Remembering the day we finally set out on the boats to do what we came here to do. Riding in the boats and seeing the amazing mountains everywhere you look was the icing on the day’s cake. The first turtle we got to handle was a big one. When we got the turtle back to the beach we measured the length and the width of both the carpace and plastron and also the length of tail and the cloaca. We also learned how to do nets. There is a special way to wrap them in the cooler to make it easier to set in the water the next day. We did turtles for a few days then we had a  whale watching day. Whale watching was surprising fun. We got a lot of great photos and videos, it was so much fun!

As the final days came closer, no one wanted leave. Who would want to leave a beautiful place like Osa Peninsula. The last day that we had before we left we went on a waterfall hike. The hike was amazing! After an hour and a half we finally arrived at the waterfall. The waterfall felt so good cause it was extremely hot out.

We sadly drove back to San Jose and went out and had a fabulous last dinner together at restaurant Machu Picchu. We flew back and had to come back to reality.

I really hope that SPC does another Study Abroad Vet Tech program. I learned so much about these critically endangered creatures. I would love to go and Study Abroad and learn more about different endangered species in other counties.

Day one was finally complete. It was longest day I have had in awhile. Waking up at 3am to pick up Katie and Jillian on the way to airport was struggle. Our plane from Tampa to Miami was leaving thirty minutes earlier then we expected, but everyone was on time and got on the plane to start the journey to Costa Rica!

We had a fairly long layover from Miami to San Jose, but that was no problem we went and had a nice breakfast with everyone at a very nice restaurant and everyone talked amongst each other about their future goals as a vet tech. We got on the plane and before we knew it we had finally arrived.

Customs in Costa Rica wasn’t as bad as everyone was saying it was going to be. I got my first stamp of hopefully many in my passport!
The drive to Osa Peninsula was a long one, a lot longer then I had sought it out to be.

The cabinas were a 15 minute bike ride from where we will actually leave on boats to catch the turtles.