Day 10 - Beaches on the Pacific Coast

Today was an awesome day! I feel sure if you ask the students, that would be a unanimous opinion! We had breakfast at our hotel, then off to the first beach around 8:30. We drove about 30 min to the Machililla National Park. We walked along the beach, climbed some rocks to a cave, took a hike to a "mirodor" and had fun swimming in the ocean. And yes parents - wore lots of sunscreen! Some students even made the HPU Panther in the sand! Way to go Taylor, Brianne, Halley, Adam and Lauren (and their cheering squad)!

 At the "mirador" - ledge that overlooks the ocean:

Above - Logan and Evan investigating the wild life...

We left this beach around 12:30 to go to lunch at Montayara Lodge. We got to go swimming in their pool (pretty awesome) and infinity hot tub that overlooks the Pacific Ocean. It was hard to get them moving for our next stop!

We split into 2 groups at this point. One group got off at our hotel to walk the beach, go for a run, or just take a nap.  The other group (my group) went to another town about 30 min away called Montanita. This was a surfer town, with lots of beach vendors and a little mini-market. Some walked the beach and others went shopping. We met back at the bus around 5:30 to head back to the hotel, and saw a howler monkey climbing a tree along side the road. What a unique find (yes, this is actually my picture!)!

Before dinner, some walked to the ocean to see the sun set (every day at 6:15pm), so that makes a total of 3 beaches in one day!!! Dinner was at 7:00, and we ate pizza and ice cream.  Wow - just like back home.  After dinner, we just hung out to talk, or go to bed early. We have another full day of activities on the Pacific Coast.  Here is a picture of the students sitting the the main lodge part using the WiFi before dinner: