When we got to Two Little Monkey’s Chocolate Farm we were immediately greeted by the owner, Ismael. We started off by learning about how the rain forest was discovered. 3 kids between the ages 8-10 saw that the rain forest was being cut down and decided they wanted to buy a piece of it. They sold cookies to their classmates and teachers and were able to put a down payment on some of the land. Once people around the world heard about this, everyone started to donate to buying the land. After learning about that we were given trees to plant around their piece of the jungle. We were all able to get our hands dirty and even taste some of the things the jungle has to offer like ginger, turmeric, and termites. After planting our trees we were able to go down to the river for a little swim. The water was beautiful and the scenery was breathtaking. After our swim we walked back up to the pavilion to being learning about chocolate. Seeing how chocolate is made and learning about the history was super interesting! Ismael knew so much about his craft and really grabbed your attention. Everyone at the farm was incredibly nice and patient, which made the chocolate that much sweeter. After an amazing day at the chocolate farm we drove about 10 minutes to Heliconias Nature Lodge. The lodge was stunning! Plant life everywhere, tons of animals, and the first cabin had a tree growing through it. Once we got settled in, we had a very yummy spaghetti dinner. Then, we worked on hip movement to eventually begin to salsa dance. The locals at the lodge were very talented and danced with a lot of us. Blog by Tori W., April and Lily

We started the morning with a hike, we had to walk 700 steps and that lead us to the beautiful waterfall and river, both of which were freezing but refreshing. After the river, we had to walk back up 700 step hike, so we could begin Zip lining. We went across 7 different zip lines, the longest being 980 meters! The views were stunning. When we finish zip lining we stopped at near by restaurant and ate fish , rice and beans. served with delicious coconut ice cream and headed back to the hotel to get some rest before our evening volleyball match. It took us a set to come together playing with a new team but we play awesome together and made it a great experience. Once the volleyball match was over, we got to know each of the players and talk to them in our best spanish and their best English. Each of the girls was very genuine and welcoming. We had pizza with them for our dinner, and took many pictures, exchanged social media accounts, and made tons of memories. In the midst of all the global chaos, we were so fortunate to have a match against a very good San Carlos team last night! We played a best of five match and won 3-1. We represented well and the players made some awesome connections with the players from Costa Rica, some of them who play on the junior national team. Awesome experience! We are truly blessed. Blog by Tori Gehret and Jaylin Aguirre

And it’s a wrap. We finished our final day exploring the town of La Fortuna. We started at the naturally heated hot springs pools near the Arenal volcano site. After some sun and soaking in the warm water, we explored the town of La Fortuna before heading back to San Jose. We finished our trip with one last Costa Rican meal and celebrated Tori’s birthday. We are waiting at the airport this morning now to board our flight! Blog by Jerry Linch, AVA Club Director