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White Water Rafting Photo Gallery | 2016 Region 5 All Star Trip
Pura Vida Costa Rica Blog #3 | 2016 Region 5 All Star Trip
#R5PuraVida Blog #3
Another Region 5 All Star trip has come to an end and we have had an awesome time in Costa Rica. We have challenged the rapids, observed the wildlife in their natural habitat, made new friends at the beach, took in the breath taking (and walking up did actually take our breath away) views of the volcano and waterfalls, spent many an hour in a bus, and made a difference in many Costa Rican gymnasts lives. I would say this trip was a fulfilling one to say the least.
We wrap our Pura Vida All Star Team blog with a perspective of the last few days from Andrea Li, Bridget Killian, Anastasia Webb, and Mati Waligora
Here is Andrea Li, Legacy Elite
Friday October 21
Hola! We started the day off at 8 o’clock. We took a 3 hour bus ride up the volcanoes. We hiked up steep trails to see the first crater and when we got to the top all you could see are clouds. I started telling everybody “Welcome to heaven” because it was so bright. When a little bit of the clouds cleared up, you could see the ring of the crater that was filled with water. We then hiked for another 10 minutes before reaching a beautiful river and took many pictures. Since we were so high up the air was thicker and harder to breathe in and all of our legs were on fire. I did not like the trails because there were trees surrounding us and tons of bugs flying around. We took a huge loop ending where we started and went back on the bus. The bus driver drove us 20 minutes to our second destination which was the La Paz Waterfall Garden. We ate a delicious lunch buffet there and everyone took a short bathroom break. We walked to one section of the garden where we saw many types of birds including owls, hummingbirds, parrots, toucans, ducks, etc. Everybody was trying to make bird sounds. The coolest part was when we got to hold toucans because it is something that I’ve never done before. We went to see butterflies and I was terrified because I hate bugs. Bridget had a small one on her finger and passed it over to me so that I could take a picture with it. I smiled but I was crying on the inside. We watched a butterfly come out of it’s cocoon and fly with the others. Next we saw monkeys swinging on branches and one of them even posed for the camera. Then we went to see my favorite which were the snakes. I love snakes because the Chinese zodiac signs show I was born on the year of the snake. We saw some of the world’s most poisonous snakes. The last animal we saw were jaguars. There was a very cute baby jaguar that walked around very quickly on the branches in its cage. It would come up to the glass wanting someone to pet him/her. There were four large jaguars, three were sleeping and one was up roaming around. After that we went to see three different waterfalls. The first one was the biggest and when we walked close to take a picture everyone got wet. The second was slightly smaller and we got to see the inside of it. The last waterfall was known to be magical because we were told to be able to see some type of illusion. We then walked up many stairs to a souvenir shop and looked at keychains and shirts. We took a green school bus back up to our original bus and drove 5 hours in traffic to the gym. We quickly got ready and started helping the girls from Costa Rica. I did a couple skills and we all conditioned 
together at the end. Then we got together, sat in a circle, and gave each other massages. Lastly we walked back to the hotel and ate at 10 o’clock. I ended the day by doing some homework.
Here is Bridget Killian,Legacy Elite
Friday, October 21
We started the long but exciting day on the bus up the mountains at 8:00 am. The trip up the mountains was so beautiful. It was incredible to see the towns below as we got higher and higher into the clouds. It was cool to see all of the towns we passed heading up to our first destination: the volcano. When we got up to the area where the bus dropped us off, we had to put on our jackets because the temperature was so much colder up there. We hiked very steep hills and steps all the way up to the top where we saw the crater. When we first reached the top we couldn’t see anything because there were clouds everywhere. For a few minutes the clouds moved and we got to see the crater/volcano. It was so cool to see because none of us had ever seen anything like it before. After spending some time taking in the beauty of the volcano we hiked up to a pretty, blue lake. At the lake we took a lot of pictures and started to head back down. We took many, many steps down and made our way back to the bus where we would find our next destination: the waterfalls. When we reached the La Paz Waterfall Garden area we ate a delicious lunch. After lunch we decided to check out some of the animals in this area. We got to see so many different types of birds. My favorite bird was the toucan. Everyone got to take pictures with a toucan on their arm. After the seeing the birds, we passed through the monkey area. I was excited to see the monkeys because they are my favorite animal. Next, we went through the butterfly exhibit which was sort of scary because i don’t like insects that much, and there were butterflies everywhere. I got over my fears and had a butterfly crawl onto my finger. Having the butterfly was so cool because i really got to take in the beauty of the animals. After the butterflies we went through the snake exhibit, where i didn’t last very long. We then headed over to the jungle cats where we saw the jaguars which was really cool to see them that close. After the jungle cats we made our way to the waterfalls. We hiked pretty far to see each of the waterfalls, but it was all worth it in the end. The view of each of the waterfalls was so breathtaking. After we stopped at each of the waterfalls we took the bus back to the gym. We went straight to the gym due to the crazy Cost Rican traffic. Once we got there we immediately put ur stuff away and started helping out the gymnasts. It was so fun to help coach them and see their enthusiasm. We ended practice with conditioning all together and a massage circle that everyone enjoyed. We then headed back to the hotel where we ate a late meal together with lots of laughs. We all were so tired from the exhausting day so we headed up to bed as our night concluded.
Here is Anastasia Webb, IGI
The view of the mountains, lake, and volcano where all worth seeing after the two hour bus ride. We walked many stairs and got a lot of exercise while traveling up to see the crater of the volcano. I felt out of shape because of the high altitude which made me breath a lot more . When we reached the crater of the volcano the sky was not clear at all, instead it was full of clouds. The view looked like ” heaven”. After some beautiful photos of the volcano we traveled up hill to go back to the bus. The bus driver then took us to the Lapaz Waterfall. The view to the waterfall was amazing because I could see the diversity of people and the differences between towns. When we reached the Lapaz Waterfall I would say this was my favorite part of the trip because we got to interact with many animals such as toucans and butterflies landing on my arm. Also the funnest part of the trip was when Todd, my coach almost got hit in the head while a duck was flying. After seeing all the different kinds of animals we traveled very far to see the three waterfalls. It was definitely worth it because I’m not used to seeing huge, loud waterfalls in Chicago. The view was breathtaking! After we saw each waterfall it was time to head back and train at the Gimnasio El Lider. The bus driver told us that it would take approximately two hours, but with Costa Rica’s heavy traffic it took four hours! This made us very late for practice. When we got to the gym we helped all the girls and showed them new drills and tips for gymnastics. We ended our practice with a massage train and many laughs with all the girls. We all then headed back to the hotel and ate our dinner. The day was very exhausting so we went straight to bed and began our next adventure in the morning.
Here is Mati Waligora,Olympia
Friday, October 21
Hola from Costa Rica! Friday morning we woke up bright and early. After eating breakfast, we hopped on a bus that took us to see beautiful sceneries. Once we got there we took a trial to go see a volcano. The trial was a 20 minute walk uphill. The higher we got the harder it was to breathe, and our bodies got tired quickly. When we got to the volcano, it was hard to see because it was so cloudy, sometimes the clouds would blow by and you could see parts of the volcano. We got some group pictures up there and then headed to the next trail, taking us to a lake. After walking on more steep trails, we got to the lake. The lake was really pretty, the water was so clear, and there were so many beautiful mountains all around the lake. We headed back to the bathroom and then to the bus. By the time we got back to the bus we had walked around 3.5 miles. We drove 30 minutes to La Paz Waterfall Garden, where there was waterfalls and animals to see. First we ate a yummy lunch and the walked to see the bird aviary. We saw all kinds of unique birds here that you would never see where we live. There were parrots, toucans, unique owls and 
hummingbirds, ducks and much more. We also got to get a picture holding a toucan. This was my favorite part about the whole day. Then we went and saw butterflies. All of the species of butterflies were very colorful. Some of the butterflies would land on your hands and crawl all over you. After seeing all the pretty butterflies we headed towards the snakes… Although these are my least favorite animals, it was still cool to see all the venomous snakes. Then we headed to see the cute monkeys. The monkeys were very playful and fun to watch. The last animal we saw was a jaguar. There were several jaguars that were sleeping and some that were walking around the cage. Finally we went to see the waterfalls. We got to see 3 of them. The first waterfall that we saw was the biggest and the prettiest. This is were we all got a group picture. The second waterfall that we saw was still big, but not as huge as the first. I liked that the second waterfall was the only waterfall that we could get behind a little. The last waterfall that we saw was said to be magical, because when you look into it, it is supposed to look like an optical illusion. After we saw all the waterfalls it started to pour. We all walked back to the bus in the rain and hopped on a bus to go to practice. This bus ride was only supposed to be 1 to 2 hours, but it ended up being 5 hours because of traffic. This bus ride was going to make us late to practice so we had to come up with a plan. We all decided that it would be easier to just go straight to the gym instead of going to the hotel to change. We also decided that today was just going to be a day of helping the Costa Rican girls learn new drills. Once we got to the gym we jumped right in and started teaching and interacting with the girls. After practice we came back to the hotel and ate dinner in the restaurant at the hotel. Then we went up to our rooms and went to bed quickly after a long day.
Hasta la vista Costa Rica! PURA VIDA!
Welcome to Heaven Full of Volcanos and Waterfalls | Costa Rica | 2016 Region 5 All Star Trip
This weeks experience in Costa Rica has been amazing and our last adventure lived up to it all. We visited the Volcan Poas and it may have just resembled what heaven would look like. Though the trip up to the volcano was a challenge, it was an awesome view. We continue to the LaPaz Waterfalls and were able to be up close with Toucans and have butterflies landing on us for great pictures before experiencing the beauty of the waterfalls. This was an eye opening adventure and truly will be a memorable moment for sure.
#R5PuraVida Costa Rica Blog #2
#R5PuraVida Blog #2
We have had a great time here in Costa Rica this week. From the white water rafting to the wildlife at the Manuel Antonio National Park and now working with the Costa Rican
gymnasts…. its been an awesome time. We continue our #R5PuraVida blog with Payton Richards, Sierra Brooks, Leah Clapper and Emma Prichard.
Here is Payton Richards, Aerial
Wednesday was a very long day. We began the day by waking up around 5:00 A.M to walk around the resort and look for monkeys. We had every intention of seeing monkeys but it began to rain and they didn’t come out. Although we did not get to see any monkeys, the time spent with all of the girls was worth it. I also get to say I have walked in a real rainforest which i think is amazing. Soon after that we headed to the National Park. We took a short bus ride there and got started. It’s very hard to put into words how amazing this experience was, from seeing pretty flowers, sloth laying in a tree to monkeys arms reach away. At the end of the trail there was a beautiful beach, the girls and I took many pictures and enjoyed time in the ocean.These guys asked us for a picture with them and we also taught them region 5 chants.I think was very cool to be able to share our region traditions. On the way back it began to rain really hard. Everyone was soaking wet, and very hungry.
We got food, and then got the chance to look at the souvenirs. The next day was Thursday and we had to leave our resort and head to San Jose. The bus picked us up at 8:30 and the ride was 4 hours long. When we got there it was time to get ready for practice. Going into this I was extremely excited to meet new girls, and share our region 5 pride. When we got there, the girls were very nice and I was put with the level 2s and 3s. I loved being able to help the girls and work out with them. They were so cute, and they reminded me of when I was little. They all have a true passion for the sport and I am very thankful that I got this opportunity to be here with them.
Here is Leah Clapper, Gym America
Wednesday, October 19th
We started the day off early with a walk on the resort’s monkey trail. There was a lot of steps and steep inclines, but the views were worth the leg exercise. However, we failed to see any monkeys (little did we know we would see tons later in the day). After our brief 6:00am hike, we filled up on delicious breakfast food in preparation for the long day ahead! Soon after, we piled into a bus, which drove us to the National Park in Manuel Antonio. Everyone lathered on sunscreen and bug spray, and we began our trek through the rainforest. We strolled through the trees, stopping frequently to look at the wildlife. The guides were friendly and super talented at finding animals camouflaged in the greenery. Every time someone spotted something interesting, the guides would set up a telescope so we could see it up close. We could even take pictures through the lens! We saw several sloths, monkeys (which swung around and jumped right in front of our faces!), gorgeous butterflies, and more. All in all, there was so much to see, but my favorite was the monkeys carrying babies on their backs!
At the end of the hike through the national park we hung out at the beach. It was a stunning beach undeterred by the ominous clouds. I enjoyed taking pictures and relaxing in the calm water. After spending a couple hours at the beach we started heading back toward where we got dropped off, right as it started pouring. It was only a fifteen minute walk but it felt like an hour. We were WET, WET, WET everywhere! Even my socks, money, and towel were dripping, but I was still smiling. We ate at a local restaurant and shopped at the nearby souvenir booths.
After our adventure in the rain, we headed back to the hotel to clean up and chill out before dinner. It definitely felt nice to take a hot shower! Dinner was filled with lots of laughs and good bread, but nothing compared to the apple pie a la mode!
Thursday, October 20th
We woke up bright and early to hop on the bus that took us back to San Jose. It was a three hour drive, filled with impressive views of mountains and rivers. We made our way down the winding and hilly roads, and we finally saw some sun (despite Costa Rica’s rainy season) on the ride. Halfway through, we took a pit stop to search for souvenirs, take a bathroom break, and even buy some (delicioso) ice cream. San Jose was quite interesting, since it has a lot of Costa Rican culture but includes many things you would find in a typical American city. Once we got to our new hotel, we ate some lunch and headed over to the gym for our first workout!
Practice went well, and it was great getting to know the Costa Rican gymnasts! I had the privilege to work with the youngest group (level 2/3) which was a lot of fun. It was super neat to learn Spanish words for skills and share a bit of the American culture with them. After practice, we ate at another local restaurant. We tried our best to use our (very few) Spanish skills to place our orders. Overall it was a good day!
Adios,
Leah:)
Here is Sierra Brooks, Aspire
Costa Rica has been great!
Wednesday, we woke up around 5:30am to see a monkey trail, have breakfast and wait to be picked up, so we could be taken to the Manuel Antonio National Park. After the ten minute drive, we arrived to the park, where we would see many more animals than we anticipated. We grouped up with three gymnasts, two adults, and a tour guide, who knew so many specific details about everything we saw. We made it about 15 feet, but stopped because our tour guide already found a sloth! Right after that, we saw three tiny bats along the branch of a tree. Each tour guide carried a telescope that magnified to an extremely detailed point, so we saw every feature of each animal. We then continued walking, pointing out things we have and haven’t seen before, including bugs, plants, and animals. There were about 4 or 5 groups of us walking, and suddenly we found ourselves all looking at the same thing. I finally made my way around everyone and realized that they were looking at another sloth, but this time it was much closer. If I took stepped into the start of the forest about three feet, I could probably touch it. During this walk, I had my camera and made sure I got a picture of this animal because it was an awesome opportunity to. Our guide informed us that it was a male because of the long stripe that it had going down its back. So, we continued on and kept finding more and more animals…including three different types of monkeys, a camouflage lizard, crabs, and a unique butterfly (although its an insect). The monkeys were amazing to see because they were not caged up in a zoo, they were truly interacting with their environment; climbing trees and carrying things around. It took about an hour and forty-five minutes to make it though, but when we made it it was worth it. The tour guides all provided towels for the beach and a variety of fruits for each of us to eat. The beach nice weather, clear water (that wasn’t cold), and beautiful places to take pictures. About 45 minutes in, we all started getting eyed by an older man and his family. He eventually came over to us and asked for a picture, which we accepted because we could use this for our task of the day. The task was to get someone from Costa Rica, to pose with us holding up a 5. Their family proudly did it, yelling “Region 5”. In fact, the man who originally approached us, assumed I was Simone Biles and ran over to me for the picture saying, “Simone!!” After that we took a few more pictures, and headed over to the next small beach. On the way there, we saw four monkeys with babies that were literally about a foot in front of us! It was really cool to see, but due to it starting to rain, we all only got a few pictures. We continued to the next beach that we looked at, but soon turned around because it had officially started to pour like cats and dogs. We all rushed back down the path, trying to put on our rain jackets, ponchos, and get out our umbrellas as fast as possible. We eventually made it to the start of the trail soaking, with water dripping down everyone’s faces, backpacks completely drenched. Across the street, we all ate lunch that was pretty good, taking about an hour. We had about 20 minutes to spare, so we headed to the souvenir shops and got a few small things. Then, we headed back to the bus and made it back to our rooms. We all rested for a few hours and headed to dinner, packing and going to sleep afterward because we were switching hotels the next day. That was the long, exciting, and thrilling Wednesday.
Thursday, we once again woke up early for breakfast bringing our luggage down to the lobby to get it ready for the bus. All of us ate and were ready to go. We all got on the bus and got ready for our three hour journey. I can’t tell you much about the bus because I slept, but we did stop after about two hours for more souvenirs. Most of us got things for our moms, dads, and siblings. We hopped back on, then made it to our hotel. From there, it was fast paced. There were more fast food places that we are used to in San Jóse where our hotel is, so we all spread out. The majority of us ended up at Subway. We ate and then had to change into our leos in the hotel bathroom because none of our rooms were ready. Thankfully, my leo was already in my backpack so I didn’t need to go through my luggage. We walked to the gym that we would be training at for the next three days, called Liter. We arrived and immediately were welcomed.There were many smiling faces toward us from the little seven year olds to the fifteen year olds. Six of our twelve gymnasts were put in the front to lead warmups while the others were put in the back. We lead warmups and then headed to split into groups. We counted off into fours, three of us in each group. The groups were split into levels, me ending up with their levels 7-8s. They were all super nice and could speak almost 100% English, which was impressive coming from the US where we don’t speak much Spanish. Gymnastics wise, we did mainly drills on each of the four events because we had a little limit of space, there being so many of us. Each event was 30 minutes and we had a lot of fun getting to know each other’s names. Practice felt like it went quickly, but before we left everyone did flexibility and conditioning. A few of the Region 5 coaches lead, while we did what we were told. The task of Thursday was to take a selfie with one of our new friends! We took a group photo, but also took another one with our friend Ce! We all exchanged snapchats and said our goodbyes. Leaving the gym, we grabbed an apple and headed along the side of the street to get to where we would eat dinner. We got to the restaurant and ate, while having some entertainment from a man who left the US, to come to Costa Rica (from my understanding). He was super social and had a kid with him, Jacksan, who wanted to meet ‘American Girls”. He was super shy when we all approached him, putting his head underneath the table. We left, ate dinner and two of us headed over, me and Mati. He was more aware this time, me speaking a bit of the Spanish I know to him, and we got his consent to take a picture with him. This time he finally smiled with us, which made us all super happy. We left and headed back to the hotel…where I started blogging;)
Thanks for reading!
Here is Emma Prichard, Gym-Xtreme
Wednesday, October 19th
We started our day early at the Monkey Trail. Unfortunately we didn’t get out there early enough to see them. After the monkey walk we went to breakfast then we hopped on the bus, for a short drive to the national park. When we got there we applied bug spray and sunscreen. We got into groups and we were off! Our tour guide took us through a two hour trail of exotic animals. We got to see sloths, monkeys, butterflies, crabs, lizards and lots more! At the end of the trail there was a beautiful beach, where we spent some time in the ocean and took some photos. We started packing up from the beach when it suddenly started raining. We started heading back on the trail and it started pouring. After getting soaked and mud all over our legs, we finally made it back. We stopped by some souvenir shops and hopped back on the bus to the hotel.
Thursday, October 20th
We woke up early, got breakfast, and started off on our three hour bus ride to San Jose. When we got to San Jose, ate lunch, got ready for the gym, and then headed off to the gym for practice. When we got to the gym, all the girls faces lit up. We took off our clothes, introduced ourselves, and got started stretching. After stretching we split off into groups
and started on our first events. All the girls were very nice and worked so hard. When we finished practice, we got pictures with the girls and got their snapchats.:) After practice we walked to dinner. The menu at the dinner was all in Spanish, so it was very hard to understand. At dinner we meet a very drunk guy that LOVED gymnastics. After dinner we walked to the hotel and started blogging and now we are done.
Adios,
Emma
Wildlife Adventure | Manuel Antonio National Park | 2016 Region 5 All Star Trip
The 2016 Region 5 All Star team spent the morning at the Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica National Park. Our guide took us through the park pointing out all the different wildlife found in the park including sloughs, monkey’s, iguana’s and more. We were able to us a telescope to get a close up look at the animals and insects that call the forest home. Following along as we learned about all that is found in the national park.
