El colibrí (The Hummingbird)
So as we are riding in the little bus with the windows down I here something make a little crash noise and feel something hit the side of me. I look down and there was some kind of insect or animal or who knows what the heck hit me! I screamed and pushed it away from me. It was a harmless little hummingbird! We picked him up and put him in a little case because we thought his neck was broken. I took some pictures and a video of him flying around the bus once he got better. He eventually flew away which we were relieved because he must have been so scared! This is the facebook link to see the bird video I took... http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=487527241038
The Canopy
So zip lining is pretty popular in Costa Rica. We arrived at our destination in a place called Herradura which is near a town called Jacó. We got all geared up in our zip line attire and headed up the mountain. I wasn't nervous at all but lovingly reminded everyone of the episode on the office where Tony went to Costa Rica for zip lining and ended up in a full body cast. However, the zip lining was very safe and the people were very cautious. The entire zip line consisted of 15 separate lines from various gigantic trees. I have done a lot of cool things like bobsledding down The Great Wall of China but this had to be the best thing I have ever done. The rush of adrenaline was amazing and seeing all the greenery on a warm day with cool wind rushing past your face was wonderful. We were so high up from the ground and could look below like we were flying in the trees. Yes Lara, Baboon flew through the trees.
The Crocodile Tour
The crocodile tour was very relaxing. We floated down the river and looked out for crocodiles and even got to see the pacific ocean. Various birds were pointed out but a bird is a bird is a bird, at least to me. So I wasn't exactly rushing to get my camera out. Finally we got to see our boat driver feed a real crocodile. The one eyed ruler of the river was named Fidel Castro. We got sooo close to the crocodile, I could have touched him... thats how close we were.
Manuel Antonio Hostel
After the tours a group of 18 of us left the other USAC students to go to Manuel Antonio, a beach on the pacific coast. We arrived a little before sunset and checked into our hostels. We had to stay in to separate hostels. One had a better view of the ocean but I think mine (backpackers) had better amenities, plus we got our own room. This was my first hostel experience... it was alright. My mom knows how to find great hotels for amazing prices, so we always stayed in luxury... the hostel was very nice but I just don't like dirty people that stay in hostels. Luckily we got our own room with bunk beads, it was like camp, did I ever mention I never liked camp? Anyway, public showers and public sinks, gross. But this place had free internet, breakfast in the morning, a pool, a bar, and a restaurant. Not bad for $10 a night! We ate at a restaurant right across the street where our waiter took our order, and then made all the food by himself. He was so nice! After dinner I was so tired and just went to sleep!
Manuel Antonio Beach
I woke up around 7... one of the first to wake up, I'm such a morning person now. You know, the kind thats annoying and cheerfully says good morning to everyone. I know, its hard to believe. However it is true! After breakfast we packed up and went to the grocery store to grab lunch for the beach. I went by what my sister Lara did and bought nutella and bread. It ended up being great. Some people took the bus but it was a 2 mile walk downhill so why not walk? This gave us the chance to really see local restaurants, gift shops, and views along the way. Finally we got to the beach. It was beautiful and I loved that trees provided shade from the hot sun. This made me love the beach because I didn't have to bake all day. As we got to the beach we saw a large group of people singing praise and worship. Their church is on the beach! It was beautiful! We joined in and sang with the acoustic guitar in the background. Then we stayed and listened to their message being taught first in English, the translated into Spanish. After that I chilled in the shade on the beach and listened to Dave Matthews. Then Linsey and I went shopping for a bit. After about 3 we left the beach and went back up to where our hostel was to eat before we left on the bus. We got on the bus at about 5:15 and got back at 10:15. Why did it take 5 hours when it was supposed to take 3? The traffic is terrible because of all the one way roads. Ugh! It was nice that we didn't take a public bus though. We rented a 20 person bus to take us back for $14 each.
The weekend felt like forever but it was awesome!
One of the zip lining drop offs
Feeding the crocodile Fidel Castro
Panorama of the sun setting with one hostel to the right
Me laying in a hammock at my hostel... my hammock is better
View walking down the mountain to the beach
Manuel Antonio Beach
No comments:
Post a Comment