La Mariposa Hotel Manuel Antonio National Park

... built some sand castles. I even found a sand dollar (we had been looking for one the whole trip). The one I found was still alive and covered with a brown velvet like fur. We looked at it and then threw it back in the ocean. As we were getting ready to leave we noticed there was another beach to the left of where we turned right. This was the beach we were supposed to go to . It was the beach you see in post cards. We stayed for a few minutes ...

... it can blind you. Interestingly enough, although the trees were all over the beach, there weren't really any warning signs. I think that blinding, skin-burning sap would be a helpful thing to point out. It also has a fruit that looks like a green crabapple. If you eat it then you will have diarrhea for days. Evidently when the monkeys find themselves becoming compacted, they eat it to relieve ...

... Lake Arenal, and then taking another bus from the opposite side of the lake to Monteverde. It was a pleasant enough journey, we got chatting with a Brit and a Canadian for most of the time so it passed quickly and we were soon dropped off at our lovely hotel, the Arco Iris, where there was promise of wild animals in the grounds. We wandered into the small town for a pricey lunch at the Tree House (a restaurant built around an actual tree...) before getting some snacks ...

... was originally from South Africa but now living in California who were playing cards. They were nice enough to let me play, especially considering I had told them that I had no idea how to play Hearts or Rummy, so they taught me. I didnt stay up to late because I had to be up and ready by 6 in the morning. This morning I overslept, again. I didnt wake up until 550 and was able to get ready really fast and make it down to the main part of the hostel by ...

... sugar, beef consumme, mayo, mustard and ketchup. They were *really* good. And, sadly, I found out yesterday that the restaurant I've come to frequent more than the others serves one of my favorite desserts. (It's my favorite because the waitress fawns over me a bit now that I'm a regular and calls me "Mi amor" -- my love. So, OK, yes, she does call everyone that, even the 60-something-year-old guy I brought there ...

... 15 a.m. tomorrow she, her 12 p.m. student and I are getting picked up by a taxi to "hold class" at the nearest national park. Spencer, a retired school teacher and librarian from Wisconsin, and I want to get there before dawn as that's the best time to see the birds.) My "funny Spanish moment" from the weekend: I thought I was asking my homestay mother if I could take a shower before we went somewhere. In fact, I asked if *she* could shower me ...

... la strada che dall'Alaska scende fino in Argentina) su per le montagne fino a Orosi. Per essere una strada di tale importanza ci si aspetterebbe qualcosa di piu grande e piu comodo e non quella che da noi sarebbe una semplicissima strada cantonale. Viaggiando ovunque si guardi si vede sempre solo un colore: verde. Non c'e' una macchia che non sia verde....ci sono case ma se non c'è giungla ci sono campi o ...

... pointing it out then realize thats its not a ray but a guitar fish. THis is definately one of those "where's my camera" moments. Hang around it for about 3 minutes and continue the dive, plenty of fish and lobsters as we continue. Hit the surface and I cannot get the smile off my face. Back at the shop my student was definately more enthused about the lobsters and the parrotfish. At least we both took soemthing brilliant from the dive.

... they are best starting around December. The beaches were nice though and on our way to and from the beaches we saw sloths and monkeys, but we were kind of dissappointed with the nightlife and decided to haul it up to Jaco for the weekend. The only descent night we had consisted of us waiting for the rain to stop to go home (which took a couple of hours), while pounding beers. We don´t remember the walk home, but all of our clothes were soaked and ...