Off to see the crocodiles

We awoke to the sounds of a blustery day, which is a first on this trip. After our buffet hot breakfast we began our journey toward the southern part of Costa Rica. As we left town, we saw a beautiful rainbow over the village of Santa Elena.

The first part of our trek was on a winding gravel road that is currently under construction to broaden and pave. Giovanny calls this type of road a "massage road".

A rainbow over Santa Elena

However, the best vistas of Costa Rica can be seen from the "massage roads".

English is widely spoken in Costa Rica, due in part to the government, which in 2009, made it mandatory for all schools to teach English. Even small 4 room schools in remote villages as seen below, teach English to the students beginning in the elementary grades.

Many homes in the mountains are small farms with animals to supply some of their food.

Traffic was stopped at one section of the highway for a sloth crossing. Our witty tour guide, Giovanny, then asked us, "Why did the sloth cross the road?"

A sloth

Part of the trip to Manuel Antonio was on the Pan-American Highway.  This route stretches from Alaska to the southern tip of Argentina, and crosses the following countries:  Canada, the United States, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, and Argentina. I'll have to add this bit of trivia in my Spanish class. (A map of the Pan-American highway and additional information can be found HERE.)

The Pan-American Highway

We stopped in the town of Jaco, along the Pacific Ocean, for a late lunch in a restaurant with delicious food and large portions.

The next stop was the Jungle Crocodile Safari. As we rode on a boat on the muddy river, Giovanny and the driver spotted over 30 crocodiles. At one area, near the mouth of the river, there were 15 crocs along the riverbank!

Our driver slapped a rag on the water to attract the crocodiles.

This guy was clear-eyed and ready to hunt.

Click HERE to see a video of the croc moving toward our boat.

This bird was taunting death because it was only feet from a crocodile.

Quick break from croc watching for a photo shot

Small Lizard

Mountains serve as backdrop on our croc tour

Chillin' at the edge of the river

Can you find the lizard? It's green & near the center of the photo.

We reached our destination of Manuel Antonio, unloaded our luggage, and quickly returned to the bus to drive to the restaurant for our evening meal. We ate at Ronny's Place which is on a hill with a beautiful sunset view.

Shortly after the sunset, dark clouds rolled in and we were chased inside by the impending rain. It's a good thing we had moved inside because after the light rain, the skies opened up and it poured!

The remainder of the evening was spent relaxing at our hotel.

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Jungle Hike

Friday morning, after the Canopy Tour, we explored the Santuario Ecológico in the Monteverde Cloud Forest. The Monteverde Cloud Forest has 400+ species of birds, 100 species of mammals, and 2,500+ plant species. It was founded in the 1950s by Quakers from the United States and there remains a population of Quakers in Costa Rica.

Giovanny led our hike through the jungle, pointing out different species, describing their natural habitat and how different species co-exist and co-evolve. At times throughout the hike we could hear the howler monkeys in the distance, as well as many different birds.

An interesting plant is the Matapalo, or Strangler Fig, as seen in the photo below, which begins it's life high above the ground with the help of birds scattering the seeds, and sends shoots downward to the base of the tree, and also grows upward toward the coveted light of the sun. The Strangler Fig continues to gow and it surrounds the original, or host tree, blocking the nutrients which eventually, after a few decades, chokes the tree to death.

Matapalo - Strangler Fig tree

Lucy was feeling brave and didn't hesitate to hold a Hercules beetle at the nature exhibition in the lodge.

We stopped in the town of Santa Elena for two hours to eat lunch and shop. After lunch the we enjoyed ice cream, visited a supermarket, and later found a bakery, "una panadería", and bought some pastries to snack on. It's interesting to check out the produce section while traveling in other countries to see the various fruits and vegetables on display. Also noted, since beans and rice are a staple in the Costa Rican diet, the rice and flour area was well-stocked.

We can tell the World Cup soccer game between Costa Rica and Greece will soon be played because we've seen an increasing number of vehicles carrying a Costa Rica flag, as well as businesses, such as restaurants and hotels, displaying the flag with pride.

After we returned to our hotel, we had free time before dinner. Part of our group walked 10 minutes to two shops with handmade crafts. The colors and geometric shapes on the handbags and wall hanging were absolutely stunning.

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Zip line experience on Friday morning

After a breakfast buffet at our hotel, which included rice and beans, eggs, plantains, toast, fruit, and fruit juice, we had a short bus ride to the world famous Monteverde Canopy Tour. The employees suited us up with helmets, heavy duty leather gloves with extra padding in the palm area, and harnesses to wear when zip lining.

We took a group photo wearing our new gear and then boarded two vans to take us farther up the mountain.

Two ticos ("ticos" is the word used to describe people from Costa Rica) demonstrated the seating and hand positions, how to brake, and other general information and safety guidelines. At last, we were ready to tackle the zip line!

The canopy tour had 13 zip lines plus a station called the Tarzan Swing. Some of the zip lines went from one platform to another, but there were a few times in which we had to hike from one platform to the next. We experienced adrenalin on the zip line and a cardio workout in between!

First time zip lining for all five!

Nothing to it, right Mohit?

John helps Lucy before sending her on the zip line

"We got this"

High on a platform

The tough look

I talked with one of the four men that worked with our group on the zip lines. He said they average three groups per day. They have no need for a gym membership to get fit because climbing the paths between several of the zip lines gives them a workout 3 times a day.

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Especially for Mohit

One great feature of this trip is that there is a variety of "adventures" which ensures every participant will find one or more activities that they really like. On the other hand, it's possible to find an activity for which you don't particular care.

For the horseback activity, Mohit was paired with a medium size horse that seemed to prefer being the very last horse on the trail ride. At times, the vaquero (the Spanish word for cowboy), that followed the riders, would tap the last few horses to keep them close to the others, and that, in turn, caused the horses to trot for a few yards.

During our refreshment break, I asked Mohit how he liked horseback riding to which he responded, "I'm not a fan." But Mohit isn't one to complain and he finished the trail ride without any negative remarks. Therefore, when I found this quote by Winston Churchill, I thought of Mohit and knew I had to create this poster to share with him.

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Onward to Monteverde

It rained and rained during the night. The hotel receptionist told us that there is a cold front moving in. Usually, at this time of the year, the mornings are sunny and it rains in the afternoon. However, when there is a cold front...it rains in the morning too. As they say in Costa Rica, Pura Vida!

We had a short bus trip to Lago Arenal, where we boarded a small vessel to take us to where the horses were waiting. Notice the look on Giovanny's face. He was "all business", getting us to board as quickly as possible because he wanted to cross the lake before another group arrived.

When we debarked from the boat, the skies were grey with a light steady rain.  We hiked a few hundred yards, and found our horses tied in a grove of trees. Our guides found a horse for us, helped us mount, and gave a short demonstration on how to handle a horse. Then off we rode, through the rain and cloud forest, past grazing cattle, along the lake, and under the watchful eye of a lone toucan at the top of a tree.

We stopped for a water and pineapple break after an hour, and then mounted again for the last hour of our horseback riding tour. Giovanny forewarned us that tomorrow we'll feel the after effects of horseback riding for two hours.

We thought the horseback riding was the adventure of the day, but more adventurous than that was the bus ride to Santa Elena. For at least an hour, the roads were not paved. It was stone or plain dirt road, but Since it had rained so much lately, at places there was deep mud and hills that the tour guide joked that we might have to get out and push. At least we think he was joking.

Smiling, even though wet and on bumpy ride.

When we were past the muddy mountain roads, I snapped a photo of the road sign below as proof that, yes, there are speed limits in Costa Rica, even though they were not as plentiful as in the United States.

Surprisingly, after driving 90 minutes or more on back roads, I expected Santa Elena to be rather small, but it was buzzing with activity. We arrived in Santa Elena at lunchtime so we took the suggestion from a Twitter friend that tweeted a suggestion to me the previous day when she heard we were headed to Santa Elena. She had eaten at the restaurant, Taco Taco, the day before, and had said the food was delicious and the lady at the counter was super nice. She was right!

We had a few minutes after lunch to explore Santa Elena.  

 

Shopping on the streets of Santa Elena

Our hotel was located on the outskirts of Santa Elena so we had a short ride to the hotel after lunch.

Our arrival at the hotel was quickly followed by showers, FaceTime with family, and relaxation. Later, several members of our group kicked the soccer ball around on the courtyard of the hotel.

The other group leader and I asked our tour guide if there was a place in town where we could take the students for a night out dancing. Giovanny quickly agreed and we walked to "Los Amigos" for sodas and dancing.

The return walk was exhausting. We had not paid a lot of attention to the long hill we were going down on the way to the club, which is the same hill we had to climb up to go back to the hotel. Needless to say, we all got a good workout on the return walk.

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