ORIGINAL JOURNAL

Playa Conchal - June 20, 2009

Well this trip might have to be one of my most relaxing ones. However, it didn't start out like that.

You see the plan was, to head to a beach for the weekend, Flamingo. The people organizing this trip had heard alot of good things about this beach apparently and they invited me, so I did some research on the web for a bit and decided to go, why not.

Well, turned out that the hotel we wanted to stay in was having a few problems, and so then somehow we ended up in some other random hotel. This hotel was not good. There was prostitution at every turn and too ass to that, there was a bunch of pasty white guys bringing these girls back home.

Of course, we left.

We then rolled through a small town of Brasilito, which was a tiny little town on the Pacific coast about 15 km from Flamingo. Skepticism filled the atmosphere as we entered this town, because as we headed towards the beach, (after finding more 'comfortable' lodging), we found that it wasn't really anything special. However, we continued walking down the side of the dirt laden coast and managed to stumble across a small little niche tucked away in the crannies of Costa Rica's little Brasilito, (lol no pun intended.)

We spent a day here; and after a hectic morning at the infamous hotel we were at in Flamingo, it made everything worth while. The whole beach was covered in conch shells -hence the name "Playa Conchal". It was beautiful weather and there was a nice little guy on the beach selling Imperials and ceviche. I played soccer and hung out here and felt my worries fade away, as I sunk my shoulders into the luke-warm waters of this hidden paradise.

It was here where I got one of my favorite souvenirs, when a lady on the beach was making hemp bracelets. I asked her if she could possibly make me one, but in the color I wanted and she readily agreed. After a second of two something way cool happened; before I knew it, I was making it, as she showed me how to weave the threads into the right shape. After this she told me, "Esto es en regalo para ti, por que lo hiciste." With a giant smile on my face I thanked her, and headed back through the shells to find another moment to waste.

Its times like these when getting mugged in Costa Rica isn't really that bad anymore.
tysin

Critique
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This beach trip was similar to other ones that I have had, so we can once again evaluate my mistakes and keep in mind that this was a trip done before this class had ever even started.

Looking at this trip from a cultural experience standpoint, there isn't that much to say besides that there was not really any cultural experience at all. Making the jewelry with woman on the beach may count for something, but it wasn't enough to get the 3 that this trip scored an higher. This goes hand in hand with education, and the thing about this category is that is didn't really strike me as important at the time. Once again, I was more preoccupied with spending time on the beach and getting a tan then I was learning about Playa Conchal. 

Housing also receives a low score because the hotel we stayed at the first night was a failure as far as a morally and eco friendly standpoint. As I recall they were not doing anything to preserve the environment so much as preserving their prostitution. The second night was a better choice, but it didn't raise the grade any higher than it should go. The destination of Playa Conchal was an accident that our group stumbled upon, and even if we didn't, its not necessarily a first choice for people wanting to help preserve national forest or learn about the environment. Its just another place to work on your tan. 

However, after all the negatives, the positives arise and we find a stale-mate between a Soft-Core and Hard-Core rating critique. It depends how you want to look at it.

EVALUATION:
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Transport: (bus transport) 7
Food: (local soda) 8
Housing: (hotel) 4
Destination: Playa Conchal 5
Cultural Experience: 3
Education: 3
Environmental Impact: 8
Division of Labor: 7
Human Rights: 8
Indigenous Involvement: 6

Total Points: 59/100

Ecotourist Impact:
Hard-Core Tourist rating D-