Tolinga (Isla Tortuga)

So we should always stick to indigenous names of the land. Yes, to honor and recognize the people who lived on these lands and who have been fighting to be seen and heard for centuries. And also because colonial powers totally suck at naming things. There are no turtles on Isla Tortuga, it seems it was named that because the island is- shaped like a turtle? Nope. Neither from the boat nor from the sky view on Google maps. We couldn't see it at all. And we looked.

But I'm skipping ahead.

The day started with my alarm at 4:15 am. I looked at it in confusion, remembered I was going on a trip, but I must have set the alarm too soon, and put my head back down (without resetting the alarm) at 4:40, I realized, NO, I had set it for 4:15 because at 4:45 I needed to be at the gate of another student's house so her Mama Tica (Costa Rican mother) could give us both a ride to the park, where we were meeting the 3 other students going with us and our ride to the island. Luckily, I am my parent's child and everything I needed was packed and ready to go. I was a few minutes late, but luckily, Pura Vida, so were they. Also, the grandfather of the house was shocked that I'd left without waking anyone up. He saw my closed door and panicked, thinking I was late to the park. I'm very very proud of that exit from the house, in a rush, before 5 am making a minimum of noise.

We got in our minivan with our friends at the park at 5, picked up a few couples in San Jose, and met with the bigger bus that took us to the pier. Then it was a catamaran to the island. We arrived at the island around 11 am. Yes, that's right, we left the house at 3:45 and arrived at our destination at 11 am. The mini van to the bus was, you know, travel, but, late into it, we passed a whole lot of coast where I got to see the PACIFIC OCEAN for the first time!! It was everything I'd imagined it to be! And the boat ride was a lot of fun, getting to know the other students and explore the boat together.

Not Tolinga, but on the way.

After getting settled on the island, we took a boat out to a rock structure to snorkel. I'd chosen the "free dive" life vest that could inflate if you blew into it, but allowed you to swim around underwater and check things out. One of my friends saw a ray, which I really wanted to see, but it swam away too quickly. But they're were millions of fish with all kinds of colors and sizes and they came right over to you.  And I learned I am much braver than I was when I went snorkeling last (I think sting ray city when I was 12?) and this time, I actually dove into the water to see more. SO MANY neat things under the sea :) No photos because, well, I was in the water the whole time.

We came back to the beach for a great lunch and some lying on the beach.

HAHA, nope, those are NOT my feet, (but they are my friends'). There was far too much to see! After lunch I went on my first Banana Boat Ride. We were dragged behind by the motor boat over waves which was pretty fun. Then the motor boat made sharp turn and just waited for us. And I got to experience the life of a very clumsy seagull crash landing on the water. Thanks to circus classes, I was able to haul myself back onto the banana boat and help everyone else up, and we were off to the races. And by races, I mean another unplanned attempt at learning to fly (if at first you don't succeed?) This time, after helping everyone up, I ended up in the front of the boat. As we came back to the beach, I saw the boat driver was setting us up for one last dump and I was ready! I didn't go in this time. Neither did my friend behind me. But when I jumped in to swim to shore I realized everyone else in the boat had been dumped. It seems that if someone falls in in front of you, you are going down.. Apparently I could be good at riding horses (I was told they're similar skill sets, but um, no, a boat is inanimate, a horse has a mind of it's own) because I was able to stay on.

We got back on the boat, 4 hours after getting off, and started the long trip back to Santo Domingo. I got home around 8:30 walked into my room to flop on my bed and realized, tomorrow, I will be back at the park, this time at 7 AM for the next trip!