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. 

Day 6.1

Rana Roja Lodge, Costa Rica--Last night we had the awesome experience of seeing a turtle lay eggs! We had to take a boat to the village at 8:00 PM, creep quietly onto the beach, and approach the turtle from the back only once it started laying eggs. If we had approached it before it began laying, we would probably have scared it off back into the ocean. While stumbling around a dark beach was challenging, the chance to view a five-foot turtle up close made it worthwhile. Marcy had fun imitating the turtle laying eggs the following day.

The wildlife here is...well, wild. As Be'l pointed out to me earlier, Costa Rica has an amazing range of ecosystems despite its small size as a country. This allows for a variety of exotic plants and animal species we've never seen before. Outside of Be'l and Grandpa's cabin, Be'l spotted a species of blue crab that literally looks like it's from outer space. I've included a picture below.

Cabin life is fun, but it does have its challenges. For example, the cabins have no walls. Rather than being paper thin, they are nonexistent. Instead, we have huge windows with screens. This means come nightfall, we have to be a little more quiet than we would be otherwise--and as Diddy pointed out, us children failed utterly at this our first night. This also means that any animal sounds we hear outside have the potential to wake us up and really freak us out.

Early this morning, Marcy, Jonas, and I were all awakened by something heavy hitting the roof of our cabin. As I had had a dream earlier about tropical snakes hurling themselves at our windows, I was a little freaked out. Then the howler monkeys started their early morning mating calls, and it was rather hard to sleep through that. If you all have never heard a howler monkey howl before, imagine the loud guttural grunt of a hippopotamus in labor and you'll be close. Of course, it was a "real life experience," as our guide Piko would say, although I think I would have preferred to wait until the morning for this one.

Zoinks!

Day 5.1

Rana Roja Lodge, Costa Rica--Today we left Cahuita and drove for a couple hours before arriving at a canal. We transported our luggage to a boat, and from there had an hour's boat ride before arriving at Rana Roja Lodge. It's still a little muggy here, but it's pretty awesome nonetheless (and the Wifi is the fastest). It's much more like a wetland here, and the cabins we're staying in are elevated ten feet or so off the ground. I feel like an Elven creature from the Lord of the Rings, only ginger-er.

Below are some of the pics from our boat ride. We'll have a lot more pics later! We're going to see some endangered turtles tonight, but unfortunately, pictures aren't allowed.

In the meantime, let me introduce you to the character of the Rock Wrangler. The Rock Wrangler is an Australian hero who has been lauded as the rock whisperer of our generation. More to come about this fascinating hero...

A two-toed sloth we saw on our drive today hanging from a telephone wire.

Day 4.1 Shnorkeling

Today we were to journey into the town of Cahuita, where we would go to the shoreline and get on a boat. Well, we arrived in the morning and were met by a rather nice entourage of Jamaican men who were to be our guides. Upon seeing the ocean, we realized that the waves looked rather violent and required the ensuing boats to climb up and down the water. This immediately caused our mother to reminisce about a certain dolphin tour she took a couple of years ago in which she "fed the dolphins" three times. However, she still decided to go while our dear Grandfather stayed behind to enjoy some local coffee instead.

Once out on the water, we realized it really was not that bad at all and it looked much worse from the shoreline. I was really enjoying myself. We were soaring across the ocean with wind and water spurting up and across the boat. It was very refreshing. We circled around a couple of spots near the national forest in search of a good place to snorkel and look at the coral that Cahuita was famous for. Yay snorkeling!! Each of us received a pair of flippers and a snorkel mask and were asked to sit on the ledge and put on our equipment. Snorkeling is easy, right? You just look at fish and coral and everything is right in the world. NO. Snorkeling is not in any way easy. You hit the water and you're all still cool and everything's awesome and such. Then you want to look at the coral? Okay, put in the mask mouthpiece and just stick your face under. Wellllllll that doesn't exactly fly with your brain. Your head starts screaming "WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU STUPID IDIOT YOU ARE NOT A FISH." Hyperventilation soon follows, and when you breathe through your nose the mask gets sucked further onto your face and you just look like a drowning mammoth kitten in the water.

That was the hardest part. Trying to calm down your breathing enough to convince yourself that you are not, in fact, drowning and that you cannot breathe through your nose at all, just your mouth. After a few more failed attempts, I finally got the hang of it and could stop madly doggy paddling and gasping for air after every time I looked down. But then the coral was amazing! There were all different shapes and different fish thriving everywhere underneath the surface. I even saw Dory!! Unfortunately, Nemo was still nowhere to be found. The saga continues...

After a few hours out on the water and snorkeling every which way, we headed back to shore to eat lunch at a wonderful restaurant that made rice and beans with coconut milk. MMMMMMM. I also ordered fish, which I have had like every day (ERMERGERD FERSH.) I went home very happy. I can check snorkeling off my to do list, as well as breathing like a respiratory-challenged ape underwater.

Day 3.3 Catch up (A view from the Correct perspective--Marcy's)

So I haven't blogged yet, and not that I don't want to be writing this all down, but I am rather enjoying my stay and haven't wanted to sit down in front of a computer yet. So, allow me to let this out:

COSTA RIIIIIIICAAAAAAAAAAA!

I have to admit, the first thing I was worried about was food. As many of you know, I am a very picky eater, and I don't care too much for ethnic foods or anything resembling Mexican food. It makes my bladder cry. Anywho, I am delighted to say that the food is excellent and surpassed my expectations. The first time we stopped, I got shrimp (camarones) noodles with a white sauce and...... A SMOOTHIE! Yum. I am glad to say they still exist even in Central America. At Trogon Lodge, there was a ready supply of perfectly cooked fish, rice and beans, and even ceviche (jealous, Mrs. Suhey?)
The fruit drinks were awesome and did not have any artificial flavors whatsoever. You could taste every last pulpy juice bundle fiber.

Following our meal at Trogon Lodge, Diddles wanted to go for a run. Now we were at an altitude of about 8000 feet, so the air was just a tad thin, by which I mean I couldn't breathe and I felt like jungle spirits were pulling out my overly-enthusiastic heart in an arrythmiatic death experience. It was a trail run, and the whole first half was up a mountain (as most trail runs are), which is when I felt the worst. The way down was much more fun and I only had to worry about tripping over roots. It was very beautiful and cool, so it was not too bad. We only went about 2 miles. Oh well. I felt like I was a monkey from the Jungle Book.

Now we've moved from the mountains to the ocean, and the waves are calm and soothing. I'm going to take more potential senior pictures with the Ging tomorrow, but with the good camera, so I don't know if we'll be able to upload them. We'll see.

Day 3.2 (Jonas's Lunch Experience)

Cahuita, Costa Rica--I was very disappointed with a certain Costa Rican Restaurant. First off, we were outside and it was very hot and humid. Second, It was very loud with all of the crazy tourists pointing and blabbering about random birds. Then we ordered. I was anticipating my appetizer and main meal for a very long time. By the time I got my food (Including my appetizers!), everyone else was almost done. After the long wait, I desired some ketch-up for my Costa Rican Cultural onion rings. So the Lady brought out those tiny insignificant useless ketch-up packets. I opened about 14 of them and that was barely enough. I was also very disappointed that I couldn't open half of them. I will definitely five them 0 out of 5 stars. (Ginger interrupts: Everybody else enjoyed their meal.)

When we got here there was a dog. So I threw coconuts and he enjoyed it a lot. Here are a few pics.

Jonas as he angry blogs.