First Church - Adult Mission Trips: Costa Rica final day

Today is our last day in Costa Rica and we were awoken to the sounds of macaws. After a traditional Costa Rican breakfast (eggs, rice, black beans, toast and juice) we boarded the bus to go to the crocodile tour. The tour took us inland about 6 km and then we turned and headed towards to the ocean. On the tour we saw a variety of birds and many crocodiles. The largest crocs were 18 feet long and about 70-80 years old. One of the boat crew members got out of the boat and hand feed the crocs chicken so that we could fully see their enormous size and power.

Next we went to Carara's Universal Trail National Park. This National Park is very unique because a blind person can go through the park by themselves with an audio recording that explains everything around them and directions on how to follow the path. The path is paved so it is accessible to walkers and wheelchairs. There we saw iguanas, a poison arrow dart frog, and cutter ants. As volunteers we scrubbed part of the path that had been closed for four weeks because of a tree that was about to fall. They finally cut the tree down and now the path has been reopened.

Last, we had a barbecue at Maximo's brother's house overlooking the Pacific Ocean. After lunch two members of the Mercy Homes Ministry shared their faith stories and how they came to work for Mercy Homes.

This has been a wonderful trip. Although we came to give we all realize, in fact, that we received more than we gave.