The first airport we stopped at was KCI. It was really boring but to pass the time we had Starbucks and played pranks on Ms. Marten. A TSA dude was also walking a drug dog around the airport and we got a picture of it. The second place we stopped was Dallas/ Fort Worth. That airport was huge. We had to take a tram to the international part of the airport and it was fun. - Alex
Bus rides/tour transportation
In Costa Rica, the roads are barely wide enough for our bus, let alone two cars to pass each other. Therefore, the drivers hug the shoulder (which is actually a 50 ft. cliff.) Our bus driver, Juan Carlos, (Juanca for short), handles the roads like a boss and we get everywhere super safe.
The roads themselves are similar to ours in the cities, but in the country, the roads are extremely bumpy with a lot of pot holes. The road we drove on to Monteverde was not gravel, but rather it was boulders and mud. We got to be at a very high altitude and saw many cool things like cows on almost vertical cliffs!
In order to get to our hotel in Monteverde, we had to cross a large lake by boat. On the boat, we saw Howler Monkeys along the shore. We also saw many exotic birds. - Mason
Cars/daily transportation
Well, we all thought the drivers were crazy from the safety of our bus last week, but now we have all experienced the insanity first hand. The rules of the road are not necessarily set in stone in Costa Rica, or at least not that I can tell. It seems to me that as long as you honk your horn before you do it then anything goes on the streets of Cartago, Costa Rica. For example, my homestay dad did not know the roads we were driving today, so we got a litte lost. Eventually we found the road we needed but a one way sign on an adjacent road seperated us from it. So we didnt get lost again, my dad layed on the horn and drove against traffic down a narrow one way street to turn left onto the correct road...no, frightening does not even come close to describing the feelings inside our car.
The cars in Costa Rica are a totally new experience by themselves. It seems that everyone's car is pre 2000s and is a stick shift; automatic transmissions do not exist here. So everything is jerky and sounds like an airplane engine while going uphill. Also, there is no inappropriate use of the car horn here. It means hello, watch out, goodbye, and HEY! come open the garage door. So, needless to say, we are all longing for real rules on the roads and being able to drive or ride in the car with our eyes open and not fearing for our lives.
I am not sure if anyone else on the trip has had the joy of riding in a taxi or a school bus here in Costa Rica, but I sure have. Taxis, which are red here, are relatively inexpensive to some in the states but there is another price: the insane driving! When I say insane I mean barely stopping at stop signs long enough to look for other cars, jumping out in front of other taxis with only inches to spare, and yes, the deafening use of the horn. School buses on the other hand cost money to ride here. They stop sometimes up to 5 minutes or more away from your house and are filled to the brim. Yes, the brim, 3 to a seat and then the aisles are lined with kids clinging to the bars on the ceiling of the bus. The drivers cannot keep the large amount of people quiet in any way, shape, or form, so you can't hear yourself think let alone talk to anyone. Despite the ridiculous driving, the Costa Rican people are some of the nicest people you will ever meet and this is definitely a country worth visiting twice...just be able to talk really really fast:) - Mason
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