Monteverde

It’s been a little bit of an unlucky week here! But first..Monteverde!  We went to Monteverde this past weekend...which was almost a week ago…wow, I’m behind!  It was our last group excursion.  Although they have been so fun, it will be nice to have some weekends to relax a little bit (which will actually not be this weekend yet, because I am going to Monteverde again tomorrow with my ecological photography class). 

Monteverde is a cloud forest, and it basically seems like the jungle! It is so pretty.  We had a busy weekend there; Friday we got to relax in some hot springs at a resort-type place which was very nice.  The hot springs also had some crazy waterslides.  There was a sign that said caution, speeds up to 40 kph! And it wasn’t kidding. On the fastest of the fast slides, you literally get air in the dark tunnel. And lots of it. It is crazy!  Some lucky people also hit the sides (like me).  But I don’t remember that, it was so quick.  The hot springs was really cool too because it rained while we were there. It was fun to be in a hot spring with cold rain pouring down on you, especially with the steam coming up off the water. 

not like the charter buses of the last few weeks..we were like sardines!

The next day we did lots of hiking.  The hike up those steep stairs was worth it, as we ended up at a gorgeous waterfall!  We even braved the frigid waters to swim down by the waterfall. There was a little cove thing that we went back to which was cool.  Except the part where a little skinny black and yellow striped snake crawled over my foot. AH!  I am very content with viewing some of Costa Rica’s wildlife only from a distance, haha.  We eventually made it back to the rocky shore-we went through some little rapid things to get back, and even though they were shallow, they were strong!  After all of us got back, we found out that the whistle that had been blowing the last 10 minutes or so was for all of us to get out because it was raining and I guess dangerous? Oops.  We got to watch the sunset from our very nice hotel later that night. 

La Fortuna waterfall

sunset from our hotel, "Hotel Don Taco"

The next morning was bright and early for ziplining through the canopy! There were 11 ziplines in all, and some of the last ones were long and really high up, we had to take two people to make it all the way across.  It was an AMAZING view.  They saved the best for last, though.  The last one was called a Tarzan Swing, and basically the zipline is shaped like a ‘U.’  Imagine yourself at a platform on the top right of the U and then you jump off!  It was a huge drop, so it was kind of like bungee jumping except not attached to your feet and you get to swing up to the other side. I was slightly terrified beforehand but it was SO fun.  And the best part is I get to go again, this weekend, for my field trip, for free! Woo!

the platform we jumped from! i am told i did a 'frog hop' off of it, haha.

Another thing--the views on this trip were incredible! For the trip, we went by Jeep-Boat-Jeep (which really means van, ferry, then van...but of course that doesn't sound as cool).  On the water, it was awesome because we were on the water, surrounded by mountains, and the sun was shining through the clouds and illuminating only some patches of land, it was gorgeous.  In the vans, we were next to some very steep cliffs, but we could see vast stretches of mountains and in some parts, it was like a scene out of a movie...icy blue rivers cutting through green mountains with horses running through them, again amazing. Beautiful. 

This week started out a little strange, because this is the start of a new month, and so a new Spanish class, too, which means we got Monday off! Unfortunately though, I was pretty sick Tuesday and a little the rest of the week, but I feel great now J My mama tica took super good care of me, so sweet, especially since she was sick too!  Mama tica had a rough week actually.  Sunday night, she came in with pain in her eye and had a big raised bump thing inside her eye…we had to go to the clinic and turns out it was kind of a freak accident…some bacteria from the trash got in her eye as she was taking it out and caused it, ow! Looked very painful.  Then, Monday she fell and scraped up her knee and arms.  Then Tuesday, she started to get sick, which she had until today.  And Wednesday, she fell again! Pobresita. Her pinky finger looked fractured, it was all swollen and purple.  So it was a rough week, but she is doing great now, happy and healthy!! Gracias a Dios!