Day 9 and 10

 We woke for our final morning in Monteverde with much excitement. A short bus ride to Puntarenas landed us at a pool club to enjoy the sun and cool off in the waters of the pool. We were welcomed by a lively DJ and the mascot Sky (from Paw Patrol) who quickly led some of the more rambunctious of our group in some dancing and revelry. Our DJ later refereed a hotly contested volleyball game in the water that left Liam, Will, and Kyan as champions. We had a few hours to relax and read under the canopy or soak up some sun and work our tans (though at this point in the trip they were mostly burns despite our best efforts). We ended our pool excursion with a Pablo recommended special of Puro Puerto. This concoction of ice cream, shaved ice, strawberry syrup, and diced fruit was a great way to end our time in the sun before heading to San Jose. We ate dinner at the mall nearby with the table covering everything from pizza, Taco Bell, sushi, ramen, and popusas to be our final dinner on the trip. We spent the final night in Costa Rica conducting a circle together for one last night of bonding and reminision as this would be the last time that this group would be together in this space and on this adventure.


In the morning we said goodbye to 3 of our members who would be continuing their adventures in Costa Rica with family and friends and we departed for one of the many Butterfly Sancuaries build into San Jose. We had the opportunity to learn about the life cycles of butterflies (Did you know that they don't turn to goo in a chrysalis?!? That is just a myth perpetuated by a children's book!) and tour through a nature trail in the city. We learned much of how Costa Rica has intentionally set aside land even in their metropolitan areas to dedicate to native plants and animals. After our tour, we were able to quickly grab lunch and arrive at the airport to return to California. We said goodbye to John Michael and Pablo with much appreciation for the knowledge and enthusiasm that they brought to us over the last 10 days. It was incredible to get to know them and learn about their experiences that brought them to Envoys and us. We could not have asked for a better pair of people to share our adventure with.






 

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