Our trip to Costa Rica started bright and early. Since our flights departed around 6:00 am, everybody had an early morning in order to arrive at the airport in time to check bags and go through security. The group left from three different cities: New Bern, Washington D.C., and Raleigh, but we planned it so we would all land in San Jose about the same time. It was almost noon, local time, when the entire group reconvened in Costa Rica. After clearing customs, Giovany, the driver sent to pick us up from Willie’s Tours Coast Rica, greeted us enthusiastically.
Preparing for our trip across Costa Rica proved challenging. Since we were loaded down with the gear necessary to complete our work in Cahuita, there was not much room in the van for passengers. The back two rows were packed from floor to ceiling with our checked bags. We managed to squeeze all eighteen students, staff, and their carry on luggage into the remaining seats and were soon on our way to our final destination. Although some of the group was initially nervous about the method of travel and the five hour journey that awaited us, driving to the Caribbean side of the country was interesting because we were able to see more of Costa Rica. We drove through the mountains and rainforests, saw rivers and small towns, and spotted numerous banana fields and waterfalls.
About an hour into our drive, Giovany stopped at a restaurant that served excellent Costa Rican food. There were plenty of rice and beans, plantains, fruits, and meats. At lunch I talked with Giovanni about Cahuita – taking advantage of the opportunity to practice my rusty Spanish. I learned that our guide lives a few kilometers from the town and that he highly recommends trying the Red Snapper while we are here. In turn, he asked about why we were visiting and I found that trying to describe maritime archaeology in a different language is more difficult than I anticipated. Although Giovany seemed interested in our work, he was most intrigued by the fish we will encounter.
The rest of our trip took about four hours. We finally arrived at Hotel Vaz in Cahuita at about 6:30 pm. After settling into our rooms, we had a briefing on the plan for our first day of work. We will not be SCUBA diving, but we will snorkel over the sites to get a general impression and orientation of the area and environment. Finally, we are headed to a local restaurant, Coco’s, for dinner and drinks before calling it a night to prepare for the busy first day of work!
– Emily