By Shannon Hoffman

Travel Club Edviser

Hola.  The Town of Webb Travel Club recently returned from ten days of travel in Costa Rica. During this adventure our activities included seeing a dormant volcano crater, zip lining, hiking through rain and cloud and humid forests, planting a tree, visiting a school, playing soccer with students, kayaking on Arenal Lake, relaxing in hot springs, visiting a waterfall on the Fortuna River, whitewater rafting on the Saripique River, driving through the Costa Rica countryside on narrow dirt roads, swimming in the ocean on the Central Pacific Coast, eating lots of Costa Rican food, and loving every minute of it. What follows are the observations of the members of the travel club.

Costa Rica was an experience of a lifetime. The people we met were great and many of the sites we saw and excursions we did were breathtaking. Also, the food was fantastic.  I especially liked trying the cactus flower flavored ice cream.

—Molly Rodriguez.

When the realization set in that I would actually be traveling to Costa Rica, I promised myself that I would absorb and seize every experience presented to me. I was prepared to eat crazy bugs, jump off anything that would provide a thrill, attempt to speak in Spanish, and take pictures of literally everything. I was determined not to miss out on anything that Costa Rica had to offer me. The first of these things being the food, it was so different but I told myself to try everything. I found that everything tasted different, in that, even if I hadn’t liked it at home I found myself eating it, and in fact liking it. I actually consumed and enjoyed broccoli, cauliflower, and edible vines, among other things.

The food was just the start though; our days were packed with adventures like jungle hikes, active volcanoes, waterfalls, hot springs, canopy zip lining, and whitewater rafting; surely experiences that I will never forget. Most of us did everything and I found that the promise I made with myself was also common among my classmates and teachers.

After everything that we saw and did I don’t think that I could pick any one activity as my favorite. The trip as a whole was such an amazing experience and the pure beauty of Costa Rica was absolutely breath taking. For me, being in a foreign country and interacting with the new atmosphere was no less than a completely enriching experience.

—Jessica Menges

Costa Rica was an amazing experience. The group of nine of us that went did everything from kayaking on Arenal Lake to zip lining over the trees of Monteverde to sitting on the beach by the Pacific Coast. We ate a lot of rice and beans but every meal was delicious. Personally, my favorite day of the trip was one day in Monteverde. In the morning we went on a hike in a dense rainforest where everything was so green and beautiful. After the hike we had lunch and went to Monteverde Extremo Park to go zip lining. It was so cool being so high above the trees and literally getting a bird’s eye view. At the same place we went on a Tarzan swing; the workers there basically pushed you off a 20 foot ledge and you swung back and forth. Then we visited a local school where a group of six kids put on a dance performance for us. It was such a great day and the overall trip was a great experience.

—Daria Orekhov

One of the best days of our vacation was the fifth day. We were staying at a lodge hotel in Monteverde, and we had a whole day planned of activities. We woke up early in the morning to start our day. We traveled to a site where there was extreme zip lining. At first I thought it was going to be courses throughout the rainforest through the trees, but after the first three courses my thought changed. Three times, we were allowed to zip line across in doubles and what we didn’t know was definitely a shock. When the guide asked, “Are you ready, my friend?”

Daria and I shook our heads nervously, but away we went. The next five minutes was an experience I’ll never forget. It felt like we were on top of the world as we glided across a canyon of the rainforest and we could see miles and miles of mountains in the distance. We crossed the canyon about three times, but that wasn’t the only breath taking part of the zip lining tour. During the courses there was one course called the Tarzan swing, which reminded me of a small bungee jump. You went out on a walk way and at the end were harnessed to a taut rope and the next step was to jump. Once you jumped off the ramp, you would drop a few feet and then swing back and forth. Once I dropped, I couldn’t even scream because my breath was taken by the intense adrenaline. It was so much fun and I almost didn’t do it. But I’m so glad I did because I would have regretted it.

After zip lining there were two more activities we had for the day. Our next stop was at a local school in Monteverde where children were going to perform a dance for us. The children got all dressed up for their performance, and they had practiced a lot. When we got there, one of the mothers welcomed us in and told us a little about the schools. Of course she only spoke Spanish, so our tour guide, Juan Carlos, had to translate for us. Then the children danced for us, and their faces glowed with happiness and they giggled as they performed. It was really cool to give them an audience and to meet the children.

The children and their school showed me that we are so fortunate for what we have here in Old Forge.

After the performance, we went to their school soccer field and played soccer with the kids and some of the locals. It was really fun to play with people you didn’t know and that didn’t speak English well. I got to meet new people and learn more Spanish. In all, that day I will remember for the rest of my life.

—Andrea Frey

I knew this was going to be a great trip, but it turned out better than I thought it would. Every day there were plenty of amazing things to do. Some of my favorites were the hot springs, visiting a local school, planting a tree and zip lining.  

The trip was so full of excitement that you would be exhausted at the end of the day, knowing it would all start again at 6 a.m. the next morning. I couldn’t have asked for a better time and a lot of the fun was due to our amazing tour guide, Juan Carlos.  

Costa Rica was an amazing experience and I hope to go back there one day on a different vacation to experience anything we didn’t get to do this time.

—Lance Frymire.

There were a lot of great things on the Costa Rica trip. It’s hard to pick my favorite one, but if I had to, I’d pick the hot springs resort. It is one of the experiences in my life that I’ll never forget. I remember it being the most relaxed I’d ever been in my life. The heat of the water mixed with the abundance of it made it like swimming in a giant hot tub. Another cool thing about it were the refreshment stands in the middle of the pools, so you could get a drink if you were a little too hot. Back in the U.S., every hot tub seems flimsy in comparison to the hot springs. It is a memory that is sure to stay with me for a very long time.

—Jason Landl

This trip was one of the best experiences of my life. Costa Rica is a beautiful country that was definitely worth visiting. My favorite part was the zip-lining tour. It was amazing to go so high and so fast. There were many things to do and see. I want to thank everyone who supported me and this trip.

—Lexie Haehl

As a thank you, the Travel Club would like to invite the community, all the people who helped send us to Costa Rica, to a Community Night at Town of Webb School on Thursday, May 3, at 8 p.m., where we will be presenting and chatting about our adventure. At this event, we will be collecting school supplies or monetary donations to send to the local school we visited.  Please come out to see what you helped us do. Pura Vida.