Whale Tales

This past weekend I was overjoyed to finally get out and experience Costa Rica again! 

We had a long weekend so my new roommate, Ashley, and I hit the road Friday morning for Uvita (Bahia Ballena), Costa Rica. First we headed down to San Jose to catch a bus to Posas Canoas 

(literally I could not pronounce that right- everyone at the bus station kept laughing at me). 

We were all set to buy our 7:30AM bus ticket...

when we found out that it was completely sold out. 

The next bus left at 11:00 AM. So, we were left with quite a few hours to kill in a not so friendly neighborhood. But we made the most of this 'inconvenient but not the end of the world' situation by enjoying some gallo pinto (rice & beans) & eggs for breakfast and practicing our Spanish.

Finally we made it to our hostel, The Tucan Hotel, in the middle of a Costa Rican rainstorm. 

It was pretty hippie style, to say the least- but we loved it!

We paid $6 to sleep in hammocks. Sounds glamorous at first, but I ended up with about 25 bug bites on my face ( I'll spare you the gory details and pictures, I promise) and my neck has been sore ever since. 

I probably will opt for the $10 room next time.

Anyway, the whole reason we chose Uvita was because it's ballena (whale) season!!! 

From July-September, whales from the Southern Pacific migrate up to the warmer waters of Costa Rica to have babies and raise their young! So we booked our tour and headed out bright and early Saturday morning.

On our boat tour, we got to see a mama whale and her baby!

And a few jumping dolphins!

The whole time I was in awe of the Lord's craftsmanship. These coves where the whales hideout are literally shaped like a whale's tale- check it out (aerial view):

AND there's an island located in one of the coves called "Whale Island". No, not because whales go there. But because there is a hole in the island so water sprays out of the island, just like a whale's blow hole. It just felt like it was all connected in a beautiful design by our Creator. 

PLUS it didn't storm that afternoon so got to spend the rest of the afternoon on the expansive beaches.

Sunday morning, we hiked up the nearby mountain at 6AM to find this hidden little gem. We were in awe of the beauty of these clear blue cataratas (waterfalls). The only way it could have been more perfect would have been if McCray was there- his heart loves waterfalls so much!

So anyway, this was just a recap of another beautiful, magical, 

and slightly unbelievable weekend in my big backyard.