Alright, finally some time to actually write. Yesterday was a great day, truely. We left our hotel and hopped on a small bus. We then spent about 2 hours driving through the outside of San Jose. We avoided San Jose because of traffic and the drive was enjoyable. We listened to Jimmy give us more information than i wil ever be able to remember. We passed through one of the natural parks and Jimmy told us how Costa Rica was the last land to be formed when Central America was being formed. For this reason, Costa Rica is very diverse as it was a land bridge for all species to pass through. Costa Rica also has 290 active volcanic sites, however most are underground. Only 9 are mountainous and only some of those are active. Partway through the trip, we passed by an area where two rivers meet. I can't rmemeber what they are called, but one is typically crystal clear while the other is muddied yellow. They flow into a larger river... however, i cannot remember any of the details. I will have to google it later. 2 hours into the trip we pulled into a rest stop where dozens of other kids were for other EF Tours. We hopped back into the bus for a little and drive past plantations to get to a public dock on the river to Tortugero. We boarded a boat, but only after half of us waded into the river... which we found out later was infested by crocs! The boat took us on a 2 hour drive to the hotel. Its gorgeous, and surrounded by national park.
We had a little down time and went swimming. In the middle of swimming, a pack of spider and howler monkeys descended into the trees directly behind my room. We were able to stand directly under thier trees. Fun fact: only male howlers can howl, and they make one of the loudest sounds in the jungle for thier size. Do i believe it? yes, very much so.
After lunch, (which had sea bass, rice, beans, and mashed potatoes) we went on a hike. Jimmy led us on a jungle path which was naturally formed. We passed through a village and went through one person's backyard to get to the trail. But before we could get tothe trail, we were greeted by three young kids. They showed us their PET beetle, which was as big as the palm of my hand. Look at my previous post for more on that encounter. Once on the trail, we hiked a three mile route which was extreamly vigorous. Costa Rican dirt is mixed with old volcanic ashes (we can find volcanic rocks here, miles nad miles from the volcano) and is very slick when wet. As we're in a rainforest, its incredibly slick. everyone was falling down all over the place. My roomate, Talia, twisted her ankle and is now wearing my ankle brace that i usually wear for soccer and only brought on the trip "just in case...". By the time we summited, rivers of sweat were racing down all of our faces and dripping off noses. No matter how hard the climb, it was worth it. We were so happy at the top. Humid, but exceptional view. We hiked back down, just in time to escape sunset. In doing so, we hiked over the beach. Jimmy showed us that the litter on the beach (we are on the Carribean coast, just for reference) came from all over.
When we got back to the hotel, we were hearded to the poolside. All we wanted was to go to our rooms, get in swimsuits, or sit in front of a fan. Jimmy had us promise not to leave and took off. Upon his return, He and our other guide from tortugero had arrived with freshly cut coconuts from the seaside which we had just walked upon. they broke them open there and we slurped down coconut milk. Interestingly enough, I used to hate coconut milk, but after that I love it.
I called a couple people on skype, uploaded the pictures, and went to bed.
Pura Vida!
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