortuna is booked. Just yesterday I
confirmed my airport pickup in San Jose. I’m beginning to lay aside the stuff
I’m going to pack. As usual before a big trip, I’ve been feeling the levels of
excitement really building up in my body and mind for the past few days, and it
will continue to build up until I leave. As I think I’ve mentioned before on my
blog, I don’t really get what I would call nervous, but I definitely get
excited! Some people say those things are basically the same thing, but the
word “nervous” has a very negative feel to it, while the word “excitement”
doesn’t, and to me this definitely doesn’t feel like a negative emotion!
When it
comes to this next month abroad, I know there are things that will pop up
unexpectedly (as always), but I do have a basic itinerary of my trip, so here
we go:
This Monday,
January 22, I’m officially shoving off to Costa Rica. My flight leaves San
Antonio a little after three pm, and after changing planes in Houston, I’ll be
arriving in San Jose at 8:40- getting to Costa Rica seems like a breeze
compared to getting to South Africa! One of the drivers from the animal rescue
center will be picking me up at the airport and bringing me to the center that
will be my home for the next month.
The type of
work that I’ll be doing at the Costa Rica Animal Rescue Center sounds pretty
similar to what I did at CARE in South Africa and La Senda Verde in Bolivia.
Preparing diets, feeding the animals, cleaning enclosures, and giving extra
attention to the orphaned young animals that live there.
As far as
extra activities for this trip, there’s only one thing that I’ve officially
planned out yet. I’ve booked the nights of February ninth and tenth at a hostel
in La Fortuna, right at the base of the Arenal Volcano, one of the biggest
tourist destinations in Costa Rica. I’ve booked a big tour of the volcano and
the entire area for February tenth, which will include hiking, visiting the La
Fortuna Waterfall, exploring the rainforest’s hanging bridges, swimming in the
hot springs, and more. Visiting Arenal was the main extra excursion that I knew
I wanted to take on this trip, so I went ahead and booked that ahead of time.
On February
22nd, after a month volunteering and exploring my first Central
American country, I’ll be flying back home. That’s all that I have set in stone
as of now. I’ve heard that the place where I’ll be working likes to set up day
trips and outings for the volunteers, and I’m sure I’ll be taking advantage of
that, so more adventures will definitely happen as well!
I’ve heard
that this place where I’ll be living does have a decent wifi connection, so I
should be able to regularly update my blog while I’m down there- and of course,
my trusty camera will be coming with me too! Three short days until I’m off!
This post’s food for thought: “There is no moment of delight in any pilgrimage
like the beginning of it.”- Charles Dudley Warner
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