Day 10.1

La Condesa Hotel, Costa Rica--Today we bid farewell to the lovely spa resort and began our morning with zip lining through Volcano Arenal's mountainside… volcano side? Mountainside. Yes. It was a lot of fun, with the longest zip line taking about 40 seconds to cross. ¡Ay de mi! And we were up much higher than our previous zip lining experience in Tennessee. 

In the middle of our 13 zip lines, we had the option of participating in a brief Tarzan adventure. The Tarzan adventure was essentially swinging from a cord like Tarzan would a vine. This was terrifying for one main reason: In order to start swinging, we had to fall from a platform at least a million feet off the ground. That moment of letting yourself fall was terrifying and disorienting because part of you was like, "Help! I'm falling!" and the other part was, "That's the point, idiot!" Still, it was enjoyable, although I might not repeat the experience. Poor Mimmy was so taken aback by the initial drop that she let out a guttural scream that I have never heard before. 

After driving for a few hours, we arrived at a ridiculously lavish hotel, La Condesa Hotel. Tonight will be our last night in Costa Rica, and we will leave sometime tomorrow! The last blog post for our trip will be sometime tomorrow. A demain! 

I am acting out what my idea of a tufted titmouse is.

Somebody's comment in the comment book...

Rock Wrangler

Crikey! Rock Wrangler here. Crikey again! I'm here to warn you about the impending danger of ferocious dangerous rocks. Now, before I get to far in depth, I'd like to explain who I am. I am certainly not Jonas Smucker, whoever that cool kid is. I am whatever the world needs me to be. I have had many years of rock training. In fact, I went to college and majored in rocks. So whatever I am saying is 100% factual. My interest in rocks started way back when my parents abandoned me in the jungle. There I first saw the danger caused by the rocks. I've seen people trampled, charged, poisoned, pushed off cliffs and bitten bye these ravenous creatures. I survived by making a set of survival rules. Rule number 1: Rocks are the only danger. When you are being attacked by say, a bear, you have nothing to worry about. But when you are being attacked by a bear who obeys a rockier authority, then we have a problem. Rule number 2: Never look a rock directly in the eye. This may provoke a serious attack which leads to intense pain. Rule number 3: Do not engage a rock socially or let it handle heavy machinery. Rule number 4: Never step on a rock. This only angers them, and could cause them to maul a poor passerby. Some rocks are also more aggressive than others, which leads to them stalking their prey. I will end my warning post with this final rule: Never trust a rock.

Day 9.1 The Farm

Today after we spent the morning at the hot springs (heated by the volcano Arenal our hotel was coincidentally located by), we spent the rest of the afternoon and into the evening at a local organic farm. Our guide for that tour, Nano, only spoke Spanish, so Pika had to translate. This farm used unique techniques that made it one of the best organic farms in the world, one in which students from all over the globe came to visit to study.

We began by prodding papaya trees for fruit to fertilizing corn and then on to eating cacao beans (which was actually rather strange and tasted nothing of chocolate). One process that made this farm so self-sufficient was a small vaca (that's "cow" for you gringos) we met named Chocolate. Chocolate ate anything and everything all at once. We then were led to a little hut raised above the ground where she was led. Nano coaxed Ginger into trying to milk Chocolate, but before he could, Chocolate spontaneously defecated. Apparently, this was part of the process. Jonas had the honor of washing the cacita down a small hole in the corner of the hut. How fitting. This bundle of crap eventually drained into a large container, where the bacteria sat and created methane gas that was in turn used in the kitchens for the stoves and powered some other things on the farm. One cow can produce enough energy to power a home daily for a family of five if the caca is harvested. If left unharvested, it can pollute the equivalent of 2 cars a day.

After the poop was all cleaned up, Ginger then milked the cow. Press, squeeze, pull. We were then showed a special variation of compost called bokashi. It actually creates soil--and it is of the best quality. Nano continued to show us around the farm while whipping his machete around wildly and running through the plants. He was quite insane. But in a good way. At the end of the tour, we took a sugar cane and pressed it through a hand-operated machine that turned it into juice. Mmmm. Sugar juice. Concluding the trip, we helped make our own dinner (which was completely organic, of course). We shaped tortilla dough, chopped veggies, etc. I made the shapliest tortillas--it was more difficult than it seems. When we were all done, our bellies were full, our minds were enriched, and we were ready for bed.

We are also all begging Mimmy and Diddy for machetes.

During this expedition, I learned that I have a gift for imitating animals. So far on this trip I have successfully mimicked a rose spoon-bill thing, sea turtle, bear, cow, lizard, pig, crab, and ostrich. I am so talented.

Day 8.1

Los Lagos Spa and Resort, Costa Rica--We said goodbye to the Rana Roja Lodge today and drove off, everyone looking forward to white water rafting! Nearly everybody had been white water rafting before, and we were all excited! Ruthie, Ryan, me, Marcy, Jonas, and Diddy all took the rapids that were 2 and 3 (rough but not terrifying) and Mimmy, Be'l, and Grandpa took the floating course, with rapids of 1 and 2 (fairly tranquil). Neither of our rafts capsized, our guides were fantastic, and we had a blast! 

After our rafting experience, we drove on for a few hours until we reached Los Lagos. The Los Lagos spa is about as different as you can be from the Rana Roja Lodge. It's nestled up by a still-active volcano, and the geothermal heat is what heats up the hot springs at the resort. They have pools of various temperatures that we will try tomorrow. The rooms are luxurious and they have air conditioning--hallelujah! 

One thing I will say about all the places we've stayed is that they seem to be much more eco-friendly than a lot of places back in the states. I don't know if this is due to the company that is providing tours for us--EcoTeach--or if Costa Rica is generally greener than we are in the US. Our room has a bin for compost, plastic, and aluminum recycling. We're encouraged to use only as much water as we need, and the AC is key-activated, so you can't leave it on when you leave the room. 

Jonas's suitcase exploded.

Marcy's alter ego, Bam Bam the Bear. 

Day 7.2

Mas photos!

I drooled on my shirt.

These are bats! 

Day 7.1

Rana Roja Lodge, Costa Rica--This morning we woke to the sounds of pouring rain. Rain in Costa Rica is not like rain in the states; if you look up while it's raining in Costa Rica, you will drown. Fortunately, the precipitation scared off the howler monkeys, so we got a good night's sleep. Unfortunately, the rain would make our two hour boat tour of the local wildlife a bit wet (by which I mean a lot wet). 

We still managed to see some pretty cool flora and fauna, so I've included pics of those below. Later in the day, we went to the village of Tortuguero, where we bought souvenirs and window shopped. This was the same village where we saw the turtle laying eggs the previous night. I'll post more pictures in a separate post. 

Flashback--Feeding of the Trout

Trogon Lodge, Costa Rica--Back at Trogon Lodge, they had a mini trout farm, and Marcy happened to witness the feeding of the trout.