Jungles, Crocodiles and Volcanoes OH MY!

After this weekend I now know why Costa Rica is one of the biggest tourist destinations. The stuff we saw was beautiful and they cater to Americans like none other. I could have gone the whole weekend without speaking a lick of Spanish.

Friday we went on a zip-line through the canopy. I wouldn’t say I was disappointed but it was not what I imagined. I think the problem rooted in the fact that I have no fear of heights so no thrill was present. Also I imagined zooming through desolate forest and seeing wildlife all around me. It turns out that I had quite the wrong image of the jungle. I blame this on Animal Planet. I expected a rainbow of colors, snakes hanging from branches, and monkeys swinging between trees. This was more like a really green forest.

So once I stopped being a stupid American it was GREAT! We zipped through the air on eight different cables. The guides running it were super friendly and fun. There were times when we would transfer lines in the middle of the woods so you just stopped on a tree fort on a massive tree! The highlight however may have been the ride back to the top. We all piled in the back of a pickup with benches and a bar in the middle to hold on to. They told you to hold onto the bar so for the most part we all laid a hand on it. Then the instructor climbed in and connected his harness to the bar… And then we all flew six inches off our seats. Then we grabbed on for real. Our professor’s daughter, Quinn, had to be held down.

That same day we drove down to a river that according to National Geographic has the most crocodiles. And oh the crocodiles we did see. Large ones, fat ones, baby ones, old ones. We also saw a ton of birds including Scarlet Macaws. I kinda forgot those actually existed out of the zoo. My favorite was a Spoon billed pink one. So the closest I got to a crocodile was like 4 feet and I was like this is unbelievable, then the guide got out of the boat with some chicken cutlets and fed this giant like 18 foot crocodile (Interestign fact Crocodiles never stop growing) . His hand was like in the mouth, I was impressed.

I hit the sack early Friday night to get ready for our VOLCANO adventure. We stopped in San Ramon to pick up the students there and they went on the trip with us. It was fun to compare programs. I decided after talking to them that I definitely made the right descion. Sam Ramon is a bustling town with lots of people and cars, it is like 20 degrees colder and a lot of people just speak English. They could not believe that we had no hot water, no air conditioning but did have cockroaches. I felt tough haha. (I will post pictures of my room soon ;) )

So we visit a beautiful city at the base of the Arenal Volcano which is an active volcano that spews lava almost every night. Our night was cloudy though. We ate lunch and visited all the shops. Which were mostly souvenir shops that all had the same t-shirts, magnets and dresses.  I don’t know how they all stay in business. I did try an avocado smoothie though. Delicious.

We checked into our hotel which was top of  the line. We all stayed in little cabins, there was an outdoor pool and hottub with a waterfall and our towels were folded into swans. We visited the Baldi hot springs which was a trip I may not have chosen. Super hot like 150 degree water when it is already like 80 out… We all wanted cold springs. But there were water slides, swim up restaurants, and lots of temperatures to try. We also got a buffet dinner that was delicious but consisted of still beans and rice. When they say typical food of Costa Rica they mean the food of Costa Rica.

We spent the night partying at the pool and being crazy college kids who think that sleep isn’t cool but we all made it on time to the bus for the hanging bridges. And this trip is top of the list right now. We kind of all started out together but ended up finding the people who had the same priorites. So Casey, Marcela, and I walked on every path and stopped to observe everything sweet. Even the super hard working little ants. The one thing that was super sweet that I was not able to get a picture of was a Toucan. He looked nothing  like the fruit loops box  though….

This is actually a hummingbird. I guess they don't have to work as hard as in North America. 

some kind of racoon, I was really hoping it was in the monkey family.

The bus ride back was also very exciting. I think the driver was ready to be home and tried to leave with out every one several times and was like flying around curves in the mountains. We were all feeling a little nauseas when we reached Puntarenas and frightened from the four near misses. I had a fabulous weekend.