Author: Fei An Tjan
July 3rd 2009 – July 10th 2009
Last week, I experienced the true meaning of volunteering and traveling abroad. Due to Costa Rican school holidays, we offered our volunteers a small holiday, while in the meantime letting them experience another volunteer project. Fiorella and I were the lucky ones to come along on this exciting journey, which would start in white water rafting heaven, Turrialba; then we would continue to do some labor in Gandoca, where one of our Turtle Conservation Projects is based and after that, we would probably need the last three days to relax on the beaches of Puerto Viejo. This week, I will give you a daily update of some memorable moments…
Day 3-July 5th 2009
At 8:00 AM everybody was sort of ready to leave. That means of course we weren’t even close, but at 08:30, everybody managed to drag him or herself in the van. Two hours driving became three hours, getting lost, three hours became four, getting lost again and after four hours we decided to take a break in one of the road restaurants.
So far, we hadn’t found a restaurant where the serving went flawless and this one was no exception. But it keeps getting a little bit better every time and this time it was only one order (mine) that went wrong.
At 14.30, 2 hours later than planned, we finally arrived in the Carribean town of Gandoca. Shock! This place was nothing, but absolutely nothing like I’d expected. After preparing everybody for the worst circumstances, including myself: no water, no electricity, limited light, I was only happy to find this place in such a good state. The house where we stayed was gorgeous and our welcome, with a good cup of Costa Rican blend and some Chiqi cookies was everything we needed after the bumpy ride. We heard that we had the rest of the day off which meant BEACH! No discussion (or other option).
In the evening we went back to the good old times playing cards, reading and other social occupations (photo). What else do you do in a place where there are no computers (apart from mine), no TV and no Playstation or Wii? At 20:00 everybody was tired of playing games and prepared for bed. It would be a short night as the plan was to see the sunrise at 04.30. So no chitchatting in the room, lights out and off to dream land.
