Costa Rican Adventure: Part 2

Costa Rica is a beautiful country filled with wonderful people. Our group was lucky enough to get to spend a few hours at a local school in a small village located near Monteverde. The school is open for a local village and only had about twelve kids total, varying in age and grade. Unfortunately, we came during a sort of spring break for the kids and many of them were not there for us to meet. The kids that were there danced for us and dressed in the local clothing that's worn during festivals and cultural celebrations. After the show, we got to meet the children and play jump rope, soccer and kickball with them. I enjoyed our time at the school and wish we would have been able to come when school was in session.



Shortly after leaving the school, we went horseback riding. While it was fun riding and seeing the area, I felt bad for the horses; they seemed extremely skinny. If I ever go horseback riding there again, I'll make sure to find a company with nice, plump horses.



The next day was going to be amazing since we were going zip lining through the cloud forest in Monteverde. I had been zip lining once before in Mahogany Bay, Honduras and had an amazing time, so I was looking forward to it this time because it was on a much larger scale. I'm terrified of heights and try activities to help me overcome that fear. This was one of those activities and I barely made it through all 12+ lines. After nearly breaking a guide's hand and making it to the last line, a guide ended up taking me across because it was so big and terrifying. The positive of this, though, was that I got to relax and record my journey across the extremely high and long line. I got to experience the amazing site of the Monteverde Cloud Forest instead of constantly focusing on the fear of being up so high. The highlight of this day was the Tarzan Swing, which I was ready for. The guides wrap you up in a harness and attach you to a rope; then you just kind of let yourself fall off the platform and you go for a swing, just on a bigger scale than your normal child's swing set. Standing at the very edge of the platform was a thrill and I jumped without any fear (well, there was some but it was the good kind). I viewed the day as quite an accomplishment, seeing as how I made it through all but one line on my own and jumping the Tarzan Swing.



The next morning was spent taking a walk from our tour guide, Gustavo, through the cloud forest. It was relaxing after the thrill of the previous day. Gustavo pointed out numerous plants and different types of critters for us to "oooo" and "ahhh" over. One of the plants that caught my eye was a tree called a "walking palm." The palms grow their roots above the ground which enable the trees to travel along the forest floor, finding sunlight and nutrients wherever it can. The roots are an adaption the plant has made over many years to living so much closer to the forest floor than all of the taller plants and trees. The most fascinating part of the walk was looking up and seeing the clouds move right above our heads. It really is a "cloud" forest.



The original plan was to do another nature walk but Gustavo gave us an option. Another nature walk through the forest... or a crocodile tour! We chose the later and it ended up being just as much of an adventure and educational as a nature walk would have been. Our boat guide pointed out every croc he could find and even fed one some raw chicken! No way! Not for me. In this location, you see more crocodiles per square foot than you would see alligators in the Everglades. And we saw plenty of crocodiles. There was even one sleeping with his mouth open! Other than crocodile central, we spotted toucans, macaws, roseate pinkbills and quite a few more birds. We also saw some colorful little crabs hiding in the mangroves.



Manuel Antonio National park is the smallest national park located in Costa Rica and quite beautiful. The trip to get into the park is about a 1/2 mile walk through a well marked path. When you finally make it to the beach, you're surrounded by rain forest and Capuchin monkeys. There are different types of monkeys that hang out in the trees surrounding the beautiful beach but I only saw the Capuchin, which was fine by me. You're not allowed to feed the monkeys and getting caught doing so will result in dismissal from the park and fine. We spent most of the day splashing around in the gorgeous turquoise waters of the beach to avoid the heat. Costa Rica is much closer to the equator, resulting in a some sunburn for my friends and me. We shared PB&J together for lunch and a nearby iguana watched us as we ate. Others weren't so lucky and the iguanas tried going for their food! Unfortunately, the park is only open until 4 and we stayed until the last possible minute. Manuel Antonio was gorgeous and I really hated to leave.



We finished up the trip with whitewater rafting. It was my first time white water rafting and I wasn't sure what to expect. Before we even got into the rafts, the guides made our group jump off a small cliff (once again testing my fear of heights). The jump was a success and we began our rafting journey. We broke up into smaller groups and paddled out to the rapids. Our guide enjoyed playing tricks on us in the breaks between rapids. Most of the tricks ended with my group and I splashing around and battling cramps from laughter. We ended the day on amazing food and freshly cut pineapple.



My time in Costa Rica was short lived but amazing. I truly enjoyed my time and can't wait to return!