Friday, February 20: Leaving Corcovado

This morning we woke up, packed up camp, and left in boats after breakfast.  We were all sad to leave, but excited for what was yet to come.  I was really happy because I heard the howler monkeys this morning before we leave.  They were really weird sounding.  The boat ride was really nice actually, it was another beautiful day.  We went back through the mangroves to the hotel we stayed at in Sierpe.  We loaded up our stuff on the bus, grabbed some snacks at the supermarket, and hit the road.

Shortly after leaving, we stopped at a banana plantation, to do a species report of course.  It wasn't too exciting, just rows and rows of banana plants.  After a few hours of driving we stopped in Dominical, a surf town, for lunch.  It was kind of weird being back in civilization.  We got to use the phone and internet for the first time since San Jose.  We got to walk down to the beach, but it wasn't nearly as pretty as Corcovado.  There were also a ton a little shops we stopped at.

After a few more hours of driving we reached our hotel.  It was so nice! Right on a black sand beach.  It even had a pool with a swim up bar, but unfortunately it was closed.  Fortunately the other bar was open.  We had two people to a room, which meant we each got our own full bed!  And a real shower (but not a warm shower).  We all went out to the beach to watch the sun set.  I've never been to a black sand beach before.  Brad even got to surf.  

We went to a seafood restaurant for dinner.  We sat 6 people to a table, and each table shared a big seafood platter with fish, lobster, shrimp, clams and lots of other things.  Upon returning to the hotel we headed straight to the bar.  Roy was our bartender.  He didn't speak English, but since we knew how to say "mas tequila," everything was ok.  This is when we discovered the deliciousness that is guaro.  Possibly the best mixed drink I've ever had, we are still looking for it in other places, but haven't had any luck.  Guaro is really common, but we don't know what Roy mixed it with.  Pablo and Moncho even joined us at the bar to have "one beer," which turned out to be a 40.  We weren't out too late since we were so used to going to bed early in Corcovado.