Day 9: More adventure

What a great way to spend our last day in CR!!  

We were up early again (going to school is going to be like sleeping in) and headed out of San Jose to go White water rafting!!!  It was a gorgeous day - not too sunny, not too hot...perfect!!  On our way out of town, we drove thru another gorgeous National Park, and over the Dirty River.  As you can see below, the yellow (Dirty River) comes down full of sulfur and meets up with a natural river - fascinating!!

El Rio Sucio (The Dirty River)

We picked up our guide, Walter, after an extended journey to get there due to construction, and up river we headed.  We grabbed our life jackets, helmets & oars and headed towards the river for our safety instruction.  We split up into 4, 5 or 6 in a boat and off we went!

Group shot

I was in the boat with Kelsey, Mychaela, Sam & Regan.  Bri & Brooklyn went with a few Canadian girls...and a very handsome guide! :)  We had many water fights along the way, a few people got dumped into the river, some jumped out in calmer waters to swim.  The water was fairly low as the rainy season is April to November, so the waters are super high in Nov & Dec.

Forward....Forward....

After about 2+ hrs of rafting, we finally docked and had a riverside lunch.  The kids' favorite part was the PB&J sandwiches!  :)  We headed back home and most napped the entire way.  We had some construction issues again on the way back, so didn't get to hotel until 3pm...dinner at 6.  We quick ran to the grocery store for goodies, did some packing & headed to dinner.

Dinner produced quite a few tears as Mario (our guide) said some great things to the kids.  The kids also had to say good-bye to each other since we wouldn't see them in the a.m.  Then, my Iowa group met with Mario and made him an honorary Blue Shirt member!

AJ, Kelsey, Mychaela, Sam, TD Mario, Regan, Brianne & Brooklyn

The kids shared with Mario their favorite moments, things they will take away from this experience, and life lessons they have learned.  Not many dry eyes in the house.  So proud of my kids!!

Double trouble!

PURA VIDA!!