I had my 22^nd birthday in Costa Rica! How awesome is that?  Today we went on our waterfall tour. It was an amazing experience. We walked about an hour and half  to the waterfall. The view to the waterfall was unbelievable. It was like walking through a jungle. Unfortunately we did see any monkeys., but we did see some beautiful butterflies. After walking for awhile we finally reached the waterfall it was gorgeous. The water temperature was about 73 degrees. The waterfall had different levels.

The walk back took about 2 hours that was extremely difficult but I was proud of the group for pulling through till the end. We got back to the cabanas and went swimming. After swimming we took a trip to the local bakery. We got about just about everything they had to offer. The building was a little weary but the desserts were fabulous.  Not knowing I was having cake with dinner that night I ate way too much. The group that I went on the trip with was so kind to get me a cake. I had no clue all day. It was a wonderful feeling to know people had so much care for me. It made my birthday so special especially being away from home.  It was one of the best birthdays!

We caught four turtles on our first day. The staff at Widecast would bring the boat into shore and depending how big the turtle is several of us would get the turtle out of the boat and to the shore on tires so we could preform our procedure. With every turtle we would check for a tag. If no tag was present we would tag them and obtain a tissue sample. If the turtle was tagged in the past we would retag and also obtain a tissues sample.  We would also measure the plastron, carapace, tail, and  cloaca. All the data was recorded and put into their data base to keep track of all the turtles. The majority of the sea turtles caught were female green sea turtles, we did get catch one hawksbill.  It was an amazing experience being able to work with the sea turtles.  I would definitely do it again!

I arrive at the airport before the sun has come to a rise. The lady took back my suitcase and I slid my passport to receive my flight ticket. I met up with my group and kissed my family goodbye. I imagined security being much worse than it was. All the talk on the news and newspaper had me worried, but it actually was not that bad at all. We had to put all of our things in the buckets even our shoes and walk through an x-ray machine. We had a little bit of a wait before leaving to Miami, so we all went and got breakfast at a café close to our gate. I also fell asleep waiting to board the plane. We finally got on the plane. I put my carry on above me and waited for everyone to board. We were told the safety rules of the plane and then it was time to take off. It was amazing how fast the plane went on the runway. As soon as we were off the ground my stomach drop, like the feeling of a roller coaster. Once in the air the plane leveled out and made the plane ride more comfortable. It was so cool to see the houses and shops as we took off, it looked like a Legoland. The first plane ride was only about 30 minutes but it prepared me for our three and half hour flight. I enjoyed flying for the first time and couldn’t wait to land in Costa Rica!