Best Weekend Ever

Cloud Forest
Red/orange Belly bird
waterfall in cloud forest
volcanic rocks

Arenal Volcano from my motel
Group picture at the dam
Picture from far away of the water fall
Down at the water fall
Huge bug

Friday morning we left for the Arenal area, which is a volcano that is still active. It´s last large explosion was in 1968 where it wiped out a small town and now there are large volcanic rocks and a lake in its place. Four-hour drive later we get to our hotel slash motel where we had a perfect view of the volcano. Normally it is covered with clouds, but because the whole world is messed up, global warming, the rainy season started late and the volcano top was clear. Friday night we went to the Baldie Hot Springs where they had a lot of hot water, slides, and bars everywhere. I went down the water slide three times and each time my headache got worse because it was so intense. It felt like I was going down a normal water slide than it got really steep and you flew off the slide into the water. I bruised my elbow the first round and after that little injuries occurred. Big John hit his head really hard the first time he went down, he didn´t go down after that. I sat in a 152 degree hot spring for a couple of minutes and after that I was so hot and dehydrated...good thing the water was free at the bar. We had dinner at the hot springs. It was really good buffet type.

Saturday morning we drove to an important dam in Costa Rica and walked around. We also got to see the inside workings of the dam. After that we drove to the horse ranch where we saddled up for a thirty-minute horseback to La Fortuna waterfall. I didn´t take my camera on the ride and I am glad because a few people broke theirs. My horse was very temperamental in the beginning but we became close friends at the end! Steph´s horse was temperamental the whole time and bit my leg, it did hurt, and then bit my horse! My horse´s name was Ja-something. I chanted it so I would remember, but that didn´t work. When we got to our stopping point my horse laid it’s head on my shoulder and got my shirt very sweaty, it was gross, but like I said we bonded.

La Fortuna waterfall was down in the forest. We had to walk down so many stairs my legs were shaking by the time I got down, but it was a beautiful sight. It was very cold compared to the hot springs the night before. We didn´t stay very long and it hurt even worse to walk up the stairs. I felt like I was going to puke because I was working out so hard. I just wanted to get the stairs over with, that´s why I tried to walk fast up the stairs.

After lunch we went on a hike, in the rain, at the Arenal National Park. We were listening to the howler monkeys and trying to listen to the volcano popping when a bug bit me under my shorts. It itched and hurt so bad, I still have about four bites from that one bug. On this trip I discovered the coolest plant ever. Glenn called it the sleepy plant. When you touched the leaves they would close up. On our hike towards the volcano we didn´t see much besides a daddy long leg which is apparently not a daddy long leg, it’s not even a spider because it has a lot more legs and it´s not poisonous. The coolest part of the walk was when we came to the volcanic rocks. It look so cool, it was an ongoing view of volcanic rocks that were thrown from the volcano in 1968. On the walk back it started to rain and some lady wanted to buy my umbrella from me. I didn´t have much pity for her because we´re in Costa Rica and it rains all the time. It was her own fault.

Sunday we drove to the lake that covered the town that was destroyed from the 1968 eruption. We took a jeep boat across the lake to Monteverde. When we got off the boat we took about an hour and a half drive, up the mountain, in tight nit vans to Monteverde. It was so bumpy, but there was a gorgeous view the whole way up. It was really scary though. There weren't any rails and many times it felt like the bus was going to fall off the mountain.

We arrived at La Casona de Monteverde at the entrance to the park where we were going to sleep for the night. The best part of the trip was when we went zip lining, but it was raining the whole time. The last zip line was 4400 feet. We crossed through the jungle than a valley than the jungle again and it was cloudy. I also did the Tarzan swing. I climbed up some stairs and when I got to the top they strapped me to a rope, asked me how I was feeling, I said I was scared so they pushed me off. I felt like I was dropping to the group, which was the scariest part, I screamed, and then I swung towards the trees. I went back and forth about 2 times than they stopped me. It felt so good to do that. After the zip lines we were all soaked and muddy. We went back to where we were staying and got ready for out night tour of the reserve with a guide. We didn´t see much besides bugs, bats, spiders, and a few frogs. I saw more bugs in the girl's bathroom where we were sleeping than on the night tour. It was kind of miserable because it was raining the whole time. I saw a huge tarantula that had orange legs.

The next morning I had to get up at 5:30 for our bird watch tour at 6. We saw a few birds, but didn´t see the Quetzal, which is the country´s bird. Some other groups saw it. I saw some kind of red belly bird and a small waterfall. Did I mention that it was raining then too? That was about an hour and a half walk. After that we packed everything up and went back to the dreaded San Jose, which pretty much took all Monday.