It wasn’t ideal to wake up at 5 AM to catch a bus. But it had to be done to see Costa Rica’s renowned cloud forests.
Instead of the often crowded Monteverde, several blogs recommended another hidden gem of a cloud forest: Monteverde’s neighbor, Santa Elena. And it definitely did not disappoint.
I called a shuttle company in Santa Elena to take us there. With my amateur Spanish, I was able to ask if the driver could make an exception and pick us up outside his schedule. Good thing too, because we had forgotten that Uber was illegal in Costa Rica, and it was hard to find one in the area.
Stepping into Santa Elena was the stuff of fairy tales. I was transported into another world, one where flowers dripped with dew and moss blanketed the trees. Colorful caterpillars (whose beauty I appreciated from a distance) trekked along the slippery mud. The best part was seeing the sunlight fade as we hiked deeper into the forest, the trees becoming shadows with vines dangling and the misty cloud tumbling in (we were literally breathing in the cloud). I couldn’t believe such a place existed.
After the 4 hour hike, everyone’s shoes were caked with mud. It started to rain, and after taking shelter, it was incredible to see the forest being washed anew.
That night, the girls and I went to a restaurant called Treehouse. The purple-bluish lighting made the atmosphere aesthetic, and the restaurant was shaped around a huge tree trunk in the center of the building. Music was playing, and at first we thought it was a recording of Jason Mraz songs, but actually a live musician was playing his guitar and singing. His voice was so amazing that we couldn’t help but tell him our thoughts after our dinner!
The next morning, we went to Extremo Adventure Park. I’ve done ziplining before, but nothing extreme like this. The “extreme” part involved Superman, which involved ziplining but face-down like a Superman pose, and a Tarzan Swing. The Superman was really fun. Quickly zipping through the wind against my face made tears involuntarily stream down (I was having fun though, I swear) and the vast, open view was amazing. You could spot herds of cows just grazing the meadows below. That was the closest I’ve gotten to actual flying.
That wasn’t too scary for me, though. But what was absolutely terrifying was the Tarzan Swing. The first part is a free-fall into the swing. As I climbed up the platform, I didn’t think too much of it. But being strapped into the harness and staring at the ground below, realizing just how high up the platform was, the reality of it hit me.
A staff member said “No no no!” (as a joke) when they let go of me.
I don’t think I ever screamed as much as I did during the free fall. It felt like I forgot I was strapped in a harness, and I was hurtling towards inevitable doom. But then the rope went taut and it became a giant swing. After I swung a couple of times, my head finally cleared enough to appreciate the view. Some cows, a gurgling waterfall, and an abundance of trees. Despite the initial paralyzing fear (or perhaps because of it), the Tarzan Swing was my favorite one.
We returned to Selina on a 4 hour bus back. It was amazing to take a shower after that adventure.
The next day, we were back to prototyping! Our TENS team 3D printed a box to contain our electronics inside the sole of the shoe. We tested if the box can withhold the weight of a person and if it could keep out water. While the box succeeded on those tests, after some good feedback, we conducted more research on the weight-limit we should aim for (80% percentile male) and standards that exist regarding water-resistance (IP67).
I’ve known that Costa Rica cares a lot about soccer, but I didn’t realize just how much they did! On Tuesday, Costa Rica was competing against New Zealand for the World Cup qualifiers. The cafeteria at Ulacit was packed with students watching the TVs. There were two students in the auditorium performing soccer tricks that involved incredible foot-eye coordination
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James, Summer, and I went to the electronics store to pick up protoyping supplies. On our way back, everyone was honking their cars. At first, I didn’t know why, but then crowds were gathering on the sidewalks, wearing merch like soccer jerseys and waving the Costa Rican flag. From this, I assumed Costa Rica must’ve won their game (they did!), and it was so interesting to see how much soccer united the entire city in this celebration.
For Thursday-the weekend, I flew back home (Los Angeles) to attend a funeral service, and I was surprised to get reverse culture shock. I was so used to Costa Rica’s $6-7 hearty meals, with tax and tip included, that I almost felt betrayed by a $12 lunch! I definitely missed that part of Costa Rica.
But I’ll come back next week and finish the program strong! Till next time 🙂
-Carly