Chillin' out in the center of Costa Rica
Trip Start
Jun 24, 2008
1
9
11
Trip End
Jul 22, 2008
Monteverde,
Costa Rica
Thursday, July 10, 2008
We relaxed during the afternoon and planned for a HUGE day on Friday. The weather here in the middle of Costa Rica is not cold by the standards of home, but compared to the humidity and heat of the beaches, it sure felt cold! So we set out to find a cup of tea and a brownie. Needless to say it was horrible, but we made up for it by having some yummy burritos for dinner.
Friday: We woke up early for a hike in the Santa Elena Cloud Forest. We dressed thinking we'd be doing a rigorous hike, but ended up standing around waiting to see the infamous Quetzal. Think cloud forest and think standing around... in the clouds... cold. brrrrr. Poor Karen's fingers were turning white and then blue... Our guide REALLY wanted to see the Quetzal, we didn't care all that much! The coolest part of this area was the huge amount of hummingbirds zooming around our heads... There are supposed to be 60 species of hummingbirds in Costa Rica and about 20 or so in Santa Elena.
We grabbed a bite to eat and rushed to our next tour - a guided walk over suspension bridges. Amazing. Our guide showed us owls, trees, and even a TARANTULA!!! Yes, we looked at a tarantula holding on to her egg sac. Creepy, but cool at the same time. To go over the last bridge we actually climbed up the inside of a tree - a strangling fig that had devoured the tree inside and left a hollwed space we could climb through. We got some good pictures.
Then came the zip lines. WOW! We were both quite nervous but warmed up with the help of some very entertaining guides that manned the beginning and end of each zip line. We did 14 lines and a repel and the crazy but cool Tarzan swing. Definitely a great way to end a day that started quite cold and miserable.
We relaxed, ate, made some phone calls and checked email and then tucked in for an early night. We will ride a bus at 6am to go catch a ferry in Puntarenas to then head to Montezuma, a beach on the Pacific. We'll get to see a sunset, hopefully! :-)
with love and kisses,
xoxoBrandi and Sarah B
Comments
ABCs
When you get home, you ought to make a scrapbook in the form of an ABC book. Now that you've seen (did you?) the Quetzal and experienced zip lines, you've mastered the 2 hardest letters! Ah, spoken like a true teacher...
SUCH an adventure! (On our vacation to Lake Tahoe, the most daring thing WE did was WATCH the para sailers as we enjoyed our cocktails). We'll join the ranks back home who are 'adventuring' vicariously through you and continue to look forward to your entries.
Fondly,
Craig and Marci
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Hey gals! I'm back from a week off (and therefore away from my computer) and it sounds like you've had a great time! The zip lines sound like the most fun, I'd love to try sometime. So do you have two weeks left? Crazy how time flies. Anyhoo, back to digging through my inbox at work. Sarah, my parents missed you, but we've decided we'll alternate visits, one year they are here, the next I go home. So hopefully you should see them sooner than last time! :) Oh, and I saw Jessica Conte when I was in Seattle, she says hi! Nothing else new to report here.
Miss you!
Court