Niemann Family: Costa Rica Missions Trip Day 13

July 2

This was our last full day in Costa Rica and we certainly made the most of it! It was our only full free day, so we had planned to go to Quepos & Manuel Antonio to zipline and to then back to the beach. Karen had ziplined in Costa Rica before, but this was a first for Hillary and me! Janis decided to stay in Esterillos to go to church and hang out with some of the staff.

We boarded the bus for the tour, joining a group from Florida who were all there on vacation. It was about a 20 minute ride to the zipline area and although it was rough, it was beautiful. When we arrived we walked across a bridge over a little river, and then it was onto the instruction area to get into our gear.

Yes there was a field of corn!

It's hard to put into words other than saying it was all simply breathtaking. After some initial deep breaths and minor anxiety, we were getting the hang of things (no pun intended!). We couldn't get Hillary to try it, but on two of the ziplines Karen and I went upside down! What a riot. The last of our 9 ziplines was a rappel down from the platform to the ground, which honestly was the most nerve-racking part for me since you had to step backwards off the platform into thin air! Luckily they managed the ropes for us so we just got to enjoy the short ride down. We didn't take any photos since they had a photographer there doing that for us. Thus, no photos today of our adventure but I am sure they will be uploaded and ready for your viewing pleasure soon.

Mario our awesome ziplining guide!

After lunch we boarded back up on the bus and took the ride back to our vehicle. We changed into our swimsuits and were quickly on our way to the beach! Since ziplining took a pretty big chunk of the day, we weren't able to go into the national park to the beach area there but found a great place with beautiful sand and some awesome waves to play in. We spend an hour jumping, diving and swimming in the waves before we got too salt-waterlogged and decided to visit one of the little shops for a new beach towel and a couple of other things.

We loaded up and went back into town where we had planned to stop at our favorite Agua Azul restaurant for some appetizer snacks and more photos.

We got back to Esterillos in time to join the staff for their weekly worship and staff night. We ate pizza with them and then went to pack while they did finished up their meeting. After we accomplished most of our packing, we went back over to say our good-byes. In just 2 weeks I feel like we have formed some really good relationships that are nowhere near being short-term. I cannot wait to see what this team of people is going to do in these communities and the differences they will continue to make in the lives of kids in Costa Rica.