Well, we were out of EMail range yesterday, and in transport today....so I'll try to consolidate the last 48 hours with a brief description and a couple of pictures.
We left Arenal for Monteverde ('mountain green', green mountains, vermont...interesting, no?) on Tuesday, and the 14 miles took the better part of 4 hours to navigate, over dirt roads through the jungles and over the mountains. Our Monteverde digs included a wicked jacuzzi/pool combo overlooking the rainforest where we saw parrots fighting and agoutis frolicking. Wednesday morning we left for a dawn-patrol hike, followed by a breakfast, and back to the cloud forest for a hanging-bridge canopy tour. Bird-enthusiasts from all over the world come to this refuge to see the elusive Quetzal, and it's the ultimate goal of any birder's life-list. We not only saw a Quetzal, but a Drum Bird, and an Ornate Hawk Eagle (which had Eric jumping up and down like a little kid with a new toy...it's been 4 years since he's seen one of these massive jungle raptors). The birding FAR exceeded Devin's hopes, and may have created a few more ornithologists to follow in Sam Barrocas' and Devin's footsteps. We then visited Devin's host family (who he stayed with during his Senior Project) for a lunch, which included tortilla-making lessons. We were joined by soon-to-be new VCS 9th-grader Sophie who left the lunch really excited to meet the rest of the Flying Turtles in August!
After lunch, we traveled back to the canopy for the (in)famous zip-line canopy tour. Everyone had a great time, zipping 300'+ above the canopy on lines that were more than 1/4 mile long! At one point, we were strapped in for the 'superman'...instead of sitting in a climbing harness like a chair, we were strapped in belly-to-the-ground...flying WAY above the canopy. Phineas was wearing a helmet-cam for some awesome video (which you'll have to wait for!). At the end of the zip came the big challenge...the tarzan swing. A hanging bridge ended more than 100' above the ground, and we had to walk the plank, one at a time, to be strapped in and dropped. After a 30' free-fall, the pendulum kicked in and we were swung over the canopy more than 300 feet (the length of a football field!). I'm telling you friends, your humble narrator will NEVER do something like that again! Back in town for dinner and some disco fun for the kids (Sarah does a mean salsa!) and a long night's sleep.
This morning we left for the pacific coast, and after braving some tortuous roads, we pulled into our mangroove-swamp hotel in the middle of the afternoon. After a bite to eat, everyone in the surf! Braving the 4-6' waves, we spent the next couple of hours body surfing. It's now just past sunset (see pictures below), and the howler monkeys are howling...time for dinner.
Check back soon for some pictures,
-Pedro
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