Today was Beach/Mangrove day. We started off by going to a mangrove forest called Isla Juan Venado where we went to the visitors center and listened to a speech from one of the Mangrove guides. He talked about how we were on a protected land and how there are three different types of mangroves. He explained the different purposes of each of the mangroves and how they benefited the ecosystem. After the speech from the guide, we all went on boats to take a tour of the mangroves. We stopped the boat many times to observe much of the wildlife such as iguanas, crabs, and many birds. Later, we made a quick stop at Casa las Peñas where we took a look at the coral that was just offshore. We then took a very quick boat ride to our final destination on the mangrove tour. We went to go eat lunch at Palo de Oro, a secluded beach area. After lunch, we took a short bus ride to the beach we would be staying at for a while. The water was very warm and everyone had a lot of fun. The only problem came when the Red Cross lifeguards noticed a thunderstorm just offshore and had everyone get out for a while. Even with the thunderstorm, everyone still enjoyed themselves playing volleyball, pool, or just relaxing on the sand. After the thunderstorm cleared, everyone went back into the water for the remainder of the time. Lastly, we all headed to Rancho los Alpes, the place where we went to on Global Business Day. At the ranch, we started off by having an amazing dinner prepared by the ranch staff. After dinner we had our nightly meeting lit by bonfire. To end the night we cooked some smores by the fire and enjoyed some late night karaoke. After all that, we all went to our tents to camp out under the stars. Overall, it was a very fun. Everyone enjoyed both the beach and the mangroves and had a blast at Rancho los Alpes.

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