Pura Vida Costa Rica - Day 8

White Water Rafting Day

Today we traveled from San Jose to the other side of the continental divide for a white water rafting tour.

This is a shot from the mountainside road that brought us there.

Here is something I hadn't seen before. Two rivers converging, one fro the top of an active volcano, the other, just feed from mountain steams and rain water. The difference is striking!

Here we are headed to "Nowhere Costa Rica"  and I see this sign for Copa America Centenario. This is a tournament being held in the USA for the very first time in June. I have tickets to one of the games being played in Chicago, USA vs Costa Rica of all match ups! I believe the Ticos have a good chance of beating us in this game, so it would behoove the residents of this area to sign a satellite contract to watch the game... We'll see.

 The rafting tour starts out of this little village. We take our bus to the river, but it can't take us all the way to the launch, There are too many snakes in the area. We then take turn loading small groups into vans to get through the dangerous area.

**picture/video coming**

Here we are, ready for instruction and ready for launch.

Here's a typical stretch of the river.

Here we are in one of the bigger rapids of our class 2-3 tour. We're in a "down" position to avoid being tossed from the boat. Time to get soaked!

You can see our safety guide up ahead in the kayak. He's responsible for pulling people from the river if they get dumped.

Here's our guide with his entourage of river rafts...

And our tour comes to and end on a sandy beach 12 miles from where we started. This was not the most challenging river but that was OK with me. Personally, I've had enough excitement for the time being.

Short walk back to the bus.

This area has a huge number of banana and pineapple fields. Chiquita and Del Monte both have a presence here. You can tell their fields by the plastic bags around the fruit, which helps the fruit stay nice and clean.

Pura Vida Costa Rica - Day 7

Chill and Travel Day

Today we got to sleep in, do some shopping and check out by eleven. Then we say adios  to the Pasific Coast and head to San Jose, the way we came.

Goodbye.

Along the way we stopped by a large river crossing where some of the local crocodiles congregate. We were pinned against a railing one side and a steady stream of traffic on the other. It was nice to take a few pictures and move along.

Pura Vida Costa Rica - Day 6

Nature / Beach Day

We started the day at Manuel Antonio National Park. This is a nature reserve on the coast, home to many species of lizards, sloths.

It is adjacent to a beautiful public beach in a beautiful  bay. The park itself has its own beautiful beach in its own beautiful  bay, but we will have to hike a while through the forest to get there.

 

**Photos on hike to be added later**

Here's the beach. Fortunately we have some time to enjoy our surroundings.

And we have company... These are endearingly referred to as the "bad monkeys" or the "monkey mafia". They are acclimated to humans and interested in their stuff. Because new people are cycled in and out of here throughout each day, they get new unsuspecting  victims every thirty minutes or so.

As long as you secure your stuff, it is easy to get nice and close for a picture. These were taken by Sarah with her iPhone.

After hiking out we had a nice lunch before heading off to the public beach to relax and surf a bit.

Now, I haven't shared much about our meals but it seems like lunch and dinner consist of exactly the same elements as our first meal with limited variety. You can get rice and beans, rice chicken and beans, beans and rice, or beans rice and fish. I may post more photos as we conclude the trip, simply to demonstrate the point. Fortunately, it's a good meal or if be going nuts.

Here's the public beach. Now Alejandro, our tour guide, has some friends that run a surf school on this beach. They set us up with beach chairs, beers, shade, and some surf lessons for the kids. Caitlyn was al over it, but Norah opted out, due to the fact that she had already had lessons last week.

Surfer girl got up 3 or 4 times and only got hurt 2 or 3, so I'd say she did pretty well.

Here's a nice little surf beach view. 

Some might say the surf instructors made for a nicer view but luckily we don't have any pictures of those guys.

After getting out of the sun and cleaning off a bit, we headed off for nice sunset dinner with a view. Little did we know that we would get our best view of sloth... No joke... Crossing the road. How long do you think that takes?

...and I don't know, because traffic became impatient with the sloth and our bus stopped in front of it, so someone picked it up and put it on a nearby tree before it had a chance it finish its journey.

It was PAINFULLY slooooow. How does this animal exist in the world?

We finally made it for sunset.

And dinner.

And dancing. Oy!!!!

Pura Vida Costa Rica - Day 5

Travel Day

Today we head from La Fortuna to the coast southwest of San Jose. We never got to see the top of the volcano but we were able take advantage of the cooler weather under cloud cover.

Here is our departing view of the Arenal area. The landscape flattens out for a bit as we head south.

They call this a "living fence". They purposely plant trees single file along the road and between properties and simply staple barbed wire to each trunk. The root system of the trees reduces erosion and Supports the fence. This certainly beats digging post holes and chopping down trees.

Here is one of the typical cattle raised for beef that we met along the way.

Here's the cow's view each day...not a bad gig. We continue south after getting some refreshments at a roadside store.

As we get closer to the coast, we see a number of African Palm farms. They grow these to make and export coconut oil.

Eventually we make it to the coast once more. We are just in time for dinner and a swim before bed.

This resort has it all. A casino, beds, food, a pool, wifi, bar, and of course, monkeys. More on that later...

Pura Vida Costa Rica - Day 4

Adventure Day

We set off for repelling. Fortunately we have very risk averse guides.

Here's our group and the 6x6 vehicle that  got us to the top of the water falls.

We got geared up and I was happy to learn that  they had a helmet with a go pro mount on it already.

This is how we started. Of course Norah headed down the waterfall before we even got there.

That's Caitlyn.

That's the first of many waterfalls we repelled. You can see a tiny Sarah toward the top.

Here's Norah on one of the smaller descents.

Looking up.

Briefly looking down. 

Fortunately we all finished the morning safe but a bit soggy after being washed in the spray of the waterfalls.

What better reward than some ice cream and shopping in the town square of La Fortuna. This is the last of what were three towns in the immediate vicinity of Arenal Volcano. One town was wiped out by a lava flow, another was relocated and flooded by the reservoir of Lake Arenal pictured in yesterday's post, and La Fortuna became the benefactor.

Here is the Catholic Church in the center of town.

We quickly move on to our reservations for the ziplining canopy tour at the base of the volcano.

Gear up and learn what to do.

Load up and observe the stellar safety practices of the zip line staffers.

Then zip through the forest!

About half way through, we had a chance to boost our adrenaline a little bit more, as if we hadn't done that enough. I was happy with my current level of excitement, so I stay it out, but Norah hadn't, so she took a ride on the "Tarzan Swing". Here she is in her starting position:

After the group had gotten their thrills we were at it again.

And, 

Of course,

Enjoying the view.

I was only able to catchup up with my crew toward the end, and everyone seemed to be having fun.

Greatful once more to be on the ground.