Costa Rica Trip, From the Eco Lodge!

Its hard to sum up such a life changing and influential trip, i thank Simmers for making this trip possible and also my parents and sponsors that made it affordable for me.

Out of a list of 22 different things written on a list i chose to write my blog entry about the Eco Lodge!
Although it wasn't as warm as Samara, and didn't have a nice pool like La Fortuna, it was an amazing place to just chill out for a few days and think about all the stuff we accomplished in such a small amount of time. Even the second day i was there i heard people saying "wow it feels like I've been here for about a week!" And that was so true, our trip was packed with fun tours and activities every day... back to the Eco Lodge! Well just before we got there we got the opportunity to Zip Line, and for anyone reading this from Ontario that's been on like a 100ft zip line and thought it was crazy, we went on a total of 9, and all of them were over 1500ft. Although it looked to be a rainy fogy, and cloudy day, the wind picked up and the sun came out and all of a sudden i could see hundreds of kilometers away, it was truly amazing! The guides that worked there were super energetic and loved making everyone feel comfortable (for those that were afraid of heights). After an amazing day of zipping down at super fast speeds we headed to the Lodge. The roads were super bumpy and it was sweet gettin flung around the van haha! once we got to our destination, everyone unloaded the vans and brang their bags to the main room to hear a few facts about how the lodge started and of course the rules we had to fallow while we stayed there. Due to the fact that it was centered in the rain forest we had to stay quiet, for it was a place of peace and study. :) Once everyone got the hang of lowering their voices we headed off to our rooms, which i thought were spectacular, no bed bugs crawling in my sheets, no weird green bugs gallivanting across my ceiling, and no ants trying to eat the garbage cans!

The weird green bug ! 

 I was in a room with a good bunch of kids, like all the other nights i got along well with my roomies. After we figured out our bed arrangement we all headed up to the main building which was about 5 mins away, to start our night hike. Rain forests are among the most diverse places on earth, however not everything likes to come out during the day. On our night hike we saw so many bugs, crawling, hopping, and flying. But my favorite part of the trip is when we spotted something in the trees! We never really found out what it was but it got everyone excited and we kept our eyes peeled till the walk was over. Just as we were finishing our walk we saw a tarantula!

 Anyway we all headed back to our cabins for a good night sleep. When we woke up the teachers told us all about our day and that we would self guide ourselves up La Trucha, which was a massive paved road that winded up a hill that peaked through the clouds! When we finally reached the top we could see everything. It was a heart stopping view, and one that i personally will never forget! When we all caught our breath we decided to walk into town and meet some locals and buy some souvenirs, it went great! That night we played a game called minuet to win it, held by miss A, it was sweet :) everyone got into it and there was positive energy all around! The next day we were guided by Paul, one of the students studying at the Eco lodge to the waterfall. It wasn't as mighty as the Niagra Falls, but i thought it was equally as beautiful, it fell in 3 separate sections, eventually leading to one that we could jump around and swim in. The water was nice and refreshing, actually freezing! it was defiantly worth the 1 hour walk! After we played around in it for a little me and a few other buddies decided to fallow it down stream a little and re direct the water! it was tuns of fun, we dammed one portion and made the water flow a new direction.

When we got back to the lodge we packed up and made sure we had everything ready for the morning! i wrote my journal before dosing off and when i woke up there was an amazing breakfast prepared and we even got to make a lunch for our travel to Samara, the last place on our list to hit up! Throughout the trip i learnt many new things, and i also realized how valuable time is, and when you use it right you can accomplish anything you set your mind to!

William Lerch