Hetal Chirag
Going to Costa Rica with some of my closest friends from Ryerson University during our reading break of MBA was one of the best vacations I have had. As we were on a student budget and wanted to get the maximum value for our money, we managed to get a cheap flight with one night layover in Mexico City, instead of getting a direct flight to San Jose.
From San Jose, we started our journey towards San Isadro and made it to a small town called Brujo. Our shuttle dropped us off to a point where there was no other option but to continue on foot to travel further. Our next destination, Eco Lodge, was one river and a 3 hour hike away deep inside the tropical rain forest.
After spending a few days in a perfect tropical paradise in the heart of Costa Rican rain forest at Eco Lodge, we made our way to Uvita, a small town located on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica.
At Uvita, we took surf lessons in the morning to learn how to paddle, catch the wave and stand up. It all seemed very easy when our instructor was explaining it on the beach, but once we got into the water, it was a completely different story. During the day we volunteered at a local school. And in the evening, we usually relaxed and enjoyed golden sunsets at the beach.
We also got a chance to learn about an essential part of Costa Rican culture, dancing. One of the local couple taught us how to Salsa, Bachata and Merengue. I must say our instructors made it look very easy. After some practicing, I did manage to master a few moves, which I am pretty proud of. At the end of our dance sessions, we used to have dance offs and me and my dance partner Rae-Anne won the challenge.
