10 DEC 2018

We arrive at the ATL airport at 6:00am to allow time to catch our 9:46am flight to San Jose, Costa Rica. We completed the customs form on the plane to San Jose, and went through customs (for the first time ever!) after landing at the Juan Santamaría International Airport. There, we met with CRiRE mentor Jessica Black and traveled with her to the rental vehicle agency. We went on an inadvertent adventure after selecting the wrong airport destination in the GPS – we ended up at a smaller local airport. We were able to see a bit of the city during the mishap, including different homes, schools, hospitals, and even people selling fruit at busy intersections. Finally, we arrived back at the correct airport to pick up another CRiRE mentee. There we had a snack at a small café inside the airport before leaving the city.
We traveled through the city, and up very narrow streets to get to the cloud forest. We stayed at La Georgina Cabinas, owned by a very nice couple who had recently moved back from Florida to take care of the cabinas and restaurante. The cabinas we stayed in were very, very cold, but we had many blankets to keep us warm. The shower water was not heated at all, and felt like bathing in an ice cold river in the winter time.

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