Camera!!

                  Not much has happened since the last time I updated.  I hiked more with my parents and we ended up seeing a fer de lance (really poisonous snake), a white collared peccary (very rare to see, but you smell them often enough!), some howler monkeys up close and personal, along with possible spider monkeys.  And, they got to see a basilisk right before they left, which was pretty cool.  They left on the 13^th to see other parts of Costa Rica, and I didn’t do much for most of that week because Eugenia wasn’t around.  On Thursday I left for San Jose with Claire, Mat, Debbie and Stephen because we were going to pick up Claire’s mother and sister from the airport and then Friday morning go to Monteverde.

            Monteverde was fun, it was a long and bumpy bus ride, but it was worth it.  Santa Elena, the town next to the Monteverde reserve was a small touristy town.  We stayed in a pretty nice hostel, and we got some good deals on zip lining and hiking.  We did a zip lining tour that had between 11 and 14 cables (I don’t remember exactly), one of which was called the “Superman” where they strapped you up to the cable by your back so you could glide down the cable and hold your arms out in a superman pose.  Definitely awesome.  The last one was called the Tarzan Swing, where you jumped off of a platform and freefell for a couple seconds and then ended up swinging like a pendulum.  I screamed, but it was a lot of fun too.  Definitely worth the $40.  The next day we hiked through the Santa Elena cloud forest (which is basically the same thing as the Monteverde cloud forest) and here are some cool picts!

            We came back on Sunday and I have actually had a little bit of work to do! The kids were supposed to come this week, but the program wasn’t ready yet, so they aren’t coming until April 5^th.  But I get to make a bat tent identification sheet that the kids can take out into the forest with them.  I’m trying to take my time with it because I know I won’t have much to do.  On the plus side, I got my camera last week! FINALLY!  Those pictures of the cloud forest above? MINE.  Horay! At least now I can go out into the forest and look for stuff to take pictures of when I’m bored now.

            Oh, and Tuesday we went to a little hidden waterfall back on some guys farm in La Virgen (the town I live in) and jumped from the cliff into the pool below.   The place was called Pozo Azule, and it was amazing.  Someone had to lead me up the path the entire way because I had to go without my glasses, so it was almost scarier going up to the cliff than to jump.  Almost.  The first jump I did pretty well, I only hurt the inside of my arms, but the second jump I landed smack on my butt.  I emerged from the water and all I could say was “OWWWWWWW” for a good couple minutes.  It was really a beautiful and secluded place, and I wish I had brought my camera!

           

            I have no plans for this weekend, probably staying here and getting up early to see if I can get some good animal picts.  My Ball State friends only have 2 more weeks here, and it’s really sad.  I’m going to miss them a lot.  Costa Rica won’t be the same without them!

I'm Back!

So, it’s been a while, wow, almost a month!!  I’m sorry but I have actually been busy! So I actually have some pictures from the Amphibian Center that I will try to get on here, and I have some pictures from the beach!  Which, by the way, was amazing!

Agalychnis callidryas
Red-Eyed Tree Frog

(I forgot what one this is!)

Cruziohyla calcarifer

Anotheca spinosa

And yes, that is a spider eating a cockroach!

            I ended up meeting 5 of my friends, some Ball State students, at San Jose on Saturday, and we left for Tamarindo Sunday morning, really early.  We left the hostel around 5am, and took two separate taxis (there were 6 of us) to the bus station which none of us had ever been to.  So, I got in the taxi with Mat and Claire, and our taxi was behind the first one, which Debbie, Alyssa and Steven were in.  The ride started off ok, we were all still very sleepy, until our taxi turned when the one ahead of us holding the rest of our friends didn’t.  Mat, Claire and I looked at each other and only panicked slightly.  When we pulled up to this tiny, really sketchy bus station, we all got out and exchanged really nervous looks.  It was still dark out and nobody was there except for this one weird guy who we weren’t even sure worked there.  We waited, and then a few minutes later, the other taxi showed up, thankfully.  Even after we all were together again, we were stuck outside with this one guy who was acting strange.  The bus station didn’t open until 5:50 and our bus was supposed to leave at 6am.

           

            While we were waiting for the bus, the strange guy greeted the few other brave souls who came at such an early hour.  Then, he started talking to the payphone, without picking up the actual phone.  Then he pointed to the payphone, then pointed two fingers at his eyes, and then back at the payphone in the “I’m watching you” gesture.  Thankfully he stayed outside while we went inside to wait and pay for our tickets.  While we were waiting for our bus, he started a mini uproar by screaming that a dog had bit him, and he ran around holding his arm, trying to show people.  There was no dog around, and he was not really bitten.  As a group we decided he must be a crackhead or something like that.  The rest of the trip there was uneventful, we got on all of the buses we needed to,  got to Tamarindo, ate lunch, and then picked up the car from the rental place.

           

            We drove to Coco Beach, which was 45 minutes away, with 6 people smushed in a 5 person car.  We resolved this problem by always making one person lay down across the laps of the people in the back.  Most of the time it was me (which I didn’t mind).  We stayed in a really cool hostel, called Coco Azul, in which we had our own kitchen area, a futon (which the guys shared), a single bed and double bed in the bedroom and we asked for another mattress which we put on the floor.

Car ride solution :D

Our kitchen area at Coco Azul

           We beached hopped the whole time and we made it to Playa Hermosa, possibly Playa Panama, we weren’t really sure, Playa Blanco (I think it was called) and Playa Tamarindo.  Playa Blanco was my favorite because you had to cross a bunch of rocks during low tide to get to it, and leave before high tide or else you would be stuck there!  I got sunburnt the first day, and I was called the lobster because of it.  We cooked most of our food, but one night we ate at a really touristy place called the Happy Snapper, which was a lot of fun.

           

Playa Hermosa

Playa Blanca

Playa Blanca

I forgot which beach this sunset was at

The Happy Snapper!!

Playing cards on the beach

All dressed up ready to go out on the town for some dancing!

            I was supposed to leave earlier than everyone, on Thursday, to go meet my friend Meagan at the San Jose Airport, but after realizing that I would get there at night, by myself, and remembering how sketchy it was that morning, I decided to wait until Steve and Alyssa left Friday morning.  I met Meagan at the hostel she was staying at in San Jose on Friday and all was good.  Meagan came back to Tirimbina with me on Saturday, and she stayed until Tuesday.  I showed her around the forest and a little bit around the town nearby.   I didn’t do much the rest of the week after Meagan left, because I was getting ready to go home to Rome on Friday.  I woke up at 6 of Friday and caught buses and taxis to the airport and flew home and made it home by midnight on Friday.  I had a nice relaxing stay at home, and then yesterday I flew back here with my parents and they are going to stay here until Sunday, and then travel to Las Suenos on the West coast.  I took them hiking through the forest this morning, and so far they like it!

            That’s it for me right now, and hopefully on Monday I will be helping Eugenia prepare for the arrival of kids!!