Now that we've all recovered from our sunburns and hangovers, returning to the hallowed halls of Indiana there are stories to tell about exploits over spring break - and I can't say I'm any different. Here goes mine...

For those who didn't know, Adam and I went to Costa Rica for spring break. ***It's the country in between Nicaragua and Panama for the geographically challenged among us*** Pictures of our 8 day adventure are here.

Adam and I departed sweet home Chicago on Friday night, landing at Washington Dulles quite late (or very early, depending on perspective) thanks to the wonderful, not-on-time-at-all performance of United. After riding in the monster-truck like shuttle busses at the airport we spent about 5 hours sleeping in the finest D.C. area airport hotel we could afford and was back at the airport bright and early to begin our trip.

Landing in Costa Rica, our hostel's promised shuttle wasn't there. Called the hostel, and it was the wrong number. Of course, to complicate matters, Adam and I do not speak spanish. Not a single word. Long story short, we take an *unliscensed* taxi to our hostel and check in for the night. The next day we headed to the Coca-Cola terminal and took a bus to Jaco, the resort town on the beach that was our destination.

Getting to Jaco, we check in to our first hotel, which was very nice and very very far from the rest of town. We layed on the beach for two days then checked into the other hotel we stayed in there. For those who are interested, I am sad to report the bar Filthy McNasty's in Jaco is closed... apparently the owner was a bit of a criminal and vowed that the police wouldn't take him alive. And they didn't.

On a lighter note, in Jaco we took a day trip to Vulcan Arenal. Neat, and we got to swim in the hot springs that are fed by the volcano.

After 5 days on the beach, we took the jolting van ride to Monteverde, where the last remaining cloud forest is. We took a tour of Selvatura reserve by taking a zipline through the jungle. Adam just about crapped his pants while I died laughing.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and we flew back on Sunday. All in all, great trip, and I would highly recommend Costa Rica for a Central American adventure!