Ending On a Good Note

Waking up at 5:00 didn't seem all that bad this morning when we were relaxing at a beautiful pacific beach on Tortuga Island. Unfortunately it was a long trip to finally enjoy our last day in Costa Rica. Gabriel picked us up at 5:15 and took us to a bus stop where we all got on a charter bus. The charter bus had seats like clouds that reclined, so we pretty much all fell asleep on the two hour ride over to the pacific coast. We ate breakfast at the Calypso Cruise's private restaurant/dock, which was the first part of the tour. During the tour our tour guide, Oscar, would give instructions on what we would be doing as well as pointing out places of interest. After breakfast, we departed by boat from the private dock and headed for Tortuga. It was a two hour boat ride that was catered by the crew with fresh fruit, alcohol (we did not drink any as we are not 18), water, juices, and various sodas. The boat also had some relaxing things to partake in like a net over the water and a couple of hot tubs to relax on/in. When the boat landed on the island we went back to our campsite where Oscar gave us more instructions and told us the times for snorkeling and banana boating. We took a boat out to a large island in the middle of the Gulf and dived into the water with full snorkeling gear: goggles, breathing tube, flippers, and if needed, a life jacket. The water was a little unclear due to previous tropical storms, but you could still see a ton of beautiful fish and more underwater life in the reef. After about 45 minutes of snorkeling we all went back to the island by boat and had our lunch. Starting with an appetizer: a dip made of diced fish marinated in lime served in a bowl with tortilla chips on the side.
Next they opened a salad bar with the ordinary lettuce and other vegetables available, but also macaroni salad. Lunch was served with a huge piece of chicken, garlic bread, rice, and veggies. Finally, dessert, coffee with bread (the usual Costa Rican thing; they love their coffee). After lunch we had some time to just relax and enjoy the beach before the banana boating started at 2:00. Some of us played frisbee, some looked for seashells, and some tanned on the beach. After banana boating was over we had some more time to relax and have fun before we departed from the island at 3:20. We arrived back at the mainland at around 5:00 after another peaceful boat ride with lots of tasty fruit. After another sleepy and long bus ride back to San Jose we grabbed a quick 'Murican dinner at Mickey Dee's. After dinner we arrived back at Franco's at around 9:30 and said our goodbye's to some of the people we won't be seeing tomorrow like our bus driver, Gabriel. After saying our goodbyes we all headed up to our rooms, showered, packed a little bit for the trip home tomorrow and got some rest for the upcoming long day of tiresome traveling.